What's New
Kagame's former allies warn of Rwanda violence | 9 September 2010A group of exiled Rwandans has warned that the central African nation could descend into conflict unless Tutsi President Paul Kagame shares more power with the majority ethnic Hutu. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6882X1201009
UN's new anti-corruption academy aims spotlight at financial crime | 6 September 2010The United Nations has launched what is being called the first anti-corruption academy, aimed at turning out a new generation of top-of-the-line corruption fighters. New types of financial crimes will be investigated. Calling it a "milestone" in the fight against corruption worldwide, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened what is being billed as the world's first anti-corruption academy late last week, promising that it will train a new generation of law enforcers and focus on new types of graft, especially in the financial and business arenas. The new International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), which is backed by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Austrian government and the European Anti-Fraud Office, will be based near Vienna and will bring together leading players from the worlds of finance, business and politics to study the causes of and new cures for organized crime and fraud. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5971657,00.ht
UN debuts website for tracking climate aid | 5 September 10The UN has today launched a new website designed to track climate funding commitments from industrialised countries in a bid to boost confidence that developed economies are delivering on their commitment to provide $30bn in " fast start" funding to help poorer nations combat climate change. The Netherlands-hosted website, titled FastStartFinance.org, was unveiled at a meeting of around 45 nations in Geneva where environment ministers are discussing climate funding proposals. The site will allow industrialised countries to provide data on their climate funding initiatives. So far six European donors, including the UK and Germany, have detailed their fast start funding commitments, providing information on 27 recipient nations. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/03/
UN researchers criticize UN anti-poverty plan |5 September 10
U.N. researchers have criticized their own organization's 15-year strategy for fighting world poverty and hunger. The Geneva-based U.N. Research Institute for Social Development says the global body is ignoring the role of employment and equality in wealth creation, particularly in developing nations. A report published Friday says the U.N.'s plan to halve the number of people living on less than $1 a day by 2015 has serious failings. It says the so-called Millennium Development Goals that also cover health, education and the environment need to include a focus on creating jobs and ensuring equality if they are to be met. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9I0C
Spain's Eta 'declares ceasefire' | 5th September 2010
Armed Basque separatist group Eta says it will not "carry out armed actions" in its campaign for independence. In a video obtained exclusively by the BBC, the group said it took the decision several months ago "to put in motion a democratic process". The Spanish government has previously said it will only negotiate with Eta if it renounces violence. Eta's violent campaign for Basque independence has led to more than 820 deaths over the past 40 years. It has called two ceasefires in the past, but abandoned them both. It is unclear whether Eta is declaring a permanent or temporary ceasefire. In the video obtained by the BBC, three hooded Eta fighters are shown sitting behind a desk with the Eta flag pinned up behind them. The figure in the middle reads out a prepared statement defending Eta's campaign of violence, but towards the end she says the group now wants to achieve its aims by peaceful, democratic means. The video comes as Eta has been under pressure, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid, with leading members of the group arrested, and growing calls from Basque political parties to declare a ceasefire. There has been no reaction yet from the Spanish government. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11191395
UN slams treatment of Aborigines | 29 August 2010Federal Labor has defended its treatment of Aborigines after a United Nations report into disadvantage among the indigenous population led to claims racism was ''embedded'' in the Australian way of life. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva blasted Australia for harbouring an ''unacceptably high level of disadvantage and social dislocation'' among Aborigines, particularly those in the Northern Territory. The committee welcomed Kevin Rudd's apology but said that saying sorry wasn't enough. http://www.smh.com.au/national/un-slams-treatment-
Rwanda threatens to curtail cooperation with UN | 28 August 2010Rwanda has threatened to curtail its cooperation with the United Nations as the world body prepared to release an account highly critical of the African nation. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM
UN DR Congo 'genocide' draft report - key excerpts | 27 August 2010
A UN report into massacres of Hutu civilians in DR Congo after the Rwanda's 1994 genocide has been leaked ahead of its official publication. Experts say it is the first rigorous investigation - the researchers required two independent sources for each of the 600 incidents documented in their 545-page report - into alleged atrocities committed in eastern DR Congo between 1993 and 2003. Rwanda's Tutsi-dominated government has dismissed the claims as "rubbish". http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11111578