Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

BAN KI-MOON IN CONSULTATIONS WITH WORLD LEADERS ON IVORIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

• The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned about the situation in Côte d'Ivoire. He has been in close contact with many world leaders, including President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, current Chair of the Economic Community of West African States, and President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi, Chair of the African Union, as well as Jean Ping, Chair of the Commission of the African Union. He is also consulting with former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is currently in Côte d'Ivoire on behalf of the African Union.
   

• On Saturday, in another statement, the Secretary-General, among other things, reiterated his call for the Ivorian people to remain calm and patient and emphasized that the United Nations, including the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), will do everything within its mandate to preserve peace and security in the country.

 

BAN KI-MOON: MYANMAR’S POLITICAL TRANSITION MUST BE BROAD-BASED, INCLUSIVE

• The Secretary-General and his Chef de Cabinet, Vijay Nambiar, spoke to the Group of Friends of Myanmar this morning, to discuss Nambiar’s recent visit to Myanmar in his capacity as Special Adviser dealing with that country.
   

• The Secretary-General told the Group of Friends that, regrettably, the conduct of the elections was far below the international community’s expectations. Looking ahead, we need to keep encouraging the authorities to take steps to make the political transition broad-based and inclusive.
   

• He said that the next two months will be a crucial period that could potentially determine the future course of Myanmar’s political development and its place in the international community. The authorities, in particular, should be in a better position now to meet their responsibilities. 
   

• Nambiar is also briefing Security Council members this afternoon on his trip to Myanmar.

 

SECURITY COUNCIL IS BRIEFED ON WORK OF U.N TRIBUNALS FOR RWANDA AND FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

• The Security Council this morning began an open meeting to hear from the senior officials of the UN tribunals dealing with Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia as they prepare to complete their work.
   

• Serge Brammertz, the Prosecutor for the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, said that Serbia’s failure to capture the two remaining fugitives, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, is one of the foremost concerns, adding that Serbia still holds the key to their arrests.
   

• And Hassan Jallow, Prosecutor for the Rwanda Tribunal, said that referrals of some key cases to national jurisdictions could possibly see the end of trials at the Tribunal by the end of 2011.

 

EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR VISITS NORTHERN PAKISTAN, APPEALS FOR MORE INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE

 

• Valerie Amos, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, wrapped up her four-day visit to Pakistan yesterday by traveling to see the conflict-affected population in the northern part of the country.
   

• She urged continuing support to Pakistan as it seeks to recover from that displacement as well as the more recent flood crisis. She warned, “The world's attention is waning at a time when some of the biggest challenges are still to come. Millions of people need continued assistance in terms of health care, education and agricultural support.”
   

• The United Nations recently launched the revised Flood Emergency Response Plan, requesting nearly $1.94 billion. So far, 49 per cent of the funding requirements, or $958 million, has been received.

 

CYPRIOT LEADERS HOLD TALKS, AGREE TO MEET LATER THIS MONTH

• The leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities held talks today in Nicosia, and they have agreed to hold further meetings later this month.
   

• The two leaders met last month with the Secretary-General in New York, discussing governance and power-sharing, among other issues. The Secretary-General said at the end of those talks that he will meet again with the leaders next January in Geneva.

 

BAN KI-MOON TO ATTEND HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT OF CANCÚN CLIMATE CONFERENCE

• The Secretary-General will leave for Cancún, Mexico, on Tuesday morning. Later that day, he will address the opening of the High-Level segment of the Climate Change Conference.
   

• The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change says that two bodies concluded there work this weekend, putting forward draft decisions for adoption in the final plenary of the conference on 10 December. The draft decisions include decisions on continued, strengthened support to developing countries’ efforts in adaptation and mitigation, including concrete technology transfer projects.
   

• Countries also agreed to strengthen education, training and public awareness on climate change through increased funding for such activities, and to engage civil society more strongly in national decision-making and the UN climate change process.
   

• The Framework Convention’s Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres, said that this underlined the commitment of the negotiations to remain open, transparent and engaged, adding, “Faster and more effective action on climate change requires governments to welcome the fresh ideas and active participation of all sides of civil society.”

 

GLOBAL POVERTY REMAINS A RURAL PHENOMENON, SAYS NEW U.N. REPORT

• According to a new report by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), global poverty remains a massive and predominantly rural phenomenon, with the vast majority of the world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor people living in rural areas.
   

• Increasingly volatile food prices and the effects of climate change will complicate efforts to curb rural poverty, it adds.
   

• Since the last Rural Poverty Report was published nearly one decade ago, more than 350 million rural people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty, IFAD found.
   

• The new publication points to profound changes in agricultural markets giving rise to new opportunities for smallholder farmers to boost their productivity.

 

BURKINA FASO BECOMES FIRST COUNTRY TO ROLL OUT NEW U.N.-DEVELOPED MENINGITIS VACCINE

• Burkina Faso became the first country to roll out a new meningitis vaccine today, as part of a large effort to rid 25 African countries – stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east – of epidemic meningitis.
   

• Up to 450 million people across the continent are at risk from contracting the disease, and a seasonal outbreak in sub-Saharan Africa last year infected at least 88,000 people, claiming more than 5,000 lives.
   

• The new vaccine is priced at less than 50 cents per dose. It was developed jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the non-governmental organization PATH for just $50 million – a fraction of the amount usually required to develop and bring a new vaccine to market.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL, U.S SECRETARY OF STATE STRESSED NEED FOR CONTINUED COOPERATION AT LATEST MEETING:  Asked about the discussions between the Secretary-General and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton about the issue of leaked cables, the Spokesperson recalled that the Secretary-General and Secretary Clinton reaffirmed the need for the US and UN to continue to work together on many issues of pressing concern based on mutual trust and confidence.

 

FORMER RWANDAN OFFICER IS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON: The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) today convicted Ildephonse Hategekimana, a former Rwandan army officer, of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison. Charges against the accused have included rape and murder of ethnic Tutsis, all committed in the Ngoma region during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.