HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
U.N.
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, April
25, 2007
MANY IRAQIS STILL FACE INTIMIDATION & KILLINGS
The UN Assistance Mission
for Iraq (UNAMI) has
issued its tenth
report on
the human rights situation in that country, which notes, despite some
progress, frequent failures of the Iraqi institutions to protect the life and
dignity of all Iraqis in a manner that conforms to international humanitarian
and human rights laws.
With regard to the ongoing
Baghdad Security Plan, UNAMI is concerned that large numbers of Iraqis, among
them professional groups and law enforcement personnel, continued to
experience intimidation and killings.
It also notes continued
political interference in the affairs of the judiciary, a matter in need of
urgent attention.
Unlike previous reports, the Mission’s now-quarterly human rights report does
not contain official statistics of violent deaths regularly gathered by the
Ministry of Health and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad.
This is because the Iraqi Government
decided not to make such data available to UNAMI.
This is a matter of regret
because UNAMI reports have been regarded as a credible source of information
regarding developments in the human rights situation in Iraq.
The Mission will continue
to speak with the Iraqi authorities and urge them to provide the necessary
information.
BAN KI-MOON’S TRIP TO SYRIA “SHORT BUT
PRODUCTIVE”
The Secretary-General is
on his way back to New York, ending his week-long trip to Italy, Switzerland,
Qatar and Syria.
Speaking to
reporters yesterday as he was leaving Damascus, the Secretary-General said
that he was delighted with his first visit to Syria, adding, “It was short but
productive.”
He said that, during his
discussions with President Bashar al-Assad, he had encouraged the President to
reach a border agreement with Lebanon, and Assad had agreed to reactivate the
Border Committee with Lebanon. The Secretary-General warmly welcomed this
positive step.
The Secretary-General told
reporters that he had discussed the issue of a tribunal for Lebanon with
President Assad at length, and the President had said he would encourage the
Lebanese people to arrive at a national consensus.
The Secretary-General said
that the most desirable path is that the Lebanese people should find their own
way, in accordance with the constitutional procedure.
Asked about Syria’s response regarding the
tribunal for Lebanon, the Spokeswoman said that President Assad had said he
would encourage the Lebanese people to arrive at a national consensus on that
issue.
MIDDLE EAST DIPLOMACY EVOLVING IN POSITIVE
FASHION
Under-Secretary-General
for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe this morning
briefed
the Security Council in its open
meeting on the Middle East, telling them that the political and diplomatic
initiatives aimed at rejuvenating peacemaking in that region have continued to
evolve in a mostly positive fashion.
However, Pascoe said, the
forward momentum we are witnessing on the political and diplomatic level is
threatened by the deteriorating security situation on the ground, especially
the continuing violence experienced by both Israelis and Palestinians.
Leaders on all sides must
do their utmost to prevent this latest upsurge of violence from escalating any
further.
He noted that last
weekend, Israel carried out a number of arrest raids into West Bank cities,
during which nine Palestinians were killed, and a rocket hit the town of
Sderot. Yesterday morning, Israel reported that over 24 rockets and mortars
were fired from Gaza and Hamas’s military wing has claimed responsibility. The
Palestinian Government, however, has called for the ceasefire to be respected,
and the Israeli government has exercised restraint.
Pascoe added that the
United Nations continues to be deeply concerned about the fate of kidnapped
BBC journalist Alan Johnston, and reiterates the Secretary-General’s call for
his safety and immediate release.
SECURITY COUNCIL MISSION
ARRIVES IN BRUSSELS
The
Security Council mission to Kosovo
arrived in Brussels today, where it was received by Belgium’s Foreign
Minister.
Mission participants met
with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Secretary-General of NATO, as well as a
representative of Javier Solana, the European Union’s High Representative for
the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
The mission also held a
working lunch with the EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement, Ollie Rehn. This
evening,
the mission heads to Belgrade.
REFUGEE AGENCY CHIEF CALLS FOR IMPROVED SECURITY
IN SUDAN
UN High Commissioner for
Refugees Antonio Guterres
arrived in West
Darfur yesterday, where he urged local officials to improve
security, on the start of a four-day mission to Sudan. He announced that Sudan
had agreed to an expansion of UNHCR’s work in West Darfur.
The UN Mission in Sudan
reports that the cooperation between the United Nations, the Sudanese
Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan to implement
the joint Plan for Returns continues.
Since road convoys started
in February 2007, more than 26,000 internally displaced persons have been
assisted to return to their homes.
U.N. BODIES SEND HUMANITARIAN SUPPLIES TO
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Regarding the Central
African Republic, UNICEF, the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
the World Food Programme (WFP) have
sent a seven-truck convoy from the capital, Bangui, to a northeastern area of
the country near the border with Darfur.
That humanitarian convoy
carried seeds from FAO, food from WFP and educational materials from UNICEF.
This year the UN and its
humanitarian partners have asked for nearly $55 million in aid for the Central
African Republic. Only 32% of those funds have been received so far.
DEPUTY
SECRETARY-GENERAL
WRAPS UP VISIT TO D.R. CONGO
The
Deputy-Secretary General has
wrapped up her visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and is now
in Brazzaville to attend a meeting of UNDP country directors for Africa.
During her stay in the DRC, the
Deputy-Secretary-General met with President Joseph Kabila and various
political leaders, including members of the opposition.
Her message to all her interlocutors was that
the United Nations is prepared to continue working with the Congolese
authorities and Congolese people to promote reconciliation and reconstruction.
UNESCO CALLS FOR GREATER PROTECTION OF
ENDANGERED ANIMALS IN D.R. CONGO
The head of the UN Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
is calling for greater protection of endangered animals in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Koïchiro Matsuura, in a letter to President
Kabila and UN peacekeeping head Jean-Marie Guéhenno, requested that the
mandate of the UN mission there be expanded to include the protection of the
DRC’s five World Heritage Sites and several other areas.
The presence of armed groups on these sites has
made rangers unable to stop the reported killing of hundreds of animals in
recent months.
LIVING CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO DECLINE IN
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
In its latest report, the UN Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
finds that living conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory continued
to decline during the second half of 2006.
Israel’s impounding of customs revenues and the
freeze in donor support has left the Palestinian Authority starved of
resources and unable to provide basic services, UNRWA said.
It found especially dire conditions in Gaza,
where 80 percent of households were living on less than a dollar a day, and
unemployment stood at 40 percent.
HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF CONCERNED BY DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE IN KYRGYZSTAN
High Commissioner for
Human Rights Louise Arbour today
wrapped up a two-day visit to Kyrgyzstan. She met with a variety of
officials, including the country’s President and Foreign Minister.
Arbour said she was
pleased by Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to develop a strong civil society. But at the
same time, she raised concerns about domestic violence in the country and
reports of ill-treatment and torture of detainees. Arbour is now in
Tajikistan, where she will stay for several days before heading to Kazakhstan
and Turkmenistan.
Also on Central Asia, the
UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
says it will hold its next session in Kazakhstan in late May. It will be the
first time the Commission’s highest decision-making body is meeting in Central
Asia.
U.N. LAUNCHES EFFORT TO BUILD HUMANITARIAN
CAPACITY
The United Nations Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
today launched
a $62.5 million inter-agency appeal for Building Global Humanitarian Response
Capacity.
The appeal seeks funding
for eleven sectors to strengthen global humanitarian response capacity; these
areas include agriculture, camp coordination and management, early recovery,
education, emergency shelter, emergency telecommunications, health, logistics,
nutrition, protection, water, sanitation and hygiene.
Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes,
stressed that the aim of the appeal is to reinforce UN support to governments
in providing relief and protection to people affected by emergencies.
Partners in the global
capacity-building exercise include United Nations (UN) agencies, the
International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, the International Organisation
for Migration (IOM) and non-governmental organisations.
U.N. OBSERVES AFRICA MALARIA DAY
Today is Africa Malaria Day. This year’s focus
is on fighting the disease in countries where it is endemic.
Each year, one million people die from
malaria. More than 80 percent of those deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, and
malaria is responsible for almost one in five deaths of African children,
according to UNICEF.
The agency’s Executive
Director, Ann Veneman, is
calling for
greater use of insecticide-treated bed nets, which cost just 10 dollars each
and have been shown to significantly reduce malaria deaths.
U.N. DEVELOPMENT BODY HAD 24 ACTIVE PROJECTS IN
NORTH KOREA AT TIME OF SUSPENSION
Asked about the transfer of assets by the UN
Development Programme (UNDP) as its last staff members were set to leave the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Spokeswoman noted that UNDP
said that it had 24 active projects at the time of its suspension and 6
projects which were operationally complete.
Where the projects were operationally
complete, UNDP had informed the Spokeswoman, standard UNDP procedures came
into play, including the transfer of ownership of project assets – that is,
items used for projects – to government counterparts. Where projects were
halted pending decisions about UNDP’s future in the country, the DPRK
authorities have signed for custody of project assets, but formal title
transfer has not taken place.
A full inventory of all items and their value
will be completed before the staff leaves the country.
Montas said that it is important to keep in
mind that in all cases the DPRK authorities were already in possession of the
assets, in some cases for several years. Nothing new has been ‘given’ or
physically transferred to the DPRK authorities, according to the information
provided by UNDP.
The Spokeswoman added that UNDP had earlier
made clear that the equipment owned by UNDP in the DPRK would be transferred
to the World Food Programme.
Asked about the effects of the UNDP suspension
on the work being done by auditors, the Spokeswoman said that UNDP had said
that the audit should not be affected. UNDP’s accounts are still open so that
auditors will be able to go about their work.
Asked whether the previous UNDP coordinator in
the DPRK would be involved in the audit process, Montas said that everyone
involved in the project would be available to auditors.
Asked whether the audit was being extended,
the Spokeswoman noted that the auditors worked independently and followed
their own schedule.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
U.N. MANAGEMENT AND STAFF TO CONTINUE DISCUSSION
ON MOBILITY: Asked about objections
by some UN staff to a mobility package presented by the Secretary-General, the
Spokeswoman said that discussions between the Department of Management and staff
representatives on that package had been taking place and would continue.
RWANDA EXHIBITION ALMOST FINALIZED:
Asked about the status of an exhibition at UN
Headquarters on the Rwanda genocide, the Spokeswoman said that arrangements for
the exhibition was almost finalized, and now the exhibition panels had to be
physically transferred from London, where they were being printed. The
exhibition could be ready by Friday or early next week.
NIGERIA ELECTION
CONTESTANTS SHOULD GO THROUGH ELECTORAL PROCESS:
Asked about reported irregularities in the
Nigerian elections, the Spokeswoman reiterated the UN’s view that all those who
are contesting the election results should do so through the electoral process.
***
The
guest at the briefing today was Ambassador John
McNee, Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN and head of the Economic and
Social Council’s Ad Hoc Advisory Group’s four-day mission to Haiti.
Office of the Spokesman for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
