HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
U.N.
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday, March
13, 2007
SECURITY
COUNCIL DISCUSSES SOMALIA;
DECIDES TO HOLD MEET ON IRAN TOMORROW AT 5 P.M.
The Security Council
is holding consultations on Somalia with a briefing by Francois Lonseny Fall,
the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for that country.
[Following consultations, the Security Council President,
Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa,
read out a press statement on
Somalia and also announced that consultations on Iran would be held at 5 p.m.
Wednesday.]
Also on the Security Council agenda tomorrow is a
briefing and consultations on the Middle East and another set of
consultations on Cote d’Ivoire.
HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES
ZIMBABWEAN AUTHORITIES TO ENSURE
IMMEDIATE, IMPARTIAL PROBE INTO RECENTS EVENTS
High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today
welcomed the order of Zimbabwe’s High Court that opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai be provided immediately with all necessary medical treatment and
today be brought before the Court or released.
Citing shocking reports of police abuse, Arbour said that
the intimidation of a peaceful assembly is unacceptable.
She also urged the Zimbabwean authorities to ensure an
immediate, impartial and comprehensive investigation into the recent events in
the country.
SPECIAL ENVOY
FOR DARFUR TO TRAVEL TO ERITREA
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Darfur Jan
Eliasson will be traveling to Eritrea. The special envoy has a
personal invitation from President Isayas Afewerki of Eritrea. The purpose of
the visit is to discuss how to best co-ordinate Eritrean mediation efforts with
those of African Union and the United Nations to re-energizing the Darfur
political process.
Following his scheduled visit to Eritrea from 21-22 March,
Jan Eliasson is planning a second joint visit to
Sudan with African Union Envoy
for Darfur, Salim Ahmed Salim, before the end of the month.
DEPUTY
SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH E.U. DEVELOPMENT MINISTERS
Deputy Secretary-General
Asha-Rose Migiro is in Europe this week.
Today in Bonn, she attended a meeting with European Union
development ministers and in a speech
the Deputy Secretary-General said wants
to pay special attention to the UN’s development agenda, and in particular find
new ways of working with governments to attain the Millennium Development Goals.
In addition, she said it will be her responsibility to work
with the wide constellation of UN agencies and entities to ensure that the broad
UN system can truly deliver as one.
While in Bonn, met with the UN staff based there and with
the Mayor.
Her next stop is Strasbourg, where she will visit the
European Parliament tomorrow.
SPECIAL ENVOY
FOR GEORGIA CALLS TO FORM
JOINT FACT-FINDING GROUP ON LOCAL ATTACKS
On Georgia, the United Nations received unconfirmed reports that, last
Sunday, Georgian government facilities in the Upper Kodori Valley were attacked
from the ground and from the air. The United Nations takes those reports with the utmost
seriousness.
For his part, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Georgia, Jean Arnualt, immediately contacted the Georgian and
Abkhaz sides in order to form a joint fact-finding group. The group, which both
sides accepted, is tasked with investigating the veracity and the details of the
reports. In addition to Georgian and Abkhaz participants, the group includes
representatives of the UN Mission and the Commonwealth of Independent States
Peacekeeping Force.
This group has already started its work and was able to
access the Upper Kodori Valley without any impediments. The joint investigation
is currently still ongoing. We will share findings as they become available.
LATEST REPORT
ON U.N. MISSION IN KOSOVO IS RELEASED
Out as a document is the
Secretary-General’s latest report
on the UN Mission in Kosovo.
In it, he says that, after almost eight years of UN
administration, Kosovo and its people need clarity on their future. He adds that
moving towards a timely conclusion of the Kosovo status process should be a
priority for the international community as a whole.
The Secretary-General also says that the use of violence by
extremist groups in Kosovo to achieve political objectives cannot be tolerated
and should be strongly condemned.
PROGRESS
IS REPORTED
IN BURUNDI FOR CHILDREN AFFECTED BY CONFLICT
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, was in Burundi today, where she
said she was encouraged by the progress made by Burundi’s Government to ensure
greater protection for children affected by the conflict there.
Her goal was to get a firsthand look at the situation on
the ground, paying particular attention to the issues of child soldiers, sexual
violence, and the detention of children associated with armed groups.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENT
MORE THAN 40,000 CIVILIANS FLEE FIGHTING IN SRI LANKA'S
EAST: More than 40,000 civilians have fled fierce fighting in Sri Lanka's east over the past week, pushing to an estimated 127,000 the number of
displaced within the affected district of Batticaloa, according to the
Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees.
MORE COOPERATION NEEDED FOR COLOMBIAN REFUGEES IN
ECUADOR: High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has
called for more international cooperation to help thousands of Colombian
refugees in Ecuador. UNHCR and the Ecuadorian government jointly estimate that
up to 250,000 Colombians have fled to Ecuador to escape the armed conflict in
neighbouring Colombia. The numbers keep growing, with an average of 700
Colombians a month asking for asylum.
NUMBER OF
COUNTRIES ARE REVERSING
CENTURIES OF DEFORESTATION: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the
“State of the World’s Forests 2007” in Rome today. According to the
report, a number
of the world’s regions are reversing centuries of deforestation and are now
showing an increase in forest area. The report underlines the positive effects of economic prosperity and careful
forest management in saving forests, and notes that over 100 countries have
established national forest programmes. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf and Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo participated in the launch.
U.N. PARTNERS
LAUNCH $18 MILLION APPEAL FOR MOZAMBIQUE: The United Nations and its humanitarian partners yesterday launched a
flash appeal for nearly $18 million to help Mozambique respond to the
humanitarian needs of flood and cyclone survivors.
U.N. CLIMATE
CHANGE CONVENTION CHIEF ADDRESSES CLEAN ENERGY MEETING: Several international meetings are being held this week on
climate change-related issues, including a two-day conference that starts today
in London on financing clean energy. Addressing that meeting today were World Bank President
Paul Wolfowitz and the UN Climate Change Convention’s Executive Secretary, Yvo
de Boer. De Boer said the carbon market created through the Kyoto
Protocol, which was designed to tackle climate change, had the potential to
expand so as to generate up to $100 billion per year.
REPORT ON
INDEPENDENT PROBE INTO HARIRI ASSASSINATION TO BE RELEASED SOON: Asked when
the latest report by Serge Brammertz, the head of the UN International
Independent Investigative Commission into the assassination of former Prime
Minister Rafik Hairiri and others in Lebanon, the Spokesperson said that the
report was due out very soon. Asked if Brammertz was in New York, Montas later
explained that for security reasons she was not at liberty to speak about
Brammertz' whereabouts.
Office of the Spokesman for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
