Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 6 October 2005 — Page 45

The Muncie Times • October 6, 2005 • Page 45

AFRICAN BRIEFS

Mr. Pronk was meeting show calm and restraint today with the Special and fully to honour the Representative of the ceasefire, and urged that Chairperson of the progress in the talks not African Union (AU) suffer, due to violence in Commission for Sudan, Darfur or to divisions Baba Gana Kingibe, to within the two sides," discuss the incident. The Council president for AU has several thousand September, Ambassador monitors on the ground in Lauro Baja of the Darfur. Philippines, said in a press UNHCR, which carries statement, out protection monitoring in Darfur, has three offices UN appoints coordinain the region, with five tor to respond to deadly more planned. But the international bird Jebel Moon area around flu threat Aro Sharow has been a no-go /.one for the UN for Facing dire warnings of several months due to an impending global pancontinuing insecurity. demic of avian influenza, The attack follows a Secretary-General Kofi series of worrisome secu- Annan today announced rity incidents throughout the appointment of a Darfur. UNHCR is con- United Nations system cerned that the deteriora- coordinator for the virus'^ tion in security is prevent- which is presently deciing the provision of vital mating poultry stocks in aid to tens of thousands of Asia and could cross over internally displaced peo- to humans to deadly pie and could prompt effect, them to flee again, possi- "We expect the next bly to neighbouring Chad, great influenza pandemic which is already strug- to come at any time now," gling to cope with more David Nabarro, a senior than 200,000 refugees public health expert in the from Sudan. UN World Health UN Emergency Relief Organization (WHO), told Coordinator Jan Egeland a news briefing, recalling said yesterday that the sit- that the 1918 flu pandemuation has become dan- ic had killed over 40 milgerous enough that relief lion people, agencies have temporarily Subsequent epidemics suspended operations in in 1957 and 1968 caused some areas. fewer deaths but greater The 15-member social disruption, he told Security Council has reporters at UN called on all parties to Headquarters, negotiate in good faith WHO has warned that with a view to reaching a the outbreaks of the highpeace agreement in Darfur ly-pathogenic avian flu by the end of 2005. virus known as H5N1 "They emphasized the could mutate into a form need for all parties to which spreads easily from

person to person. As humans would have no natural immunity, such a new virus could cause widespread death, illness, as well as social and economic disruption. Dr. Nabarro will be responsible for ensuring that the UN system makes an effective and coordinated contribution to the global effort to control the illness, also known as bird flu, a spokesman for Mr. Annan said today. "He will also ensure that the UN system supports effective local, national, regional and global preparations for a potential human influenza pandemic - so as to reduce the human toll, as well as the economic and social disruption, that this pandemic could cause,” the spokesman added. At the press conference, Dr. Nabarro said the UN had already been working with governments, private organizations and scientists around the world, preparing to minimize the toll for a potential human epidemic. In particular, beside WHO, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) had been working to control the spread of the flu among poultry. In the past two weeks, the entire UN system had been brought in order to step up efforts, through a "virtual network" that involves the technical specialties of each organization. Further measures to control the disease among birds separating birds

from humans, and preparing for a crossover to humans are the next steps. "Preparing, so if there is a species jump, if the virus moves and mutates from the bird population to the human population, we are ready to respond, to neutralize it, to contain it, and to delay the development of a major flu pandemic," he said. Time is critical in the effort to contain the disease, he said, because there will only a window of a few weeks between the time the human flu is detected and the point where it becomes an epidemic. An early-warning system to detect the mutated flu, a means of treating the flu, and strategies for response are all critical, he said. "Prevention, preparedness, response, that what we've all got to do," he said. UN agency trains more South Africans in refugee registration The United Nations refugee agency is upgrading computer registration and training public officials hired by the South African Government to tackle a backlog, of asy-lum-seekers from parts of Africa and Asia that has risen to more than 115,000, as a flood of new refugees pours in. Last year alone, 32,558 people and their applications came in. Although the pace of processing has quickened, the backlog has clogged up the system, making it more and

more difficult for legitimate refugees to receive the protection and assistance South Africa provides, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. The pending cases include 27,000 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), nearly 15.000 from Somalia, 14.000 from Angola, 12,500 from Nigeria, 6,600 from Ethiopia and 6.000 from Zimbabwe. In addition, some 12,600 Pakistanis and 10,400 Indians have asked for asylum, UNHCR said. Of the 27,683 people recognized as refugees by the South African authorities over the past decade, more than 9,000 have come from DRC, more than 7,000 from Somalia and nearly 6,000 from Angola, UNHCR said. Official recognition as a refugee allows access to local social services and the right to work. The Government is adding more than 200 new refugee eligibility officers, most of them lawyers, to handle the individual interviews that provide the basis for deciding whether an applicant is accepted or rejected. In addition to training new staff at South Africa's Department of Home Affairs (DHA), UNHCR has provided computer equipment to strengthen the refugee registration system and has advised on improving the standards for datahandling.