HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
During August, the Spokesperson's noon briefings will take place on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's.
Developments within the UN system will be posted on the website daily during this time.
Friday, August 7, 2009
BAN KI-MOON RECOMMENDS SETTING UP A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this morning
addressed the
Security Council at its
open meeting
on “women, peace and security,” to warn about the horrific acts of
sexual violence that continue to take place on a widespread and systematic
basis around the world.
He said, “I have met victims of sexual violence. I am
haunted by their testimony. And I will not relent in calling on States and
non-State parties to prevent these terrible crimes.”
To that end, the Secretary-General urged the Security
Council to immediately authorize the establishment of an independent
commission of inquiry, supported by the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights.
That commission would be tasked to investigate and
report on violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in
ongoing conflict situations in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and Sudan.
The Secretary-General also drew the Council’s attention
to the brutal, predatory and deliberate targeting of civilians by the Lord’s
Resistance Army, whose activities have destabilized civilians in Sudan, the
Central African Republic, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The open debate is continuing, with 45 speakers
inscribed in all.
Earlier today, the Security Council unanimously approved a one-year extension of the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
D.R CONGO: A SPIKE IN REBEL ATTACKS DISPLACES THOUSANDS
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
says that an unprecedented
55 rebel attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in eastern Democratic
Republic of the Congo have displaced some 12,500 civilians in the past month
alone. This is a spike from 23 LRA attacks in May and 34 in June.
UNHCR says that the Ugandan rebels have murdered 1,273 civilians and abducted 655 children and 1,427 adults. A number of women were also raped and houses were looted and torched. Fleeing civilians have found shelter in public buildings including schools and churches. And the situation is made worse by a lack of basic medical supplies at local hospitals, while aid agencies have so far reached only half of the IDPs. And that’s due to widespread insecurity in the region.
CHAD/SUDAN: AID AIR SERVICE MAY STOP WORK FOR LACK OF FUNDS
The World Food Programme
fears that the recent massacre of 161 people in Southern Sudan’s Jonglei
State might lead to a spate of deadly retaliatory attacks. Some 700 people
have been killed since March in the region while another 19,000 were
displaced. WFP and its partners have called on the government to put an end
to inter-tribal fighting, which is endangering the delivery of humanitarian
aid.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Chad, the WFP-run Humanitarian Air Service has received no new funds for its work. The agency says that without new funds, it might have no choice but cut some parts of its aid delivery programme by next week. The costal region of West Africa could also be affected by the persistent lack of money for the Humanitarian Air Service.
INSECURITY CURTAILS AID DELIVERY TO PARTS OF SOMALIA
The World Food Programme, (WFP)
has been able throughout July to deliver about 33,725 metric tones of food
to 2.8 million beneficiaries in south/central Somalia, Puntland and
Somaliland.
WFP’s plan for a more extensive distribution has been
hampered by lack of access in some areas in the south of Somalia, including
Mogadishu.
Together with the Danish Refugee Council, WFP also
distributed 1,638 metric tons of food to a total of 112,000 internally
displaced persons (IDPs) and the urban poor in the Gulf of Aden coastal town
of Bossasso and its environs.
The programme faces critical shortfalls as of the
beginning of October and urgently requires 209,000 metric tones of food
costing about $208 million to cover the current pipeline until the end March
2010.
And during the past week, UNICEF completed the construction of a 2 km water network to provide safe drinking water for thousands of IDPs and host communities in Kaa Shiqal camp in Banadir district. And over 10,500 people mainly newly arrived IDP, will benefit from more than 300 newly constructed latrines in areas north Mogadishu and south of Mogadishu.
ZIMBABWE: CHOLERA EPIDEMIC APPEARS TO BE STABILIZING
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs,
OCHA, reports that there have been no reported cases of cholera or
cholera deaths since 3 July.
The latest cumulative figures for casualties and cases
are 98,592 cases and 4,288 deaths.
Humanitarian agencies involved in combating the cholera
outbreak have been establishing contingency measures in the event of another
outbreak. These include pre-positioning stocks of cholera response supplies
at provincial and district health institutions.
On agriculture, ten donors have pledged resources
amounting to 60 million US dollars, representing about 45 percent of the
total requirement for the agriculture sector. The support will be in the
form of seeds for maize, sorghum and millet, as well as legumes and
fertilizer.
OCHA warns that
Zimbabwe’s overall humanitarian situation remains acute. Projected needs
(as outlined in the revised
Consolidated Appeal) include six million people with limited or no
access to safe water and sanitation in rural and urban areas.
In addition an estimated 2.8 million are still in need
of food aid and some 1.5 million children require support to access
education.
Maternal and child under-nutrition is a significant contributor in approximately one third of all deaths in children under the age of five, estimated at 12,250 annually.
H1N1 INFLUENZA CASES DECREASING IN SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
Today in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO)
said it is seeing a decrease of H1N1 activity in the Southern Hemisphere
-- probably due to the fact that winter is ending there.
Regarding H1N1 vaccines, WHO said the results of the
first clinical trials will be available in early September. The vaccines
will probably then be cleared for human use in early winter.
But WHO added that it is still not known how many vaccines could be produced per week, or whether one or two doses would be needed.
UNAIDS, WORLD BANK SET UP MONITORING SYSTEM FOR AIDS MEDICINE IN AFRICA
UNAIDS – together with the World Health Organization
and World Bank – has put in place a system to monitor the effects of the
economic crisis on the AIDS response. UNAIDS says it is particularly
concerned by how the economic crisis is affecting treatment and prevention
programmes.
According to a series of surveys it conducted over the
last few months, many countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, are running
out of critical stocks of anti-retroviral drugs.
In related news, UNAIDS has welcomed the Clinton Foundation’s agreement with Pfizer and Matrix Laboratories to reduce the prices of second-line drugs. Those are the medicines required when people living with HIV fail to respond to standard treatments.
SUNDAY IS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
On Sunday, it will the
International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. Deputy
Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro will lead the observance of the day at
the UN headquarters on Monday. This year the focus will be on indigenous
peoples and HIV/AIDS.
In a message to mark the Day, the Secretary-General
emphasized the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to HIV/AIDS, noting that,
“It is essential that indigenous peoples have access to the information and
infrastructure necessary for detection, treatment and protection.”
The observance will include a welcoming ceremony, cultural performance and a panel discussion on this year’s theme.
BAN KI-MOON TO TRAVEL TO REPUBLIC OF KOREA ON HOME LEAVE
The Secretary-General will go to the Republic of Korea
on his home-leave, starting this weekend. He will be coming back to NY on 18
August.
Upon return to UN Headquarters, he will attend on 19
August, the 6th anniversary of the Baghdad bombing and the first observance
of the International Humanitarian Day.
In the course of his 10-day private visit, the
Secretary-General will also take part in various UN-related events.
He will deliver keynote speeches at the 39th
World Federation of United Nations Associations Plenary Assembly, the
Global Environment
Forum, the Jeju Peace Forum and the University Presidents’ Forum on
climate change and sustainable development in Asia and Africa.
He will also attend the opening ceremony of the East
Asia Office and Research Centre for the United Nations International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR),
as well as an event for the Local Government Alliance for Disaster Risk
Reduction.
During his stay, the Secretary-General will meet with President Lee Myung-bak, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. He will discuss issues of mutual interest which include, inter alia, UN-Republic of Korea partnership and climate change.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
SECRETARY-GENERAL IS CONCERNED ABOUT REFERENDUM IN NIGER: Asked about the results of the referendum that recently passed in Niger, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations at present did not have any comments further to the statement issued last Friday by the Secretary-General.
UNDP PROBING HIRING OF CONGO ENVOY’S RELATIVE: Asked when Alan Doss, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had changed his status from being on loan from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Spokeswoman said that she understood that Doss was transferred from being on loan from UNDP to serving in the UN Secretariat on 1 July 2009. Asked about the circumstances concerning the employment by UNDP of Rebecca Doss, Okabe said that the process through which she was hired is currently being investigated by UNDP’s Office of Audit and Investigation. Until that work is completed, she said, she would not have any further comments.
FEMALE POLICE OFFICERS WANTED IN U.N. PEACEKEEPING: The Department of Peacekeeping Operations, (DPKO), is launching a global effort to recruit more women police into the UN’s peacekeeping operations. This recruitment drive is also aimed at encouraging national training programmes to support women to join national police services. A key objective is to have member states raise the number of female police officers serving in UN peacekeeping missions from the current 8 per cent to 20 per cent by 2014.
*** The guests at the noon briefing today were Andrew Hughes, UN Police Advisor, and Ann-Marie Orler, Deputy UN Police Advisor. UN Police Officers from peacekeeping missions, UNMIL in Liberia, UNMIS in Sudan, and MINUSTAH in Haiti briefed on effort recruit more women into UN peacekeeping operations.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Saturday, 8 August
The Secretary-General leaves today for the Republic of Korea. During his 10-day private visit, he will address the 39th World Federation of UN Associations Plenary Assembly, the Global Environment Forum, the Jeju Peace Forum and the University Presidents’ Forum on climate change and sustainable development in Asia and Africa. He will also attend the opening ceremony of the East Asia Office and Research Centre for the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, as well as an event for the Local Government Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction. Other events include meetings with the UN Global Compact-Korea, the International Vaccine Institute of Korea, and the Korea National Red Cross. The Secretary-General will also meet with the country’s President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
Sunday, 9 August
Today is the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People.
UNAIDS will be participating in a number of events during the 2009 International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, being held from 9-13 August 2009 in Bali, Indonesia.
Monday, 10 August
The Bonn Climate Change Talks will be held from today until Friday. This is the third round of informal talks ahead of next December’s Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro will lead an observance of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People at UN Headquarters today. The observance, which will take place from 2-5.30 p.m. in Conference Room 4, will include a welcome ceremony, cultural performance and a panel discussion on this year's theme - indigenous peoples and HIV/AIDS.
The Human Rights Council's Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will hold its second session in Geneva from 10 to 14 August.
The guest at the noon briefing will be Catherine Bragg, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who will brief on her recent trip to the Central African Republic.
Tuesday, 11 August
There will be no noon briefing by the Spokesperson today.
Wednesday 12 August
Today is International Youth Day.
Thursday, 13 August
There will be no noon briefing by the Spokesperson today.
The Security Council will hold a private meeting for countries contributing troops to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Friday, 14 August
No major events are scheduled for today.
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