Subject: [fem-women2000 522] Women's GlobalNet 156: 2 NGO/UN Bulletins
From: iwtc <iwtc@iwtc.org>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 08:11:01 -0700
Seq: 522

IWTC Women's GlobalNet #156
Activities and Initiatives of Women Worldwide
By Anne S. Walker 

September 25, 2000

TWO NGO ELECTRONIC BULLETINS THAT GIVE UPDATES ON UNITED NATIONS 
ACTIVITIES

This edition of IWTC Women痴 GlobalNet features two NGO electronic 
bulletins regularly received here at IWTC. There is a selection from 
each bulletin so that you will get a feel for the type of information 
available. If you would like to continue receiving them, please see the 
contact information at the end of each bulletin.

>From time to time, IWTC Women痴 GlobalNet will be featuring NGO 
electronic bulletins and publications so that you will know what is out 
there in the field of development communications, and where you can find 
the information you need. 

A. UN UPDATE
United Nations Association of the USA -UNA-USA
By Jonathan Cohen

1. UN staff worldwide demand better protection of aid workers

21 September -- Thousands of United Nations personnel gathered today in 
cities, towns and villages around the world to demand better protection 
for aid workers following the recent murders of four staff members of 
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In New York, hundreds of staff members took part in a silent march in 
front of UN Headquarters to honour slain aid workers and encourage 
Member States to take effective measures to improve staff safety. 
Addressing the marchers after the protest, Secretary-General Kofi Annan 
said that despite the risks, UN staff must "become even more determined 
to continue our work, to help the needy, to get the message out to these 
families and others that their loved ones did not die in vain." He added 
that "there are millions out there who need our help, and we cannot let 
them down."

The Secretary-General said that he and other top UN officials had been 
shocked by the attacks against UN staff who had given their lives in the 
cause of peace. "We need to carry out our work but we need to be 
careful," he said, adding, "we need to press governments to help protect 
us."

Staff members march at UN Headquarters
In Geneva, over 1,000 people marched to a plaza near UNHCR Headquarters, 
where they heard High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata call for 
concrete measures from UN Member States to strengthen staff security. 
"The international community must listen," she told the crowd. "I have 
appealed many times to States, particularly those with the means, to 
fully and forcefully take on their duty to safeguard the lives of all 
aid workers." Ms. Ogata said her agency was urgently re-assessing the 
security benchmarks that determine when to suspend its operations and 
when to evacuate staff.

Also in Geneva today, a memorial service was held for Mensah Kpognon, a 
veteran UNHCR staff member who was murdered early Sunday in Guinea. 
Another aid worker, Sapeu Laurence Djeya, was abducted in that attack, 
and still remains missing.

Vladimir Petrovsky, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva, 
delivered a message on behalf of the Secretary-General. He said words 
failed to express the outrage at the "senseless violence" against Mr. 
Kpognon, as well as the anxiety for the safe release of Ms. Djeya.

2. Global Vaccine Fund Commits $150 Million in Vaccines and Funding Over 
Five Years to 13 Developing Countries

Initial effort will reach four million children, save more than 100,000 
lives per year; next disbursements in November

GENEVA, 20 September - The Global Fund for Children's Vaccines will give 
more than US$150 million worth of vaccines and funding over five years 
to improve immunization programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Thirteen countries will receive the first awards - Cambodia, Ce 
d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Madagascar, 
Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Tanzania.  As a result, these 
countries will be able to immunize four million children against 
hepatitis B by the end of 2001, and more than 600,000 children who would 
not otherwise have received any Immunizations will now be protected.  
This represents a 10% increase in basic immunization coverage.  
According to estimates, more than 100,000 lives will be saved every year 
due to these initial grants.

"Never before have we been able to provide this level of assistance 
directly to countries in such a short time.  That is important because 
immunization is one of our most cost-effective public health 
interventions.  Vaccines clearly save lives and it is unacceptable that 
30 million children today are not fully vaccinated", said World Health 
Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, chair of 
the board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), a 
coalition of public and private Institutions.  "The Global Fund is one 
of a handful of financial tools being used to help reverse declining 
immunization rates and to speed introduction of new and under-used 
vaccines in the world's poorest countries."

The Global Fund award process is designed to efficiently channel 
resources to developing country health systems.  Approximately 98% of 
current Global Fund resources will go directly to national immunization 
programs. Thirtymore countries are expected to submit proposals to the 
Global Fund for thenext review in October; subsequent reviews have been 
scheduled throughout2001 And early 2002.  The intention is to provide 
some form of support toall 74 eligible countries - those with income of 
less than $1,000 GNP percapita - over the next two years.

The Global Fund was launched earlier this year with an initial 
contribution of $750 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 
To date it has secured nearly $200 million in additional commitments 
>from Norway, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Other 
governments, including the Netherlands and Canada, have also expressed 
interest in contributing to the Global Fund.

For more information on the Global Fund and GAVI, please visit 
www.vaccinealliance.org

To receive this bulletin, contact:

Jonathan Cohen
United Nations Association of the USA
801 Second Avenue, 2nd Fl.
New York, NY 10017-4706
212-907-1300, ext. 325
212-682-9185 (fax)
jcohen@unausa.org
www.unausa.org

B. ICC UPDATE

CICC Secretariat, New York, NY. 21 September 2000

**4 RATIFICATIONS & 12 SIGNATURES during the MILLENNIUM SUMMIT**

"We must strive to end the culture of impunity - which is why the 
creation of the International Criminal Court." Kofi Annan, We the 
peoples: the role of the United Nations in the XXI century.

**RUSSIA SIGNS during the GA GENERAL DEBATE**

What is the Coalition?

The  Coalition is a network of over one thousand civil society 
organizations from around the world, working together towards a common 
goal: the establishment of an International Criminal Court.  The 
Coalition has a number of national and regional networks in Africa, 
Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.

What is the International Criminal Court?

The International Criminal Court will be a permanent court that will 
investigate and bring to justice individuals who commit the most serious 
violations of international humanitarian law, namely war crimes, crimes 
against humanity, genocide, and once defined, aggression.  Unlike the 
International Court of Justice in The Hague, whose jurisdiction is 
restricted to States, the ICC will have the capacity to indict 
individuals. The ICC will be created on the basis of the Rome Statute, a 
treaty adopted on July 17, 1998 in Rome at the United Nations Diplomatic 
Conference of Plenipotentiaries.

When will the ICC be created?

The International Criminal Court will be established when sixty states 
have both signed and ratified the Rome Statute.  As of now, 112 nations 
have signed the Statute, and 20 have ratified.  The Coalition and 
like-minded governments are seeking to achieve entry into force as 
quickly as reasonably possible, a goal which cannot be realized without 
the support of civil society and governments all over the world.

RATIFICATIONS CHART

1999

Senegal - 2 Feb
Trinidad and Tobago - 6 Apr
San Marino - 13 May
Italy - 26 Jul
Fiji - 29 November
Ghana - 20 December

2000
Norway - 16 February
Belize - 5 April
Tajikistan - 5 May
Iceland - 25 May
Venezuela - 7 June
France - 9 June
Belgium - 28 June
Canada - 7 July
Mali 16 August
Lesotho - 6 September
New Zealand - 7 September
Luxembourg - 8 September
Botswana - 8 September
Sierra Leone - 15 September


To receive this bulletin, contact:

Tunga Ganbold, Information Services
NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court
777 UN Plaza  12th Floor
New York New York 10017, USA
Telephone +1 212 687 2176  Faxsimile +1 212 599 1332
Email cicc4@iccnow.org
Web http://www.iccnow.org
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