Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

• On Thursday morning, the Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, briefed the Security Council in closed session by video conference.
• Mr. Annan issued a statement prior to the briefing in which he said all parties have obligations to implement fully the six-point plan.
• This includes both the military provisions of the plan and the commitment to move to a political process.
• He urged all Syrians to seize this opportunity.
• Asked about contingency planning for Syria, the Spokesperson said it is normal for U.N. peacekeeping officials to engage in planning for a number of scenarios in order to be able to move quickly when conditions are appropriate and the Security Council issues a mandate. He said that conditions appear to be calmer than in recent months, but that it is difficult to gauge the situation on the ground in the absence of observers. Nesirky reiterated the Secretary-General's call for all parties to exercise restraint and avoid all acts of violence, and noted that the Secretary-General has appealed to all friends of Syria to exercise maximum influence in halting this tragic conflict.

• The Secretary-General arrived in Geneva on Thursday morning on the first part of a three-country European trip, which will also take him to Belgium and Luxembourg.
• Immediately upon arriving in Switzerland, he spoke by telephone with the Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan.
• The Secretary-General spoke at a press conference with Geneva-based international media.
• He said the situation in Syria was looking calmer and that today was a critical moment for ending the violence, but he added that the world was watching with sceptical eyes since many promises previously made by the Government of Syria have not been kept.
• The Secretary-General said without UN observers, it is difficult to fully assess the situation. He said the United Nations was working with the Security Council to send an observer team as promptly as possible.
• He also reiterated calls for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea not to go ahead with a rocket launch, which he said was against the will of the international community.
• On the tensions between Sudan and South Sudan, the Secretary-General urged the leaders of both countries to show political will and leadership by ending hostilities and by calling a presidential summit to negotiate a durable solution to their differences.
• On Friday, the Secretary-General is due to chair a meeting of the United Nations Chief Executives Board.

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said on Thursday that she was alarmed by continuing reports of serious human rights violations against the population of Mali, especially in rebel-held northern areas.
• She noted that reports from the north of the country suggested that civilians have been killed, robbed, raped and forced to flee although she said it was difficult at this point to be sure of the scale of the human rights violations taking place.
• Earlier in the week the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, issued a statement condemning the reports of acts of sexual violence committed against Malian women and girls.

• The Joint Special Representative for the African Union and the United Nations Mission in Darfur, Ibrahim Gambari, said on Thursday that the Mission had entered a new phase.
• Speaking to reporters in Khartoum, Mr. Gambari said that the launch of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA), in February, had created new opportunities for the Mission to assist in bringing concrete peace dividends to the people of Darfur. He also noted an improvement of the humanitarian situation and a reduction of clashes between the parties to the conflict.
• Mr. Gambari said however that he did not underestimate the significant challenges that remained in Darfur and that the presence of the Mission, known as UNAMID, remained critical.

• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Central Africa, Abou Moussa, and the Special Envoy of the African Union (AU) for the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) issue, Francisco Madeira, are on a working visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
• After holding meetings in Kinshasa, the two officials on Thursday were in Dungu, in the Eastern Province, the base for the DRC component of the Regional Task Force that has been authorized by the African Union to track the Lord's Resistance Army.
• Since the beginning of the year, the Eastern province has recorded more than 4,200 people displaced by the Lord's Resistance Army, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Dungu is one of the hardest hit areas with nearly 1,200 displaced people.
• On Friday, the two officials will go to Obo, in the south-eastern Central African Republic, where the Regional Task Force for that country will be based.

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