Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good afternoon.
A couple of notes and we do have a guest as well today.
**Violent Extremism
The Secretary-General just spoke at the Leaders’ Summit organized by the United States this morning on countering violent extremism. In his remarks, he said that violent extremist groups — including Da’esh and Boko Haram — pose a direct threat to international security, mercilessly target women and girls, and undermine universal values of peace, justice and human dignity. That threat is growing, he said. The most recent UN data shows a 70 per cent increase in foreign terrorist fighters from over 100 countries to regions in conflict.
The Secretary-General said that addressing this challenge goes to the heart of the mission of the UN and requires a unified response. On the basis of an emerging international consensus, he intends to present a comprehensive Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism early next year to the General Assembly.
He outlined five key priorities: the need to engage all of society; the need to make a special effort to reach young people; to build truly accountable institutions; respect for international law and human rights; and the importance of not being ruled by fear — or provoked by those who strive to exploit it. His full remarks are in my office.
**South Sudan
The Secretary-General also spoke earlier today on South Sudan. He said that the country’s leaders have a chance to correct their grave mistakes and focus on the well-being of those who entrusted them with this role — the people of South Sudan.
He urged the signatories of last month’s peace agreement to honour their solemn commitment and implement it without delay.
The Secretary-General also called on the international community to provide economic assistance to South Sudan. The parties must, in turn, demonstrate a genuine commitment to the peace agreement, he said.
The Deputy Secretary[-General] should be at the General Assembly stakeout or if not, shortly. That is not being showed live but I know it will be replayed quickly.
**Central African Republic
On the Central African Republic, the UN Mission there, MINUSCA, reports that, although the security situation has calmed in the last 24 hours, tensions persist in Bangui.
The Mission estimates that about 30 people have been killed, more than 100 have been wounded and some 10,000 people are seeking shelter at the airport’s IDP [internally displaced persons] camp.
MINUSCA is also conducting patrols around critical areas, with the view of protecting civilians, including one Muslim and two Christian hotspots at 3rd and 5th districts in Bangui.
As of today, the main road towards the airport has been re-opened, as have some other key roads, and barricades have been removed.
Yesterday, over 500 prisoners escaped from the Ngaragba prison in Bangui and others escaped in Bouar. Some of these include well-known perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses, and pose a serious threat to civilians and the protection of victims and witnesses and beyond, to the overall security situation.
MINUSCA is engaging in a political dialogue with local authorities and all other actors, including government officials and community leaders in order to put an end to further violence.
The Mission is also closely coordinating with Sangaris and is taking robust measures to restore security, including opening up the main roads in the capital. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, who was in New York, has flown back earlier than expected to Bangui.
And you will have seen that the Secretary-General himself has called for an immediate end to the unacceptable violence that we are seeing in Bangui.
He urged the country’s leaders and partners in the subregion to work closely with the UN Mission to prevent violence from derailing the political process.
Meanwhile, the Humanitarian Coordinator has also condemned the attacks against relief organizations and residences and called for free movement of aid workers to reach people in need.
And UNHCR adds that fighting and numerous roadblocks have made an already difficult humanitarian situation worse, impeding the ability of UNHCR to gain access to thousands of internally displaced people.
UNHCR, along with the International Organization for Migration and others, estimates that at least 27,400 people have been displaced, including 10,000 who are sheltering at the Mpoko site near the airport, which already was hosting about 11,000 people.
Emergency needs are emergency shelter, health care and basic aid.
**Burkina Faso
Turning to Burkina Faso, you will have seen that yesterday evening, the Secretary-General called on all national stakeholders to act responsibly, exercise restraint and work in the best interests of the country. In particular, he called on the members of the Presidential Guard and the national Armed Forces to abide by the terms of the agreement that they signed on 22 September.
The Secretary-General also encouraged the transitional authorities to intensify efforts towards holding early presidential and legislative elections to allow for the return of constitutional order to Burkina Faso.
**Yemen
Yesterday, we also issued a statement – last night rather — on Yemen, condemning the air strikes that reportedly struck a wedding party in Wahijah village in Yemen, killing as many as 135 people. The staff of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is currently seeking to confirm the level of deaths, including precise details on casualties. If the numbers are as high as suggested, the Human Rights Office said, this may be the single deadliest incident since the start of the conflict.
The Secretary-General, as you know, has consistently stated that there is no military solution to the conflict.
Any intentional attack against civilians is considered a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Violations of international law should be investigated through prompt, effective, independent and impartial mechanisms to ensure accountability.
The Human Rights Office adds that in the two weeks from 11 to 24 September, a further 151 civilians were killed — including 26 children and 10 women — and 151 wounded in Yemen. Since 26 March, there have been 2,355 people killed and more than 4,800 wounded.
**Afghanistan
We also issued a statement yesterday, in which the Secretary-General condemned the attack by the Taliban on the city of Kunduz in Afghanistan. That’s online.
**Somalia
And we have put out the communiqué that was agreed to after the high-level meeting on Somalia. That is available in my office.
**LGBTI
In an unprecedented initiative, 12 UN agencies today issued a joint call to end violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex, or LGBTI, people.
It highlights the link between human rights abuses against LGBTI people and ill health, the break-up of families, social and economic exclusion and lost opportunities for development and economic growth.
The Secretary-General will take part in an event this afternoon called “Leaving No One Behind”, where he is expected to express his support for this joint initiative.
**Noon Briefing Guest/Press Conference Today
In a short while, I will be joined by Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, the Head of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). She will brief you on the critical role of the UN regional commissions in supporting Member States’ implementation of Agenda 2030.
Immediately after that, 1 p.m., the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, will brief you.
And obviously there is a whole bunch of other things happening.
**Honour Roll
And lastly, today we thank Djibouti and Zimbabwe for paying their dues. As of now, there are…? How many Members States have paid their dues in full? Who said 127? You get the first question. If you have one.
**Questions and Answers
Correspondent: [inaudible]
Spokesman: Go ahead. Otherwise we’ll go to the runner‑up. Go ahead, Joe.
Question: Yes. What efforts are under way by the Secretary-General to open up again UN agencies, humanitarian in particular, in Eastern Ukraine? And did that issue come up during the Secretary-General’s discussions with Vladimir Putin? Thank you.
Spokesman: The situation in Ukraine obviously did come up. We have repeatedly called for those who control the areas in Eastern Ukraine to grant greater humanitarian access, and we hope that call is heeded. I will try to get an update from our humanitarian partners to see how those things have been progressing. Welcome.
Question: Thank you.
Spokesman: You need… I know… You need a microphone so I can hear your name.
Question: [inaudible]. Is it on?
Spokesman: No.
Question: Okay. Now it’s on. Okay. Great. Thank you for taking my question. My name is [inaudible] from [inaudible]. I wanted to ask you about the absence of the Palestinian issue thus far from the networkings of this 70th UNGA session. To what do you attribute this almost total dismissal and total absence of this issue?
Spokesman: Well, I wouldn’t… First of all, I would disagree with your, or at least not agree with the premise. First of all, there will be a Quartet meeting tomorrow on the Middle East peace process, which will include not only the traditional Quartet members who will be expanded to Arab foreign ministers. Obviously, the Palestinian issue will be discussed there. The Secretary-General mentioned it in his remarks. There will also be a meeting of the high-level coordination group on — that’s not the exact title — but coordinated by the Norwegians on aid. That will be later this, that will be also I think tomorrow on the 30th. And I think, as you know, there will be a ceremony marking the raising of the Palestinian flag. So from our end, it’s one of the many issues that will be discussed. I cannot speak for the reason why leaders at the General Assembly may or may not have spoken about it. I can only speak from the UN end of it.
Question: A quick follow-up. Can you share with us any of the, say, the other behind-the-scene meetings between, say, the Palestinian delegation and the Secretary-General or other UN…?
Spokesman: I can only share with you what we’ve announced and what happens in front of the scenes. Obviously, a big part of what happens during a General Assembly high-level meeting are all the side conversations — the bilaterals that different delegations have amongst themselves. I think more, we expect more than 1,000 to take place during that time. So I can’t speak to what’s going on behind the scenes. I would encourage you to talk to the Palestinian mission.
Question: Thank you.
Spokesman: Mr. Abbadi, then Matthew, then we’ll go…
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. You indicated that the Secretary-General this morning said that terrorism pose a threat to international security, and obviously, this terrorism is common threat to all countries. How does the Secretary-General explain the fact that the Security Council has not declared war on terrorism?
Spokesman: I think the Security Council has very much taken up the issue of terrorism through its Counter-Terrorism Committee also dealing with putting terrorist groups on sanctions lists. So I think it is very much on the agenda of the Security Council. Mr. Lee.
Question: I want to ask about, something on Burkina Faso and also South Sudan. In Burkina Faso, Djibrill Bassolé, who previously has been a, had a UN mediation role, I believe, he was the Foreign Minister, but he worked on Darfur, maybe for the African Union. He’s been arrested for… on alleged participation in the coup plot. And I wanted to know if the UN has…
Spokesman: I’ll check.
Question: …any response?
The other one is, on South Sudan, an internal UN report has emerged which says a number of things I wanted, that I wanted to ask you about. It says, for example, that… that IDPs in the Protection of Civilian camps insist that national staff, not from their preferred ethnic group — this is a direct quote — are removed from programme activities in the POC site, and that some Ugandan UNPOL have to be wear civilian clothes and be removed from POC duty. This is a DSS report. It’s lengthy. It’s dated September 2015. What I wanted to know is, from you, just factually, does the UN accept these, the things… the report is written in such a way that it makes it appear that UNMISS has agreed to this, to moving its staff by ethnic group and to, you know, re… reclothing Ugandan UNPOL officers. Is it true?
Spokesman: I haven’t seen the report, and I’m not aware of that policy, but if I get anything, I will share it with you. Yes, and then Richard.
Question: My question regarding that Quartet meeting tomorrow with the… can you put us more on the… if you have an idea what they are going to talk about exactly, the programme, how long… it’s going to be a meeting for a meeting or…
Spokesman: Sorry?
Question: Is it going to be a meeting for the sake of meeting and…
Spokesman: I think that I will leave that analysis to the journalists. Obviously, as I said, it will really be in two parts. There will be, I would say, the traditional Quartet, and then they will be joined by Arab foreign ministers and some others. I’ll get you a complete list for the second meeting. I do expect the Secretary-General to issue a statement on behalf of the Quartet. I think all can agree that we are at a critical point in the peace process in terms of lack of advancement of the peace process, something the Secretary-General has repeatedly noted in his periodic briefings to the Security Council. So I think it is a good time, an opportune time for the Quartet to meet. Mr. Roth.
Question: This may have been discussed last week, but will the Secretary-General be at the — and you may have done it today — will he be at the flag raising for the Palestinians tomorrow? I have another question.
Spokesman: I expect he will be.
Question: Okay. This is somewhat in-house, but because it’s going on, we could talk about it privately. Just…
Spokesman: It’s just us, Richard.
[laughter]
Question: It’s just like the good old days on this. Bye. Look, the delegate’s entrance where the world entered and exited yesterday and where we’ve covered… I’ve been there for many decades… a DPI [Department of Public Information] senior official told my colleague — or told others maybe, too — you can’t ask questions at this location, which is new to everyone, I think. Do you… is it your understanding that that area, it is welcome within reason to ask a question? It’s almost been a tradition of being ignored but the world leader keeps going. And I have a follow-up to that.
Spokesman: Okay. I’m… I’m not aware.
Question: Well, I’m here to prompt a discussion.
Spokesman: Okay. I will… We’ll have a discussion, Richard.
Question: The other thing, the big lunch yesterday with possibly the most… highest level of interest in the two Presidents with the Secretary-General in the middle, so that’s where you have a discussion, too. Yes, UNTV was there. A, we know they don’t shoot it sometimes as if it’s not… as if it’s a story, but then they may have been blocked out. And I think they were. So the camera is more on Ban Ki-moon than these two world leaders. I would have set it up so that we’re on that wide shot. Once that seating chart is known, you just stay on that, even if it’s just the audio of Ban Ki-moon. But I may give UNTV a pass. They also had still photographers. Who controls that location, people blocking TV cameras there?
Spokesman: I mean, I went down there for a few minutes. As you can imagine, when you have that many world leaders at that level in one room, there are a lot of the people around them, and I know my DPI colleagues try as best as possible to get a clear shot. Sometimes people get in there and who sometimes asked to move and may not move for whatever reason. I think it’s a challenge. It’s a bit chaotic. They do do their best.
Question: Also, on the delegates’ entrance, we were told no single journalist if it’s a TV person can go there unless they are with a camera person, which has never happened before also. If they don’t have enough people, it’s one thing.
Spokesman: I mean, Richard, I would encourage you to have this conversation…
Question: Well, it’s busy, and you can’t find people. And it’s been…
Spokesman: All right.
Question: But let’s move on.
Spokesman: Nice to have you back at the briefing, Richard. Mr. Abbadi.
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. Just a point of clarification: you indicated twice that the Secretary-General will meet with the Quartet and Arab foreign ministers.
Spokesman: No, I think what I… just to… Thank you for asking for clarification. It will be a Quartet meeting and then the Quartet members will be joined by Arab foreign ministers and others.
Question: Well, that’s my question. Is this including all Arab foreign ministers or only some?
Spokesman: Not all of them. I will get you a list. Not all of them. Okay. And Richard, the Under Secretary-General, Ms. Gallach, will be here at 1 p.m. to moderate the next press conference. You could also catch her right after.
Question: Just a follow-up on this. Who, I mean, who makes the decision which… which Arab foreign ministers are going to take place? Is it up to them or…
Spokesman: I think it is up to them. Obviously, Nabil ElAraby, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States will be represented and I think a number of other foreign ministers. Mr. Lee.
Question: Another South Sudan question. At yesterday’s Peacekeeping Summit meeting, some countries including the UK talked about deploying soldiers and some mentioned South Sudan. And South Sudan has responded that it… not without its permission. So I wanted to know, what’s the relationship between the pledges made, particularly the country-specific pledges? Some said Somalia. It was unclear if that was really a pledge to UN peacekeeping. Is DPKO going to put out a kind of a summary of how many of these pledges actually had to do with UN peacekeeping?
Spokesman: Yeah, they’re doing an accounting of everything that was pledged. Obviously, I think DPKO and the UN was very pleased with the level of pledges, notably in terms of the enablers and some of the support to peacekeeping missions. These are at this point pledges. They’re over a number of years. But we will be — they’re doing the accounting.
Question: Did any of the pledges relate to the idea of the Under-Secretary‑General Ladsous of R&R visits for…
Spokesman: Matthew, you were in the meeting. I mean, you could have seen the meeting. I’m not going to go back to this issue.
Question: Yeah, they said helicopters. I don’t know what they’re using them for…
Spokesman: All right.
Question: I wanted to ask a troubling question that I have been wanting to ask since Thursday, so I want to ask you now, and it has to do with the cafeteria, believe it or not. Not with the food, but with equality. The people that work in the cafeteria on the very day that the Pope was here in the lobby talking about the least of these have said they had been ordered to eat… to not dine or rest or sit in the cafeteria, but they must be in a side room. And to them they saw… it might seem like a small thing. They said this feels like discrimination. So I wanted to know, can you…
Spokesman: I don’t know. I will check.
Question: Do you think this is appropriate to take place?
Spokesman: Let me see what actually happened, and then I can comment on it.
Question: Final one. Do you mind?
Spokesman: What do I mind? What I do care?
Question: It has to do with UNHCR, this post that I asked you about repeatedly. And the President of the General Assembly had said he may have a favourite candidate, but he’s not involved, it’s the Secretary‑General’s. But I became aware from a number of people that were invited to meetings in the PGA’s [President of the General Assembly] office with Ms. Helle Thorning-Schmidt convened by the PGA in what appears to be an orchestrated sort of lobbying campaign for her candidacy. So I wanted to know, would that be appropriate? Two, has Ban Ki-moon met with her about this candidacy? And is it appropriate for the PGA’s office to be involved in inviting in…
Spokesman: I think that’s a question — what meetings may or may not happen is a question for the PGA. We have, we have a process. I think as in any process, people campaign or whatever you want to say. There’s a process outline of how these things are done. It’s through the document I shared with you — and we’ll go through the process in a fair manner. When we’re ready to announce it, we will.
Question: But is it done on merit? I guess… because of the way this thing looks in terms of… it’s actually exchange of…
[inaudible]
Spokesman: You can look at it through whichever prism. The best possible person will be hired for the job of High Commissioner.
Question: I have a question about a bilateral that took place earlier today between the Secretary-General and the President of Colombia. Did the Secretary-General raise any questions on the situation with Venezuela? Because he has received both foreign ministers and he’s been on it in the past weeks. What other topics were talked about?
Spokesman: I don’t think we’ve issued a readout yet for that one. As soon as we do, I will share it with you. Obviously, the Secretary-General has been very much involved on that file, and we’ll continue to offer the UN’s good offices. But as soon as we have the readout, I’ll give it to you. Mr. Abbadi and then we’ll go to our guest.
Question: Stéphane, still on the meeting of the Quartet tomorrow, does the Secretary-General have any guidelines he would like to present to the meeting and can you share them with us?
Spokesman: I will not share anything with you prior to the meeting. And I will ask you to be patient for the wonderful statement that will be issued following the Quartet meeting. I will be right back with our guest.