Protection and sustainable management of forests

FOREST EUROPE: Ministers launch negotiations for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe European 2020 Targets set for protection and sustainable management of forests

The health and sustainability of Europe’s forests play an essential role in solving challenges like
climate change, biodiversity protection and fresh water. Their vitality is also crucial to foster a
green economy both in Europe and globally. Protection and sustainable management of Europe’s forests require a stable and efficient platform for coherent policy development and implementation. Therefore, European ministers responsible for forests made an historical decision yesterday to launch negotiations for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe. They also adopted European 2020 Targets for forests. This far-reaching political step was taken at the FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, which takes place from 14-16 June in Oslo, Norway.

“The decision by ministers to go ahead with the negotiations towards a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests represents a major step towards creating the necessary structure for a coherent approach to the continent’s forests,” said the Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mr Lars Peder Brekk, chair of the FOREST EUROPE process. “A strengthened political cooperation in Europe will be vital to achieve a balanced and stable continuity of all environmental, economic and social forest functions and contribute to the achievement of international agreed objectives.”

As part of the future FOREST EUROPE strategy, ministers agreed on European 2020 Targets for forests. This decision comprises strategic goals, measurable targets and priority actions at national and international level to enhance sustainable forest management. It also prepares the ground for increased recognition of the role of forests and their sustainable management in a future, sustainable, low carbon economy.

The decisions taken by the ministers will further enhance Europe’s concrete contribution to the International Year of Forests 2011, and highlight the pivotal role of forests for human well-being.

At the Ministerial Conference, Spain took over the chairmanship from Norway.

The conference in Oslo was attended by ministers and high-level representatives from 42 FOREST EUROPE countries. 6 observer countries from outside Europe and 29 international organisations including environmental and social NGOs, forest owners’ associations, the forest industry and intergovernmental organisations participated as observers.

————

FOREST EUROPE is the pan-European policy process for the sustainable management of the continent’s forests. It develops common strategies for its 46 participating countries and the European Union on how to protect and sustainably manage forests. Founded in 1990, the continuous cooperation of FOREST EUROPE has led to achievements, such as the guidelines, indicators and criteria for sustainable forest management. In total, 52 countries outside Europe and international organisations actively contribute to the work of FOREST EUROPE as observers.
As a priority, FOREST EUROPE focuses on strengthening the role of forests in mitigating climate change, enhancing and preserving forest biodiversity, securing the supply of good-quality fresh water, and providing renewable forest products. Other important tasks are to develop a framework for future political collaboration and to prepare options for decision by ministers on a possible legally binding agreement on forests in Europe. Norway has had the chairmanship in FOREST EUROPE from 2008 and hosts the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe on 14-16 June 2011 in Oslo.

 

By FOREST EUROPE
Liaison Unit Oslo
Kristin Dawes, Head of Communications and Public Affairs

Oslo, 16 June 2011

Supreme Court of Kenya gets Chief Justice, Deputy Chief justice and five other judges

Kenya is moving in the right direction. According to the new constitution, the country establishes a Supreme Court to be headed by a Chief Justice who will be the court’s president. The court will also have a Deputy Chief Justice.

Joining the two as members of the Supreme Court are Former member of Parliament Lawyer Njoki Ndung’u, former anti-graft agency director Smokin Wanjala, Court of Appeal judge Philip Tunoi, Justices Jackton Ojwang and Mohammed Ibrahim. 

Parliament has approved the nominees who will now be formally appointed by President Kibaki.

According to the Daily Nation “MPs approved the nomination of Dr Willy Mutunga to head the judiciary.”  – “The House also approved the nomination of Ms Nancy Baraza to the new post of Deputy Chief Justice and Mr Keriako Tobiko as Director of Public Prosecutions. But Mr Tobiko’s nomination faced opposition from some MPs who wanted allegations against him investigated first before he could assume office. It now remains only for President Kibaki to announce the formal appointments and the three to be sworn into office.The office of Chief Justice is crucial under the new constitution because the holder will preside over disputes in any presidential election. The Chief Justice can also be petitioned to ask the president to dissolve parliament if MPs delay enacting laws to effect the new constitution.”

Kenyans are now hoping the new team in the judiciary will make the courts more effective.

By Chief editor Korir.

Norway: New African Connections – Opportunities when Finance, Technology and Healthcare meet

A very important conference will take place in Oslo, Norway on the 21st of June. Key note speakers during the conference are Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Kofi Annan – former UN Secretary General, Gro Harlem Brundtland – former Prime Minister of Norway, Ted Turner, Telenor, Ericsson, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan, JamiiBora, Craft Silicon and others.
Many African countries are now experiencing very fast economic growth. Both African and international players are coming attending the conference and will tell the world how they reach new markets with new technology, especially within mobile technology, health and finance.

The seminar will be take place in Kirkegaten 23 (DnB NOR), Oslo.
DnB NOR, CARE, Norfund (Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries), Norad (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are hosts.

 

By Lisa Sivertsen, Communication Director, CARE (Norway)

Households caring for orphans are often forced to sell land

ETHIOPIA: Five-year project to benefit OVC

Photo: Kate Holt/IRIN

Households caring for orphans are often forced to sell land and domestic animals to feed their families

ADDIS ABABA, 16 June 2011 (PlusNews) – Kokobe Abate is a widow struggling to raise her daughter Almaz in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The death of her husband hit the family hard, but he had given up on life long before he died.

“Even before he passed away, he had stopped providing for us,” Kokobe said. “He couldn’t bear the idea of living with HIV. I think the guilt is what killed him – after we found out our HIV status he started drinking.”

She says the only thing that kept them from joining thousands of families living on Addis Ababa’s streets were handouts from neighbours and a ‘keble house’, a state-owned, subsidised home that her husband left behind, for which she pays 18 Birr (about US$1) per month.

“I tried to do everything out there – washing clothes for people, selling bread, and ‘injera’ [Ethiopian flat bread], and even opened a ‘gulit’ [small vegetable shop] in front of my home but I hardly made enough money even to eat a good meal once a day.”

Kokobe’s luck began to change in September 2010, when she and 13 other unemployed people in her neighbourhood were selected to work in a nearby parking lot, issuing tickets to motorists. She now takes home about 700 Birr (about $41.50) every month.

“I make money now; whether it is enough or not is another thing, but I have a regular income,” she said. “[I can buy] exercise books, uniforms, shoes and most importantly, food for both of us, and also [pay for] power and water.”

Kokobe was fortunate to find work. Millions of Ethiopians caring for orphans in an economy where annual inflation topped 34 percent in May are forced to sell their property or send young children out to beg.

Now, a new $100 million project aims to assist thousands of families caring for orphans by providing safety nets for an estimated 500,000 Ethiopian children affected by HIV/AIDS every year for the next five years.

Officially launched in May, the project is financed by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and will be implemented by the US Agency for International Development and its partners, including the UN Children’s Fund, an international NGO, Pact, and 50 local NGOs.

Official figures estimate there are 5.5 million orphans in Ethiopia, or almost 15 percent of the country’s children. About 800,000 of the orphans have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses.

According to a 2010 study [ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21073083 ] of 334 households caring for orphans in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, at least 22 percent of orphans had a history of involvement in child labour, and households caring for orphans often had to sell land, household equipment and domestic animals to feed their families.

We know that this money isn’t adequate to cover… all the needs of the children, but we know that something is better than nothing

“This programme is expected to provide several service areas: nutrition, health, education, psychological support, legal support, shelter and so on,” Walelign Mehretu, the USAID Ethiopia orphans and vulnerable children programme advisor, told IRIN/PlusNews.

The programme will also build the capacity of the Ethiopian government to use improved data management systems, and a national monitoring system for orphans and vulnerable children.

Walelign noted that the average of $200 per child over the five years would not be enough to support all the needs of the targeted orphans.

“One child may only need education materials, which is an expense of once a year so the money could be adequate… of course, some children may need all the services; in that case, what the programme is anticipating is to mobilize the community and to have some other source of resources,” he said.

“The problem of orphans and vulnerable children is severe and we know that this money isn’t adequate to cover all the expense and all the needs of the children,” Walelign commented. “But we know that something is better than nothing.”

kt/kr/he source www.irinnews.org

Ivoirian families are showing “admirable” solidarity but losses from the conflict are taking a toll

COTE D’IVOIRE: Bullet holes and lost livelihoods

Photo: Nancy Palus/IRIN

Ivoirian families are showing “admirable” solidarity but losses from the conflict are taking a toll

ABIDJAN,  – In parts of Côte d’Ivoire’s main city Abidjan, buildings and faces bear traces of war and people wonder when their children will be able to eat their fill again.

“We’re living in hell,” said teacher Rodrigue Assié Kah in the city’s Yopougon District. “I’ve got no work and I’ve got six people to feed.” He was sitting alone in front of an apartment building part of which was burned when government forces recently came looking for pro-Laurent Gbagbo groups.

The 50-year-old had planned to retire in two years, but he has not saved up enough to stop working now and the private school where he worked has been closed since the post-election violence began.

But Assié at least has a room to live in, even if widespread looting has left it completely bare. Hundreds of families have no home to return to; in some areas, houses have been flattened by shelling.

In Yopougon and Abobo – two districts that saw heavy fighting – many people’s livelihoods were destroyed along with their homes, according to the NGO Solidarités International.

Solidarités is evaluating several sectors including security, water/sanitation, health and shelter in Abidjan and other parts of the country affected by conflict.

Down to one meal a day

In Abobo, of 573 households surveyed, nearly half reported having no source of income; about 40 of those families lost their livelihood in the post-election unrest, according to the Solidarités evaluation. Forty percent of the families said they have gone from eating three meals a day to one.

Among those surveyed in Yopougon the number of families eating just one meal a day increased seven times compared to before the crisis. People there are spending on average 36 percent more for basic food items. In Abobo, a kilogram of rice is up to 88 US cents from 55 cents; sugar is $7.05 compared to $6.17; a handful of tomatoes costs four times as much as before, and fresh fish has nearly doubled in price.

“A lot of families have lost everything,” said Rolland Gueneau, Solidarités International head of mission in Côte d’Ivoire. He said the Ivoirian people’s solidarity is “admirable” and they are coming to one another’s aid, but this is becoming a heavy economic burden.

“The most pressing need is food, then mosquito nets.”

“Generally families take one meal a day – usually `garba’ [fish and cassava],” 28-year-old nurse Albertine Anoh told IRIN.

“For the moment we cannot live as we did before,” she said, explaining that no money is coming in after her husband lost several public transport vehicles in the fighting.

Yopougon crucial

Observers say it will take time for people to recover after the fighting, especially in places like Yopougon, where many neighbourhoods were bastions of the now-detained Gbagbo.

“If we are to have a real basis for reconciliation [in Côte d’Ivoire], it must start in Yopougon,” Ivoirian political analyst Romain Kacou told IRIN. He noted that Gbagbo had the support of a considerable chunk of voters. “This district must be a top priority in any peace process.”

Thousands of displaced people in Abidjan and other parts of the country told Solidarités they could not say when they would return to their homes; the current uncertainty remains a challenge for aid groups.

“It is not an exact science knowing how the situation will evolve and when people will return to their homes,” Gueneau of Solidarités said. “And we do not know what tomorrow will bring. We must really be careful not to push people to return when they are not ready to do so.”

A youth who requested anonymity said he recently went down a familiar Yopougon road he had not used since before the unrest. “I’m telling you, Yopougon’s face is deformed. Bullet marks are everywhere and neighbourhoods are deserted. Damn, war is terrible.”

aa/np/cb source www.irinnews.org

Sudan: Seeking refuge

SUDAN: Civilians bear brunt of Southern Kordofan clashes

Photo: Paul Banks/UNMIS

Seeking refuge: civilians gather outside the UNMIS compound near Kadugli

JUBA, 14 June 2011 (IRIN) – Aerial bombardments, killings of civilians and house-to-house searches are escalating in the Northern Sudanese state of Southern Kordofan, aid workers and residents report.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that some 53,000 people have been displaced by fighting that broke out on 5 June near Kadugli, the state capital, between the Northern army, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), and former members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

The ex-rebel SPLA is now the official army of the South, which is due to become fully independent on 9 July, after voting overwhelmingly to separate from the North in a January referendum.

But many from Southern Kordofan fought for the SPLA, especially in the central Nuba Mountains, which was one of the hardest hit and most bitterly fought over areas of all of Sudan’s two-decades-long civil war.

Now they find themselves on the wrong side of the border from former comrades as the South prepares to separate, and have resisted surrendering weapons to forces they see as hostile.

Those tensions exploded with deadly consequences last week.

On 14 June, artillery shelling was reported near Kadugli town, while two SAF planes bombed the airstrip at Kauda, said Hua Jiang, spokeswoman for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), the latest in a series of aerial attacks.

This is like the worst days of the last war. There are horrific killings but it seems like they are just being ignored.

“This is like the worst days of the last war,” said one aid worker in the state, who could not be named for security reasons.

“There are horrific killings but it seems like they are just being ignored,” he added.

While officials in Khartoum insisted only rebels were being targeted, sources in Kadugli told IRIN people in the streets had been killed for looking “too black”, and with no regard for whether or not they supported the SPLA.

In ethnic terms, the people of the Nuba Mountains usually identify more closely with the “African” Southerners than the Northern Arab majority.

Rights groups condemn attacks

“Amnesty International has received reports from residents of the besieged towns of Kadugli and Dilling that the SAF, as well as Sudanese security forces in plain clothes, have been searching streets and houses, arresting and killing people suspected of supporting the SPLA,” it said in a 10 June statement.

Inside the Nuba Mountains region of Southern Kordofan, where heavy and repeated aerial bombardments have been reported, people are digging makeshift air-raid shelters in riverbeds.

Children have been moved into caves in the hills for shelter, while their parents try to move their few remaining stocks of food to safety, sources in the area reported.

“Looting and destruction of property have been widespread,” Amnesty added. “Civilian homes and NGO offices have been raided.”

Although numbers of reported casualties remain low, aid workers warn that that is because they are based largely on the number of those taken to hospitals, and because aid agencies and UNMIS cannot yet verify totals elsewhere.

“As the majority of fatalities are probably not taken to hospital, the real death toll is undoubtedly higher – and likely much, much higher,” said one international aid worker, basing his assessment on “multiple” on-the-ground reports.

UNMIS has been criticized over its alleged failure to protect civilians.

“Reports from the ground indicate that military personnel arrested people who had sought refuge inside the UNMIS compound, in violation of international humanitarian law,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a 10 June statement.

“One of those arrested was later found dead,” it added.

The Sudan Democracy First Group, a coalition of civil society activists, released a 13 June report listing some of the names of those they allege have been killed by government forces, including Sudanese employees of UNMIS.

Photo: Paul Banks/UNMIS

The clashes have displaced some 53,000 people

At least two were killed outside the UN compound walls, the group said.

“We are in the process of investigating these allegations, and are taking them very seriously,” said Hua Jiang, adding that some non-essential staff had been relocated from Kadugli to El Obeid, in Northern Kordofan State.

“It is a difficult situation there, and both military and civilian components are doing all they can,” she added.

Bombing raids have also spilled across the Southern border into Unity State, officials there say, infuriating the South.

Meanwhile, newly elected state governor Ahmed Haroun, a key member of Khartoum’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes charges in Darfur, has vowed to track down the state’s former deputy governor Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, a top SPLM official.

“He (Al-Hilu) is personally wanted for justice since he has caused the death of many citizens,” Haroun said, according to the Sudan Media Centre, a website close to Northern security forces.

“The armed forces and other regular forces are exerting extensive efforts to arrest him,” he added.

Food security fears

Fighting also has a long-term impact, aid workers warn, noting that it will impact agricultural production, with the harvest period due in a few months time.

“From now on, this is when people’s food supply is typically scarce and stocks will quickly start to run down,” an aid worker in the Nuba Mountains said.

“If the war spreads as predicted, you can imagine the humanitarian catastrophe it will create.”

On 14 June, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called on Khartoum and authorities in Kadugli to allow air and road access to the area.

“For nearly one week now, humanitarian flights have been denied authorization to land in Kadugli despite our efforts to secure such an agreement. Land access is also being hampered by armed militiamen who have set up roadblocks, from which we are hearing reports of harassment of people on the move,” the agency stated.

“Insecurity means our operations are severely constrained and UNHCR is currently unable to reach a warehouse just 5km from the UN peacekeeping mission’s base in the city. The warehouse contains supplies to assist 10,000 displaced people.”

str/am/cb source www.irinnews.org

The crisis in Libya has forced over 636,000 people to leave the country

LIBYA: Timeline of key events since 4 April

Photo: Kate Thomas/IRIN

A rebel fighter arrives by car at the last checkpoint before the frontline, between Ajdabiya and Brega (file photo)

DUBAI, 14 June 2011 (IRIN) – The crisis in Libya has forced over 636,000 people to leave the country, including 280,741 third-country nationals. According to the UN, prices of food have tripled or quadrupled in places like Adjabiya, partly due to rising fuel prices. Education, too, has been affected with schools in opposition-held areas remaining closed. There are also concerns about access to water services, and an acute lack of medical personnel following the departure of foreign nationals.

On 9 June, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned: “There is no quick fix to the crisis; the problem will not end quickly”. He noted the findings of a commission of inquiry which detailed crimes committed by government forces, including murder, unlawful imprisonment, enforced disappearance and sexual abuse, as well as torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment committed by opposition forces.

Below is a timeline of events since 4 April. Also see timeline of key events from February to early April.

4 April: Unexploded ordnance (UXO) disposal experts arrive in eastern Libya to begin clearance activities.

6 April: Boat of migrants attempting to reach Italy from Libya capsizes with up to 250 missing.

8 April: Organization of Islamic Conference begins repatriations at Tunisian border.

10 April: Increase in violence in mountain region of western Libya. ICRC reports a large number of stranded migrants in Misrata.

11 April: World Health Organization highlights deteriorating health situation in Misrata and calls for assistance to immediately evacuate injured.

12 April: International Organization of Migration (IOM) begins to evacuate people from Misrata by boat.

13 April: Reports of thousands of West African migrants fleeing across the Libyan border with Niger. EU aid body ECHO increases aid to Libya by a further 10 million euros. Hospitals in Benghazi overwhelmed treating war-wounded.

15 April: Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports use of cluster munitions in Misrata. Telecom Sans Frontières set up satellite communications in Benghazi.

16 April: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) carries out second boat evacuation from Misrata of those with serious injuries. Mine Action Group find a large amount of unexploded ordinance in Ajdabiya, and Handicap International begins work on risk awareness for local populations.

18 April: UN and Tripoli agree a UN presence in the Libyan capital. DanChurchAid begins mine clearance activities in Libya. Some NGOs call on the UN to record all civilian casualties in the conflict. ICRC, with support from the Libya Red Crescent, evacuates casualties by boat from Misrata.

20 April: First refugees from Libya evacuated to Romania pending resettlement.

21 April: UN expresses concerns over rape and sexual violence in Libya. Save the Children receives reports of rape from the east. Amnesty International raises concerns about the humanitarian situation of those who have fled to Lampedusa, Italy.

3 May: Health clinics in Misrata desperately require support. IOM boat on its sixth trip from Benghazi is waiting since the 30 April for permission to dock in Misrata. There has been an increase in the number of new arrivals from the west of Libya and an increase in boats travelling to Italy.

6 May: Desperate migrants continue to take unseaworthy vessels to cross the Mediterranean to flee Libya and many are drowning.

16 May: International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants against Muammar Abu Minya Gaddafi, Saif Al Islam Gaddafi and Head of Intelligence Abdullah Al Sanousi from crimes against humanity committed in Libya since February 2011.

18 May: UN launches revised regional flash appeal for US$408 million for assistance to people affected by the Libya crisis.

25 May: Tensions increase at Choucha camp in Tunisia (near Libyan border). Four die in a fire in the camp which destroys 21 tents; further unrest damages 3,000 tents.

30 May: Qatar opens camp in Tunisia for Libyan refugees. South Africa’s President Zuma attempts to broker a ceasefire agreement in Tripoli.

31 May: A five-day inter-agency mission to Tripoli also visits Homs, Zlintan and Gharyan to assess humanitarian needs and discuss humanitarian access.

1 June: NATO extends mission in Libya by a further 90 days.

3 June: At least 150 migrants die on boat heading to Lampedusa, Italy. IOM team assists migrants stranded in Chadian desert. Inter-agency mission returns from Misrata where widespread infrastructure damage was witnessed.

5 June: UK Foreign Secretary William Hague and Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell travel to Benghazi to meet NTC. HRW says Libyan opposition authorities are arbitrarily detaining some civilians suspected of involvement in activities in support of Gaddafi.

7 June: 25,000 Chadians reported stranded near southwestern town of Gatroum. There are an estimated 8,000-10,000 Malians and thousands of Egyptians in the southwestern towns of Sabha, Gadames, Ubari and Murzuk. IOM reporting large numbers of Filipino and African migrant workers living at two sites in Tripoli.

10 June: Interagency mission to Ajdabiya finds no outstanding humanitarian needs.

hh/cb source www.irinnews.org