New List Of ‘10 Stories The World Should Hear More About’ Released At UN
New York, May 15 2006 7:00PM
Aiming to spotlight international issues that deserve greater media attention, the United Nations Department of Public
Information (DPI) today unveiled its annual list of “Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About,” which this year
ranges from development challenges facing Liberia as it emerges from conflict to the plight of refugees caught in limbo
to the peace-building potential of water as a shared resource.
“In today’s round-the-clock media world, reporters often find themselves flooded with news, and sometimes urgent and
important stories are simply overlooked,” Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi
Tharoor told the UN News Service.
“Our goal is to draw attention to those stories that must be told,” he stressed.
The annual list draws on extensive consultation with UN departments, field offices and programmes. The order does not
reflect any ranking. The 2006 stories are:
Development challenges top the agenda in Liberia as it recovers from years of civil strife;
Asylum seekers face challenges amid efforts to stem flows of illegal migrants;
As the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) moves boldly towards an historic election, humanitarian concerns continue
to demand attention; Nepal's children have become the often-overlooked victims of ongoing strife in their country, their plight exacerbated
by poverty and abuse; In Somalia, the security vacuum is compounding effects of drought; The plight of millions of people who have languished in protracted refugee situations for years – and sometimes decades
– has serious humanitarian and security implications;
Efforts to aid victims of the South Asian earthquake have achieved success, but reconstruction tasks remain enormous; In many parts of the world, an alarming number of children are held in detention without sufficient cause;
Despite widespread perceptions that water basins shared by countries tend to engender hostility rather than
collaborative solutions, water is an often untapped resource of fruitful cooperation;
Gearing up for October elections, Côte d'Ivoire faces fear that a renewed eruption of violence will destroy any progress
towards political reconciliation.
The initiative, first launched in 2004, is not meant to be representative of the Organization's agenda. Additional
information about the stories is featured on a special Ten Stories web page, <"http://www.un.org/events/tenstories/">www.un.org/events/tenstories.
ENDS