الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة

Noon briefing of 30 March 2009

.HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MICHELE MONTAS

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, March 30, 2009

BAN KI-MOON: GAZA SITUATION IS “INTOLERABLE”,
DARFUR HUMANITARIAN CRISIS “EXTREMELY” WORRYING

  • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the Summit of the League of Arab States in Doha today, telling the gathered leaders that, from the widening fallout of the global economic crisis to the suffering of victims of armed conflict, the Arab world faces insecurity today and the potential for more tomorrow.

  • He said that the people of Gaza are suffering, and the situation at the crossings is intolerable. The way forward is a durable ceasefire, open crossings, and Palestinian reconciliation, he asserted.

  • The Secretary-General said that he remains extremely concerned by the Sudanese Government’s decision to expel key international non-governmental organizations, and suspend the work of three national NGOs that provide life-sustaining services for more than one million people. He urged the Sudanese authorities once again to reverse this decision.

  • The Secretary-General added that he looks forward to free and transparent elections in Lebanon on June 7. And he added that the present situation in Somalia offers a rare window of opportunity.

  • Prior to the Summit, on Monday morning, the Secretary-General met bilaterally with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Amre Moussa. Also on Monday, he held bilateral meetings with the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Foreign Minister of Norway and the President of the United Arab Emirates.

  • On Sunday, he held separate meetings with the Emir of Qatar and the Presidents of Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Somalia and Syria.

  • Asked whether the Secretary-General met with any senior Sudanese officials while in Qatar, the Spokeswoman said that he neither met with President Omar al-Bashir nor with any other Sudanese official.

  • Asked whether the Security Council would invoke Article 16 of the Rome Statute to defer the International Criminal Court’s action against President Bashir, Montas said that would be for the Security Council to decide.

  • She noted that the Secretary-General has been dealing with a political process and peacekeeping duties in Sudan, in addition to seeking a solution to the expulsion of the humanitarian groups. He will continue to act on a broad range of issues concerning Sudan, using the full range of his abilities, she said.

BAN KI-MOON TO OPEN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN IN THE HAGUE

  • The Secretary-General is traveling to The Hague, where tomorrow he will address the International Conference on Afghanistan and call for international support as the people of Afghanistan face a critical year.

  • The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in a press briefing in Kabul today, said that tomorrow’s conference will be an opportunity to review progress and consolidate support behind the priorities for the country that were agreed last year in Paris. It said that we hope for a renewed and tighter collective focus on security, jobs and better governance.

  • UNAMA today is holding a consultation with media groups on freedom of expression in Afghanistan. Today’s meeting aims to provide a constructive dialogue on ways to promote and protect freedom of expression.

DARFUR: MORE EGYPTIAN PEACEKEEPERS ARRIVE TO JOIN AFRICAN UNION-UNITED NATIONS MISSION

  • The Tripartite Committee meeting bringing together the Government of Sudan, the African Union and the United Nations on ways to facilitate and expedite deployment of the AU-UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur is scheduled to take place tomorrow in El Fasher, Darfur.

  • The Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, Susana Malcorra, is traveling from UN headquarters to attend that meeting, which is also intended to facilitate the work of UNAMID in Darfur.

  • UNAMID reports that it will be the first time the Tripartite Committee is meeting in Darfur. A communiqué is expected to be issued following the meeting.

  • Meanwhile, on the ground, UNAMID reports that during the past 72 hours, the security situation in Darfur has remained relatively calm. However, banditry activities and car-jacking incidents were reported in both North and West Darfur.

  • The mission also reports that a fire broke out last night at Al Riyad camp for internally displaced Persons (IDP), near El Geneina in West Darfur, causing heavy damage to about 35 shelters, the loss of many animals, and left a large number of people homeless. A UNAMID investigation team was dispatched to the camp to probe the cause of the fire.

  • And the advance party of the second Egyptian Infantry Battalion, consisting of 100 personnel, arrived in Darfur today to join UNAMID. Another 100 personnel are expected to arrive tomorrow. The advance party consists mainly of engineering personnel with light capability to prepare the location for the arrival of the main body of the Battalion.

  • The main body is scheduled to arrive within four months, bringing the battalion’s expected total to 850 peacekeepers. Egypt’s contribution to the Mission already includes one infantry battalion, one engineering unit, one signal company and one heavy transport company. This brings the total number of Egyptians serving with UNAMID, including the new arrivals, to 1,771.

CHARLIZE THERON TRAVELS TO DR CONGO TO FOCUS ON ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

  • The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) says it will support the nationwide electoral review process for local elections. The operation will kick off in the Kinshasa and Bas-Congo provinces in June and will expand in August to the rest of the vast country.

  • The Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Alan Doss, has welcomed the move and he has assured the Congolese Independent Electoral Commission of UN support along the lines of the Mission’s mandate. He said the review process for local elections will complete a national endeavor began in 2005 with the identification and enrollment of all eligible voters.

  • Charlize Theron will be travelling to the Democratic Republic of Congo this week in her official capacity as Messenger of Peace with a focus on ending violence against women. Ms. Theron views this as a fact-finding mission. She will travel first to Bukavu, to visit Panzi Hospital and meet with Dr. Denis Mukwege, as well as with community outreach workers, medical staff, and survivors of sexual violence. From there she will go to Kanyola, where she will meet with survivors who have been reintegrated into communities.

UNITED NATIONS BEEFS UP LOGISTICAL SUPPORT FOR HAITI VOTE

  • UN assistance to Haiti’s planned elections –scheduled for 19 April - is taking shape with the arrival last week in Port-au-Prince of a first batch of materials and the UN Mission, (MINUSTAH)’s disclosure of some details of its electoral assistance plan.

  • With voter registration, printing of ballots and training of electoral workers completed and some 9500 polling stations in place, the Mission is now in possession of some 100 tons of equipment. These include 12,000 electoral kits just flown in to Port-au-Prince that are being dispatched to voting centers across the island.

  • Also, 4,000 electoral security workers will be on hand to keep the peace on Election Day. That’s in addition to some 6,500 UN peacekeepers and more than 1,800 civilian staff, 11 aircraft, 950 vehicles and some 300 horses and mules that will be deployed to ensure the success of the operation.

SUBSTANTIVE SESSION IN U.N-BACKED KHMER ROUGE TRIALS BEGIN IN PHNOM PENH

  • The first substantive session in the trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Cambodian Courts (ECCC) opened today in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Prosecutors will attempt to convict former teacher Kaing Guek Eav -- better known as Duch – for his alleged role in massive crimes committed by the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge communist movement, which killed up to two million people.

  • Asked about an investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) into corruption in the Cambodian courts, the Spokeswoman refrained from detailed comment while an investigation is ongoing. She noted that the work of OIOS is confidential. The result of the probe will be submitted to the Cambodian party for further action.

  • Montas added that the United Nations signed a Joint Statement with the Cambodian government on 23 February 2009. Among other things, it creates a new structure within the tribunal that would allow for all staff of the ECCC to confidentially complain to an Ethics Monitor in a way that will provide genuine protection. This protection is a bottom line for the United Nations.

UNITED NATIONS SEEKS URGENT FUNDS FOR NAMIBIA FLOOD VICTIMS

  • In Namibia, UN agencies and their humanitarian partners today launched a Flash Appeal for more than $2.7 million to support and complement the Government’s efforts to respond to the immediate and medium-term needs of up to 350,000 people affected by floods.

  • Since the beginning of 2009, the north-central and north-eastern regions of Namibia have experienced torrential rains, increasing the water levels of some rivers to levels not recorded since 1963.

  • Over 16% of the population of the country is affected by the flooding and 92 people are estimated to have lost their lives.

TALKS BEGIN IN BONN ON POST-KYOTO CLIMATE CHANGE DEAL

  • The first in a series of major UN negotiating sessions this year, designed to culminate in an ambitious and effective international climate change deal in Copenhagen in December, got underway yesterday in Bonn, Germany.

  • The issues of finance and technology required by developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change are at the heart to the talks in Bonn, along with discussions on reductions to be achieved by industrialized countries after 2012.

  • The Bonn session should provide the basis for a negotiating text of the Copenhagen agreed outcome, which will be tabled in June.

  • Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), warned that the clock was "ticking down" and urged countries to make progress during the negotiating sessions before the December gathering in Denmark.

  • About 2,500 government delegates and participants from 175 countries are in Bonn for these talks which will conclude on 8 April.

BAN KI-MOON: MEN, BOYS MUST HELP ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY

  • The Secretary-General has addressed the Global Symposium on Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Equality – held in Rio de Janeiro -- via video message.

  • He noted that in too many countries, women are still not seen as equals in the eye of the law or the minds of men and boys.

  • No country and no culture has fully escaped this prejudice, he said, adding that violence against women was the most obvious and hateful expression but that inequality also exists in the home, in schools, in the workplace and in the halls of power.

  • The Secretary-General stressed that men and boys must play their part in the effort to achieve gender equality.

MANDATE FOR SPECIAL ENVOY ON RESOLUTION 1559 SEEKS TO REAFFIRM LEBANON INDEPENDENCE

  • The Spokeswoman clarified a point that was made at our briefing on 20 March, regarding the mandate of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004).

  • The mandate of the Special Envoy derives from resolution 1559 (2004), which aims at reaffirming the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon throughout Lebanon. The Special Envoy also reports on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1680 (2006).

  • Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) pertains inter alia to Lebanon as well, and it reemphasises the importance of implementing resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006) in full. However, it also contains several elements which are distinct from both these resolutions, and the Secretary-General reports separately on its implementation.

  • Asked about the responsibilities for dealing with the implementation of resolution 1701, the Spokeswoman noted that the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Michael Williams, deals with that issue.

  • Asked further about the budgetary framework for Terje Roed-Larsen’s post, Montas said that this was being dealt with by the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly. She added that it is up to the Security Council, not the Fifth Committee, to determine mandates.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

GAZA INQUIRY BOARD REPORT EXPECTED NEXT WEEK: Asked about the UN Board of Inquiry’s report on Gaza, the Spokeswoman said that it was expected to go to the Secretary-General when he returns from his travels on 7 April, after which he will review the report before deciding on further action. The Board, she said, had finished obtaining information and had needed some more time to write its conclusions.

MADAGASCAR SPECIAL ENVOY HEADED FOR ANTANANARIVO: Asked about UN efforts to deal with the situation in Madagascar, the Spokeswoman said that Tiébilé Dramé, the UN Senior Political Adviser on Madagascar, was in New York last week for consultations and will be returning to Madagascar shortly.

“EARTH HOUR” RAISED CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS: Asked about the amount of money saved when UN Headquarters closed its lights for an hour last Saturday to mark Earth Hour, the Spokeswoman said that the money saved was not the point; UN participation in Earth Hour, she said, was designed to foster awareness concerning climate change. She said that the events that took place during Earth Hour, including the shutdown of the lights on the Empire State Building, achieved that goal.

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