HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday, December
3, 2007
BAN KI-MOON
RALLIES POLITICAL SUPPORT FOR U.N. CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE IN BALI, INDONESIA
The 13th Conference
of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
got underway today in Bali, Indonesia. More than 10,000 participants from 187
countries are taking part in the two-week session, which is aimed at
negotiating a possible successor to the Treaty and its Kyoto Protocol.
Addressing the meeting today,
Framework Convention Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer told those gathered that
it is essential that they reach agreement on a number of climate
change-related issues.
These include: managing the
Kyoto Protocol’s Adaptation Fund so that it can begin financing real
adaptation projects; extending the mandate of the UNFCCC’s Expert Group on
Technology Transfer, which facilitates access by developing countries to clean
technologies; and reducing emissions from deforestation in developing
countries.
Ahead of the conference to
engage political support from world leaders, Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon -- who is attending next week’s high-level segment – spoke over the
weekend by telephone with the leaders of India and China. Last week, he also
spoke with the Presidents of Russia, the United States and Brazil.
Asked about the
Secretary-General’s views on proposals to move forward on climate change, the
Spokeswoman referred to the Secretary-General's most recently stated opinion
in which he called on those gathered in Bali
to agree on an agenda for reaching a new climate change agreement by 2009.
He also made it clear that the science on global warming is out, and it is
time for political leaders to act.
BAN
KI-MOON HAILS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
AS “CENTERPIECE” OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
In his
address early
today to the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court (ICC), the Secretary-General noted that, in the
relatively short period since it was created in 2002, the ICC has established
itself as the centerpiece of our system of international criminal justice.
He also pledged the United Nations’ continuing
cooperation for the Court and its Prosecutor and urged all Member States to do
everything within their powers to help enforce ICC warrants. Regarding
Darfur, the Secretary-General said unspeakable crimes on a massive scale are
still being committed.
ITALY ASSUMES SECURITY COUNCIL
PRESIDENCY
With the start of a new month, Italy has assumed the
rotating Presidency of the Security
Council, and Italian Ambassador Marcello Spatafora is holding bilateral
consultations with other Council members today about its work in the month
ahead.
The Security Council expects to hold consultations on its
programme of work for December tomorrow morning.
U.N.
HUMANITARIAN CHIEF VISITS SOMALIA
Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes today made a
brief visit to Somalia.
He spent time in a group of
settlements about 50 kilometers outside of Mogadishu, where some of the
country’s more than one million internally displaced persons have recently
taken refuge.
Later in the day, he met with
the President and Deputy Prime Minister in Baidoa before returning to
Nairobi.
His visit comes as the World
Food Programme has
begun providing daily meals – as opposed to dry rations – in Mogadishu for
the first time since 1993. WFP is currently feeding more than 20,000 people a
day, and hopes to eventually provide daily meals for up to 50,000 people.
UNITED
NATIONS RECEIVES ASSURANCES FROM SUDANESE GOVERNMENT
ON HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN DARFUR
Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, speaking to
reporters at the end of his visit to Sudan over the weekend,
said he was given assurances by the Sudanese government that there would
be no problem with the extension of an agreement enabling NGOs to continue to
operate as smoothly as possible in
Darfur.
He said, “This is vital considering that on December 11,
the Sudan Workplan 2008 requesting $2.2 billion to address humanitarian, early
recovery and recovery and development needs, will be launched, including $825
million for Darfur.”
Meanwhile, the African Union and United Nations Special
Envoys for Darfur, Salim Ahmed Salim and Jan Eliasson, are scheduled tomorrow
to meet with regional partners of the Darfur peace process (Chad, Egypt,
Eritrea, and Libya) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The purpose of that meeting is
to brief the Partners on the latest developments, to undertake a joint
appraisal of the second phase of the Sirte Peace Process, and to agree on a
common approach on the way forward.
In Khartoum, Rodolphe Adada, the AU-UN Joint Special
Representative and AMIS Head of Mission, met with Mutrif Siddiq, Chairman of
the Government’s technical committee for the implementation of the UN-AU
Hybrid Operation, over the weekend at the Foreign Ministry to review
outstanding issues related to the deployment of UNAMID, the UN-AU Mission in
Darfur.
Discussions focused particularly on land allocated to
UNAMID in Darfur, use of El Fasher airport, speeding up the process regarding
the release of communication equipment, as well the Status of Force Agreement.
U.N. ENVOY STRESSES NEED FOR POSITIVE
ENGAGEMENT
BETWEEN IRAN AND IRAQ
Staffan de Mistura, the
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Iraq, met yesterday with the Iranian
Ambassador to Baghdad, and discussed the need for continued and positive
engagement between Iran and Iraq, as with all other neighbors of Iraq. They
also discussed the possibility of increased Iranian support to Iraq’s
reconstruction.
In related news, the World Food
Programme today
announced that it will scale up efforts to provide basic food assistance
to the most vulnerable Iraqi refugees in Syria and called on the international
community to support its growing operation there.
U.N. MEETING ADDRESSES PLIGHT OF
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
Filippo Grandi, the Deputy Commissioner-General of the UN
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),
addressed a briefing on the plight of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.
He said chronic funding shortfalls had become a matter of
serious concern to his agency. This lack of resources meant that UNRWA was
unable to employ enough teachers and health care and social workers to keep
pace with a refugee population that was growing in both size and needs.
He acknowledged that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was
an international challenge that needed to be addressed by political actors.
But he also stressed that it could only be solved if human rights and
international humanitarian law were given a prominent place in the political
discourse.
AGENCIES SEEK TO TRANSFER DISPLACED
CONGOLESE TO SAFER SITES
Today in Geneva, UNICEF
reported that the number of civilians displaced by violence this year alone in
the DR Congo is close to 400,000. UNICEF says that the majority of the
displaced are children. The Agency also said that although it recently rescued
some 200 child soldiers from rebel custody, an estimated 1,000 children remain
active in warfare across the country.
Meanwhile, fighting has resumed between government forces
and rebels led by dissident General Laurent Nkunda. The Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)
says reports from the field indicate that the Congolese Army has been forced
into retreat from some of its some positions, including those near Katsiru and
Kikuku.
UN humanitarian agencies are working to transfer 10,000
displaced persons from the town of Rutshuru to safer sites, where OCHA
estimates that as many as 1,750 newly displaced families arrived in the course
of last week.
Asked about involvement by the U.N. Mission in the DRC (MONUC)
in the offensive in eastern Congo, the Spokeswoman said that MONUC is not
participating in offensive actions but may provide close air support where
civilians are in imminent danger, if appropriate.
Okabe noted that MONUC’s mandate allows UN peacekeepers
to act in support of the Government and promote the protection of civilians.
UNITED NATIONS HELPS LAUNCH ANTI-RAPE
INITIATIVE IN LIBERIA
The U.N. Mission in Liberia and
the Government of that country have together
launched a joint
anti-rape initiative. The six-month campaign is called “Stop rape – it could
be your mother, your daughter, your sister, your niece”.
As part of the campaign, women
and children’s protection units are being established around the country with
specially trained officers to help track down perpetrators.
AFGHANISTAN: U.N. MISSION
TO REACH OUT TO EX-INSURGENTS
The
UN Mission in Afghanistan says it
intends to continue reaching out to some groups previously involved in the
insurgency that are now seeking ways to end the violence. That is one of the
Mission’s priorities over the coming year, says Deputy Special Representative
Chris Alexander.
Alexander noted that, in spite
of a serious insurgency, Afghanistan has experienced more disarmament in 2007
than there had been last year. He noted improvements over the past year in the
strategy for countering the insurgency.
UNESCO CONDEMNS AIR STRIKE ON RADIO
STATION IN SRI LANKA
Koïchiro Matsuura, the head of the UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
condemned last week’s air strike on the Voice of Tigers radio station, which
killed five of the station’s staff.
He said that, regardless of
the content of the Voice of Tigers broadcasts, there can be no excuse for
military strikes on civilian media. He added that killing media personnel is
not going to help reconciliation, and he urged the authorities to ensure
respect for freedom of expression.
U.N. ENVOY
IN SKOPJE FOR TALKS ON THE F.Y.R.O.M. “NAME ISSUE”
The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for the talks
between Greece and The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Matthew Nimetz, is in Skopje today. He
met with a number of officials from The former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, including the country’s President, Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister, as well as its envoy dealing with the “name
issue.”
Nimetz reports that he had a
constructive session with the leaders, in which they presented their views in
some depth. Nimetz said he hoped the pace of the talks could be accelerated
and added that he found a positive attitude in Skopje towards exploring ways
to reach a solution.
Nimetz will hold talks on this
topic in Athens with Greek leaders on Wednesday.
RWANDAN
TRIBUNAL SENTENCES FORMER WITNESS FOR FALSE TESTIMONY
The International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda today
sentenced a former witness to nine months in prison for contempt of the
Tribunal and false testimony under oath. At a hearing this morning, the
witness, code-named “GAA”, pleaded guilty to one count of contempt of the
Tribunal.
He was arrested in Kigali in July and transferred to the
Tribunal in August where he promptly pleaded guilty to giving false testimony
under oath. This is the Tribunal’s first prosecution for contempt of court
and for giving false testimony.
SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES NEED FOR
EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITIES
Today is the International Day of Disabled Persons, and
this year’s theme is decent work opportunities for persons with disabilities.
In a
message to mark the day, the Secretary-General says persons with
disabilities are deprived of adequate employment opportunities in nearly every
society. This situation is deplorable, he says.
For its part, the International Labor Organization today
released a report saying that new efforts are needed to break down the
barriers that still prevent millions of people with disabilities from working
and contributing to the economic growth of their societies.
Such significant and sustained efforts are vital, not
only to promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in employment,
rural development and poverty reduction programs, but also in moving toward
achieving the Millennium Development Goals for halving poverty by 2015.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, High Commissioner for Human Rights
Louise Arbour today made a series of
commitments
to improve the working conditions of her staff with disabilities.
SECRETARY-GENERAL EXTENDS U.N. ETHICS
POLICIES
TO COVER FUNDS AND PROGRAMMES
Today the Secretary-General is
releasing a new bulletin on Ethics.
From the day he took office,
the Secretary-General pledged to staff and management that the United Nations
would commit itself to the highest standards of ethics, integrity,
accountability and transparency.
With this new bulletin,
employees in the Funds and Programmes will be extended the same ethics-related
programmes and protections as are already afforded to their colleagues in the
Secretariat.
The Secretary-General will
continue to work with the leadership of the specialized agencies to further
harmonize and establish common ethics standards throughout the UN system. As
we strive for “One United Nations”, the United Nations must be governed by a
single code of ethical standards.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
SECRETARY-GENERAL MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF THE OTTAWA
CONVENTION: This evening, the Secretary-General has a message prepared for
delivery on the anniversary of the Ottawa
Convention
on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of
Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction .
SECRETARY-GENERAL AWAITS REPORT ON KOSOVO: Asked
about comments in the media about the views of the troika dealing with Kosovo,
the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations was aware of the comments but was
awaiting the report from the troika.
SPECIAL ADVISER AT HEADQUARTERS TO DISCUSS U.N.
MEDIATION SUPPORT CAPACITY: Asked about the visit by Special Adviser Jan
Egeland to UN Headquarters, the Spokeswoman later said that his meetings are to
continue to discuss his work with the
Department of Political Affairs in having a mediation support capacity at
the United Nations.
NO U.N. ROLE IN RUSSIAN, VENEZUELAN ELECTIONS: The
Spokeswoman, in response to a question on the weekend elections in Russia and
referendum in Venezuela, noted that the United Nations had not played a role in
those two votes.
**The guest at noon was Robert
Benson, the Director of the Ethics
Office, who briefed on
the Secretary-General’s new bulletin on Ethics.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
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Fax. 212-963-7055
