Other peacekeeping-related matters.

Bosnia: UN Mission extended. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended extending the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) through the end of this year and reducing its strength in October 2002 as it is rapidly moving towards the completion of its core tasks. In a report released on 12 June, Mr. Annan proposed maintaining an authorized strength of 1,600 police officers until the 5 October general elections, after which the Mission would be reduced to 460 officers by 31 December. But he warned of the need for continued vigilance about security in the country. "The systemic weakness of the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and continued obstruction, interference and illegal activities of entrenched political extremists and criminal organizations will require continued international attention", Mr. Annan said. "There will be a need for monitoring of and assistance to local police to preserve what UNMIBH has achieved and to ensure further progress towards the rule of law."

Burundi: Armed factions fighting. The Security Council on 24 June urged armed groups in Burundi to cooperate with those intervening to stop the fighting between different factions and reach a cease-fire agreement. Regional efforts have been carrying on to engage the armed groups in serious negotiations leading to a cessation of hostilities.

The Council also reminded parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law, and called for an immediate end to all attacks against civilians. The belligerents were urged to observe "days of tranquillity" to allow humanitarian agencies to carry out activities in the field.

Colombia: Election: Documenting the Uprooted. The United Nations has been supporting peace efforts in Colombia, and is examining President Alvaro Uribe Velez's proposals regarding a future role for the Organization in new peace efforts. Strife in the country has uprootedsome 190,000 people in the past year alone, according to government figures. Some estimates put the number of people displaced by the forty-year conflict at 2 million. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has expanded its efforts to provide identification documents to internally displaced Colombians. The project, which is being carried out by UNHCR in cooperation with Colombia's National Registrar, involves mobile documentation units that visit settlement sites to issue identifications (IDs) to those who have been forced to flee their homes. The IDs help them gain access to benefits, such as health care, education and bank loans. A particular effort is made to reach displaced women; a third of all displaced f amilies in Colombia are headed by single women, and many do not have their own identity papers, which commonly were in the name of their male family members. The agency is also campaigning to provide documentation to former conscripts who lost their record of military service--a requirement to pursue an education or get a job. The project, which has already reached 24 of Colombia's 34 departments, has provided more than 52,000 people with documents since 1999.

Georgia: Search for radioactive sources. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has launched a search for two abandoned radioactive sources in Georgia. The two-week search, announced on 10 June, is for Strontium 90 generators, in a 550 square kilometre area of western Georgia. The effort will involve some eighty people, mostly Georgian nationals, as well as radiation experts from the IAEA, India, France, Turkey and the United States, who will set out on horseback, foot and by car. Six highly radioactive Strontium 90 sources, which were used as thermoelectric generators for communication stations in remote areas, have been recovered so far, and the IAEA believes that two more remain at large.

The Agency has been working since 1997 to upgrade levels of radiation safety and security in Georgia, where over 280 radioactive sources have been recovered since the mid-1990s; some were discovered on abandoned Soviet military bases, and all have been placed in safe storage.

Liberia: Clashes continue. Clashes in Liberia intensified in June, and both the dissident forces and the Government have been urged to allow humanitarian workers safe and unhindered access to affected populations. The Secretary-General and other humanitarian agencies have expressed concern over the heavy toll the continuing fighting in Liberia has been taking on civilians, and the threat it poses to the stability of other countries in the region, particularly Sierra Leone.

Since fighting intensified in June, some 17,000 Liberians and 8,000 Sierra Leonean refugees have fled into Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, the exact number and condition of tens of thousands of civilians displaced within Liberia remain unknown because humanitarian agencies do not have access to conflict zones where vulnerable populations are living.

Sierra Leone: Peace prospects. Sierra Leone's prospects for peace are "encouraging" but the country, with international assistance, must consolidate progress and tackle the challenges ahead, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a 24 June report. He called the successful elections held the previous month "a remarkable step towards lasting peace in Sierra Leone." But without well-established government structures throughout the country and a security apparatus capable of protecting Sierra Leone from both internal and external threats, the stability achieved so far would remain tenuous. At the same time, Mr. Annan said that the increasing incursions by armed elements into Sierra Leone "portend a worrying trend", and warned of a "real risk" that the country and Liberia could be trapped in a vicious cycle, with civil war continuously swinging back and forth between them.