HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
MARTIN NESIRKY
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
HAITI: U.N. STRESSES NEED TO INCREASE AID FOR DISPLACED PERSONS OUTSIDE PORT-AU-PRINCE
In
Haiti, shelter and sanitation remain the main priorities, according
to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
OCHA says that more than 1.2
million people live in spontaneous settlements and more than 460,000
people have left Port-au-Prince for outlying departments. It stresses
the need to increase aid going to these areas to help the resident rural
population support the displaced persons.
The Office also says that regional
distribution hubs are being established to relieve congestion in
Port-au-Prince and that the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS)
is establishing a passenger service to locations within Haiti, to spread
aid efforts throughout the country.
The United Nations, in coordination
with the Government of Haiti, is currently assessing how assistance can
be provided to those who have moved out of affected areas. Particular
areas of concern include health care and food security. Food assistance
is being reinforced in the Southwest, North and Artibonite departments,
which are hosting a significant number of the displaced.
Concerning overall food
distribution, the World Food Programme (WFP)
says that the system now in place is working well. Nearly 1.9 million
people have received food assistance since the beginning of the aid
effort, including nearly 1.1 million in Port-au-Prince in the last eight
days through the new distribution system.
There were reports that one of the
WFP food distribution site, in Petionville, was hit by a fake coupon
scam. WFP says that food distributions are proceeding at all of their 16
fixed sites in Port-au-Prince. Furthermore, on Monday, the distribution
in Petionville was briefly suspended, not due to fake coupons, but so
that WFP and its partners could refine the distribution system.
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie is in Haiti today, after
visiting the Dominican Republic on Monday. She has traveled there to
register her personal support for the humanitarian effort that has been
underway since January's earthquake. Her purpose in making this visit is
to bring attention to the continuing dire needs of Haiti and its people.
Asked who has control on the ground in Haiti, the Spokesperson said that the Government of Haiti retains sovereign control over the country. The United Nations, he said, assists the Government through its mandated tasks, as it had done prior to the earthquake.
HUMANITARIAN COMMUNITY LAUNCHES $537 MILLION FLASH APPEAL FOR PAKISTAN
The humanitarian community operating in Pakistan
has launched a
$537 million appeal to respond to the immediate needs, over a
six-month period, of the vulnerable populations in the North-West of the
country.
Last year’s response plan enabled the humanitarian
community to reach more than four million people in need of assistance.
That includes some 3.1 million people who were displaced from their
homes in northwestern Pakistan last year.
In addition to the direct relief assistance to internally displaced people, the main humanitarian activities in 2010 will be the distribution of food, rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure and assistance to farmers who lost their crops due to hostilities and displacement.
SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES AUTHORITIES IN SRI LANKA TO FOLLOW DUE PROCESS
Asked about the arrest of Gen. Sarath Fonseka in
Sri Lanka, the Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General is following
developments in Sri Lanka with concern.
Nesirky said that the Secretary-General has learned
about the arrest of General Fonseka. He urges the authorities to follow
due process of law and provide all the necessary protections and
guarantees to his safety.
The Secretary-General underlines the importance of
ensuring a positive political climate as the country prepares for
Parliamentary elections and in the interest of peace, stability and
reconciliation.
Nesirky added that the Secretary-General intends to speak with President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the coming hours and will maintain close engagement through his senior advisers.
MISSION IN CHAD AND CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC HAS PROVIDED NECESSARY DETERRENCE, ASSISTANCE ON SECURITY
Asked about the Government of Chad’s request for
the withdrawal of the UN Mission there (MINURCAT),
attributing it to the ‘failure’ of the force, the Spokesperson disputed
the characterization.
As of today, Nesirky said, the force is at 70% of
its authorised strength, highly visible and actively establishing its
presence throughout the area of operations through the conduct of long
and short range patrols and the escort of humanitarian actors.
He added that the force has provided a deterrence
necessary to open humanitarian space and provided conditions for the
training, mentoring and deployment of the Chadian Détachement Intégre de
Sécurité (DIS), which provide security in and around the refugee and IDP
camps.
The Spokesperson noted that the United Nations had sent a technical assessment mission to Chad, which would brief the Department of Peacekeeping Operations on prospects for MINURCAT.
SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR OLYMPIC TRUCE AHEAD OF VANCOUVER WINTER GAMES
The Secretary-General is calling for a worldwide
cessation of hostilities for the duration of the 21st Winter Olympic
Games, which start in Vancouver this Friday. The truce is in the spirit
of what the Games’ founders did in ancient Greece some two and a half
thousand years ago.
In his message for the occasion, he says that peace
and stability are essential for people to reach their true potential and
that the Olympic Truce is based on that yearning, as well as on ideals
shared by the UN and the Olympic movement alike: global friendship,
harmony, non-violence and non-discrimination.
In response to a question, the Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General was not going to Vancouver.
HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY NOTES WITH CONCERN IRAN’S DECISION
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
has confirmed that it has received a letter on Monday from the Atomic
Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), which said that production of less
than 20% enriched uranium is to take place at an enrichment plant in the
city of Natanz. That uranium, the Iranians said, is to be used for fuel
for the Tehran Research Reactor.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano noted with concern this decision, as it may affect, in particular, ongoing international efforts to ensure the availability of nuclear fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor. Amano reiterated the Agency’s readiness to play an intermediary role on the issue of the Tehran Research Reactor.
UNITED NATIONS CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON CYPRUS PEACE TALKS
Asked about the withdrawal of the EDEK party
from the Cypriot Government, the Spokesperson declined to comment.
He said that the focus of the United Nations is the peace talks, and Dimitris Christofias has made clear he will continue them.
*** The guest at the noon briefing today were the Deputy Secretary-General, Asha-Rose Migiro; Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations; and Margot Wallstrőm, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict.
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