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.

**Central Asia

Trip announcement.  The Secretary-General will be leaving New York tomorrow on Wednesday, 7 June, for a visit to Central Asia that will take him to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

In Astana, Kazakhstan, the Secretary-General will attend the celebrations in honor of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of State Council.  The next day, he will meet with President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev and address the plenary session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

On Saturday, 10 June, the Secretary-General will be in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where he will open a National Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals with President [Shavkat] Mirziyoyev.  In the afternoon, he will travel to Nukus to visit a ship graveyard on the Aral Sea.

Then on Sunday, 11 June, the Secretary-General will be in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to meet with President [Almazbek] Atambaev, and then on to Osh, where he will attend a commemoration of the June 2010 events.

The next day, on 12 June, he will meet with the President of Tajikistan, President [Emomali] Rahmon, and attend a conference on the Sustainable Development Goals in the capital, Dushanbe, before visiting areas affected by climate change.

On Tuesday, in Turkmenistan in Ashgabat, the Secretary-General will meet with President [Gurbanguly] Berdimuhamedov.  In the afternoon, he will participate in a high-level UN Central-Asian dialogue on implementing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia.  The Secretary-General will then be making his way back to New York.

**Climate Change

I also wanted to flag that as we speak, the Deputy-Secretary-General is meeting with civil society representatives who have handed her a petition with 2.5 million signatures from people in the US and around the world, calling for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and reiterating their commitment to take action on climate change.  There will be photos of this meeting available later today.

**Afghanistan

From Afghanistan, the head of the UN Mission in in the country (UNAMA), Tadamichi Yamamoto, today expressed support for the Afghan-led Kabul Process meeting, a forum to increase regional cooperation for peace and stability, which was held in the country’s capital.

Speaking at the Kabul Process meeting, Mr. Yamamoto said he was encouraged by the participation of high-level representatives from 26 countries, which is a signal of solidarity with the Afghan people, particularly in the wake of recent attacks in Kabul.  He added that the UN welcomes President’s Ghani’s renewed commitment to a peace process and to starting a national dialogue, and stressed that the inclusion of various stakeholders, such as women representatives, civil society organizations, and youth will be a key component of long-term sustainable peace in the country.

**Human Rights

The UN Human Rights Council’s thirty-fifth session opened in Geneva today, with the High Commissioner for Human Rights calling for stepped up cooperation by Member States.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein expressed his concern over what he called “disgraceful incidents” of personal threats and insults directed at Special Procedures mandate-holders.  He noted that three — the Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar, Iran and Summary Executions in the context of the discussions on the Philippines — have recently been subjected to smear and hate campaigns.  The High Commissioner stressed that Human Rights Council members and candidates for future membership have a particular responsibility to cooperate, noting that Indonesia, Egypt, Nepal, Venezuela and the Philippines may have pending requests for visits.

He added that Burundi, which was elected to the Council in 2015, continues to commit some of the most serious human rights violations dealt with by the body, but the Government has suspended all forms of cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.  You can read his full statement on the UN Human Rights Office’s website.

**Syria

Our colleagues at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warn that without urgent additional funding, some 60,000 Syrian refugee families will be cut from monthly cash assistance programmes in Lebanon and Jordan as early as July — which is next month.  Vital parts of UNHCR’s response to the needs of Syrian refugees are critically underfunded.  Additional contributions are urgently required to avoid dramatic and deep cuts to both basic and life-saving services to Syrian refugees in the second half of the year.

The situation is most dramatic in Lebanon and Jordan, where a number of direct cash assistance activities could dry up in less than four weeks.  In Lebanon, where UNHCR urgently needs $116 million, direct cash assistance programmes for refugees will be affected first.  Meanwhile in Jordan, the agency urgently requires $71 million.

**Education

A new report by our colleagues at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) shows that the amount of aid allocated to education has been falling for six years in a row, and warns that this trend must be reversed if countries are to achieve Goal 4 of the SDGs.  Total aid to education today stands at $12 billion — 4 per cent lower than in 2010.  UNESCO said that aid needs to be multiplied by at least six to achieve common education goals and must go to countries most in need.

**Environment

Yesterday, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) appointed a new Goodwill Ambassador — actor and environmentalist Adrian Grenier is the new Goodwill Ambassador.

He is best known for his work in the show and film Entourage, but he is also a long-time activist on conservation and ocean issues, most notably through the Lonely Whale Foundation, which he co-founded.  In his new role, Mr. Grenier will advocate for drastically reducing single-use plastic and for the protection of marine species.  He will also encourage his followers to make conscious consumer decision choices to [reduce] their environmental footprint.

**Honour Roll

The Honour Roll is rolling again, thanks to a full payment from Cambodia.  We now stand at 104.

**Press Briefings

Immediately following this briefing, the Oceans’ Conference Spokesperson, Damian Cardona, will brief you on today’s meetings.

At 4:30 p.m., there will be a press briefing by the Foreign Minister of Chile, Heraldo Muñoz, whom you remember well, on the Ocean Conference and Chile's leadership in the creation of Marine Protected Areas.

Tomorrow at 11 a.m., His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Monaco will be here in this very room, to brief you in the context of the Ocean Conference.

**UNICEF

Lastly, ena lepto, as they say in Greek, I wanted to share with you the latest installment of the Comics United Nations, which focuses on protecting life below water.  This is a project which aims to teach kids about the Sustainable Development Goals.  More information on UNICEF website.

And we are working on a special edition on spokespeople, but that may not be too much fun.  Masood, you were full of anticipation.  So here you go.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Thank you very much, Stéphane.  I just want to know, why isn't the Secretary‑General visiting this region in particular, the Middle East, after what has happened, after the Qat… the sanctions against Qatar imposed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and others?  There's a humanitarian crisis going on.  I mean, they're in… in Qatar itself, about 560 Pakistanis are stranded to go to Saudi Arabia, and then from Saudi Arabia, people coming back on Qatar Airways…

Spokesman:  We're very much aware of the current situation.  We're also noting that there are a number… there appears to be a number of diplomatic… regional diplomatic initiatives under way, so we will keep a watch on that.

Question:  So, but isn't the Secretary‑General going to engage these… I mean…

Spokesman:  I will leave it at that for the time…

Question:  I mean, do you have…

Spokesman:  Masood, I will leave it at that for the time being.  Fathi and then Matthew.

Question:  Thank you, Steph.  And with regard to the Secretary‑General's trip to Central Asia and his meeting with President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan now is a major player in the Syrian crisis.  Is there any intention from the Secretary‑General to try to merge the two so far parallel paths, the Astana and the Geneva process? What is the Secretary‑General…

Spokesman:  I have no doubt that the issue of Syria will come up in the discussions.  We don't see them as parallel paths, but the Astana… we see the Astana process as very much supporting the Geneva process.  As you know, Mr. [Staffan] de Mistura and some of his aides have attended Astana meetings.  We're very grateful for the discussions that go on there, especially on the issue of cessation of hostilities and the lowering of the violence, but we very much see it in support of the existing Geneva process.  Mr. Lee?

Question:  Sure.  Thanks a lot.  Two questions.  One is, as you know, Nikki Haley has called on the Secretary‑General, António Guterres, to initiate a special investigation into the murders of Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan.  I saw you were quoted, something about… I want to understand your position, something about using maximum authority.  Doesn't he have the authority to investigate the murder of UN staff members?

Spokesman:  Well, I think, you know, first of all, we, obviously… you know, the call from Ambassador Haley and we've seen calls from the… from Sweden, as well.  We take the requests very seriously.  I think they echo our own concern.  The Secretary‑General has consistently said that he and the Secretariat would do everything they could to make sure justice was done in this case while recognizing first and foremost that the responsibility for a criminal investigation rests with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  We cannot substitute ourselves… the Secretary‑General, the Secretariat, cannot substitute himself… ourselves for the criminal justice system of a sovereign State.  We're cooperating… actively cooperating with national authorities conducting criminal investigations, but we're also ready to implement any Security Council decision on this matter.  As you know, there is a Board of Inquiry (BOI) that was appointed.  They are fully at work.  We expect their conclusions of that work to be done by the end of July.  They're there to establish the facts and, if possible, identify the perpetrators. And they'll submit a report with recommendations to the Secretary‑General.  We're also looking at further options that may be available to us.  But that review, the work of the BOI, should provide a good basis for putting together a set of possible next steps for the Secretary‑General Member States to consider in the murder of… to find out what happened… not only find out what happened to the murder… to our two murdered colleagues, but also to ensure that justice is done and those who killed them are brought to justice.

Question:  Since often these Board of Inquiries are not… not made public, can you… is the intention, at a minimum, to at least make it public…

Spokesman:  We will… as we've done in certain cases, we will share with you what we can and make public what we can of the Board of Inquiry, in a way that doesn't jeopardize any future investigations that may take place.

Question:  And do you have any response… I'm sure you've seen that the… the… the Houthis were… in fact, more than the Houthis, the Supreme Political Council in Sana'a has now said formally that the envoy is no… is… they're not going to deal with him and he's not welcome to go to Sana'a anymore because they find him biased.  And I know you always say you stand behind him; he's not biased.  But if one party is literally basically PNGing [persona non grata] him, although they're not the Government, if he can't go there, what's his role?

Spokesman:  We've seen the statements. I think his… his work continues.  His dialogue with all the parties continues.  I think we've seen these statements from one side or… in any sort of mediation effort the UN is involved in, it's part of the work, and he continues his work.  Yes, sir?

Question:  Yeah.  On Raqqah, many of these civilians who tried to escape came under shelling from the air.  More than 25 civilians died, many of them are children.  Do you have any statement on that or supposition?  Also, I have another question about Mosul.

Spokesman:  We're, obviously, very concerned for the situation of the civilians that are currently in Raqqah, for their… concerned for their safety, concerned for their protection, not just in the recent days, but, over the last months and longer, they have been subjected and exposed to daily fighting, to violence, death, and obviously also including attacks on civilian infrastructures, which include schools and hospitals, markets, water infrastructure; we've seen that happen quite a bit in Syria.  Our humanitarian colleagues, both from the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), have developed and are regularly updating a plan for Raqqah, which outlines preparedness and response efforts needed to meet the estimated needs of about 440,000 men, women and children who may be impacted by the current Raqqah offensive.  UN and international NGO partners from various locations, including within Syrian cross‑border [areas], have been delivering assistance to internally displaced people and people in need in the area while scaling up their response.  Since March of this year, UN agencies and their partners have been providing humanitarian assistance, including food, non‑food items, hygiene kits, nutrition bars and so forth to people in need, including IDPs [internally displaced persons] in camps who have been displaced from Raqqah, from Deir Ezzour and from rural Aleppo.  Your second question?

Question:  How about accountability for these indiscriminate attacks from the air?

Spokesman:  As we've said, there will need to be accountability for all the crimes that have been committed in Syria since the beginning of this… of this conflict. As you know, the General Assembly passed and created an accountability mechanism.  We are currently working and hopefully to have very soon the head of that mechanism appointed, and already a small team is working on that project.  Yes, sir?

Question:  On Mosul… 

Spokesman:  I'll… yeah.

Question:  On Mosul, some videos emerging from Mosul show that white phosphorus is systematically used against densely populated areas of civilians.  That's… of course, by any standard, is illegal.  How does the United Nations react to that?

Spokesman:  We're aware of the reports of the use of white phosphorus; owing to the location of the incidents in the ongoing combat, we're not in a position to confirm these reports.  We obviously would be extremely concerned if these turned out to be true.  Yes, sir.  And then Mr.…

Question:  Thank you.  WFP [World Food Programme] states on its website that, starting 2017, it plans to gradually introduce a new distribution modality, which is called Cash Based Transfers, CBT, in one of the camps in Tindouf in Algeria by transfer of $5… 5 US dollars per month per person and through vouchers which can be redeemed in WFP‑contracted camps and shops.  My question is, since we are now already in June… well, already in June, 2017, has this CBT modality been implemented in the camps?

Spokesman:  I don't off the top of my head.  I can put you in touch with our WFP colleagues here in New York who will be able to answer you.  Mr. Sato. Yep?

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  Yesterday, more than 120 US mayors and nine state governors, together with business and university, submitted the… the… the declar… statements to the United Nations and the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] saying that the strong support for the breakthrough Paris Agreement. Do you have any comment on this statement?

Spokesman:  Yes, we've… I… we have received a letter from a host of local authority leaders, civil society, as well as our… also with the help of the Secretary‑General's Special Envoy on climate, Michael Bloomberg.  I think the Secretary‑General and the UN system writ large have been very consistent in saying that, if we're going to succeed in mitigating and tackling the challenges of climate change, we need the active participation of local, of state, of regional leaders.  It is not something that is to be left to national Governments alone, and we can't get to where we need to get without the help of these local leaders.  Matthew?

Question:  Sure. I have something about the… the… I did want to ask you because I'd asked last week and I… given the reporting around world about the… the situation in the Al Rif region of Morocco, not only was the one protest leader arrested and called for a general strike, now two other protest leaders, Najik Alhamjik [phonetic] and Silia Zianni [phonetic] were both arrested.  And there's been a press fallout of… expulsion of reporters and now a report… a newspaper in Bahrain ordered closed for reporting on the protests.  So… I guess I'm asking you again, it seems like it's a… it's a…

Spokesman:  Yeah, I don't have anything for you on this today.  I should hopefully have something for you tomorrow.  But, obviously, on the issue of the press, we stand loud and clear for the rights of reporters to report.

Question:  And I… and on… on… on Qatar, I just wanted to… I understand that it's a very… it's a tricky situation.  You've answered some other questions about it.  I went back and looked at where the Secretary‑General had… had welcomed the release of that hunting party in Iraq.  And now it… at least some are reporting that part of this rift involves a possible major ransom payment for their release, up to like hundreds of millions of dollars.  And I wanted to know, what's the UN's… one, what's the UN's position on the payment of dollar… dollars to hostage‑takers that may or may not be on listed terrorist groups?  And two, was the Secretariat… I mean, is there any… What do you think of it?

Spokesman:  No, listen, we were…  No.  I think the welcoming was welcoming on humanitarian grounds.  I have no comment because we have no knowledge of the modalities of how these people became… came to be released.  We welcome the fact that they were released, and I'm not going to comment on hypotheticals.

Question:  Yeah, there were some reports that French special forces are killing French nationals in Mosul, targeting them… snipers targeting French nationals who probably are involved with the terrorist groups in Mosul.  How do… does the United Nations view such…

Spokesman:  I have no firsthand knowledge of these things.  Masood?

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  Can you please tell us, why is the Secretary‑General shying away from handling the conflict zone?  And why is he not taking them head on, like, for instance, what's happening in… in Qatar and what's happening in India and Pakistan? And do you have…

Spokesman:  I don't think the Secretary‑General is shying away from handling conflict in any way, shape or form.  You asked me about the issue with Qatar and a number of other Gulf countries.  I answered you.  The… we're obviously watching the situation closely, where there are a number of diplomatic initiatives that are at play.  If the Secretary‑General's… as a matter of principle, in any conflict, in any point of tension, if the Secretary‑General's good offices are needed, they're always available.

Question:  No, but… but… but the… the thing… the reason… the reason why I'm saying it that there are conflict… I mean, what… there are humanitarian conditions being created, and he has not noticed that.  He has not referred them… talked to the parties involved, like… 

Spokesman:  I think the Secretary‑General notices what's going on in the world.  Nizar?

Question:  Yeah.  On the same subject, Newsweek yesterday reported that one of the conditions Saudi Arabia is putting against Qatar is to close Al Jazeera channel.  Why… isn't that curbing media…?

Spokesman:  We have… I have no knowledge… we have no inside knowledge of those discussions.  So I'm not going to comment on the current situation more than I've said.

Correspondent:  But these are reports which are published already.

Spokesman:  Madame?

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  On the same subject, do you believe that it's interesting to have the Ambassador… Saudi Ambassador to come here and to… to give us impression over ideas of what's going on in this…

Spokesman:  It's not for me to push ambassadors in front of the microphones, but you are most welcome, I'm sure, to ask them directly.   I will get our… Mr. … Damian.  Thank you.

For information media. Not an official record.