CÔTE D’IVOIRE: UN MISSION URGES PROMPT RESUMPTION OF VOTER REGISTRATION

New York, May 21 2009 6:00PM
The United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unoci/">UNOCI) today called for a prompt resumption of voter registration to allow for broad participation in the November presidential elections.

UNOCI spokesman Hamadoun Toure told reporters in Abidjan that the Mission "stresses the importance of a strong commitment to expedite the remaining tasks for organizing free, fair and transparent elections in the country."

Of primary importance, he said, was the opening or re-opening of hundreds of closed registration centres and the recovery of documentation damaged in disturbances.

Last Thursday Prime Minister Guillaume Soro announced 29 November as the date for the long-delayed election. Welcoming the announcement, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged "all Ivorian parties to respect this date and to work together to complete the remaining tasks related to the electoral process," in a statement issued by his spokesperson. The elections have been repeatedly postponed, most recently in December of 2008.

Mr. Toure said UNOCI specifically encourages all parties to the ballot to begin registration, help in the publication of provisional electoral lists, confirm voter lists, print and distribute electoral materials and consolidate the legal framework for the electoral campaign and the organization of presidential elections themselves. He added that UNOCI was committed to helping the process.

The Mission has been providing technical and logistical support for preparations for the elections, including in areas such as voter identification and registration.

Some 6 million voters had been registered, or about 70 per cent of the country's eligible voter pool.
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CÔTE D'IVOIRE: UN CALLS ON PARTIES TO FOCUS ON PEACE PROCESS, STALLED ELECTIONS

The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) has urged political leaders to show restraint and focus on the peace process aimed at unifying the country, which has been divided since 2002 between the Government-held south and a northern area dominated by the rebel Forces Nouvelles.

"It is also imperative to avoid an escalation of verbal confrontation which would only divert attention from the issues that real concern Ivorians," UNOCI spokesperson Hamadoun Touré told journalists in Abidjan.
In response to a question on the call by elements of the Forces Nouvelles for the Prime Minister to resign, Mr. Touré said that it was an internal matter and underscored the importance of the institutional framework established by the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. "We are counting on this system, otherwise we are going to find ourselves in situations which could be beyond our control and take us back."
He noted that there are urgent challenges to overcome in order to organize open, free, fair and democratic elections as soon as possible.

After a meeting with the West-African nation's Prime Minister yesterday, Y. J. Choi, head of UNOCI, told correspondents that there is now peace and stability in the country, with commercial activity in the south, north and west, and the identification and voter registration operation making strides.

However, he said, there have been delays in the electoral process, which now lacks a timetable, along with slow implementation of the latest addendums to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, especially with regards to the transfer of authority, the centralization of the treasury and the redeployment of the administration in the north.
Earlier, the spokesman had announced that Mr. Choi, who is also the Special Representative of Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, would be presenting the Secretary-General's latest report on the country to the Security Council on 28 April.
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UN-BACKED ANTI-CYBER-THREAT COALITION LAUNCHES HEADQUARTERS IN MALAYSIA

The headquarters of the global coalition to tackle the world's most serious cybersecurity threats, backed by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union, was inaugurated outside of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur today.

The new state-of-the-art facilities of the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Threats (IMPACT) in Cyberjaya will host the ITU's Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA), which promotes international cooperation to make cyberspace more secure in an increasingly networked information society.

The joint effort by the ITU and IMPACT – an initiative which brings together governments, industry leaders and cybersecurity experts to enhance the global community's capacity to prevent, defend and respond to cyberthreats – aims to provide real-time analysis, aggregation and dissemination of global cyber threat information.

"Cybersecurity is one of the most critical issues of our time," said Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General, noting that the problem demands "a truly global approach."

Last September, the heads of ITU and IMPACT signed an agreement to operationalize the GCA at IMPACT's Cyberjaya site.

Although the GCA will be housed at the IMPACT centre, ITU will have a "virtual showcase" at its headquarters in Geneva of the early warning system, crisis management and real-time analysis of global cyber threats.
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