HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
Friday, November
23, 2007
[There was no
noon briefing today, but the following are highlights of developments in the UN
system. The noon briefing will resume on Monday, November 26, 2007.]
BAN KI-MOON URGES PARTIES TO MAINTAIN CALM IN LEBANON
The Secretary-General has taken note of the fifth
postponement of the Lebanese Presidential election beyond the term of the
current incumbent. He regrets this development and urges all parties to
maintain calm as well as to further intensify efforts to reach a compromise as
soon as possible.
The Secretary-General is deeply concerned at the
fragility of the situation in Lebanon and is following events very carefully.
Both he and his Special Coordinator for Lebanon are in close touch with key
players in Lebanon, in the region and beyond.
The Secretary-General urges all parties to live up to
their responsibilities and to act within the constitutional framework as well
as in a peaceful and democratic manner.
SOMALIA: BAN KI-MOON WELCOMES NOMINATION OF PRIME MINISTER
IRAQ: UN REFUGEE AGENCY IS CAUTIOUS ABOUT RETURNS
DAMAGE IN
BANGLADESH WORSE THAN EXPECTED
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
reports that the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund has authorized a second
disbursement of almost $6 million, to support life-saving relief aid for
cyclone survivors in Bangladesh. This comes after the first disbursement of
almost $9 million.
UNICEF
says a recent
mission to the hardest-hit areas in Bangladesh showed that damage was worse
than expected.
UNICEF’s efforts are currently directed towards providing
food, clean water and sanitation. The agency is procuring 100,000 blankets,
60,000 articles of children’s clothes, 60,000 family kits, and 60,000 plastic
sheets for use in cyclone-stricken areas. UNICEF has also moved two mobile
water treatment plants to hard-hit districts.
UNICEF has started the process, together with
non-governmental organizations, of identifying separated, unaccompanied and
distressed children. Identified children are being registered with the local
government authorities.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is continuing to
distribute food, including high-energy biscuits, by helicopters, boats and
trucks. A second distribution to 465,000 survivors has taken place, and WFP
will now start distributing 750 tons of rice to more than 2 million people.
But WFP says that reaching all cyclone survivors is not easy at the moment.
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, is helping to
prepare a needs assessment of emergency drugs that would be required for the
next six months.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has
established an emergency coordination and rehabilitation unit in
Bangladesh. FAO says the agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors in the
southern part of the country have suffered enormous losses and large-scale
assistance is urgently needed to address the damage.
For its part, the World Meteorological Organization said
forecasts were issued to the Bangladesh Meteorological Service, which allowed
the Government of Bangladesh to evacuate 600,000 people to shelters before the
cyclone.
BANGLADESHI POLICE ARRIVE IN DARFUR
The UN Mission in Sudan reports that 130
police unit from Bangladesh has arrived in Nyala in South Darfur. The police are
part of the UN's Heavy Support Package for the African Union mission in Darfur
known as AMIS, until the joint AU-UN Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID) takes
over from AMIS.
Meanwhile, the African Union and United
Nations Chief Mediators for the Darfur peace process, Sam Ibok and Taye-Brook
Zerihoun, have ended their two-day visit to North Darfur after holding a meeting
with the Sudan Liberation Army-Unity leadership.
The Chief Mediators briefed the leadership
about the Sirte peace process, their current role and the recent visit to Juba.
They commended the SLA-Unity for their unification efforts and encouraged the
Movement to engage in the peace process.
Zerihoun said the objective of the Sirte Talks
is to stop the killings in Darfur, and to help allow the people organise their
lives and live in peace. “To obtain peace, you have to negotiate,” he told them.
The Chief Mediators also said that they were
encouraged by the efforts that the Movements are making to unite, because any
form of unification will make the mediators’ tasks easier.
The U.N.’s Special Envoy
for Darfur, Jan Eliasson, is scheduled to be in New York next week to brief the
Security Council and for internal consultations.
GRAVE CHILD RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN MYANMAR
ARE REPORTED TO SECURITY COUNCIL
In his
report to the
Security Council on children and armed conflict in Myanmar released today,
the Secretary-General said although there has been progress in terms of dialogue
with the Government of Myanmar and two non-State actors (the Karen
National Union and the Karenni National Progressive Party),
all parties continue to be implicated in grave child rights violations.
The Secretary-General
recommended for the Government of Myanmar to take into account its
responsibilities to ensure that all armed groups with which it shares a
ceasefire accord are made accessible to the monitoring and reporting mechanism.
He urged the Government to
continue taking disciplinary action against those responsible for aiding and
abetting the recruitment of children, and to systematize and institutionalize
this disciplinary process.
The Government of Myanmar is encouraged to
accede at the earliest opportunity to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000)
and to adjust national legislation accordingly.
The Secretary-General also
recommended that the Myanmar Government allow international and humanitarian
organizations access for delivery of humanitarian services, and to accept the
proposal of the U.N. refugee agency’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations
for an inter-agency humanitarian needs assessment.
BAN KI-MOON
CALLS FOR A UNITED U.N. ENTITY
TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
In his message on the occasion of the International Day
for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Secretary-General described
violence against women as one of the most heinous and prevalent human rights
abuses in the world. He has announced the launching of a world-wide campaign
through 2015 for the elimination of violence against women.
The Secretary-General has also called for a united U.N.
entity to advance this cause, urging the world to take this issue seriously –
not only on this International Day, but every day.
Also on this day, the U.N High Commissioner for Human
Rights Louise Arbor
called for real equality and an end to impunity in order to stop violence
against women. Arbor also demanded action to stop the killing and the abuse,
urging the States to bring perpetrators to justice.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
RIFT VALLEY FEVER EXPECTED TO SPREAD IN SUDAN: The
spread of the Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in Sudan could escalate in the coming
weeks as millions of animals are moved around the country and the region for the
Eid Al Adha Muslim holiday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
warned
today. FAO described the epidemiological situation of the disease in livestock
as very complex and has offered to send a team of animal health experts to the
Sudan for in-depth field investigations. In response to recent RVF outbreaks,
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have banned livestock imports from Sudan.
THE WEEK
AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Saturday, November 24
The Security Council mission to Timor-Leste leaves today
and will return on 1 December.
Sunday, November 25
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of
violence against Women.
Monday, November 26
The Secretary-General is in Washington, D.C., for a meeting
of the Middle East Quartet.
The Deputy Secretary-General will be in Santiago, Chile,
today and tomorrow, for meetings with Chile’s President and other high-level
Chilean officials, as well as to address the Regional Interagency Coordination
Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean.
This morning, UN Special Envoy for Darfur Jan Eliasson is
scheduled to brief the Security Council during consultations on Sudan.
At 10:30 a.m. in Room S-226, Joanne Sandler, Acting
Executive Director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); Ambassador
Joseph Nsengimana of Rwanda; and Eliana Elias, Executive Director of Mingu Peru,
launch an advocacy campaign on ending violence against women and announce the
new grantees of the UN Trust Fund to end violence against women.
The guest at the noon press briefing is Marijke
Velzeboer-Salcedo, Chief of the Latin American and Caribbean Section at UNIFEM,
who will brief on a regional report on violence against women, entitled “Not one
more! The right to live a life free from violence in Latin America and the
Caribbean.”
At 3 p.m. in Room S-226, there will be a press
conference, following the launch (at 1:15 p.m. in Conference Room 6) of the
report “United Nations Arms Embargoes – Their Impact on Arms Flows and Target
Behaviour”, with Peter Wallensteen, Special Program on the Implementation of
Targeted Sanctions; Batees Gill, Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute; and Anders Wallberg of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
moderator is Carl Mangus Nesser, Permanent Mission of Sweden.
Today and tomorrow in Conference Room 7, the 6th
Coordination Meeting on International Migration and Development discusses the
outcomes and lessons learnt of the 1st meeting of the Global Forum on Migration
and Development.
Through 4 December, Under-Secretary-General John Holmes
travels to Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya.
Today and tomorrow in Beijing, a high-level International
Food Safety Forum brings together senior officials from Member States of the
World Health Organization and representatives of the food industry and consumer
organizations.
Today through 28 November in Ahmedabad, India, a
conference, sponsored by UNESCO and the UN Environment Programme, examines
“Environmental Education towards a Sustainable Future – Partners for the Decade
of Education for Sustainable Development”.
The Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Rodolfo
Stavenhagen, will visit Bolivia from 26 November to 7 December.
The Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression,
Ambeyi Ligabo, will visit Honduras from 26-30 November.
Tuesday, November 27
The Secretary-General is in Annapolis, Maryland, to attend
the conference on the Middle East.
This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold
consultations on the Secretary-General’s Report on the implementation of
resolution 1701.
At 11:15 a.m. in Room S-226, Esteban B. Conejos Jr.,
Under-Secretary for Migrant Worker Affairs of the Philippines; Ambassador Régine
de Clercq of Belgium; and Hania Zlotnik, Director of the U.N. Department of
Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division, will brief on the achievements
of the first meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Belgium
and the expectations for its next meeting in Philippines.
The guest at noon is Mr. Claes Johnasson, of the U.N.
Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report Office, who will brief
on UNDP’s Human Development Report 2007/2008 on "Fighting Climate Change: Human
Solidarity in a Divided World”. The report is being launched today in Brasilia,
Brazil, as well as in more than 100 countries.
At 3 pm, in Room 226, the Qatar
Mission will hold a press conference on the Qatari draft resolution presented
before the Third Committee of the General Assembly on World Autism Awareness Day
under the agenda item “Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child.
Ambassador Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Nasser, the Permanent Representative of the
State of Qatar, will speak to the press on the process of the adoption of the
resolution.
The Independent Expert on the
situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Titinga
Frédéric Pacéré, will conduct a visit to that country from 27 November to 6
December.
Wednesday, November 28
This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold
consultations on Burundi.
At 11 a.m. in Room S-226, Under-Secretary-General Sha
Zukang launches the 2007 “Report on the World Social Situation: The Employment
Imperative”. Other speakers include: Mr. Jomo Kwame
Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, and Mr. Johan
Scholvinck, Director, Division for Social Policy and Development (DESA)
From today through 2 December in Hudet, Ethiopia, more than
550 participants from Somalia, northern Kenya, and Djibouti are expected to take
part in the largest pastoralist gathering ever in the Horn of Africa.
Thursday, November 29
This morning, the Security
Council is scheduled to hold a private meeting with Troop Contributing Countries
to the U.N. Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as well as
consultations on the DRC.
At 10 a.m. in Room S-226,
Carsten Staur, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations;
Richard E. Stearns, President, World Vision, United States; Sam McGuire, Senior
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs; and Bunmi Makinwa, Director, Joint United
Nations Program on HIV and AIDS in the U.S., New York Office will brief on the
release of a report revealing the awareness and attitudes of populations in
seven wealthy nations toward those who are affected by HIV and AIDS globally.
At 11:15 a.m. in Room S-226,
senior UN System Influenza Coordinator Dr. David Nabarro briefs the media on
the latest Avian Influenza progress report.
The guest at noon is Mr.
Nicholas Burnett, Assistant-Director General for Education at UNESCO, who will
brief on the 2008 Education for All Global Monitoring Report.
At 2pm, a press conference will
be held in Room 226 – “From Arrest to Surrender: State and UN Cooperation with
the International Criminal Court”, sponsored by the Coalition for the
International Criminal Court. Speakers names will be available closer to the
day.
Today is the International Day
of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Several activities are taking place
at Headquarters, including a special meeting of the Palestinian Rights
Committee.
Friday, November 30
This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold a
debate on the Middle East. Today is the last day of Indonesia’s Council
presidency.
At 6:30 p.m. at St. Bartholomew’s Church, at 109 E. 50th
Street, the Secretary-General is scheduled to address the World AIDS Day Evening
of Remembrance.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
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