” ““It is my first official visit to the EU institutions. A cooperation between the United Nations and other world organisations, such as the EU and the African Union, is key to prevent genocides and conflicts and to support needy peoples in every continent”: Juan E. Mendez, UN genocide prevention officer, talks to SIR about his tour that is taking him to meet the EU authorities in Brussels, such as the President of Parliament, Josep Borrell, and the High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana. Mendez, born in Argentina, persecuted and arrested by the military regime in his native country, has been living in the United States since the Seventies. In 2004, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, entrusted him with monitoring the most serious humanitarian and political situations across the world. “Right now he explains the most pressing emergencies can be found in three regions: the Sudanese region of Darfur, the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo”. “My task he specifies is to monitor these situations and take diplomatic measures to prevent new fights and rescue the populations that have been hit hard by the war. We also have to properly inform the public opinion”. The Special Secretary, adds the UN High Officer, has to face complex political and military situations, social and sanitary emergencies and “initiate and support laborious and time-consuming peace processes”.
