HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, December
6, 2007
AFTER THE NOON BRIEFING, BAN KI-MOON SPEAKS TO PRESS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
spoke to reporters
Thursday afternoon.
DEPUTY
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO LEAD U.N. DELEGATION
TO AFRICAN UNION/EUROPEAN UNION SUMMIT
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro will be leading
the UN delegation to the African Union-European Union Summit in Lisbon,
Portugal.
As part of her delegation, she will have the
High-Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked and Small Island
Developing States, Cheick Sidi Diarra, the Assistant Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet and the Deputy Chef de Cabinet, Kim
Won-Soo.
Mulet and Kim are scheduled to meet with the Sudanese
delegation at the summit on issues related to the deployment of the AU-UN
hybrid force (UNAMID).
The purpose of those meetings, which will take place tomorrow and Saturday,
will be to address and resolve the issue of force composition as well as all
other obstacles impeding the deployment of UNAMID.
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Côte d'Ivoire, Choi Young-Jin, is expected
to participate in a mini-summit on Côte d'Ivoire.
U.N. HUMANITARIAN CHIEF WARNS SECURITY
COUNCIL
OF DIRE SITUATION IN SUDAN, ETHIOPIA AND SOMALIA
The Security Council
began its work today with a briefing on the work of the Council’s mission to
Timor-Leste by the head of that mission, South African Ambassador Dumisani
Kumalo.
After that, the Council held another
formal meeting to hear from Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
John Holmes about his recent visit to Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. He told
the Council that he is extremely concerned by the
humanitarian situation in all three areas.
He said that there are strong
reasons to believe that a catastrophe could occur in the next few months in
Ethiopia if all the necessary action to avert it is not taken.
He added that, despite
its scale and relative success in sustaining millions and saving hundreds of
thousands of lives, the humanitarian operation in Darfur is increasingly
fragile.
He is particularly concerned
about the seriousness of the situation of the hundreds of thousands of people
displaced from Mogadishu, scattered over inaccessible areas in South and
Central Somalia.
This afternoon, the Security Council is scheduled to take
up Burundi, first in a formal meeting, and then in closed consultations.
HARIRI ASSASSINS LIKELY STILL HAVE
OPERATIONAL CAPABILITIES, U.N. INVESTIGATOR TELLS SECURITY COUNCIL
Serge Brammertz yesterday afternoon delivered his last
briefing to the Security Council as the head of the International Independent
Investigation Commission dealing with
Lebanon.
He told the Council that the investigation into former
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination, as well as
preliminary results in other cases, suggest that the perpetrators had, and
most likely still have, operational capabilities available in Beirut.
Brammertz said that, in recent months, as investigative
tracks have advanced, the scope of the investigation has narrowed. He added
that, based on the progress made recently, he is more confident and optimistic
than ever that the investigation can be concluded successfully.
Brammertz and his successor, Daniel Bellemare, met with
the press following the meeting and Security Council consultations. Mr.
Bellemare expressed his commitment to a seamless transition when he takes up
his job on 1 January.
U.N. CLIMATE CHANGE HEAD CALLS ON
INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES
TO TAKE THE LEAD IN REDUCING EMISSIONS
At the climate change
talks in Bali,
all of the negotiating groups that will draw up draft conclusions for adoption
next week have now been established, and they’ve begun work on all the major
issues.
Meanwhile, the plenary is taking up the reports of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Some parties are suggesting
that those reports should be updated by the end of 2009, when a post-2012
climate change deal is expected to be in place.
The Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change, Yvo de Boer, today called on industrialized countries to take
the lead, by reducing their emissions between 25 and 40 percent from 1990
levels. He stressed the need to include the carbon market in negotiations on
a future deal, in order to achieve these targets.
And, also on climate change, the Framework Convention is
stressing the need to do more to extend the benefits of the Clean Development
Mechanism to Africa, and the U.N. Environment Programme
notes that environmental sustainability could potentially create millions
of new “green collar” jobs – in fields like construction, sustainable
forestry, agriculture, engineering and transportation.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES
IMPORTANCE
OF U.N. DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
The Deputy Secretary-General this morning
addressed
the General Assembly Dialogue on Development. Highlighting the new UN
Development Agenda, she said
the publication reflects the importance that the entire UN system attaches to
building a more equitable, healthier and more secure world for all.
She added that there will be no more important mission
for the United Nations than helping developing countries share in the world's
prosperity.
A stronger United Nations needs a stronger development
pillar, she concluded.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME CHIEF CONDEMNS
KILLING OF DRIVER
The head of the World Food Programme (WFP), Josette
Sheeran, today
condemned the killing of a truck driver in Afghanistan, who was delivering
WFP food aid. The driver’s assistant was abducted and remains missing.
Sheeran said she strongly deplored this attack, as she
does with all acts of aggression against humanitarian workers helping people
in desperate need.
The truck, which was carrying 14 tons of high-energy
biscuits, was ambushed by armed men on the road from Kandahar to Helmand, in
southern Afghanistan. The truck and its cargo are still missing.
In October and November, two other attacks on trucks
delivering WFP food occurred in the same area.
Asked what happens to food that is transported on UN
vehicles that are hijacked, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations does
not know what happens to food that goes missing. However, she noted that many
of the hijackings take place in conflict zones, where needs are desperate, so
the hijackers may need to use the food themselves or sell it.
UNICEF LAUNCHES IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN IN
SOMALIA
UNICEF is
launching a
large-scale immunization campaign for some 47,000 children under five and
56,000 women who live in camps for the internally displaced. The campaign is
starting this week in IDP camps along the Mogadishu-Afgooye road.
With 95 percent of children under 5 having never been
immunized, Somalia has some of the worst health and social indicators for
children in the world. The UNICEF effort will complement ongoing campaigns to
deliver clean water and sanitation, build schools and improve health services.
The approach is cost effective. UNICEF and WHO believe
that they can reach 3.5 million children and women in the next two years for
as little as US$ 15 per person per year.
Asked about reports that the Transitional Federal
Government had been blocking food deliveries, the Spokeswoman said that World
Food Programme (WFP) operations in Lower Shabelle resumed yesterday after
restrictions imposed by the Transitional Federal Government one day earlier
were lifted. [WFP began unloading two of its ships in the port of Merka, and
also resumed food distributions for 40,000 people in that city.]
U.N. ENVOY MEETS WITH IVORIAN PRESIDENT
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
Cote d’Ivoire, Y. J. Choi, today
met
with President Laurent Gbagbo to discuss the implementation of the Ouagdougou
Peace Agreement. Also present at the meeting was Boureima Badini, the
Representative of the Facilitator of the Ivorian dialogue.
Choi said at the end of the meeting that the discussion
placed particular emphasis on preparations for general elections expected to
take place in 2008. He said he left encouraged by the President’s plans to
realize various programmes provided for in the additional protocols to the
Ougadougou Agreement which were signed on Novermber 28th between the President
and former rebel leader and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro.
Choi reaffirmed the UN’s support to the peace process.
U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF WRAPS UP VISIT
TO BRAZIL
High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour wrapped
up a three-day
visit to Brazil last night. Arbour met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silva, other Federal Government officials and the Federal Supreme Court, as
well as State authorities in São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.
They discussed Brazil’s progress and challenges with
regards to human rights. Civil society groups in Brasilia and São Paolo also
had the opportunity to discuss their human rights concerns with her.
Arbour encouraged the Brazilian authorities to continue
their efforts to improve the administration of justice, especially with
regards to the widespread use of pre-trial detention. She suggested specific
measures to alleviate prison overcrowding, to foster accountability among law
enforcement officials, and to prevent abuses against detainees.
MORE FOOD AID REACHES DISPLACED IN YEMEN
The World Food Programme
says that
improved security in Yemen will allow food assistance to reach many more
people in the Sa’adah governorate, where thousands have been displaced by
conflict between the Government and rebels.
The agency is appealing for funds to make up a shortfall
of more than $3 million, in order to feed 77,000 people until March, more than
double the number of previous months.
HEALTH KITS DISTRIBUTED TO EXPECTANT
MOTHERS IN BANGLADESH
The UN Population Fund is
distributing health
kits to cyclone-affected areas of Bangladesh, in order to help ensure the safe
delivery of approximately 30,000 babies expected to be born in the next two to
three months.
The kits are designed for complicated deliveries, and
include intravenous fluids, antibiotics, pain killers, syringes, gloves and a
small sterilizing machine.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION UNVEILS NEW
AGENDA
FOR CHILD-FRIENDLY MEDICINES
The World Health Organization (WHO) today
unveiled a new research and development agenda, which aims to ensure that
children get better access to child-friendly medicines.
According to WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan,
the need for more child-appropriate medicines is an issue that affects both
rich and poor countries.
WHO is also releasing today the first international List
of Essential Medicines for Children.
HEAD OF CAPITAL MASTER PLAN WELCOMES
ACCELERATED STRATEGY
Asked about delays in the implementation of the Capital
Master Plan (CMP), the Spokeswoman said
that the CMP’s Executive Director, Michael Adlerstein, welcomes the adoption
today by the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee of the accelerated strategy
for the plan, which is in line with his own views to implement the Plan as
soon as possible.
Adlerstein will brief the press on December 17.
'SNAIL MAIL IS ALIVE AND WELL'
Despite the proliferation of email, snail mail is alive
and well, according to the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
In its report on world postal statistics for 2006, released today, the UPU
finds that the number of letters sent has remained steady.
In Switzerland and the United States, for example, the
average inhabitant sends around 700 letters per year.
Meanwhile, parcel traffic continues to grow, with Africa,
Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States showing the biggest
increases. And postal revenue is up sharply – thirteen percent from the
previous year.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW TENDERS FOR
EAST JERUSALEM HOUSING "NOT HELPFUL": In response to a question asked at the
briefing about the Secretary-General's reaction on whether recent building
activity by Israel violates the Road Map, the Spokeswoman later said that the
UN's position on the illegality of settlement activity is well-known. These
tenders for 300 new homes in east Jerusalem, coming so soon after the renewed
commitment to Road Map implementation at Annapolis, are not helpful. The UN will
be discussing this with Quartet partners, she said.
HEAD OF PUBLIC INFORMATION TO DISCUSS
ISSUES OF CONCERN WITH U.N. TOUR GUIDES: Asked about the reduction of guided
tours to UN Headquarters, the Spokeswoman said that the guided tours were
reduced drastically today after 22 guides called in "sick". Visitors who had
made prior reservations were generally able to go on their tour as scheduled,
but all others were prevented from visiting UN Headquarters. Okabe said that
this is apparently related to a number of issues that the tour guides have
raised with Management in recent weeks, but no communication has been received
from the guides today. A meeting had been planned this afternoon to discuss
these issues, and Under-Secretary-General for Public Information Kiyo Akasaka
had planned to join and announce that he would constitute a Working Group to
discuss the issues of concern, she added. The meeting is scheduled as planned
and the United Nations is fully committed to dialogue with the Tour Guides, she
said.
SECRETARY-GENERAL HOPES TO RECEIVE KOSOVO REPORT SOON: Asked
when the Secretary-General and Security Council will receive the troika report
on Kosovo, the Spokeswoman said that he hopes to get it from the Contact
Group before he leaves for Bali. She declined to comment on remarks attributed
to the Deputy Special Envoy for the Future Status Process for Kosovo, Albert
Rohan, noting that the Secretary-General is awaiting the Contact Group report
before any further comment.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
