2009 – Arctic ice is melting faster than ever before. Amid many other crises – food, energy, recession and pandemic flu – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the world to take on these challenges together.
SOUNDBITE BAN KI-MOON: “If ever there were a time to act in a spirit of renewed multilateralism – a moment to create a United Nations of genuine collective action – it is now.”
There were also signs that the international political climate was changing, as a last remnant of the Cold War was about to melt. The Russian Federation and the United States pledged to cut their nuclear arsenals. US President Barack Obama addressed the UN Security Council.
SOUNDBITE OBAMA: “We will move forward with the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty and open the door to deeper cuts in our arsenal…And no matter how great the obstacles may seem, we must never stop our efforts to reduce the weapons of war.”
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev:
SOUNDBITE MEDVEDEV: “Today’s meeting is ushering in a time of large scale and serious work – work that I am convinced will dramatically improve the situation in the world.”
At the same time nuclear and missile tests by North Korea, and continued uranium enrichment by Iran, caused widespread concern.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy:
SOUNDBITE SARKOZY: “What I believe is that if we have the courage to affirm and impose sanctions together against those who violate resolutions of the Security Council, we will be lending credibility to our commitment towards a world with fewer nuclear weapons and eventually no nuclear weapons.”
Another UN priority in 2009 – the fight against world poverty. Financial markets began to recover slowly, but incomes and jobs did not. An estimated 100 million people fell below the poverty line this year – as the “near poor” became the “new poor”.
One of the major consequences of poverty – instability – posed a challenge in many parts of the globe.
In 2009, nearly 120.000 UN peacekeepers were deployed in 17 missions around the world. But the mission in Darfur, Sudan still lacks critical assets like transport trucks and helicopters. And hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people are still struggling to survive in miserable surroundings.
Sexual violence against women continues, but often these crimes are unreported because of the stigma surrounding rape. Female police officers are playing a major role in breaking down these barriers. Lubasi Matakala from Zambia:
Soundbite Lubasi Matakala: “We come in, try to give them morale and support in all angles of life and that’s why we are here trying to console the depressed and the oppressed.”
Meanwhile in Southern Sudan the world’s largest ever disarmament and reintegration Program is underway, aiming to help 180.000 ex combatants return to civilian life.
Off the coast of Somalia, pirate attacks more than doubled this year. The Security Council renewed the authorization for states to enter Somalia’s territorial waters to fight piracy and armed robbery at sea.
In Somalia itself, the recent heavy fighting in Mogadishu has forced over 200.000 people to flee their homes. Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Lynn Pascoe:
SOUNDBITE PASCOE: “After years of conflict, peace will not come to Somalia overnight. Stability must be promoted, national and external spoilers must be neutralized.
The UN has the daunting task of crossing frontlines to feed more than 2 million people every month. Running out of food, the world body appealed to member states to make good on their pledges to help.
World Food Program Executive Director, Josette Sheeran:
SOUNDBITE SHEERAN: “We start each year needing to raise all the money that we get and we need to raise about 5-6 billion dollars a year right now with the crisis.”
After decades of bloody fighting, the civil war in Sri Lanka is finally over. But thousands of Tamils are still forced to live in camps.
In Myanmar the release of political prisoners fell short of expectations, in spite of UN efforts.
SOUNDBITE BAN KI-MOON: “There should be dialogue with all of the stakeholders in Myanmar and Of course all political prisoners must be released including Aung San Suu Kyi.”
Meanwhile refugees have fled Myanmar to makeshift camps in Thailand, where the UN Refugee Agency’s Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited.
Sound up: jolie (“do you have a big family? Husband, children?”)
Violence in the Middle East continued in 2009. Early in the year Ban Ki-moon denounced an attack by Israeli forces on a UN compound in Gaza.
SOUNDBITE BAN KI-MOON: “I'm just appalled, I'm not able to describe how I am feeling, having seen this site of the bombing of the United Nations compound. Everyone is smelling, this is still burning. This is an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack against the United Nations."
The Secretary-General witnessed first hand the devastation brought about by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza during the three-week war. He also visited a town in Israel, which has often been the target of Hamas rockets from Gaza.
The UN-backed Goldstone commission on the Gaza war found evidence that both Israel and Hamas committed serious war crimes, and recommended further investigations into the conflict.
SOUNDBITE PALESTINIAN BOY: “I wish to live in peace like all children of the world. I wish the war would end and we can go back to school.”
After the fighting stopped, UNICEF provided essential supplies to children in Gaza.
At the same time, the UN – along with its partners in the Quartet – the USA, the Russian Federation and the European Union - is trying to revive negotiations towards a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
In Afghanistan, presidential elections revealed widespread fraud but a run-off vote was cancelled after the main opposition candidate withdrew.
High wheat prices enticed some poppy farmers to switch from illicit crops to growing food, raising a glimmer of hope that Afghanistan’s dependency on opium cultivation could be broken
In the Afghan capital Kabul the UN suffered a major loss. Five United Nations staff members were killed and nine wounded after an attack by armed Taliban militants.
The widow of one of the UN staff members, Emma Mefful spoke a few days after the attack about her husband, who died while defending the UN compound.
SOUNDBITE EMMA MEFFUL: “He lived a life based on two philosophies: loving his Lord and loving his neighbour.”
The Organization was also under attack in Pakistan, where 10 staff members were killed in separate attacks. The UN is helping 2 million Pakistanis who have been displaced by fighting in the north west region. In October, fighting spread to Waziristan, where access to the internal refugees was even more difficult.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a joint Congolese-Rwandan operation to disarm the rebel forces led to retaliatory attacks by the rebels on the local population. The UN refugee agency estimates that 370.000 Congolese fled their homes this year. Both government and rebels are accused of targeting civilians like Fatima Kapuweli:
SOUNDBITE FATIMA KAPUWELI: “I want to go home. I want peace so that we can go home. I want to be in my garden, to eat well, to sleep well, and to be with my husband.”
Women alone in the camps are an easy target for violence. On his tour of the region, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited a hospital that specializes in treating the victims of rape.
SOUNDBITE BAN KI-MOON: “The prevention of sexual violence against women must be a top priority. Let us agree: these acts are an abomination.”
In Haiti, the newly appointed envoy, US President Bill Clinton urged businesses to invest in garment production, agriculture and green energy. After years of political turmoil, there is hope for stabilization in the country.
SOUNDBITE BILL CLINTON: “We have a great set of leaders down there now. We can turn this around. And because we can, we must.”
A coup d’etat in Honduras sent President Manuel Zelaya into exile. He addressed the General Assembly by cellular phone, calling for the rule of law to be restored.
In Mexico a flu outbreak quickly crossed borders. The World Health Organization WHO declared the first flu pandemic in 41 years as infection rates and panic spread across the globe. WHO worked feverishly to create an H1N1 vaccine. In a gesture of global solidarity, nine countries agreed to make 10 % of their vaccine supply available to countries in need.
Along with disease, turbulent weather patterns swept across international frontiers.
In Afghanistan, seasonal floods destroyed the houses of 100.000 people.
And in the Philippines, a series of four major storms sent some 400.000 people running to shelters.
Global warming is evident in many parts of the world – glaciers in the Bolivian Andes are melting at a pace surprising even the experts -and the Arctic could be ice free by 2030.
Standing on the arctic ice rim, Ban Ki-moon got a first hand view of the impact of climate change. He urged the world to seal a deal in Copenhagen on a new treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
SOUNDBITE BAN KI-MOON: “Some say tackling climate change is too expensive. They are wrong. The opposite is true. We will pay an unacceptable price if we do not act now.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a high-level conference on Climate Change in New York in September. China was one of the nations that pledged to find solutions. President Hu Jintao:
SOUNDBITE HU JINTAO: “We will intensify our effort to conserve energy and promote energy efficiency. We will endeavour to cut carbon dioxide emissions by a notable margin by 2020.”
Small Island countries like the Maldives are especially vulnerable to rising sea levels. In order to raise awareness of the danger his country faces, President Mohamed Nasheed organized an underwater cabinet meeting.
SOUNDBITE PRESIDENT NASHEED: “If the Maldives can’t be saved today we do not feel that there is much of a chance for the rest of the world.”
At year’s end the world debated Climate Change in Copenhagen and there was growing momentum towards an agreement to slow down Global Warming.
Local action – global cooperation – the keys to tackling the planet’s enormous challenges – including climate change, poverty, conflict and disease.
In 2009 the United Nations was at the centre of that quest – to safeguard all our futures.
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