Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media, and welcome to the United Nations weekly press briefing broadcast live on UN radio Miraya from UN House, in Juba. Also a warm welcome to our radio listeners who have tuned in and the media from Torit.
Today our guest speaker is Mr. Christian Okafor, Project Manager in South Sudan of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme known as UN-Habitat. He will brief us on the work of UN Habitat in South Sudan, a very important program as the country is implementing the peace agreement which in turn will trigger recovery, development and of course reconstruction programs.
World Humanitarian Summit
But let me start with a few words about the first ever World Humanitarian Summit that took place in Istanbul on 23 and 24 May. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended; in his remarks, he reminded the audience that some 130 million people are currently in need of aid to survive and underscored the need to secure up to 15 billion US dollars to meet global humanitarian needs. He also stressed that every year, the needs rise and the funding shortfall grows.
“The world needs to give people a chance and a life in dignity" the UN Secretary-General said. “Today we declare we are one humanity with a shared responsibility” he concluded.
More than 65 Heads of State and Government, leaders from the public and private sectors were in Istanbul for the two-day summit that ended yesterday.
37 sniffing dogs to arrive in Juba (UNMAS)
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) will be welcoming 37 explosive detective dogs who will arrive in Juba on Friday morning. You may recall some ten of them had already come in winter 2014 and were dispatched throughout South Sudan in support of UNMAS demining teams. This batch of dogs is part of a new contract, and will be deployed to different parts of the country in specific support to the Mission as mines and other unexploded ordnance’s search and detection capacity.
If you are interested in covering their arrival and activities, please be in touch with Shantal Persaud 0912 177 592 or James Aldworth at UNMAS at: 0959 002 737.
Juba: Symposium on Human Rights
The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) has just concluded in Juba a Symposium on Human Rights, covering topics ranging from enshrining human rights in the constitution, empowering citizenry and enhancing human rights awareness, developing institutions to administer justice consistently, and transparently and also discuss on the most appropriate courts to deal with human rights issues. The symposium will also focus on ways to help law schools to engage in outreach activities to help people understand human rights. At a time when South Sudan has embarked on the road to peace, understanding human rights while documenting abuses and violations are crucial to ensure accountability, provide justice and guarantee a sustainable peace.