HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
BAN KI-MOON
CALLS ON NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT TO KEEP UP FIGHT FOR PEACE AND WORLD FREE OF
WEAPONS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today
addressed the high-level segment of the 15th Summit of the Non-Aligned
Movement, in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.
He told the leaders that conditions have drastically
changed since the Movement was founded, but the world again faces complex
crises threatening development and security. We need to look to the
Non-Aligned Movement’s founding principles to address today’s challenges, he
asserted.
The Secretary-General said that the Non-Aligned
Movement’s commitment to peace naturally led it to place high value on a
world free of weapons of mass destruction, and he urged the Movement to keep
up that fight.
All countries are feeling the effects of the financial
crisis, he added, but some developing countries are suffering most,
including millions of people living in the NAM States, particularly those
emerging from conflict. He stressed the need for truly free and fair trade
to stimulate recovery and spur growth.
And the Secretary-General stressed the need to examine
peacekeeping and peacebuilding holistically, which the United Nations is now
doing as it presents its “New Horizons” peacekeeping review as well as a
peacebuilding
report.
Yesterday, after arriving in Egypt, the
Secretary-General met with Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi. They discussed
major challenges in Africa, including Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia-Eritrea, Somalia
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Today, he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
They discussed the way forward in the Middle East, climate change, Sudan,
and Somalia.
In his meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri
Lanka, the Secretary-General raised the issue of improvements in the
conditions in the internally displaced persons camps, and also brought up
the arrests of UN staff.
The meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza
Gilani included discussions of the Bhutto Commission, which is visiting
Pakistan this week, and upcoming meetings of the Group of Friends of
Democratic Pakistan.
Asked if the Secretary-General had raised the
Kashmir issue during his meeting with the Pakistani Prime Minister, the
Spokesperson said that topic had not come up.
Asked if the Secretary-General had also met
bilaterally with India’s Prime Minister, she said that he had not.
BAN KI-MOON
SAYS WOMEN MUST BE VIEWED AS AGENTS OF CHANGE
Also in Sharm el-Sheik today, the Secretary-General
spoke to the First Ladies Summit on women in crisis management.
He said, “We need to view women as agents of change.
This is what we are doing at the United Nations. We advocate for women, but
more than that, we involve women.” He noted that under his tenure as
Secretary-General, more women have been appointed to senior positions than
ever before, nearly tripling their number in top managerial roles.
Accompanying the Secretary-General in Sharm-el-Sheik,
his wife, Mrs. Ban Soon-taek today participated in the First Ladies Summit
convened by Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, the First Lady of Egypt. In her remarks,
Mrs. Ban stressed that when women have social equality and assurance to be
able to make their own decisions, they can help solve the world’s many
problems. She added that women hold the key to tackling the financial crisis
and the problem of hunger, but the question is how to turn that key and
unlock the solution. She urged all the First Ladies of the NAM states to
take their influence and combine strengths to help the world’s women, so as
to benefit their children as well as change the entire world for the better.
SECURITY COUNCIL CALLS ON L.R.A. TO
SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES OF PEACE AGREEMENT
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Lords
Resistance Army-affected areas, Joaquim Chissano, briefed the
Security Council in consultations this morning. It was his last briefing
to the Council as he steps down from the position to which he was appointed
in December 2006.
Chissano shared his observations about the state of the
Juba peace process and the impact of the military operations by Uganda and
countries of the region against the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), which
followed the failure of LRA leader Joseph Kony to sign the Final Peace
Agreement.
Chissano said the operations had uprooted and disrupted
the LRA, and represented a new determination by regional countries to
collectively deal with the dangers posed by the LRA. But he also noted that
the operations had triggered “vicious” LRA reprisals in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and Southern Sudan.
Chissano said the LRA leader had given the impression
that he has little interest in the peace process. But Chissano also stressed
that opportunities for peaceful re-engagement with the LRA should be pursued
alongside military action. Kony’s direct engagement would be the measure of
the credibility of any discussions, Chissano said.
Chissano also said the peace agreements should be
implemented no matter the prevailing circumstances. He noted that within
Northern Uganda people are already experiencing the dividends of peace and
that those dividends should be consolidated.
Following consultations, the Security Council
President, Uganda’s Ambassador, told reporters that Council members
commended Chissano’s work; called on the LRA to seize the opportunities to
sign the Final Peace Agreement; and appreciated Chissano’s readiness to be
available when the time comes for signing the Final Peace Agreement.
The Council then went into the formal chamber to adopt
Presidential Statement on Afghanistan. According to that Statement, the
Council welcomed the Afghan-led preparation for upcoming elections. It also
stressed the importance of the elections being free, fair, transparent,
credible, secure and inclusive.
Asked if Chissano’s office
in Kampala would be closing down, the Spokesperson said that it would be.
She added, however, that there might be a role for him in the future.
CHIEF MILITARY OFFICER AND SENIOR POLICE
ADVISOR LEAVE AREA OF FORMER GEORGIA MISSION
The UN’s Chief Military Officer and Senior Police
Adviser have now left what was formerly the area of the UN Observer Mission
in Georgia
Their departure is part of the Mission's liquidation
phase, which includes the withdrawal of its military and police personnel.
This follows the Security Council's lack of agreement to renew the Mission's
mandate - which led to the Mission effectively ceasing its functions in
mid-June.
According to the drawdown plan, all civilian staff will
also be leaving in the near future, with the goal being to completely close
the Mission by November 2009.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative, Johan Verbeke, yesterday chaired the first meeting under UN
auspices of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism. This mechanism
came about as a result of the last round of talks in Geneva. The purpose is
to bring together the Georgians, Abkhaz, and Russians, as well as
representatives from the UN and European Union, on a periodic basis to
discuss security matters.
Yesterday’s meeting took place in the town of Gali.
Among other things, it was agreed to set up a “hotline” to prevent future
incidents. Participants also agreed to meet on a bi-weekly basis. The next
meeting, also to be held in Gali under UN auspices, will take place on July
28th.
EXPLOSIONS IN SOUTHERN LEBANON BEING
INVESTIGATED
The Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon
(UNIFIL)
today met with the Lebanese Prime Minister and Lebanese Army Commander to
update them about the deposit of ammunition that was discovered as a
consequence of yesterday’s series of explosions in the area of Khirbat
Silim.
The Lebanese Armed Forces, in coordination with UNIFIL,
have cordoned off the area and both are investigating the incident. Based on
the information currently available, UNIFIL considers this incident a
serious violation of Security Council Resolution 1701, notably the provision
that there should be no presence of unauthorized assets or weapons in the
area of operation between the Litani River and the Blue Line.
UNIFIL has informed UN Headquarters of the incident and
is keeping the parties informed.
UNICEF KIT ENCOURAGES DEVELOPMENT AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN EMERGENCIES
In Geneva today, UNICEF
launched the Early Childhood Development Kit designed to help meet the
needs of young children affected by emergencies.
The tool for young children displaced or affected by
war and natural disasters is the first of its kind within the humanitarian
community, said UNICEF’s Executive Director, Ann Veneman.
The kit is a box containing 37 different items that can
be used by some 50 children up to six years of age. The materials include
dominos, colouring pencils, construction blocks, hand puppets, puzzle
blocks, memory games. UNICEF says the kit encourages development and social
interaction while giving children a sense of property.
The new kit will complement UNICEF’s School-in-a-Box
and Recreation kit which has become part of the agency’s standard response
in emergencies.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS GENDER
EQUALITY IS INTEGRAL PART OF U.N. REFORM
The Deputy Secretary-General
told the Group on Equal Rights for Women in the United Nations (GERWUN)
that achieving gender equality is an integral part of the reform of the
United Nations, and will undoubtedly help build a staff that is mobile,
multi-functional, flexible and accountable – one which lives up to the
highest ethical standards.
The United Nations must both be on the cutting edge of
change and practice fully what we preach, she said in remarks delivered at
UN headquarters yesterday.
A working mother herself, the Deputy Secretary-General
acknowledged that combining a career with family life is difficult. Finding
the right balance between professional advancement and motherhood, between
work and life, is the toughest challenge we face, not least because we have
to admit that we cannot achieve a perfect balance.
She noted that women tend to be under-represented in
the more substantive fields such as political and peacekeeping, a fact often
attributed to the stereotyping of women and their situations and
capabilities.
She noted that the Secretary-General is insisting on
progress, and the issue is gaining momentum where it was lacking before.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
WESTERN SAHARA ENVOY WORKING WITH PARTIES TO HOLD
INFORMAL MEETINGS: Asked about Western Sahara, specifically about whether
there would be a meeting between Morocco and the Frente Polisario in Vienna, the
Spokesperson said she could not confirm that. Asked if the Secretary-General was
disappointed by recent developments related to the Western Sahara issue, Montas
noted that mediation was currently underway.
The Spokesperson later added that upon his return from his
trip to the region, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara
was working with the parties to determine a date that is practical for all in
order to hold the first round of informal meetings with the objective of
preparing the 5th round of negotiations.
U.N. NATIONAL STAFF DESERVE SAME PROTECTION AS
INTERNATIONAL STAFF: Asked if the UN’s national staff members were immune
from detention in such places as Sri Lanka, the Spokesperson stressed that
national staff deserve the same protection as international staff. Reports of
detention, she added, were tackled on a case-by-case basis. Regarding one such
case in Sudan, the UN Mission there was seized of the matter.
TWO-DAY HEARING ON WOMEN REFUGEES AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE:
Tomorrow and Friday, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
will hold a two-day seminar, here at Headquarters, on sexual violence and
discrimination against women refugees, especially in war-torn conflict areas.
Refugee women from Bhutan, Zimbabwe and Liberia will testify as well as
internally displaced women from Chechnya and Kenya.
JAPANESE PEACE BELL MOVED FOR HEADQUARTERS RENOVATION:
Asked about the whereabouts of the Japanese Peace Bell at UN Headquarters, the
Spokesperson noted that it had been moved to the UN’s North Lawn as part of the
ongoing renovation of UN Headquarters. The bell would still be rung on the
International Day of Peace as per tradition, Montas noted.
*** The guest at the noon briefing today was John
Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who briefed on the
humanitarian situation in Pakistan.
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