UN chief sympathises with economic protesters

BERNE, Oct 18: UN Chief Ban Ki-moon has said the growing Wall Street protests demonstrate "frustrations" of the people across the globe due to global financial crisis and asked G-20 leaders to look beyond their own domestic issues and come up with "actionable plans" to fix the problem.

"That is what you are seeing all around the world, starting from Wall Street. People are showing their frustrations by trying to send a very clear and unambiguous message to the world," Ban said.

He asked world leaders to use the upcoming G-20 summit in Cannes to find solutions for the entire global economy and not focus merely on domestic financial concerns.

In a message to the G-20 leaders, Ban said "business-as-usual or just looking at their own domestic economic issues will not give any answers to the current very serious international economic crisis."

The G-20 leaders have a very "broad and important, crucial, responsibility to perform...towards the global economy," Ban, currently on a visit to Switzerland, told reporters on Monday.

He said leaders of the developed and emerging economies should restore confidence and trust of the people and come out with a broader perspective to tackle the economic crisis.

He said the G-20 nations make up 80 percent of the world's GDP and 85 percent of the world's population.

"We have to really address this issue with a sense of flexibility and compromise, and come out with actionable plans," he said.

The G-20 summit will be held on 3rd to 4th November in Cannes, France.

Russia, China veto UN resolution on Syria; India abstains

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 5: India has abstained from voting while Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that threatened action against Syria if it didn't immediately halt a deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, vetoed the European-backed resolution, killing the draft.

Apart from India, countries that abstained from voting were Brazil, Lebanon and South Africa.

Countries voting in favour of the resolution were Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, France, Gabon, Germany, Nigeria, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the US.

The 15 Security Council members have been negotiating different versions of a resolution for more than three months.

The draft resolution condemned the violent crackdown by President Bashar Al-Assad's forces against pro-democracy protesters and demanded immediate end to the violence.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said that actions of the international community should facilitate an engagement of the Syrian government and the opposition in a "Syrian-led inclusive political process and not complicate the situation by threats of sanctions, regime change. The resolution under the Council's consideration does not accommodate our concern about threat of sanctions. It does not condemn the violence perpetrated by the Syrian opposition," Singh said.

He added that the resolution also did not place any responsibility on the opposition in Syria to abjure violence and engage with the nation's authorities for redressal of their grievances through a peaceful political process.

The draft resolution, co-sponsored by France, Germany, Portugal and the UK, had voiced deep concern over the recent violence in Syria and strongly condemned "the continued grave and systematic human rights violations and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities."

Urging "all sides to reject violence and extremism," it called for "an inclusive Syrian-led political process conducted in an environment free from violence, fear, intimidation and extremism, and aimed at effectively addressing the legitimate aspirations and concerns of Syrias population."

The draft was "watered-down" from targeted financial sanctions against Assad and an arms embargo on Syria first proposed in August.

The latest version called for the council to "consider" unspecified "measures" after a 30-day period.

Puri said given the "complexity" of ground realities in Syria, India believes that engaging the country in a "collaborative and constructive" dialogue is the only "pragmatic and productive" way forward.

He added that India remains concerned at the unfolding events in Syria that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and security force personnel.

"We deplore all violence irrespective of who its perpetrators are."

US Ambassador Susan Rice voiced outrage that the Council had not adopted the text and said those countries which had not supported it would have to answer to the Syrian people.

She said it was a "ruse" to suggest that the resolution would lead to military intervention in Syria.

"The United States is outraged that this Council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge and a growing threat to regional peace and security. Several members have sought for weeks to weaken and strip bares any text that would have defended the lives of innocent civilians from Asads brutality," she said.

Annual session of UN General Assembly begins; Indian PM calls for UN reforms

NEW DELHI, Sept 21: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pressed for an early reform of the United Nations, particularly an expansion of the Security Council, noting it must be seen as an impartial, credible and effective world body.

In a statement before leaving for Frankfrut enroute to New York to attend the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly(UNGA), Singh also said efforts by India to promote international peace and security after it became a non- permanent member of the Security Council has enriched the policy making body's effectiveness.

"The United Nations must be seen as an impartial, credible and effective body. I will stress the need for early reform of this unique organization, particularly an expansion of its Security Council," he said.

India is seeking a permanent berth in the Security Council. It became a non-permanent member of this body in January this year after a gap of 19 years.

Singh, accompanied by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, would represent India at the high-level segment of the General Assembly on Saturday and deliver his address.

During the session, India, along with other members of the G-4 (Brazil, Japan and Germany), will work to push for reforms of the UNSC at the earliest for robust international security and peacekeeping operations.

The G4 members are keen on getting permanent membership of the UNSC.

Currently, India and Germany are non-permanent members of the Security Council. As the session takes places at a time of continuing global economic and financial uncertainties, India, as an emerging major economy, will reaffirm its commitment to working with the UN on furthering global economic and fiscal stability and balanced growth.

There is no meeting scheduled between Singh and US President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to leave New York before the Prime Ministers arrival.

However, Singh, who is attending the UNGA after a gap of two years, is likely to have meetings with others heads of state or government, officials said.

Eco slowdown and terrorism high on PM's visit to UN General assembly

"Today, terrorists are not only truly globalised, but are also waging an asymmetric warfare against the international community. They recruit in one country, raise funds in another and operate in others," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said in UN.

"They have global logistical and supply chains; they have developed transnational financial systems; they use the latest and most sophisticated technologies and have command and control mechanisms that are able to operate across continents on a real-time basis," he said.

Puri, who is also Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, was speaking at the UN Secretary General's Symposium on International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation.

He said concerted international efforts are required to identify and expose the linkages that exist between terrorists and their supporters and to destroy terrorist safe havens, their financial flows and their support networks.

Countries, including India, have been victims of this scourge for several decades, with the 9/11 attacks bringing home to the western world its devastating consequences, Puri said.

Despite efforts by the international community, there has been no let up in terrorist violence and the world continues to confront the challenge emanating from the epicentres of terrorism, he said.

"The central requirement of an effective counter-terrorism strategy is the necessary political will to squarely face the challenge of terrorism. We need to adopt a holistic approach that ensures zero-tolerance towards terrorism," Puri said.

He expressed hope that a long-delayed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism would be adopted soon to put in place a legal basis for an effective counter-terrorism cooperation framework.

He said that technical assistance, capacity-building and sharing of best practices are vital components of successful collective strategies.

"We need to further strengthen international cooperation amongst prosecutors, police officers,and immigration and border officials through sharing and developing best practices in counter-terrorism efforts," Puri said.

At the national level, he said, there is a need to develop strategies that restrict the emotional and political space available to terrorists to carry out their propaganda.

"We must support all efforts to enhance dialogue between and amongst civilisations, ethnicities and religions, and evolve a culture of tolerance, compassion and respect for diversity, especially amongst the young."

The Counter-Terrorism Committee will be commemorating its establishment on September 28, 2011.

The Committee will also adopt an Outcome Document highlighting the progress achieved during the last 10 years and providing a roadmap for the future.

France Breaks with Obama on Palestinian Statehood Issue

UNITED NATIONS -- President Nicolas Sarkozy of France broke sharply on Wednesday with the effort by the Obama administration and some Europeans to quash the effort by the Palestinians for recognition here, instead calling for enhancing their status in the General Assembly to that of an observer state.

The French leader, speaking from the famous green marble podium of the General Assembly barely an hour after President Obama, also said it was time to change the formula in trying to negotiate an Arab-Israeli peace, taking an indirect swipe at the United States by saying the efforts so far were a complete failure.

“Let us cease our endless debates on the parameters,” Mr. Sarkozy said. “Let us begin negotiations and adopt a precise timetable.”

The timetable he suggested is resuming the negotiations in one month, agreeing on borders and security within six months and finishing a definitive agreement within one year.

The Palestinians have sought a specific timeline, suggesting that endless stalling was slowly erasing the chances for a two-state solution.

In the meantime, if the Palestinian effort at membership faces a Security Council veto, the deadly reverberations will be felt across the Arab world, Mr. Sarkozy warned.

"Each of us knows that Palestine cannot immediately obtain full and complete recognition of the status of United Nations member state," he said. "But who could doubt that a veto at the Security Council risks engendering a cycle of violence in the Middle East?"

The Palestinians currently have the status of an observer “entity” in the United Nations.

"Why not envisage offering Palestine the status of United Nations observer state?” said the French leader. “This would be an important step forward. Most important, it would mean emerging from a state of immobility that favors only the extremists.”

Recognition as an observer state would not mean much here except for some procedural changes, but it would allow the Palestinians to join subsidiary bodies and treaties of the United Nations.

Most Israeli concern has focused on the possibility that making the Palestinians an observer state could enhance their ability to join the International Criminal Court and pursue Israeli leaders through “lawfare.”

In choosing to go to the Security Council to seek full membership, Mr. Abbas chose a more difficult path but one that could get lost in the thicket of United Nations bureaucracy for months before the United States used its threatened veto. There is even a question if the Palestinians can muster the needed 9 votes.

But the United States has no veto over a General Assembly resolution, and the Palestinians enjoy overwhelming support there.

UN calls for intensifying anti-terror effort

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 10: Commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the United Nations on Saturday vowed to intensify its battle against terrorism and asked members states to step up efforts to tackle the menace given the proliferation of terrorist threats.

“September 11 will mark our collective memory forever. We all remember what we were doing when we heard what was happening. Our shock and disbelief at this horror are indescribable,” UN General Assembly President Joseph Deiss said on Saturday in a ceremony to mark the 9/11 anniversary.

He expressed solidarity for victims of terrorist acts who are attacked randomly and without respite throughout the world. “We are here to express our indignation at the cowardice of terrorism, condemn it firmly and categorically, combat it and see that the guilty are punished.”

Mr. Deiss said that global action is crucial in responding to international terrorism, which he called an “intolerable violation” of the purposes and principles of the UN and its ideals of peace, security and friendship among peoples.

“Given the proliferation of terrorist threats and actions, we must intensify our efforts without delay,” he said.

In his message on the 9/11 anniversary, UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon said the world cannot let terrorism tear apart the human family.

“To truly honour the memory of those who died — and the sacrifice of the brave responders who rushed to the scenes of the attacks — all people must stand against terrorism.”

He said like so many other people and institutions around the world, the United Nations too had been a target of terrorism, including just two weeks ago in Nigeria.

“No cause or grievance can ever justify such wanton killing and destruction.”

India hopes to meet high expectations on UNSC: Puri

NEW YORK, Aug 1: As India assumes the month-long presidency of the UN Security Council, the international community has "very high expectations" from it, according to Hardeep Singh Puri, New Delhi's envoy to the United Nations.

Puri said India will conduct itself with "political maturity, dignity" and in a manner which enhances the prestige of the Security Council and which serves the overall interest of the UN.

"More than India, rest of the international community has very high expectations from India's presidency of the Council.

"Not only will we meet those expectations but after we are through with the presidency... people will say here is a country which truly deserves to be a permanent member" of the UNSC, Puri said.

India, which assumed the rotating presidency of the UNSC on Monday, had last held the position in December 1992.

Puri said while the presidency does give India an opportunity to focus on issues of importance to it, India will be "very realistic about what Security Council membership entails and what the presidency of the council involves".

He added that India does not want to be short-sighted and immature by utilising the presidency to push forward few issues of paramount concern only to it.

"The manner in which you conduct yourself in the deliberations of the Council, the kind of positions you take, the political maturity which you display not only as the member of the Council but more in the presidency, those ultimately reflect on the country's credentials".

On whether the presidency will help bolster India's efforts towards a permanent seat in the Security Council, Puri said, "when a country conducts itself with political maturity and wisdom, that results in reinforcing the credentials for permanent membership and that is what India has already been doing".

He noted that the actual process of Security Council expansion and reform will require traction in the General Assembly.

"That is a process which we are already fully engaged in through our efforts" with various countries.

He said India has deliberately set a lighter agenda for the month and while it will make suggestions, "ultimately the evolving situations in the global hot spots will determine what the Council has to deal with".

UN meets again on deadly Syria crackdown

NEW YORK, Aug 2: The UN Security Council was to hold a second day of talks on Syria on Tuesday after President Bashar al-Assad's tanks shelled the protest hub of Hama on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

At least 24 civilians were reported killed across Syria on Monday, an activist said, among them 10 during protests after special evening prayers.

"Ten martyrs fell and several people were wounded by gunfire from security forces during protests in several Syrian towns after the 'taraweeh' evening prayers," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

He added that the day's death toll on the first day of the fasting month was 24, and that more than 150 people were taken in for questioning on Monday evening.

The protests came as the UN Security Council held a first session of emergency talks on the deadly crackdown, with Western powers again demanding a condemnation of the violence, but the closed session ended with no agreement.

A top UN official told the meeting that on top of 140 people reported killed in a military offensive on Sunday, 3,000 people have gone missing and 12,000 been taken prisoner since the anti-regime protests erupted in mid-March, diplomats said.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal hope to revive a formal resolution condemning Assad's crackdown, a move which will be discussed on Tuesday.

Diplomats said, however, that it was more likely the Security Council would agree a statement, with no warning of UN action.

The UN meeting came after Assad showered praise on his troops to mark Army Day, saying in a speech that the army had "proved its loyalty to its people, country and creed."

"Its efforts and sacrifices will be admired. These sacrifices succeeded in foiling the enemies of the country and ending sedition, preserving Syria."

The embattled president also visited wounded soldiers in a Damascus hospital and said "all Syrians appreciate the army," state news agency SANA reported.

Climate change debate in UNSC welcome step: India

UNITED NATIONS: India has said discussion on climate change in the Security Council is a welcome step, but maintained that the 15-member body does not have tools to deal with the issue.

Following a day-long debate in the Security Council, India's envoy to UN Hardeep Singh Puri noted that peacekeeping missions, use of force and sanctions, which the UNSC can authorise, do not fit the problems of climate change.

Puri insisted that climate change needed to stay in the realm of the General Assembly and the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"We don't have a problem discussing climate change," the envoy said. "As far as action, it has to be done in the UNFCCC."

"Some countries are trying to do a mandate creep," he said, describing a trend to get more issues under the belt of the Security Council.

Countries like Brazil and South Africa also emphasised that the UNFCCC should remain central to addressing the issue of climate change.

India, however, differed its position from China and Russia, which were fundamentally against the Council dealing with climate change.

Mark Lyall Grant, UK's envoy to the UN, also noted that New Delhi has not opposed the Council's statement on the climate change in the same way as Beijing and Moscow.

"India played a positive role," he said.

After several revisions, the Security Council issued a statement on climate change, last night.

Observers noted that its language was weakened to reach a compromise.

Proposals that the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appoint a special representative on climate change and that he issues periodic reports on its security implications were rejected.

"The Security Council expresses its concern that possible adverse effects of climate change may, in the long run, aggravate certain existing threats to international peace and security," the statement said.

"The Security Council expresses its concern that possible security implications of loss of territory of some States caused by sea-level-rise may arise, in particular in small low-lying island states."

A senior Indian official familiar with the behind-the-scenes negotiations said that India suggested the phrases "in the long run" and "in particular small low-lying island states" to reach a compromise.

After the Security Council issued a statement on climate change, Grant acknowledged that the statement was "weak", but a "step forward in raising awareness" about the security implications of climate change.

Grant noted that this was progress compared to 2007 when UK had organized the first Security Council debate on climate change but no agreement could be reached.

UN condemns attack on US, French embassies in Syria

UNITED NATIONS, July 12: The U.N. Security Council is condemning "in the strongest terms" the attacks against the U.S. and French embassies in the Syrian capital, Damscus.

A statement approved Tuesday by all 15 council members said the attacks damaged the embassies and injured diplomatic personnel.

The council called on Syrian authorities to fulfill their obligation to protect "the inviolability of diplomatic missions" and staff as required under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari accused the United States and France of distorting and exaggerating the facts surrounding Monday's demonstrations outside their embassies.

Nonetheless, he said Syrian law enforcement authorities "made every effort to ensure the safety of those embassies" and is committed to protecting embassies and diplomats.

India, Pak should resolve K-issue through dialogue: Ban

UNITED NATIONS, June 22: UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon today said the Kashmir issue needs to be resolved peacefully through dialogue between India and Pakistan, and that he would discuss with leaders of both countries on how he can help in the process.

Following his election as Secretary General of the United Nations for a second term, Ban indicated he was willing to help India and Pakistan find a solution to the Kashmir issue."I will have opportunities in the future as in the past... I will discuss the matter with leaders of both India and Pakistan, how we can help or how this issue could resolved peacefully through dialogue," said Ban.

For several months during Ban's first term, the Kashmir Valley had witnessed immense unrest leading to protests, long curfews and many deaths.

Earlier this year, India and Pakistan agreed to resume their comprehensive dialogue, with Kashmir on the agenda. Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is in Islamabad for two-day talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, during which the two sides are expected to discuss a number of issues including Kashmir.

UN General Assembly Approves Second Term for Ban Ki-moon as Secretary-General

UNITED NATIONS, June 21: UN general assembly of 192 members’ countries acting on the recommendation of the Security Council, the General Assembly on June 21, 2011 unanimously appointed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a second five-year term beginning 1 January 2012.

In a draft resolution adopted by acclamation, the Assembly also expressed its appreciation for Mr. Ban’s effective and dedicated service during his first term.

After taking the oath of office — the current term ends on 31 December 2011 Mr. Ban said the Assembly had given him a great honour that was “beyond expression”.

“By acting decisively to renew my mandate, you have given the gift of time — time to carry on the important work that, together, we have begun,” he said, adding that in the coming months, he would solicit Member States’ views and ideas in order to present a broader long-term vision at the Assembly session in September.

“Together, no challenge is too large. Together, nothing is “impossible,” he promised.

He listed the United Nations many accomplishments since he first took office in January 2007, namely its role in putting climate change squarely on the global agenda; making progress in nuclear disarmament; advancing global health, sustainable development and education; saving lives amid devastating natural disasters; promoting democracy, justice and human rights; creating a new dimension for the responsibility to protect; and setting up UN Women to empower women worldwide.

He pledged to work as a “harmonizer and bridge-builder” among all stakeholders to uphold the United Nations Charter and lead the Organization, whose role mattered in a different and deeper way than ever before. “To lead, we must deliver results.

Mere statistics will not do,” he said, stressing that the United Nations had far to go, for which decisive, concerted action was needed. “In economic hard times, we must stretch resources — do better with less. We must improve our ability to ‘Deliver as One’.”

In addition, the United Nations must “do more to connect the dots among the world’s challenges, so that solutions to one global problem become solutions for all,” he said. A clear timeframe lay ahead: the target date for the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, next year’s Rio+20 Conference and the high-level meeting on nuclear safety in September.

General Assembly President Joseph Deiss lauded Mr. Ban’s remarkable leadership of the Organization thus far and his success in strengthening its role and visibility through reform measures, exciting and innovative initiatives, and his constant call for respect for human rights, the rule of law and other Charter-based values.

“Loyalty, discretion and conscience,” which the Secretary-General had sworn to exercise when he first took office, had been more than just words. “For the past five years, on a daily basis, they have truly guided you in your work,” Mr. Deiss said.

He praised Mr. Ban for creating the Department of Field Support, the Office for Disarmament Affairs and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), in order to achieve greater efficiency. In addition, he listed Mr. Ban’s role in implementing the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health and promoting the safe use of civil nuclear energy.

He also gave Mr. Ban high marks for being extremely transparent about his activities and travel abroad, and for strongly collaborating with the General Assembly. Such ties were important, as they fostered dialogue between the Secretariat and Member States and contributed to the revitalization of the Assembly, within the Organization and on the international stage. “The task is not easy, as you know, but I assure you of the full support of the General Assembly and its Member States,” he said.

Nelson Messone (Gabon), President of the Security Council, who introduced the draft resolution, also made congratulatory remarks.

Ban Ki-moon to stand for new term as UN chief

UNITED NATIONS, June 6: Ban Ki-moon on Monday announced that he will stand for a second five-year term as UN secretary general and diplomats said he could win a vote before the end of the month.

Ban told a press conference he had sent a letter to UN member states to "offer, humbly, myself in consideration for a second term as secretary general of the United Nations."

Ban has led the global body since January 1, 2007 and his term ends on December 31.

Diplomats say that with no rival for the position, the UN Security Council is expected to give its approval and the UN General Assembly will hold a vote before the end of June.

UN chief calls on world leaders to ensure nuclear safety

KIEV, Ukraine, April 22: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says world leaders must devote serious attention to nuclear safety and preparations against natural disasters.

Ban made the call Thursday in a lecture at the International Relations Institute in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where he participated in conferences commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant explosion.

The U.N. leader said he is calling a summit-level meeting on nuclear safety to be held in September in Geneva.

He told the audience that "Nuclear safety is our common goal, our common responsibility. We have to think very seriously how we can strengthen our nuclear safety."

He said it is the responsibility of all government leaders to ensure the strongest possible safety and preparedness against natural disaster.

Speaking in Kiev afterwards, he warned that the recent quake damage to Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant showed that accidents like Chernobyl were likely to occur again in the future.

"The unfortunate truth is we are likely to see more such disasters. The world has witnessed an unnerving history of nuclear accidents," he said at a conference, calling for a global debate on the safety of nuclear energy.

"To many, nuclear energy looks to be a relatively clean and logical choice in an era of increasing resources' scarcity. Yet the record requires us to ask painful questions: have we correctly calculated its risks and costs?" he said.

Ban spoke after flying to Chernobyl by helicopter, standing outside the power plant for around 20 minutes with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on a visit that he described as an "extremely moving experience."

He warned the effects of climate change were likely to lead to more disasters like that at the Fukushima plant, which was damaged by a quake and tsunami in a disaster that Japan has labelled at an equal level of severity as Chernobyl.

"We have seen in Japan the effects of natural disasters particularly in areas vulnerable to seismic activities," the UN secretary general said.

"Climate change means more incidents of freak and increasingly severe weather (and) with the number of nuclear energy facilities scheduled to increase substantially in the coming decades our vulnerability will only grow."

The UN chief's visit came after dozens of international donors gathered in Kiev Tuesday to come up with the funds needed to replace the temporary casing now protecting Chernobyl with a more permanent outer shell.

But the high-profile gathering, which included the head of the European Commission and the prime minister of France, fell short of the 740 million euros sought by Ukraine.

The pledged money will go to a project administered by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with part also funding a safe storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from inside the reactor.

Both the new outer shell and the storage centre are due to be operational in 2015 and Yanukovych stressed Wednesday that the money pledged was enough to complete the construction of the shelter on time.

"Yesterday we raised the main part of the sum. The rest, I am sure, will be gathered shortly. De facto, we have the possibility to build the new shelter to finish the construction here by 2015," he said.

The EBRD said in a statement Tuesday that it would work with major donors "to close the remaining financial gap."

The UN chief said he was impressed by the construction work he saw at Chernobyl.

"I saw the Chernobyl command centre and the encouraging progress in building a new shelter for a damaged reactor," he said.

"It was a very impressive, creative and ambitious project to shelter the damaged reactor for the coming 100 years."

UN says no report of sexual abuse by security forces in J&K

NEW DELHI: The UN on Wednesday said it had not come across any case of sexual abuse by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We have not received any report of sexual violence in Jammu and Kashmir. So far we do not have any reports about the issue," UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallstrom said replying to a question.

Various separatists groups have been alleging incidents of sexual violence against women by security forces in the state.

Asked whether UN would set up any mechanism to monitor incidents of sexual abuse in Jammu and Kashmir, she said there was no such proposal.

However, she said the UN was in the process of setting up such a mechanism to monitor incidents of sexual violence in various African countries and in Columbia and Bosnia.

The UN official said she has been tasked by the UN Security Council to take steps to prevent sexual violence against women in conflict zones and the world body was taking a series of initiatives to address the issue.

Wallstrom said the world body is "deeply concerned" about growing incidents of sexual violence against women in various conflict zones across the globe and was taking several initiatives to ensure safety of fair sex in the troubled areas.