HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
[There
are no noon briefings planned until January 2, 2008.
Developments within the UN system will be posted on this website daily throughout
this period.]
Monday, December
31, 2007
BAN KI-MOON CONCERNED BY POST-ELECTION
VIOLENCE IN KENYA
The Secretary-General has been closely
following the developments in Kenya since the announcement of the results of
the elections. He is concerned about the ensuing violence and strongly
deplores the loss of human lives. He urges the security forces to show utmost
restraint. The Secretary-General appeals to the population for calm, patience
and respect for law.
The Secretary General calls on the political
parties and leaders to resolve their differences peacefully through dialogue
and by making full use of the existing legal mechanisms and procedures.
In a separate statement, High
Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour also expressed her deep concern
today about the continued violence following election results in Kenya.
She said the Kenyan Government must abide by
its international human rights obligations in responding to demonstrations.
That includes holding police accountable for their actions, she added.
She also said that, while she recognized the
challenges in maintaining order, security forces must employ force only in
proportion to the actual threat faced.
Arbour further stressed that it was essential
for the organizers of the demonstrations and their followers to employ only
peaceful means of protest.
She also strongly urged
the Government of Kenya to ensure that journalists be permitted to freely
carry out their work.
UN-AU HYBRID OPERATION TAKES OVER FROM AFRICAN
UNION MISSION IN DARFUR
The United Nations/African
Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
today formally took over from the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) in
a ceremony at the new mission’s headquarters in El Fasher this morning.
In a message delivered by
the Joint Special Representative for UNAMID, Rodolphe Adada, Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon asserted,
“Today, we open a new and profoundly challenging chapter in the history of
United Nations peacekeeping.”
The Secretary-General
emphasized the need for troop and police contributing countries to deploy
their personnel as quickly as possible. “If we are to have a real impact on
the situation on the ground within the first half of 2008, these deployments
must happen far more swiftly than they have done so far”, the
Secretary-General said in his message. He added that critical gaps remained in
the UNAMID force.
The Secretary-General
added, “To succeed, UNAMID will need the active cooperation of the Government
of Sudan.” He said that he was encouraged that Sudan recently agreed to a
number of points related to UNAMID deployment and expected the Government to
follow through on the commitments it has made.
Stressing that the
deployment of UNAMID will only be as effective as the political process it is
mandated to support, the Secretary-General urged all parties to cease all
military action and turn their energies to the substance of the negotiations
and to come to the negotiating table to settle their differences.
The Secretary-General’s
Special Representative for
Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, also spoke at the ceremony and stressed that peace in
Sudan was indivisible, adding that comprehensive peace can only be achieved
when all parts of the country have achieved peace and harmony.
“We should all work
towards a prosperous, peaceful and united Sudan,” Qazi said. He called on all
parties to the Darfur conflict to shun violence and participate in the peace
process for the sake of the future generations of Sudan.
At full
strength, the new mission, authorized by the UN Security Council on 31 July
2007, will be the UN’s largest peacekeeping operation, with some 20,000 troops
and more than 6,000 police and civilian staff.
CEASEFIRE COMMISSION CHAIR VOICES
CONCERN AT DARFUR ARREST
In a statement released
Sunday, the Chairman of the Darfur Ceasefire Commission, Gen. Martin Luther
Agwai, noted with great concern the arrest of the Justice and Equality
Movement (JEM) representative to the Commission, Major General Bashir, and
five other JEM members on Sunday in El Fasher.
Despite the relentless
efforts of the African Union Mission in Sudan’s (AMIS) leadership to prevent
the arrest, Government authorities stormed the premises housing the JEM
representative early Sunday morning. Agwai has been in contact with both JEM
and the Government of Sudan to de-escalate the tensions and ensure the safe
release of the JEM representatives.
U.N.
CONCERNED BY HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN EASTERN D.R. CONGO
The Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
reports that it remains seriously concerned about insecurity in the
eastern Democratic Republic of the
Congo’s North Kivu province.
According to OCHA,
civilians continue to be harassed by uniformed men, and houses continue to be
looted. Compounding the problem is the continued closure of the Kilambo
airstrip, which hampers humanitarian access.
The World Food Programme (WFP)
has managed to distribute food aid to more than 4,500 internally displaced
families.
For its part, UNICEF
helped with a mass vaccination campaign in mid-December for children under the
age of 15. UNICEF school kits were also distributed.
Meanwhile, the UN
Population Fund distributed condoms and blankets in the Rutshuru territory.
FOOD
SECURITY SITUATION WORRYING IN ETHIOPIA’S SOMALI REGION
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia’s Somali
region continues to be of great concern, especially in terms of food security.
Complicating the situation are poor rains, decreasing pasture and water
availability, and restrictions on the cross-border movement of goods, which
are leading to high prices. There are also concerns about a desert locust
outbreak, especially as the dry season begins.
According to OCHA, some
cases of malnutrition have been reported in the area.For its part, the World
Food Pogramme has distributed over 17,000 tons of food.
UNICEF has supported and
trained five mobile health and nutrition teams and also plans to replenish the
ten major health facilities with emergency drug kits. The Food and Agriculture
Organization, meanwhile, is working with the Government on a locust response
plan.
DEPARTING
U.N. ENVOY VOICES HOPE AND CONCERN FOR AFGHANISTAN
Tom Koenigs on Sunday gave
his farewell press conference as the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Afghanistan, and
said that he left the country with both hope and concern: hope because
Afghanistan is moving towards becoming a progressive Islamic country striving
to improve the lives of its peoples, but concern because of the security
situation, particularly in the south.
He said that
the efforts to improve security in Afghanistan must be accompanied by equal
efforts to bring schools, hospitals and jobs to the people. Koenigs emphasized
that the UN Mission in Afghanistan was helping that effort, and had doubled
its presence in Afghanistan’s provinces with the opening of eight new field
offices.
U.N.
TRIBUNAL TERMINATES PROVISIONAL RELEASE OF FORMER CROATIAN COMMANDER
The International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia has
terminated the
provisional release of Mladen Markač for violating the conditions of his
release.
Markač is accused of
murder, persecutions, deportation, inhumane acts, and other crimes allegedly
committed during his time as Commander of the Special Police of the Ministry
of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia. He has been on provisional
release since December 2004.
Last week, the Trial
Chamber received information from the Registry that Markač had left his
designated residence in Zagreb to go on a hunting trip in Biligora. The order
noted that Croatian authorities did not report any breach of provisional
release conditions in the five days following that trip, photos of which were
published in the local media, but did confirm the violation upon the
Registry’s request.
The Judge requested the
Government of Croatia to arrest Markač immediately and transfer him to the UN
Detention Unit in The Hague.
LIBYA TO ASSUME PRESIDENCY OF
SECURITY COUNCIL FOR JANUARY
Today is the
last day of Italy’s Presidency of the
Security Council. Libya will take over the rotating Council Presidency for
January.
Libya’s Permanent Representative to the United
Nations, Giadalla Ettalhi, is scheduled to brief the press on Thursday
afternoon, following the Security Council’s consultations that morning on its
programme of work for January.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
