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Crisis Demands Both Immediate
And Long-Term Solutions - UN Envoy
UN News Service (New York)
25 February 2008
International efforts to help Kenya recover from the unrest that
started after election results were challenged in December should
thoroughly address the root causes of the violence, but must first
help resolve the political crisis as a matter of urgency, the
United Nations' top humanitarian official said today.
"If there is no quick resolution to the political crisis, the risk
of a fresh surge in violence, more displacement and further
polarization of society will be very high," John Holmes, UN
Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs, told the Security Council as he briefed them
on his visit to the East African country from 8 to 11 February.
"The humanitarian consequences of this could dwarf anything we
have seen so far," he said, noting that some 1,000 people have
already lost their lives and more than 300,000 others driven from
their homes since elections in which President Mwai Kibaki was
declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga.
He said he made it clear to Kenyan parties that the full weight of
the UN was behind the mediation process, led by former
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, that was attempting to heal the
rifts over the election results.
To avoid future violent explosions, however, it is also crucial to
address decades-long grievances over land, poverty and wide
economic inequalities in a context of strong population growth and
limited
availability of land, he said.
In addition, he said that political manipulation of land and
tribal issues would have to be prevented through constitutional
and electoral reform, and that there must be accountability for
those responsible for the current violence, human rights abuses
and failures to protect civilians.
"I believe the UN can and should play a vital helping role in many
of these areas, including programmes to tackle provision of
livelihood support, youth employment and reconciliation between
communities, building on local initiatives," he said.
Mr. Holmes also briefed the Council on his visits to camps for
displaced persons in the Rift Valley Province. He said most of the
basic humanitarian needs there have been reasonably met so far.
But he added that a good deal more needs to be done to consolidate
sites, build new camps, and increase security and privacy,
particularly for women, children and other vulnerable groups.
In that context, he mentioned "disturbing accounts of continuing
abuses in and around camps" and "dreadful stories of murder, of
rape and burning."
Unfortunately, he said, displacement and its accompanying abuses
will not disappear quickly even if there is a political agreement
in the coming days.
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