HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS,
SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS,
Thursday, October 8, 2009
BAN KI-MOON CONDEMNS SENSELESS ATTACK IN KABUL
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly
condemns the senseless attack that took place in Kabul today, in the
vicinity of the Indian Embassy and the Afghan Ministry of the Interior,
which reportedly killed 17 individuals and injured 80 more.
The Secretary-General offers his deepest condolences to
the families and loved ones of those killed and his best wishes for a swift
recovery to those that were injured.
Asked whether the
Secretary-General supports the idea of holding a runoff election in
Afghanistan, the Spokeswoman said that the decision on whether or not to
hold a runoff vote is up to the two Afghan commissions dealing with
elections.
Montas reiterated that the
role of the United Nations in the Afghan elections is to support the Afghan
institutions working on counting the vote and dealing with allegations of
fraud. In particular, she said, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) is
currently working on dealing with the complaints of irregularities and any
recounts will be decided on by the Afghan electoral bodies.
She added that the United Nations has guarantees in place that the ECC can do the work that it needs to do.
SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS OPEN MEETING ON SOMALIA
The
Security Council is holding an open meeting today on Somalia, on which
it received briefings by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B.
Lynn Pascoe and by Craig Boyd from the UN Support Office for AMISOM, the
African Union Mission in Somalia.
Pascoe told the Council that the past few months have
not been easy in terms of Somalia’s security. Yet he said that the
Government has overcome repeated attacks by foreign-funded and heavily armed
groups. Meanwhile, the Government continues its openness to dialogue with
all parties ready to commit themselves to peace.
Pascoe said that spoilers must be neutralized adding
that targeted sanctions can be one effective way to deal with the spoilers.
At the same time, he said, our approach must be flexible enough to allow
those who have changed course and are now committed to peace to be removed
from sanctions lists.
Boyd provided details of the support the United Nations has provided to AMISOM. He said that steps are being taken to finalize all of the confirmed pledges to the Mission made in April, which amount to some $200 million. He said that the Department of Field Support is fully committed to supporting AMISOM, but warned that Mogadishu is currently a very challenging environment and continued attacks could slow our capacity to deliver the support package fully.
UN ENVOY SEEKS TO DEFUSE TENSION AT HOLY SITE IN JERUSALEM
Today in Jerusalem, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, visited the Harem Al Sharif/Temple Mount compound. H
e subsequently conveyed his assessment of the situation
to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad, the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s chief negotiator, Saeb
Erekat, and Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon. Serry also met
senior Jordanian officials in Amman.
Following his visit and meetings, which aimed to defuse
tensions, Serry stressed that the Secretary-General has been very concerned
at the recent clashes in Jerusalem. He added that incitement from any
quarter regarding holy sites, as well as provocative actions in East
Jerusalem, do not serve the sanctity of the city or the cause of peace. They
must stop, he said.
Based on his visit to Al Aqsa mosque and his contacts, Serry said it is clear that the situation is not yet resolved but that tensions have eased somewhat. He said he had been assured by all the parties he met of their desire to see calm restored. “We cannot allow a further outbreak of violence or let extremists set the agenda,” he added.
TOP HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL US EN ROUTE TO YEMEN
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes is scheduled to arrive later today on a three-day mission to Yemen.
he visit is intended to
galvanise support for the men, women and children whose lives have been
overturned by the conflict between Government forces and Al Houthi rebels in
2004. During his mission, Holmes will visit one of the five camps that have
been established to accommodate Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and
meet with high-level government officials and humanitarian actors.
On 2 September, the humanitarian community launched a Flash Appeal for $23.7 million to fund immediate, life-saving activities. The Appeal has only received 16 per cent ($3.8 million) of the requested amount to date.
U.N. LEGAL EXPERTS BEGIN 10-DAY ASSESSMENT OF COTE D’IVOIRE
Legal experts from the Department Operations
Peacekeeping Operations have begun a 10-day working visit to Côte d'Ivoire
to study the country’s implementation of national laws and its prison
administration as well as its judiciary’s interaction with other sectors of
society.
The experts were yesterday in the western part of the
country for meetings with UN and Ivorian state officials. They discussed the
redeployment of judicial and prison authorities across the country following
years of a political and military crisis.
Our Mission there (ONUCI) says that the visit will enable the UN and the international community, which has contributed to the reorganization of the judicial and prison sectors, to assess the progress achieved and the challenges remaining to be addressed.
U.N. MISSION IN DR CONGO SENDS ASSESSMENT TEAM TO SOUTH KIVU
The Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(MONUC) has sent an assessment team that includes UN military commanders to
Fizi, in the South Kivu province. They are looking into the disarmament and
integration of ethnic Mai Mai fighters into the national army.
The Mission says that the assessment is motivated by
reservations expressed by some armed ethnic groups about disarming at a time
of robust UN/DRC military operations against Rwandan Hutu rebels.
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The Mission says that the visit helped renew the confidence of some Mai Mai groups, which have released more than 450 combatants for integration into the national army. The Mission also says that more Mai Mai fighters have now joined the process and are being sent to UN-run training camps.
EXPERIENCED U.N. OFFICIAL SELECTED TO LEAD MISSION IN WESTERN SAHARA
The Secretary-General has informed the Security Council
of his intention to appoint Hany Abdel-Aziz of Egypt as his Special
Representative for Western Sahara and the Head of the United Nations Mission
for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
Mr. Abdel-Aziz will succeed Mr. Julian Harston, who was
appointed as Director of the UN Office in Belgrade on 1 March 2009.
The Secretary-General is grateful, both to Mr. Harston,
and to Major General Jingmin Zhao of China who has been fulfilling the
responsibilities of Officer-in-Charge of the Mission for the past seven
months, for their dedication and tireless work in fulfilling those
responsibilities.
Mr. Abdel-Aziz has some 25 years of experience at the United Nations, including in eight peacekeeping and humanitarian missions and he currently serves as Director of Mission Support in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).
CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS ADVANCES TOWARDS COPENHAGEN AGREEMENT WORK
The two-week climate change negotiating session in
Bangkok will conclude tomorrow.
Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
said today that the session had made real advances in putting together the
necessary architecture to make a Copenhagen agreement work on the ground. He
added that developing countries have been very constructively engaged in
making real progress on adaptation, technology, capacity-building and
reducing emissions from deforestation.
We now need to advance on the key political issues, de
Boer said, highlighting the need for developed countries to set ambitious
reduction targets and provide significant finance to help developing
countries step up their efforts.
De Boer stressed that without clear guidance on these
two issues from political leaders, the work ahead for negotiators would be
very difficult.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
UNAIDS CHIEF STRESSES INDIA’S ROLE IN HIV PREVENTION: The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, is currently in New Delhi, India. This is his first visit to India in his current capacity. Sidibé has been emphasizing to Government officials their role in ensuring that India can meet its goal of universal access to HIV prevention, care and treatment by 2010. The UNAIDS chief also expressed support for the recent decision of a Delhi court to decriminalize homosexuality in India. That historic decision strengthens India’s efforts to reach out to people who are at greater risk of contracting HIV, he said. Sidibé will be in India until Monday. Additional planned stops include Bangalore and Mumbai.
MORE THAN $83 BILLION NEEDED TO FEED SOME 9 BILLION PEOPLE: Investments of $83 billion a year must be made in agriculture in developing countries if there is to be enough food to feed 9.1 billion people in 2050. That’s according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which will hold a High Level Experts’ Forum, next Monday and Tuesday, on How to Feed the World in 2050. The FAO adds that private investment will be essential but that public funds will also be needed to improve the agricultural system and food security.
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WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION BODY JOINS HANDS WITH PRIVATE SECTOR : The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says it has signed a new agreement with two private sector companies. The goal of the new partnership is to use emergency communications to bolster disaster preparedness and post-disaster relief coordination activities.
HEALTHY WOMEN - KEY FACTOR IN REACHING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS:Tonight, the Secretary-General will attend the United Nations Population Fund’s Gala for the health and dignity of women. In his remarks, the Secretary-General is expected to stress the role of UNFPA as well as the importance of the right of women to reproductive health care. He is also expected to say that without healthy women, the Millennium Development Goals will not be met. He will add that ensuring the health of women is a moral obligation of any society.
UN OFFICES IN PAKISTAN TEMPORARILY CLOSED: Asked about security conditions in Pakistan, the Spokeswoman said that the matter was being assessed by the United Nations. UN offices in Pakistan, she added, are temporarily closed while that assessment takes place, but critical staff and associated non-governmental organizations continue to work to provide assistance to people in need in the country.
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