Child refugees sexually exploited by employees of NGOS, UN Bodies and security forces--Read the earlier report.

Sierra Leone: UN Agencies act on issues of sexual abuse

ABIDJAN, 6 June (IRIN) - Several humanitarian agencies in Sierra Leone have developed action plans to respond to issues of sexual exploitation of vulnerable children, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which also reported that a national coordinator for sexual exploitation and abuse is to be recruited. The coordinator is to be based in the OCHA office in Freetown.

In its May 2002 humanitarian situation report, OCHA reported that a committee coordinating the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse was preparing a Mapping Roundtable to generate an inventory of resources and procedures already in place, identify best practices and locate gaps.

A set of humanitarian standards of accountability put together by the government, UN agencies and NGOs was launched on 10 May, while the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has drawn up a framework of remedial measures to combat child abuse in the region, OCHA said. "Measures include increasing security and international presence in the camps, identifying and assisting refugee girls who are most vulnerable [and] education campaigns," the report said.

In February, UNHCR and Save the Children-UK reported that refugee children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, reportedly by employees of the United Nations, national and international NGOs, local security forces and a wide range of other individuals.

The UNHCR/SCF report said the exchange of sex for money or gifts appeared widespread. The victims were mostly girls aged 13 to 18, while the most vulnerable group comprised orphans and children separated from one or both parents. The perpetrators "are often men in positions of relative power and influence who either control access to goods and services or who have wealth and/or income," the report said.

"Exploiters appear to be able to pay for sex when and with whom they want, and to do so with impunity, since the people they exploit are not able to complain about their situation for fear of their source of basic survival being removed," added the report, titled 'Note for Implementing and Operational Partners on Sexual Violence & Exploitation: The Experience of Refugee Children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone'.(keralamonitor.com)

Advani with US diplomat, Robert B. Blackwel at the ministry of home, New Delhi.

Vajpayee takes Silk Route Initiative in Central Asia

(keralamonitor.com) June 6, 2002.

"I have clearly conveyed that India is ready for dialogue with Pakistan on all issues, including the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, when cross-border terrorism ends,", Vajpayee addressing Media after the Central Asian tour.

The Indian Prime Minister has announced a new "Silk Route Initiative" towards the newly independent countries of Central Asia, which are geo-political significant to the country in the post cold war period. "India wishes to strengthen her ties with all the countries of the region, imparting a multi-dimensional character to them. I would call it the new of India's foreign policy, It will seek to build a new Silk Road of Friendship and Cooperation between India and Central Asia," Vajpayee told mediapersons, at the end of his two day visit to Central Asia.

"My visit, which began on June 2, had the principal aim of sharing the desire for peace, prosperity and progress with Kazakhstan, the largest country in the region…I have had very friendly meetings with the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nulsultan Nazarbaev," he said. The two leaders reviewed the fast pace of progress in bilateral relations since February, 2002 when the Kazakistan President visited India. "We have now identified Energy, Information Technology, Pharmaceuticals, Small Scale Industries and Defence Cooperation as areas for special focus.

"Both CII and FICCI were also present in Almaty with large delegations. These business leaders informed me that they see great opportunities for Indo-Kazakh economic cooperation. CII and FICCI have both decided to set up an office each in Kazakhstan. I would like this flag of business friendship to be carried to other Central Asian countries as well," Vajpayee said. India and Kazakhstan have set up a Joint Working Group Against International Terrorism and another Agreement to promote Tourism. A Memorandum of Understanding on Military and Technical Cooperation was also signed, Vajpayee revealed.

Vajpayee's meetings with the Presidents of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan have reinforced his conviction that a great opportunity beckons the two regions to work together with all the countries of Central Asia. "Together, we should be partners in tomorrow's mutually beneficial progress. Besides the obvious benefits in cooperation in Energy, there is a strategic logic to our "Silk Route Initiative"," he said.

On 4th June, Vajapyee participated in the "Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA)". "This Conference was aimed at spreading the message of peace, security and friendship so that peoples of Asia could concentrate on removal of poverty and promotion of socio-economic development through close bilateral and regional cooperation, he said. "This, indeed, was India's principal motivation behind our unstinted cooperation over the last 10 years in the CICA process," he said. "In my address at the Summit, I conveyed the message that deeper and broader Asian cooperation, with emphasis on conflict-resolution through dialogue, is the key to unleashing the full potential of Asia for peace and development both in our own continent and around the world," he said.

Through the CICA summit he conveyed to the peoples and governments of Asia, India's deep concern over cross-border terrorism aimed at destabilizing the country. "I said that India has taken due note of the repeated assurances from the President of Pakistan to stop infiltration of terrorists into India and all terrorist activities conducted from Pakistani soil in the name of Kashmir. So far, India and the world community have not seen the results of these assurances on the ground. I have clearly conveyed that India is ready for dialogue with Pakistan on all issues, including the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, when cross-border terrorism ends,:" he repated.

"Separatism is one of the main threats and challenges to the security and stability, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of states. The Member States shall not support on the territory of another Member State any separatist movements and entities, and, if such emerge, not to establish political, economic and other kinds of relations with them, not to allow the territories and communications of the Member States to be used by the above-mentioned movements and entities, and not to render them any kind of economic, financial and other assistance," he said, quoting the "Almaty Act" and the "CICA Declaration on Eliminating Terrorism and Promoting Dialogue Among Civilizations" accepted at the Summit. Vajpayee said he had "warm and friendly bilateral talks" with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Jiang Zemin of China.

(keralamonitor.com) June 6, 2002.

Defence Imports should be reduced: George Fernandes

Defence Ministry Consultative Committee meeting

The Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes has called upon the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) to make all out effort to reduce country’s dependence on defence related imports. He was addressing the meeting of the consultative committee attached to his ministry in Bangalore today. Shri Fernandes stressed the need by the DPSUs to work in the direction of increasing exports. He said that money allocated to defence related projects is fully utilized. Shri Fernandes said that there will be no shortage of funds for Research and Development by these DPSUs. Defence Minister noted that the DPSUs, inspite of being in the Public Sector and profit being not the sole consideration, were still by and large making profit.

Referring to the production schedule of Sukhoi fighter aircraft, the Defence Minister said that there is a need to compress it. Regarding Intermediate Jet Trainer, he said that it will be test flown very soon. Commenting on the upgradation of the MiG-21 aircraft, Shri Fernandes said it is still left with a life span of 20 years.

The members of Parliament while complimenting the efforts of various DPSUs suggested measures to improve their performance. One member suggested not to go for manpower reduction. Another member was of the view that export by these undertakings is very less in comparison to country’s defence imports. A member was of the opinion that companies like Bharat Earth Movers Ltd., while diversifying should explore the possibilities of manufacturing farm related equipment. Another member suggested an overall review of the working of these PSUs. He was of the opinion that Ministry of Defence should take up the issue of procuring more orders for these DPSUs from other Ministries like Railways and Ocean Development in these DPSUs should not be linked to their turnover as these companies are working in the field of defence.

Earlier the CMDs of all the eight DPSUs i.e., Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Bharat Electronics Ltd., Bharat Earth Movers Ltd., Mazagon Dock Ltd., Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Goa Shipyard Ltd., Bharat Dynamics Ltd., and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd., gave a detailed presentation about the achievements and future projections of their respective companies.

The Members of Parliament, Dr. Nihal Chand, Kunwar Akhilesh Singh, Shri Mansoor Ali Khan (From Lok Sabha), Shri TN Chaturvedi, Shri S Agniraj, Shri Kripal Parmar, Shri SR Bommai and Dr. Vijay Mallaya (from Rajya Sabha) attended the meeting. The Minister of State for Defence Shri UV Krishnam Raju, Secretary (Defence Production and Supplies), Shri Subir Datta, Secretary (Defence Finance), Shri M Kumaraswami and other senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the DPSUs were also present in the meeting.