HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY EDUARDO DEL BUEY, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR
SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
TUESDAY, 24 APRIL 2012
SECRETARY-GENERAL DUE TO LEAVE FOR INDIA AND MYANMAR
- The Secretary-General announced on Monday afternoon, that he will travel to Myanmar at the end of this week.
- He will arrive there after visiting India.
- The Secretary-General will hold talks with President Thein Sein and other members of the Myanmar leadership and Government.
- He will also meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political representatives, as well as with ethnic and civil society representatives.
- The Secretary-General's agenda will cover a broad range of issues of mutual interest to Myanmar and to the United Nations.
- His programme will include a number of events to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and Myanmar in key areas.
- In the capital, Naypytaw, he will attend an event confirming the United Nations’ assistance to the Government of Myanmar in carrying out the country’s first population census in more than 30 years.
- In Shan State, the Secretary-General will visit a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) alternative development project for opium poppy farmers.
- In Yangon, he will attend the launch of a Global Compact network for Myanmar on the theme, “Promoting Responsible Business – Toward Job Creation and Sustainable Development.”
- The Secretary-General will return to New York on Wednesday, 2 May.
U.N. SAYS PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS CAN PROVIDE PLATFORM TO SUPPORT WOMEN IN POST-CONFLICT SITUATIONS
- On Tuesday morning, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous told the Security Council that the United Nations peacekeeping missions can provide a powerful platform for UN support to women in post-conflict situations.
- The UN can do so, he said, by supporting the vetting and training of national security institutions; by ensuring that women become an integral part of these institutions in high-ranking, operational and decision-making functions; and by strengthening awareness of the link between stronger national security institutions and lower instances of sexual violence, where conflict still flares.
- Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, urged the Council to support increased numbers of women in leadership positions. She noted elections are the key means for the legitimate entry of more women to public office and for bringing women’s issues into policy debates.
- The Security Council also adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the Mission in Western Sahara until April 30, 2013.
- On Tuesday afternoon the Joint Special Envoy for Syria was due to brief the Council in closed session. The Council was also to discuss the situation in Sudan and South Sudan.
SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS NO MILITARY SOLUTION POSSIBLE IN SUDAN/SOUTH SUDAN
- A statement on the situation between Sudan and South Sudan has been issued in which the Secretary-General reiterated that there could be no military solution to the disputes between Sudan and South Sudan.
- Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says that, according to local partners, the recent fighting near the border between the two countries has displaced some 35,000 people in areas around Heglig, Talodi and other parts of South Kordofan.
- It adds that in Yida settlement, more than 1,300 new arrivals were reported in the last four days and recent average daily arrivals were at triple the rate seen in March and February.
- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says the escalating hostilities are heightening concerns about the safety of refugees in Unity state and especially Yida. However, humanitarian agencies continue to provide over 20,000 refugees living there with life-saving assistance and essential services such as food, water, sanitation, community services and healthcare.
OVER 1 MILLION LIVES SAVED BY INCREASED MALARIA INVESTMENT SAYS WHO
- On the eve of World Malaria Day 2012, Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), has said “in the past ten years, increased investment in malaria prevention and control has saved more than a million lives. However, malaria transmission still occurs in 99 countries around the world, and the malaria burden continues to cripple the health systems in many African countries.”
- WHO’s new initiative, T3: Test. Treat. Track, urges the global health community to further scale up investments in diagnostic testing, treatment, and surveillance for malaria in order to save more lives and to make a major push towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals in 2015.
- The WHO has published technical guidance for all three pillars of the T3 initiative, releasing the final two documents of the package today, Disease Surveillance for Malaria Control, and Disease Surveillance for Malaria Elimination.
***The guests at the Noon Briefing were Flavia Pansieri, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and Nikhil Chandavarkar, Chief of Branch of Sustainable Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). They briefed on the launch of a multi-media campaign called “Volunteer Action Counts”.
