10 Stories the World Should Hear More About.

Concerned that some issues continue not to receive sustained media attention or slip off the radar screen, the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) has unveiled a new list of Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About. "The media and the UN share an interest in getting information about what is happening in our world to the public", says Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor. "But journalists are often inundated with stories, all competing for their and the public's attention. Our aim is to make it easier for them to see that important issues do not fade from the headlines."

As in previous years, the 2006 list covers a spectrum of issues and geographical regions, some of which draw on troubling humanitarian emergencies and conflict situations (such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nepal), while others focus on vital areas like human rights (asylum law and child prisoners) and development (Liberia and water as a shared resource). The ranking of the stories in the list is not a reflection of their relative significance. Some stories focus on conflicts that may have been in the media spotlight, but highlight a perspective that does not usually get much play. The initiative, first launched in 2004, is not meant to be representative of the UN agenda.

LIBERIA

Development challenges top agenda as the nation recovers from years of civil strife

Setting off on an obstacle-strewn road of transitioning from a vicious war to stable peace and development, the nation grapples with an array of critical challenges that often escape the glare of the world media spotlight.

LOST IN MIGRATION

Asylum seekers face challenges amid efforts to stem flows of illegal migrants

Against the backdrop of escalating migratory flows and growing concerns over security, the institution of asylum finds itself in need of protection, as the line blurs between victims who flee persecution and migrants who seek economic opportunity.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

As the country moves boldly towards historic vote, humanitarian concerns continue to demand attention

As the world is applauding the determination of the Congolese leadership and people to take a crucial step in the country's transition from a bloody civil war to peace and democracy, the steep humanitarian challenges facing the devastated nation must not be forgotten.

NEPAL'S HIDDEN TRAGEDY

Children caught in the conflict

Caught in the violence that has plagued the country for over 10 years, Nepal's children have become the often-overlooked victims of the ongoing strife, their plight exacerbated by poverty and abuse.

SOMALIA

Security vacuum compounding effects of drought

Against the backdrop of a fragile peace process and encouraging prospects for reconciliation, the persistent insecurity in many parts of the country presents mounting challenges on the humanitarian front as Somalia struggles with the effects of its worst drought in a decade.

PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATIONS

Millions caught in limbo, with no solutions in sight

While news of major refugee emergencies often dominate headlines, the plight of millions of people who have languished in exile for years, and sometimes decades, remains a low-profile, high-risk situation, with serious humanitarian and security implications.

SOUTH ASIAN EARTHQUAKE

Relief effort saves lives, stems losses, but reconstruction tasks loom large

In the wake of a successful relief effort that helped to prevent additional casualties in quake-devastated areas, the aid community is facing the crucial new task of restoring livelihoods to hundreds of thousands of people left homeless and destitute by the disaster.

BEHIND BARS, BEYOND JUSTICE

An untold story of children in conflict with the law

Amid important strides in global efforts to ensure a protective environment for the youngest members of society, an alarming number of children in many parts of the world are held in detention without sufficient cause, often for offences that are not considered criminal when committed by adults.

FROM WATER WARS TO BRIDGES OF COOPERATION

Exploring the peacebuilding potential of a shared resource

Despite widespread perceptions that water basins shared by countries tend to engender hostility rather than collaborative solutions, water is an often untapped source of fruitful cooperation.

COTE D'IVOIRE

A strike away from igniting violence amidst a faltering peace process

As the country gears up for October elections, postponed from 2005, Cote d'Ivoire is on a knife's edge with fears that a renewed eruption of violence will destroy any progress towards political reconciliation. The so-called "hate media" is playing on people's fears, stoking the violence and is a major threat to peace and reconciliation.

LIBERIA

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES TOP AGENDA AS THE NATION RECOVERS FROM YEARS OF CIVIL STRIFE

As Liberia emerges from the shadows of a devastating 14-year civil war, the aftershocks of its history of ethnic hatred, violence and corruption, including the arrest of former President Charles Taylor on war crimes charges, tend to draw the most intensive media attention. There is, however, an equally dramatic story of the formidable challenges facing the country in its efforts to bring a semblance of normalcy to what has been a nonfunctioning State, with no civil services of any kind. The effects of economic mismanagement, corrupt government, administrative abuse and infrastructure collapse were compounded by the socio-economic and humanitarian impact of sanctions.

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The importance of this undertaking is hard to overestimate since any progress towards greater stability and security depends on how quickly basic services are restored and the economic engine restarted. "Experience has taught us that an incomplete effort in consolidating the peace is often a prelude to renewed conflict", says Alan Doss, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Liberia and head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), which played a vital role in the stabilization of the country and remains a key force in laying the foundation for durable peace and stability.

Africa's first woman Head of State, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who won the recent UN-organized elections, faces numerous pressing tasks as Liberia attempts to get past the trauma of its long civil war and proceed with its development agenda. These include the reintegration of ex-combatants, the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returning refugees, the creation of jobs and other income-earning opportunities, the repair and rehabilitation of infrastructure, the restructuring and reform of the armed forces and police service, the consolidation of State authority throughout the country, and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A major key to revenue growth is installing mechanisms to meet the conditions for lifting the UN-imposed sanctions on exports of Liberian timber and diamonds, which would provide revenues for national reconstruction and economic recovery.

* Liberia is staggering under an external debt of $3.7 billion, a per capita gross domestic product that is estimated to have declined 90 per cent, from $1,269 in 1980 to $163 in 2005, as well as an unemployment rate of over 80 per cent.

* There are no functioning public utilities and the vast majority of Liberians have no access to electricity, water, basic sanitation facilities and health care. Almost all medical services are provided by international non-governmental organizations and UN agencies.

* Roads and bridges, which are needed to open up markets, increase employment, sustain humanitarian access to rural areas and expand the overall protection environment, are in dire need of repairs. While UNMIL engineers and UN country team members have undertaken rehabilitation work on important road networks to facilitate the return of IDPs and refugees, much more remains to be done.

* The education system is dilapidated, with a dearth of qualified teachers and available resources to rehabilitate school buildings.

* Liberia has no effectively functioning judicial system. Outside of the capital, Monrovia, most courts have been destroyed and trial-by-ordeal is not unheard of. The culture of impunity that has developed in the absence of justice must be replaced by respect for human rights and the rule of law.

* During the civil war, the country's human resources suffered from a "brain drain" and crisis-related deaths. Vital socio-economic infrastructure was swept away as bad governance, embezzlement, smuggling of natural resources and economic mismanagement took their toll.

* At the end of civil war, there were 314,000 registered IDPs in the country and 340,000 refugees in neighbouring countries registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). While the UN-backed return process for IDPs came to an end in April 2006 and the majority of the refugees have returned to Liberia, resettlement activities continue as returnees struggle to rebuild their lives and communities.

LOST IN MIGRATION

ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE CHALLENGES AMID EFFORTS TO STEM FLOWS OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

In recent years, with the number of migrants in a rapidly globalizing world reaching an estimated 200 million, the important distinctions between migrants, asylum seekers and refugees have been blurred. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with it has come a growing degree of "asylum fatigue" in various parts of the world, a process that has threatened and in many cases undermined the protection that the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was intended to provide to refugees and asylum seekers. While illegal migration and security are problems that no State can afford to ignore, UNHCR stresses that control policies should distinguish between illegal migrants seeking better economic opportunities and those people who are in need of international refugee protection.

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Unfortunately, an increasing number of industrialized countries, as well as some developing nations, are making no such distinctions, says the UN refugee agency. Ever more often, asylum seekers are portrayed not as refugees fleeing persecution and entitled to sanctuary but as "illegals", potential terrorists and criminals. A frequently overlooked fact, however, is that asylum seekers and refugees constitute only a very small proportion of the tens of millions of people on the move today, yet they are being inextricably linked with the question of international migration. In a context where Governments and electorates are unable to draw a clear distinction between victims of persecution and the perpetrators of terrorist violence, UNHCR argues, there is an evident need to safeguard the principle of asylum.

* A constant feature of human history, the notion of asylum had been progressively incorporated into international law, culminating in the establishment of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. By the second half of 2005, no fewer than 146 of the 191 Member States of the United Nations had acceded to these international instruments, which are promoted and supervised by UNHCR.

* The codified principles of asylum set out the rights and obligations pertaining to people who have been obliged to leave their own country and are in need of international protection because of a "well-founded fear of persecution" on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

* Asylum applications in industrialized countries fell sharply in 2005 for the fourth year in a row, as the number of applications submitted totalled 336,000, or 15 per cent fewer than in the previous years.

* The largest drop in the number of asylum seekers in the last five years was recorded outside Europe. Canada and the United States received 54 per cent fewer asylum requests in 2005 than in 2001, while asylum applications in Australia and New Zealand plummeted by 75 per cent in the same period.

* The largest group of asylum seekers in 2005 was from Serbia and Montenegro, which includes those from Kosovo.

* Of the ten leading nationalities of asylum seekers, Iraqis and Haitians rose the sharpest in 2005, both by 27 per cent, while the number of asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Turkey continued to drop steadily.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

AS THE COUNTRY MOVES BOLDLY TOWARDS HISTORIC VOTE, HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS CONTINUE TO DEMAND ATTENTION

After 45 years of dictatorship and intermittent wars that have claimed roughly 4 million victims in the last five years alone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is bravely preparing for its first multiparty poll, scheduled for July 2006. Thanks to the efforts of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), large swathes of the nation are now at peace, while the registration of 26 million Congolese voters has testified to their commitment to change and the hope they place in the elections.

But while the country is on the verge of changing the course of its destiny, peace is fragile and the infrastructure is sorely inadequate, with many hospitals, schools, factories and railroads in a state of ruin. Some 1,200 people die every day, largely from preventable causes. Yet, all too often the immense human suffering implicit in these numbers remains outside the glare of sustained media attention. Funding for humanitarian aid in the country also falls short of its staggering needs. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, warning about the risk of neglecting the situation, points out that recent UN appeals for the Democratic Republic of the Congo have received only slightly more than half of the amount necessary to meet the most minimal requirements.

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* The Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa's third largest country, comparable in size to Western Europe, and is five times larger than Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone combined, with more than twice their population, nearly 56 million.

* MONUC is the largest peacekeeping operation ever fielded by the United Nations, with an authorized strength of some 17,000 uniformed personnel, as well as civilian specialists in such areas as human rights, humanitarian affairs, child protection, political affairs and medical support.

* Preparations for the scheduled July 2006 election, which is aimed at cementing the country's transition from a six-year civil war to political stability, constitutes the biggest and most complex electoral assistance mission the United Nations has ever undertaken.

* About half of the almost 56 million Congolese are under the age of 18. Children are particularly affected by the crisis: some 20 per cent do not live beyond the age of five, while 38 per cent suffer from malnutrition--20 per cent severely; half of those between the ages of 6 and 11 do not attend school; and nearly 10 per cent are believed to have lost one or both parents to AIDS. An estimated 20,000 have been child soldiers.

* At 1,300 deaths per 100,000 live births, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in Africa.

* With nearly 80 per cent of the population trapped in extreme poverty and more than 70 per cent undernourished, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has appealed for $50 million to support the agricultural rehabilitation of this vast country.

NEPAL'S HIDDEN TRAGEDY

CHILDREN CAUCHT IN THE CONFICT

Nepal, a poverty-stricken, landlocked country known largely for tourism and mountaineering, has been once again thrust into the media spotlight, as banner headlines and television images focus on the dramatic political turmoil in the streets of the capital city, Kathmandu. However, as was the case with previous coverage of the struggle between Maoist rebels and government forces, this explosion of interest has shone little light on a lesser-known problem--the plight of the Nepalese children.

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As a result, children's rights are violated and their lives are profoundly disrupted on a daily basis. According to a 2005 report by Child Workers in Nepal, as cited by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), over 40,000 children in Nepal are estimated to have been displaced over the course of the Maoist uprising. Tens of thousands have been abducted for political indoctrination by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Some of the children had been recruited into the Maoist forces or militia.

Education has suffered particularly due to enforced closures during strikes, which have cut the school year to nearly half in some areas. Teachers have been threatened, assaulted and even killed. Schools in conflict-affected areas have been used for political meetings and enforced indoctrination sessions. They have been bombed or attacked and some turned into barracks. There are also reports that mines and other explosive devices have been placed in and around school buildings and playgrounds.

In response, UNICEF and its partners have urged all parties in Nepal to ensure that schools and classrooms remain free of weapons and explosives, and serve as politically neutral zones where children will not be subject to indoctrination, abduction, harassment as political suspects, or threatened with detention.

* Nepal has a shot at ending the 10-year-old armed insurgency of the Maoists and at achieving durable peace. After almost three weeks of a general strike and street protests around the nation against direct royal rule, King Gyanendra gave up by the end of April 2006 executive powers of State, which he had assumed in February 2005. He restored the last Parliament and allowed the formation of a government composed of the parliamentary parties.

* A reciprocal ceasefire, government Maoist negotiations and the election of a constituent assembly to decide the future form of government will hopefully be the key milestones of an emerging peace process.

* In the last 10 years of armed Maoist rebellion, some 13,000 civilians have died in the violence in remote and rural areas.

* Half a million children do not attend school at all.

* The country's infant mortality rate, although substantially reduced in the last decade, continues to be high-some 59 per 1,000 children under the age of one.

* Some 86 per cent of Nepal's population lives on less than $2 per day.

* According to a UN human rights monitoring mission, breaches of international humanitarian law by the Maoists include continued use of children within the People's Liberation Army despite their denials that they were recruiting young people under 18. Children have been arrested and tortured on suspicion of being linked to the Communist Party and numerous juveniles are still in detention under antiterrorist legislation by State authorities. There is also evidence that children are being used by the Royal Nepalese Army as informants or spies.

SOMALIA

SECURITY VACUUM COMPOUNDING EFFECTS OF DROUGHT

As United Nations aid agencies are sounding an alert about the Horn of Africa, where over 8 million people are in grave danger from a devastating drought, the situation in Somalia, one of the affected countries, remains of particular concern and in urgent need of special attention.

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Despite some recent progress towards re-establishing a central government, the persistent insecurity makes combating the effects of drought very difficult, further complicating political reconciliation and leaving the country especially vulnerable to renewed destabilization.

Two elements--the political peace process on the one hand and the precarious humanitarian situation on the other--present two different momentums, but they are interlinked, says Christian Balslev-Olesen, the UN Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia. The country is facing the decade's most severe drought-related emergency, which is "coming on top of a situation where you already have all the most difficult indicators for human development", Mr. Balslev-Olesen adds.

In March 2006, the Security Council expressed its growing concern over "severe livelihood distress and the rising civil and food insecurity", and urged all Somali leaders to ensure complete and unhindered humanitarian access, as well as to provide guarantees for the safety of humanitarian aid workers.

Some 2.1 million Somalis are totally dependent on international aid. Not surprisingly, the bulk of the recent UN humanitarian appeal for the Horn of Africa--$327 million out of a total of $426 million--is targeted for the country. Aid workers, however, face unique difficulties in reaching all those in need as they try to provide assistance amid constant threats, piracy, abductions and roadblocks. Without help, the parched southern areas could see some 10,000 to 12,000 human deaths each month, while up to 80 per cent of the nation's livestock could also die. As food reserves diminish, requiring ever greater reliance on external aid, the competition for scarce resources will grow, leading to increased inter- and intraclan fighting, hijacking, looting, extortion and demands for "protection fees", a recent UN report warned.

* Several years of successive rainfall failures have particularly affected pastoral and agro-pastoral communities that are being forced to travel vast distances to find grazing for their animals. Meanwhile, reduced agricultural production has led to a dramatic increase in the price of food commodities, particularly cereals.

* The 2.1 million people dependent on aid represent 25 per cent of the population and include 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), many of whom are at risk of dying of malnutrition if the crisis is not addressed. Families in some areas are spending 70 to 80 per cent of the little money they have just to buy water.

* There are over 1,000 national and international staff personnel from UN agencies working in the country; however, there are no international personnel in the major cities of Mogadishu and Kismayu.

* Up to 80 per cent of schools in drought-affected areas are closed in a country where only 20 per cent of children have access to education under normal conditions.

* Security remains the greatest challenge to the Somali peace process. It also continues to impact the dire humanitarian situation, worsened by regional drought. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has made considerable progress in overcoming differences between the different factions; however, several challenges could unravel the fragile peace process. Recent fighting in Mogadishu has deepened tensions, as has the presence of some armed militias in the vicinity of Baidoa-the temporary seat of government. The need to canton these groups and provide food, water and shelter is being addressed by Somali leaders and the TFG, with aid from donors.

PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATIONS

MILLIONS CAUGHT IN LIMBO, WITH NO SOLUTIONS IN SIGHT

While refugee numbers worldwide have fallen to their lowest level in 25 years, a larger percentage of asylum seekers are spending a longer time in exile. The often-overlooked plight of subsistence living is in a virtual state of limbo. "The majority of today's refugees have lived in exile for far too long, restricted to camps or eking out a meagre existence in urban centres throughout the developing world", says the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in its 2006 report on the state of the world's refugees.

Today, there are at least 33 so-called "protracted refugee situations" involving groups of 25,000 people or more who have been in exile for over five years. According to UNHCR data, they account for 5.7 million of the world's 9.2 million refugees. These figures do not include the oldest and largest protracted refugee situation in the world--the Palestinian refugees, who fall under the mandate of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The vast majority of these exiles are found in the world's poorest and most unstable regions, often the result of neglect by regional and international actors amid declining donor support. Trapped in these forgotten situations, refugees cannot return home because of continuing violence or persecution, while facing significant restrictions on their rights in the places of asylum. UNHCR warns that their presence raises political and security concerns among host Governments and other States in the region. As such, protracted refugee situations represent a significant challenge to both human rights and security.

  "Protracted refugee situations are symptomatic of political failures,
  neglect and unequal distribution of resources. In line with its
  mandate to protect refugees and seek durable solutions to their
  plight, UNHCR is working vigorously to ensure that protracted refugee
  situations are not forgotten and that they are responded to in a
  manner that respects individual refugees, accounts for the wider
  political and development climate, and enables refugees to enjoy the
  1951 Convention rights that would facilitate their self-reliance
  pending a solution."
  --Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme

* Since the early 1990s, the international community has focused largely on refugee emergencies in high-profile areas, such as the Balkans, the Great Lakes region of Africa and more recently Darfur (Sudan) and Chad. Yet, more than 60 per cent of today's refugees are trapped in situations far from the international spotlight.

* The root causes of long-standing refugee populations stem from the very States whose instability engenders chronic regional insecurity. Most of the refugees in these regions, be they Somalis, Sudanese, Burundians or Burmese, come from countries where conflict has persisted for years.

* East and West Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East are all plagued by protracted refugee situations. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number (17), involving 1.9 million refugees. The countries hosting the biggest groups are Guinea, Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

* In Asia (China, Thailand, India and Nepal), there are five protracted situations and some 676,000 refugees. Europe has three major cases involving 510,000 refugees, primarily in the Balkans and Armenia.

* Although the measure of at least 25,000 refugees in exile for five years is traditionally used to define protracted situations, UNHCR argues that other groups should not be excluded. For example, of the Rohingya who fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh 12 years ago, 20,000 still remain. Similarly, there are 19,000 Burundians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 16,000 Somalis in Ethiopia, 15,000 Ethiopians in Sudan and 19,000 Rwandans in Uganda.

* While there are fewer refugees in protracted situations today, the number of such situations has greatly increased. According to UNHCR, the refugees are also spending longer periods in exile. It is estimated that in 2003 major refugee situations, protracted or not, averaged 17 years, nearly twice as long as in 1993.

SOUTH ASIAN EARTHQUAKE

RELIEF EFFORT SAVES LIVES, BUT RECONSTRUCTION TASKS LOOM LARGE

On 8 October 2005, a devastating earthquake struck South Asia, killing tens of thousands and leaving many more homeless and in danger as a bitter winter approached. An intensive effort to find, rescue and feed survivors was closely followed by the media around the world due to the sheer scale of the disaster: 73,000 people perished in Pakistan and 1,300 in India, a crisis that UN Emergency-Coordinator Jan Egeland characterized as the "worst logistical nightmare" the United Nations had faced. Despite the challenges, the concerted international and national effort succeeded in preventing a feared second wave of deaths, massive population movements and outbreaks of epidemics as the harsh winter spread across the region. Thanks to the massive relief effort, recorded mortality was no higher than during the previous winter. A survey showed no major food deficiency compared to the pre-earthquake level.

Nearly seven months after the earthquake struck, the post-disaster efforts are at another crucial junction, which deserves the close attention of the media and the public. As recovery effort shifts from relief to reconstruction, UN officials warn that the most difficult part of the job may be just beginning. Experience from other countries shows that desperately needed donor support often ebbs once relief aid phases out, and if this were to happen, many quake survivors could face another precarious situation next winter. As the humanitarian community strives for a smooth transition from relief to early recovery and reconstruction, the painstaking task of restoring livelihoods and rebuilding lives should not be allowed to elude media focus.

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* As part of the UN-coordinated international response to the earthquake, more than 500,000 tents were delivered, some 5 million iron sheets distributed and over 6 million blankets/quilts provided.

* Safe water was restored to over 700,000 people and thousands of latrine slabs were installed. Countless helicopter flights airlifted food and non-food items. More than 1 million children were vaccinated against measles.

* The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority of Pakistan, in collaboration with the United Nations and several civil society partners, has agreed to the basic framework of an early recovery plan--a set of operational programmes aimed at supporting the longer-term road to recovery and minimizing the gap between relief and reconstruction, for which an estimated $188 million is required over the next 12 months.

* The major challenges foreseen in the coming months are a successful return process, road accessibility in remote areas, potential landslides, continued assistance for vulnerable people and ensuring the broadest possible reach of basic services.

BEHIND BARS, BEYOND JUSTICE

AN UNTOLD STORY OF CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW

"No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily", states the Convention on the Rights of the Child--one of the seven core treaties forming the international human rights framework. But, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), an alarming number of children around the world are being deprived of their liberty, held in detention without sufficient cause.

Similarly, while the Convention stresses that imprisonment of a child shall be used "only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time", many children have been rounded up simply for being a nuisance or perceived as a threat. Moreover, most have not been tried and yet are being held for months and in some cases years, often without access to legal aid.

In some countries, the majority of children who come into conflict with the law are from disadvantaged communities and are criminalized for simply trying to survive; frequently, they are held under deplorable and inhumane conditions. Physical abuse is common and children suffer deep trauma resulting from torture and interrogation. Child victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation are often re-victimized.

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While the unanimous adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 by the UN General Assembly gave a major impetus to worldwide efforts to protect children's rights and brought media spotlight on many of the underlying issues, UN experts are warning that a troubling development, with serious implications for children's well-being, has not received enough attention. To address this problem, UNICEF is working with a number of countries to bring juvenile justice systems in line with international standards and to safeguard the rights of children who come into contact with the law.

* The term "children in conflict with the law" refers to anyone under 18 who comes into contact with the justice system as a result of being suspected or accused of committing an offence. Most of these children have committed petty crimes or such minor offences as vagrancy, truancy, begging or alcohol use, some of which are known as "status offences" and are not considered criminal when committed by adults.

* UNICEF estimates indicate that more that 1 million children worldwide are living in detention as a result of being in conflict with the law.

* The majority of children who end up in the criminal justice system are from particularly deprived communities and families, often from discriminated minorities.

* Putting children in prison instead of seeking alternatives stigmatizes them as delinquents, robs them of opportunities for jobs and scholarships, and exposes them to others who have committed more serious crimes. It also increases the likelihood of children breaking the law once again.

* UNICEF recommends a number of alternatives to detention, including to: refrain from imprisoning children who are simply trying to survive; divert children who have committed minor crimes away from the criminal justice system; use detention only as a last resort; keep imprisoned children separate from adults; and have Governments monitor the situation very closely, at a minimum having records of how many children are in jail and for how long they have been there.

FROM WATER WARS TO BRIDGES OF COOPERATION

EXPLORING THE PEACEBUILDING POTENTIAL OF A SHARED RESOURCE

Water, a vital source of life, has been known for centuries to be a major cause of tension or conflict within countries and among nations. With worldwide demand for water increasing sixfold over the last century, there was no let-up in disputes over transboundary water issues, prompting some experts to predict that the wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water.

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While freshwater propensity to strain relations among countries frequently makes headlines, the other side of the coin--water as an agent of cooperation--rarely gets sufficient attention. Nevertheless, research has shown much more historical evidence of water playing the role of a catalyst for cooperation rather than a trigger of conflict. There are examples of workable accords on water, reached even by States that were in conflict over other matters, including the cases of India and Pakistan, as well as Israel and Jordan.

With more than the 260 water basins in the world transcending national borders, it is hardly surprising that the situation is widely perceived as being fodder for hostility. As UN experts point out, given the importance of water for practically every aspect of life--health, environment, economy, welfare, politics and culture--it is well beyond the scope of any individual country to resolve many of these issues unilaterally. This gives an opportunity to transform a situation fraught with conflict into an opening for mutually advantageous solutions. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched a project--From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential--as part of a UN-wide initiative to promote water security in the twenty-first century. It aims to foster cooperation between stakeholders in the management of shared water resources, while helping to ensure that potential conflicts do not turn into real ones. By addressing the challenge of sharing water resources primarily from the Governments' point of view, it focuses on the development of tools for the anticipation, prevention and resolution of water conflicts.

* There are more than 3,800 unilateral, bilateral or multilateral declarations or conventions on water: 286 are treaties, with 61 referring to over 200 international river basins.

* The past half century has witnessed more than 500 conflict-related events over water, 7 of which have involved violence.

* According to UNESCO, 145 nations have territory within a transboundary basin and 21 lie entirely within one; 12 countries have more than 95 per cent of their territories within one or more transboundary basins. Approximately one third of the existing 263 transboundary basins are shared by more than two countries.

* In a case study demonstrating the effectiveness of the cooperation-approach, Bolivia and Peru, both sharing Lake Titicaca, have recognized how crucial it is to work together on the management of water basin resources through the creation of the Autonomous Water Authority.

* The Northern Aral Sea is being successfully restored after its surface had shrunk to less than half its original size as a result of a massive diversion of water under the Soviet Union, which had drained the two rivers feeding it and devastated the surrounding environment. The Aral Sea is shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but its fresh water basin also encompasses Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Thanks to a World Bank project, the Sea has now begun to fill up following the completion of the Kok-Aral Dam. Newly rehabilitated waterworks along the Syr Darya River are benefiting farmers by irrigating their lands. The next step is to improve the irrigation efficiency of two thirds of the land in the Kazakh part of the Aral Sea basin. Better water resources management will benefit Central Asian countries by allowing them to address energy and conservation needs more efficiently and potentially even earn revenue from the sale of hydropower to upstream countries.

* Women, who produce between 60 and 80 per cent of the food in most developing countries, are major stakeholders in all development issues related to water, yet they often remain on the periphery of management decisions and planning for water resources.

COTE D'IVOIRE

A STRIKE AWAY FROM IGNITING VIOLENCE AMIDST A FALTERING PEACE PROCESS

As the world marked in April 2006 the twelfth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, some press reports in Cote d'Ivoire seemed frighteningly reminiscent of how the media had once been used by leaders to trigger devastating acts of violence. Following a series of coups dating back to 1999, a troop mutiny in September 2002 in the country escalated into a full-scale revolt as northerners rebelled against southern dominance, with thousands killed in the fighting between rebels of the Forces Nouvelles and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire. Although fighting has stopped, the country remains divided between the government-held south and the rebel-controlled north. In 2004, the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) was set up to monitor the ceasefire and support the implementation of peace agreements, holding together a shaky peace.

The virulent targeting of political opponents in the national press and television, as well as on national and local radio, has long been a feature of the Ivorian media scene. Journalists, struggling to maintain their independence, often become victims in a country where partisan politics and hate messages are commonplace. Although the media environment is ostensibly free, journalists in the last few years have been victims of harassment, threats, arrest and even murder. They enjoy little editorial autonomy, with political affiliations often dictating coverage.

During a February 2006 visit, UN Emergency Coordinator Jan Egeland said that civilians in Cote d'Ivoire were among the most unprotected in the world and called for immediate action "when hate media in a Rwandan style asks for attacks against defenceless civilians, for minorities being chopped up and for international humanitarian organizations to be attacked, people should be brought to justice". Without the possibility of meaningful and severe sanctions against those engaging in inflammatory messages, hate media will continue to be a serious threat to peace and national reconciliation.

* Cote d'Ivoire gained independence in 1960 and enjoyed several decades of economic growth and unity, gaining a reputation as an African country's success story. Democracy was introduced in the 1990s, but disaffection among some groups resulted in a series of coups that led to full-fledged civil war by 2002. A peace deal brokered by France was reached in 2003, but this shaky peace was not consolidated.

* In 2004, UNOCI set up its own radio station to counter the effect of inflammatory propaganda and messages of hate. Initially available in Abidjan, the station has extended its reach to cover rebel-held towns in the north. In December 2004, a new Press Law was adopted, which provides the means to sanction poor journalistic practices and inculcate journalistic ethics.

* In December 2005, Charles Konan Banny was appointed interim Prime Minister. Supported by African mediators and the United Nations, his nomination was likely to move forward the Cote d'Ivoire's stalled peace process. However, he faces some difficult tasks, including disarming rebel forces and pro-government militias, the identification of voters and organizing elections by 31 October.

* In January 2006, UN forces and property came under attack by a political group called the "Young Patriots", following which international staff was temporarily withdrawn. Even more alarming, these attacks were incited in some locales by militia and prefecture leaders, who took over local radio stations and used them to broadcast hate messages that encouraged destruction. The Security Council has imposed sanctions on two youth leaders and one rebel commander, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Pierre Schori, has warned that "preaching violence is tantamount to working for the failure of the peace process".

* Secretary-General Kofi Annan has condemned the resort to hate media and demanded that all parties and leaders desist from such acts, while the Security Council called for sanctions on those who would incite violence and hatred, including by resort to the media.

* The Secretary-General has flagged the preparation of elections and the role of media as outstanding issues. Concrete and dynamic action needs to be taken to begin implementing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes to dismantle the militia, to redeploy State authority and to identify voters and prepare for the elections.

* A recent report shows an estimated 700,000 persons have been displaced since the beginning of the current crisis in 2002, when an aborted coup against President Laurent Gbagbo led to civil war: 90 per cent of them are living with other families in five large urban areas, putting severe economic strain on many of their hosts. The report also states that 50 per cent of those displaced say their health situation has worsened, while 30 per cent of displaced children lack the means to attend school.