الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة

Noon briefing of 25 October 2007

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

Thursday, October 25, 2007

BAN KI-MOON PROPOSES BUDGET TO MAKE THE UNITED NATIONS
FASTER, MORE NIMBLE AND MORE MODERN

  • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today presented the proposed programme budget for the UN’s work during 2008 and 2009 to the General Assembly, and told them that the $4.2 billion budget represents real growth of $23 million over the previous biennium, or half a percentage point.
  • He said that the proposals reflect strict budgetary discipline, balancing growth in some areas with reallocations in others.
  • The Secretary-General told the Fifth Committee, “Never has the world so needed a strong United Nations. Yet never have our resources been stretched so thin.”
  • He noted that, last year, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations was reorganized, the better to execute on our peacekeeping mandates. This year we will turn to the Department of Political Affairs, with a new emphasis on anticipating crises and proactive preventive diplomacy. To that end, he asked the Committee to support the strengthening of the Department of Political Affairs by authorizing $18 million for this purpose.
  • Development cannot take a back seat to peace and security, the Secretary-General added. This is the year to think freshly about the problems of the poorest of the world’s poor—the ‘’bottom billion’’ left behind by world economic growth. He added that we must think more expansively about traditional definitions of social justice and human rights—including the implicit right to development, encompassed in the responsibility to protect.
  • This is the year of reform, and the Secretary-General will roll out specific measures to make the UN faster, more nimble and more modern. To aid UN reform, the Secretary-General has set up a new change-management task force. Its work will focus on human resources, budget and finance, and procurement to consolidate rules in each area according to clear criteria.
  • He added that the budget also provides for stiffer internal oversight.
  • The Secretary-General called for the extension of the vital work of the Procurement Task Force for another year, even as we work toward more permanent independent auditing and investigative capabilities.

U.N. ENVOY ON MYANMAR TRAVELS TO JAPAN FROM CHINA

  • The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, has completed his meetings in Beijing, as part of his consultations in regional capitals. He had detailed and extensive discussions today with State Councilor Tang Jianxuan and Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as well as yesterday with Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei.
  • Gambari delivered a personal message from the Secretary-General to State Councilor Tang, thanking the Chinese Government for its active support to the UN good offices so far and encouraging China to intensify its constructive engagement in support of UN efforts.
  • Gambari and his Chinese counterparts discussed the need for the Government of Myanmar to move forward by starting a dialogue with the opposition without delay and pursuing a more inclusive national reconciliation process in order to address the legitimate concerns of the Myanmar people, as well as the need for the international community to find new ways of encouraging Myanmar to make concrete progress in this regard.
  • Following the meetings, the Chinese Government issued a statement of support to the UN good offices and Gambari’s efforts on behalf of the Secretary-General.
  • Gambari is now in Tokyo where he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura.
  • Asked where Gambari will go after his Tokyo visit, the Spokeswoman recalled that what is being discussed with the authorities in Myanmar is when he can travel there. He is to return to Myanmar sometime in the first week of November, but the precise dates have not been set.
  • Gambari, she said, will probably travel to Singapore before going to Myanmar.
  • Montas added that the United Nations was trying to obtain more information about a reported meeting today between Aung San Suu Kyi and a government liaison before responding.

BAN KI-MOON CALLS FOR UNRESTRICTED HUMANITARIAN ACCESS
TO CIVILIANS IN NORTH KIVU

  • The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the increased displacement, human suffering, and sexual violence in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a result of fighting in the area between Congolese forces, dissident troops and armed militias, as well as elements of the FDLR.
  • The United Nations and its partners are doing their utmost to provide for the basic humanitarian needs of civilians caught up in the conflict. However, continued insecurity is complicating these efforts. He calls upon all belligerents to ensure total and unrestricted access of humanitarian actors to civilians affected by the conflict, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
  • The Secretary-General urges all dissidents to join the "brassage" process immediately, without conditions. He also calls upon the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to ensure the protection of all civilians in the region.
  • These are essential first steps towards bringing an end to the suffering of the civilian population and towards resolving the root causes of the conflict, in particular the continued presence in the DRC of the FDLR and other foreign armed groups.

RESTIVE DR CONGO PROVINCE IS PLAGUED BY SEXUAL VIOLENCE

  • The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has again voiced grave concern over the staggering number of rapes of women by armed men in North Kivu.
  • The Mission appeals to Congolese authorities to carry out all necessary measures in order to arrest and prosecute all those suspected of committing acts of rape.
  • The Mission also affirmed that it is available to support Congolese law enforcement and judicial authorities in pursuing and punishing these crimes.

RESULT OF TOKELAU REFERENDUM FALLS SHORT OF SELF-DETERMINATION

  • The result of Tokelau's self-determination referendum was announced today, following four days of voting in the presence of a UN electoral monitoring mission.
  • While 64.4 percent of voters supported the option of self-government in free association with New Zealand, this was not sufficient to meet the two-thirds majority required.
  • The UN monitoring mission deemed the election process credible and as reflecting the will of the people.

BAN KI-MOON IS GRATIFIED BY CONDUCT OF TOKELAU’S REFERENDUM

  • The Secretary-General has followed with interest the referendum that has just taken place in Tokelau. He is gratified that the conduct of this referendum was credible, and reflected the will of the people, as witnessed by a United Nations team deployed to monitor the vote.
  • He takes note of the results and respects the decision of the people of Tokelau not to move to self-government in free association with New Zealand.
  • It is important that the people of Tokelau have had this opportunity.
  • The Secretary-General commends the Government of New Zealand, as the administering Power, for its exemplary commitment and cooperation in this process.
  • He also expresses his gratitude to the Special Committee on Decolonization, whose commitment to the principles enshrined in the 1960 United Nations Declaration on Decolonization made the referendum possible.
  • The United Nations will continue working to ensure that the people of the Non-Self-Governing Territories are afforded the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination.

SECURITY COUNCIL URGES ALL PARTIES TO PARTICIPATE FULLY
IN UPCOMING DARFUR PEACE TALKS IN SIRTE, LIBYA

  • The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Darfur Jan Eliasson is headed from Asmara to Sirte, Libya, the site of the peace talks on Darfur to open on Saturday, where delegates have begun to arrive.
  • The Security Council, in a presidential statement, called on all parties to participate fully in the upcoming Darfur peace talks, and urged, as a first step, to put in place a cessation of hostilities to be overseen by the United Nations and the African Union.
  • In a statement read out early yesterday evening by Security Council President, Ambassador Leslie Kojo Christian of Ghana, the Council underlined its willingness to take action against any party that sought to undermine the peace process by failing to respect such a cessation of hostilities or by impeding the talks planned for 27 October in Libya.
  • Expressing its deep concern over delays in deploying the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the Council called on Member States to make available the aviation and ground transport units still required, and on all parties to facilitate and expedite the deployment.
  • Concerned also over the continuing deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the region, the Council urged all parties to exercise restraint.

SECURITY COUNCIL IS BRIEFED ON NEPAL
AND SANCTIONS REGIME FOR COTE D’IVOIRE

  • The Security Council held consultations on Nepal, and it received a briefing by the head of the UN Mission in that country, Ian Martin. Martin presented to the Council the Secretary-General’s recent report on Nepal.
  • Council members also held consultations today on the work of the Sanctions Committee dealing with Cote d’Ivoire. Ambassador Johan Verbeke of Belgium, who chairs the Committee, briefed the Council on its work, and a draft resolution on the extension of the embargo on Cote d’Ivoire was circulated to Council members.

CONDITIONS WORSENING IN GAZA AS HUMANITARIAN ACCESS DECREASES

  • Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes briefed the press in Geneva on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He warned that the situation in Gaza was worsening in recent weeks.
  • Although the United Nations had managed to get through more than 3,000 truckloads of humanitarian aid in July, through a number of crossing points, that volume had been steadily falling, and had only been 1,508 in September. Last week, 663 truckloads had gone through, as compared with 793 just the previous week.
  • As for health care, in July, 40 patients a day had been allowed to cross into Israel, which had fallen to under 5 a day in September, Holmes said.
  • He noted that Israel had threatened to cut electricity and fuel supplies if the launching of rocket attacks from Gaza continued. While the United Nations condemns those attacks, Holmes said that “it did not appear an appropriate response to those rocket attacks to punish the population of Gaza.”

BUILDING ON PROGRESS IS INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT IN AFGHANISTAN

  • In a report launched today, UNICEF cautions that efforts to build on progress since the fall of the Taliban will be increasingly difficult, particularly in southern Afghanistan, as a result of the recent upsurge in insecurity.
  • UNICEF says that there has been considerable progress made in health, nutrition and education in Afghanistan in recent years. Also, one-third of children in school today are girls – up from three percent when the Taliban were in power.
  • Now, however, humanitarian access has become increasingly difficult in some areas, and the United Nations now rates at least 78 districts as extremely risky.

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS TO HUMANITY

  • In its flagship report on the Global Environment Outlook: environment for development (GEO-4), which was released today, the U.N. Environment Programme says major threats to the planet, such as climate change, the rate of extinction of species, and the challenge of feeding a growing population are among the many unresolved issues that put humanity at risk.
  • Despite positive developments, such as the integration of environmental concerns into mainstream politics, the reduction of ozone-layer damaging chemicals, and the creation of carbon offset markets, persistent and intractable problems remain.
  • These include the rapid rise of oxygen “dead zones” in the oceans, the resurgence of new and old diseases linked in part with environmental degradation, and the under-funding of institutions established to counter the root environmental causes.
  • The report, which is the U.N.’s most comprehensive analysis of the environment, is prepared by about 390 experts and reviewed by more than 1,000 others across the world.

BEIJING AIR QUALITY A CONCERN AMID
MAJOR “GREENING” STRIDES AHEAD OF OLYMPIC GAMES

  • China has made significant strides toward “greening” the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to a new report by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP)
  • UNEP highlights progress in energy efficiency and the phase-out of ozone depleting chemicals, as well as environmental measures covering waste management, transport systems, water treatment, and new urban green belts.
  • The report, however, expresses concerns about poor air quality, the under-utilization of public transport, and missed opportunities to offset greenhouse gases generated by the event.