Recent Appointments
FAST FACTS
United Nations
United Nations UN Office Brussels | 7th h issue | 10 June 2010 MINURCAT: Mr. Youssef Mahmoud (Tunisia) was appointed as new Head of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), replacing Mr. Victor Angelo. Before his arrival in Chad, Mr. Mahmoud served as Executive Representative of the SecretaryGeneral and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB).
UNFCCC: Ms. Christiana Figueres (Costa Rica) has been appointed as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat based in Bonn, Germany. Her appointment comes at a crucial time in global efforts to take effective action on climate change. She most recently served as Vice-President of the UNFCCC Bureau. UNICEF: Mr. Anthony Lake (United States) was appointed as Executive Director of UNICEF. Mr. Lake, who succeeds Ann Veneman in the position, has more than 45 years of public and international service, including as foreign policy advisor to several democratic US presidents and presidential candidates.
UNMIS: Mr. Haile Menkerios (Eritrea) was appointed as Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral for the Sudan. Mr. Menkerios has an extensive experience in African issues and most recently served as Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs. OHCHR: Mr. Ivan Simonovic (Croatia) has been appointed Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights at the United Nations, to head the High Commissioner's New York office. He is the first person to hold the new post, which was approved by the UN General Assembly in December 2009. During his carreer, Mr. Simonovic has been Minister of Justice of Croatia, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Croatia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Sexual violence and conflict: Ms. Margot Wallström (Sweden) was appointed as Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Ms. Wallström has been a long-time advocate of the rights and needs of women throughout her political career, first as Swedish Minister and later as Environment Commissioner and Vice-President of the European Commission. Burundi: Mr. Charles Petrie (United Kingdom/France) was appointed as the new Executive Representative for Burundi and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in that country (BINUB). Mr. Petrie brings to the position 20 years of extensive experience with the United Nations, which reflects expertise in conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacebuilding, and humanitarian and recovery/development action, as well as broad experience in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
Human Rights Council: In May, the General Assembly elected 14 States to serve on the Human Rights Council for 3-year terms: Angola, Ecuador, Guatemala, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and Uganda.
The Fifth UN-EU Partnership Report On 10 June 2010, Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator and Chair of the United Nations Development Group, launched the fifth annual report on the partnership between the United Nations and the European Union, ”Improving Lives: Results from the Partnership between the United Nations and the European Union in 2009”, prepared by the United Nations team in Brussels. The United Nations team in Brussels has published its fifth annual report showcasing the concrete results of an increasingly dynamic partnership between the United Nations and the European Union. The report focuses on results of joint actions undertaken with EU partners ranging from crisis prevention, through humanitarian action and promoting sustainable development, to building democratic and just societies. All actions are guided by the collective responsibility to advance the Millennium Development Goals to halve world poverty by 2015 and firmly rooted in the UN Charter and within the framework of EU's own Consensus for Development, Consensus for Humanitarian Aid, and Common Foreign and Security Policy.
The worldwide UN physical presence in nearly 170 ?
countries, coupled with its long-term and close relationship with national counterparts, guaranteed access before, during and after crises. The EU worked with the UN in places where the international community had no real presence of its own, such as Somalia; The UN technical and thematic expertise was mobilized ?
in line with its core capacity building function e.g. in health pandemics experts stemmed outbreaks and advised on the management and prevention of future outbreaks; By working with the UN, the EU benefited from its broad ?
platform and privileged policy dialogue with governments that increased impact and efficiency and enhanced Europe's own participation in policy dialogue with partner countries.
The report again demonstrates that by working together, the EU and the UN achieved more than they could have done working alone. It also highlights what is unique about the UN-EU partnership, and why it adds value to both: Working with the UN, the EU was able to tackle sensitive ?
issues of development, for example elections in postconflict environments, and the rule of law – thereby benefiting from the impartiality and legitimacy of the United Nations; Unique to the UN-EU partnership was its ability to span ?
the UN responsibility from developing and promoting internationally-binding norms, to translation of these into reality on the ground, in refugee protection, labor rights, and in support of the UN's mandate for Palestinian refugees;
The new UN-EU Partnership Report can be downloaded at http://unbt.unric.org/
“While the world is progressively recovering from the global economic crises that have affected virtually all countries, it is crucial that the poorest countries are not left behind. This is a deep conviction Europe shares with the UN. The partnership between the EU and the UN is an essential component in our efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).” José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission “I am grateful for the EU support that made achievements recounted in this report possible, and I look forward to continued cooperation in the years to come.” Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General
4 Published by United Nations Office in Brussels, 14 rue Montoyer, 1000 Brussels email: brussels.of fice@undp.org
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The UN-EU Partnership
Upcoming Event
In 2009, the UN and the EU worked together in over 100 countries.
Millenium Film Festival The second edition of “Millenium” Film Festival will take place from 12 to 18 June 2010 at the Vendôme and CIVA (Centre International pour la ville, l'architecture et les paysages) cinemas in Brussels. The weeklong festival includes 45 films, of which 17 are nominated for awards and a series of special events and panel discussions.
Some results of an ever deepening partnership In 2009, working hand in hand with governments, local authorities and civil society in 105 countries, the partnership between the UN and the EU achieved the following results: Delivered life-saving interventions – food, shelter, water, emergency health, education and protection – to people in ? over 60 countries suffering the effects of natural disasters or conflict; Cleared 150 million square meters of land of mines, and destroyed 4,000 tonnes of small arms and light weapons; ? Educated 2.2 million children, including in emergency settings, thereby providing a sense of normality to these ? children's lives; Helped 20 country governments and their communities to be better prepared to respond to natural disasters and to ? limit the suffering that disasters might cause; Delivered a fast and coordinated response to the food crisis, supporting 14 million people in over 50 countries; ? Supported governments in 12 countries towards the elimination child labour and provided psychosocial support to ? children suffering from trauma in crisis and post-crisis countries; Strengthened the electoral bodies in 22 countries to fulfill their vital democratic functions, and supported elections in ? 8 countries where 88 million valid votes were cast; Integrated environmental concerns into the poverty reduction strategies of 22 countries; ? Built capacities of 20 countries to conform to international trade norms and standards, helping increase their ? competitiveness in international markets. The EU supported the United Nations to deliver better on Leveraging European expertise: increasingly, the EU ? its mandates by: worked with the UN on behalf of EU member states to develop policies and practical tools, notably in postconflict and post-disaster needs assessments where a Supporting UN global coordination and bolstering UN ? tripartite effort between the UN, the European capacity to respond to emergency and post-crisis needs; Commission and the World Bank provided a platform for the international community to intervene after a crisis. Channeling EU support through multi-donor efforts ? coordinated by the UN, helping to reduce transaction costs The report comes at a crucial time before the September and improve efficiency for partner country governments summit of world leaders convened by the United Nations while adding EU critical mass to joint actions; to reassert their commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In looking at challenges Maintaining the commitment to “forgotten crises”, with ? ahead, the report is clear in stressing that “the UN and the EU support helping the UN sustain its support to countries EU must be able to respond and use the strength of their long after media attention had moved on, but where existing partnership to accelerate their contribution to the critical humanitarian needs persisted; MDGs” in a concerted way. 2 United Nations Office Brussels | 10 June 2010
Building upon the success of the first edition which took place in Brussels in September 2009, the Film Festival is an independent initiative supported by the United Nations, in particular the MDG Achievement Fund and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Belgian Development Cooperation, the Belgian National Lottery and other partners.
The opening ceremony will be on Saturday 12 June in Flagey at 19.30. The movie Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, by Zach Niles and Banker White, will be screened at 20.00. It tells the story of a group of musicians who escaped the horrific violence of Sierra Leone's civil war, landed in a West African refugee camp and formed a band which has since become an international musical sensation. The band will perform live after the screening.
Objectif d’Or At the turn of the new millennium, Heads of states and governments, made a pledge to achieve the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. These goals deal with issues concerning extreme poverty, illiteracy, women rights and climate change. Yet, as the target date of 2015 is swiftly approaching, it is of paramount importance that these goals are urgently tackled and supported and action reinvigorated. The “Millenium” Film Festival aims to support this message through the insightful art of documentary film-making. Films can have the extraordinary power to inspire change and to bring together individuals of all backgrounds to discuss and exchange ideas and to take an active role in meeting these indispensable goals.
The competition will bring together 17 documentary films, with an Award for Best Film (”Objectif d’Or”), Award for Best Development Content (offered by the United Nations Development Programme), Award for Best Human Rights Content (offered by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) and the Special Jury Award. The Jury will comprise 7 members and will be presided by Belgian director, Marion Hänsel.
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