DRUM BEATS MARK UN COMMEMORATION OF SLAVE TRADE

The powerful sounds of musicians, drummers and steel bands echoed through the United Nations complex in New York today in a celebration of the world's common humanity and in commemoration of the victims of the African slave trade.

"Break the Silence, Beat the Drum" brought together artists from Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, the Caribbean and the United States, as well as students, diplomats and UN officials, to launch a series of events to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Designated by the General Assembly in 2007, the Day honours the millions of Africans violently removed from their homelands and cast into slavery.

It is estimated that up to 28 million men, women and children were taken from Africa from the 16th to 19th centuries and shipped across the notorious "Middle Passage" of the Atlantic – mainly to colonies in North America, South America and the West Indies.

Addressing the event, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that that the elevation this year of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States marks a milestone in the 400-year struggle of the descendants of African slaves for justice, assimilation and respect.

He said that although slavery was abolished, the people of African descent around the world must still fight daily against entrenched prejudice that keeps them disproportionately in poverty.

In addition, racism and contemporary forms of slavery continue to pollute the world. "It is essential that we speak out loud and clear against such abuses," he stressed.

Last night Mr. Ban launched an exhibit of drums sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Cameroon, in collaboration with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the African Union, highlighting the significance of drums throughout the slave trade and beyond, from Africa to the Americas.

"We must beat the drum to proclaim that whatever our colour, whatever our gender, we are one people, with one common future," he declared at the opening of the exhibit.

As part of the commemoration, Emmy Award-winning musician Peter Buffet and hip-hop star Akon will debut a new song, "Blood into Gold," at a star-studded concert this evening in the General Assembly Hall, produced by the not-for-profit group Culture Project.

"We are delighted that many artists and celebrities have accepted to add their names and voices to this event," Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Kiyo Akasaka, told a news conference prior to the performance.

"Tonight's performers represent many countries where the slave route either originated or ended, that is from Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas," he noted of the event, which will bring together over 30 artists ranging from musicians Salif Keita and the Blind Boys from Alabama to actors Whoopi Goldberg and Phylicia Rashad.

"I love it when we all come together with all generations, all genres, all countries to create and ignite a positive spark on today's generation," Akon told reporters.

"I think that it's very important that we continue to do things like this that kind of reminds us of where we came from and how far we've come."

Peter Buffet added that "commemoration is critical, otherwise we'll forget." And while the Day celebrates the end of slavery, it is important to keep in mind that modern forms of the scourge, such as human trafficking, continue today, he noted.
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UN-BACKED 2009 SUMMIT ON WORLD FOOD CRISIS GAINS SUPPORT

A proposed 2009 world summit on the food crisis, which continues in poor countries despite falling commodity prices, is rapidly gaining backing and growing in relevance, the United Nations agricultural agency said today.

"The world food insecurity situation is unbearable," the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) affirmed in a press statement released after the leaders of the countries of the Caribbean Economic Community (CARICOM), as well as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, announced their support for a November parlay.

According to a recent FAO report, the total number of undernourished people in the world reached 963 million in 2008, nearly 15 per cent of the world's population, prompting the agency's Director-General, Jacques Diouf, to call for the meeting.

The proposal, FAO said, had already received support from the heads of State and Government of the League of Arab States at the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Kuwait last January.

It was also backed by the African Union (AU) at its assembly in Addis Ababa in early February, as well as by the heads of state and governments of several other States.

The FAO Director-General stressed that the Summit, to be held in Rome at the 36th Session of the Conference of the Organization, would reach tangible results by securing broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger and setting a new world food order.

"The Summit should lead to greater coherence in the global governance of world food security. It will define how we can improve policies and the structural aspects of the international agricultural system by putting forward lasting political, financial and technical solutions to the problem of food insecurity in the world," Mr. Diouf said.
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HAITI: UN COUNCIL MISSION REPORTS STRIDES IN SECURITY, WORRISOME POVERTY

HAITI: UN COUNCIL MISSION REPORTS STRIDES IN SECURITY, WORRISOME POVERTY
New York, Mar 19 2009 6:00PM

Haiti is making strides in security sector and judicial reform but continues to grapple with widespread poverty and vulnerability to disasters, the leader of a United Nations Security Council mission to the impoverished Caribbean nation said today.

"It does appear that there is a window of opportunity to enable the consolidation of stability and the undertaking of a process of sustainable development," said Ambassador Jorge Urbina of Costa Rica," who had led the four-day fact-finding visit that concluded on 14 March.

"It was evident to the mission," Mr. Urbina noted, on the other hand, "that the current levels of extreme poverty, in which 80 per cent of the people live on under two dollars a day and 50 per cent on under one dollar are incompatible with the goal to establish stability in the short term."

He said that in the last five years, Haiti had reached its goal of putting 14,000 police officers on the streets, and a successful anti-violence programme, carried out in partnership with the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), had brought stability to formerly lawless urban areas.

Border security had also been strengthened with the assistance of MINUSTAH, he said, and the country was also moving forward with an ambitious programme of judicial and constitutional reform eight elections scheduled over the next three years, which officials assured would be free and fair.

However, in addition to the high levels of extreme poverty, local governments were limited in their capacity to provide basic services, even though the Government and MINUSTAH, he were working together to expand the country's administrative capacity, Mr. Urbina said.

In addition, he said, Haiti's limited economic, social and cultural rights proved worrisome, a situation that was exacerbated by natural disasters, particularly the hurricanes last year that slammed into the city of Gonaïves, as well as the current food and financial crises.

During the mission, he said, Japan's representative had expressed concern that agricultural production, which employed more than half the population, barely covered 48 per cent of Haiti's food needs. He and other Council members urged Haitian authorities to adopt agricultural policies that would spur production.

On the regional front, Council also met with members of the core group of countries interested in Haiti and had observed a high level of commitment to the country among Latin American nations.

In addition, he said, Haitian authorities had repeatedly noted their growing interest in South-South cooperation, and the importance of the continued involvement of regional and subregional organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for Haiti's hemispheric integration.
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