HIGHLIGHTS OF
THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
Monday,
February 4, 2008
BAN KI-MOON
LAUNCHES NEW STEP TO ENSURE U.N. ACCOUNTABILITY
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today held a
ceremony for UN
senior managers to sign compacts -- a first and important step towards a full
and effective accountability framework within the UN Secretariat.
According to the Secretary-General, the compacts provide
a performance-driven and results-oriented approach to tackling the many and
varied mandates that are set for the UN. They bring transparency, since they
are posted on the UN’s intranet site. And they help assure stakeholders, who
have entrusted the United Nations with public funds, that the United Nations
will work with integrity, consistency, predictability and professionalism.
Through the compacts, the United Nations can confirm the
goals that each of its senior managers will endeavour to reach during 2008,
based on priorities set by Member States. In this way, all colleagues will
clearly understand their duties, and the manner in which they will be
evaluated.
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, Chair of the
Management Performance Board, as well as its members, Nicolas Michel, Shaaban
Shaaban, and external expert Jean-Jacques Graisse, have reviewed the compacts.
The Secretary-General says it is now crucial that
progress is regularly monitored, so as to ensure that any remedial action
necessary is taken in time. To this end, the Management Performance Board will
conduct a review in April of the 2007 performance, and a mid-term review in
September of 2008 results.
SECRETARY-GENERAL ALARMED BY
DEVELOPMENTS IN CHAD
VIOLENCE IN CHAD CREATING NEW WAVES OF DISPLACED CIVILIANS
BAN KI-MOON TO
BRIEF SECURITY COUNCIL ON RECENT TRAVELS
The Security Council
this morning adopted a Presidential Statement that expressed its grave concern
regarding the situation in Chad.
The Council supports the decision of the African Union,
strongly condemning the attacks perpetrated by armed groups against the
Chadian Government, demanding to put an end to the violence and calling on all
the countries of the region to respect the unity and territorial integrity of
all AU Member States. It calls upon Member States to provide support, in
conformity with the UN Charter, as requested by the Government of Chad.
In emergency consultations, Council members were briefed
on the latest developments in Chad on Sunday afternoon by Assistant
Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Dmitry Titov.
In its consultations today, the Security Council also
approved its programme of work for this month.
And the Security Council also began consultations this
morning on Western Sahara, to hear from the Secretary-General’s Personal
Envoy, Peter van Walsum.
[Security Council President, Ricardo Albert Arias,
Permanent Representative of Panama, later read out
press statements
on Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as on Western Sahara.]
Tomorrow morning, the Security Council will receive a
briefing from the Secretary-General concerning his recent travels.
U.N. MISSION
WILL HAVE TO RELOCATE FROM ERITREA
IF FUEL SUPPLIES NOT FORTHCOMING BY FEBRUARY 6
The Secretary-General, in a recent
report to
the Security Council, said he would be reviewing developments on the ground
and the challenges facing the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE)
and prepare specific recommendations on the future direction of the Mission,
including its possible withdrawal or relocation of peacekeepers.
In a letter that went to the Security Council late
Friday, the Secretary General outlined the continued difficulties the Mission
is facing.
He said the Mission’s fuel stocks will run out in the
coming few days, leaving only the strategic reserves, which are intended
exclusively for emergency evacuation purposes.
Therefore, he says, he wishes to inform the Security
Council that if the Eritrean authorities do not reinstate the fuel supplies by
6 February 2008, he will be compelled to instruct UNMEE to begin relocating
the mission personnel and equipment from Eritrea, in order to avoid a total
immobilization of the Mission and endangering the safety and security of UN
personnel.
WESTERN SAHARA ENVOY HEADS TO REGION
TOMORROW
The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for
Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, will be in the region from tomorrow through
14 February.
His trip will take him to Rabat, Tindouf,
Algiers, and Nouakchott.
The parties will be meeting for a fourth
round of talks in Manhasset, New York, from 11-13 March.
Asked about the UN
response to charges that UN peacekeepers were responsible for vandalism of
Western Sahara antiquities, the Spokeswoman said that the UN Mission for the
Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)
has launched a formal enquiry into this matter and has taken action to prevent
any further vandalism.
Montas said that the UN
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is helping to
evaluate the damage to the two sites and to recommend what, if any, repair
measures can be taken. UNESCO is currently putting together a group of
qualified experts to travel to the area as soon as possible, and it is also
prepared to provide material for peacekeeping training programs on the
protection of cultural property, she added.
NOTHING CAN JUSTIFY TODAY’S SUICIDE
ATTACK IN ISRAEL
The UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle
East Peace Process, Robert Serry, spoke to the press about today’s suicide
attack in the southern Israeli town of Dimona.
Expressing his sympathy to the victims, he said his
thoughts were with the people of Dimona at this time. Saying that two weeks
ago he had been in the Israeli town of Sderot when it was hit by a rain of
rockets coming from Gaza, Serry stressed that such actions did not serve any
legitimate purpose. Nothing can justify such terrorist attacks, he added.
Meanwhile, Serry’s office in Jerusalem, the Office of the
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO)
reports that two crossings from Israel into Gaza – Sufa and Karni – were open
today.
Nineteen truckloads of
humanitarian goods – including five trucks of paper for UN Relief and Works
Agency (UNRWA) schoolbooks – made it
into Gaza through the Sufa crossing. Twelve truckloads of commercial goods
also made it in. Most of these goods were dairy and meat products, as well as
fruit.
In addition, the Karni crossing
has been opened for the passage of wheat flour, corn and animal feed. The
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that
around 70 truckloads will be transported into Gaza by the end of the day.
According to UNSCO, this represents progress but the movement of goods is
still a trickle.
Asked whether the textbooks are locally published in Gaza and whether the
United Nations takes any action to ensure that the information inside those
books does not incite hatred, the Spokeswoman noted that the material is
transported for printing in Gaza, and that the United Nations has no control
over the textbook’s contents.
That said, UNRWA’s textbooks, as used in the West Bank
and Gaza, have been reviewed by an independent panel of experts chaired by
Professor Nathan Brown of George Washington University in Washington, DC, and
have been found to be free of overt anti-Semitism and anti-Israel language,
she later added.
OVERCROWDING AT
CAMP FOR DISPLACED KENYANS
The UN Country Team says that mediation between the
Government and the Opposition resumed today after a weekend of renewed
killings and unrest in various parts of the country.
A
joint UN team visited the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Eldoret town
on Saturday and reported that sewage facilities and drainage systems must be
improved, as the IDP camp, with some 19,000 residents, is showing signs of
overcrowding.
The Country Team also
confirmed that Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, who had arrived in Nairobi on
Friday to assist Kofi Annan's mediation efforts, left the country after the
Government raised concerns over his impartiality.
Asked whether there will be UN peacekeepers for Kenya, as one leader has
requested, the Spokeswoman said that possibility is not being examined at this
point. She noted that, for peacekeepers to be deployed, there would need to be
a decision by the Security Council.
UNITED NATIONS AIDS QUAKE SURVIVORS IN
D.R. CONGO & RWANDA
The UN Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
has confirmed that an earthquake with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale
hit the northeastern towns of Bukavu, Goma and Kabare.
The earthquake also hit
parts of towns in Rwanda and Burundi.
According to the Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 34 people have been
killed in the region as a whole and some 300 were injured.
MONUC says that the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Alan Doss, has instructed all
UN agencies present in affected areas to extend all necessary assistance to
the populations and to local authorities. He also expressed the UN’s
condolences to the families of the victims.
Meanwhile, in Bukavu,
the World Health Organization and its local partners are providing emergency
health and surgical kits and additional health personnel to 2 hospitals
treating the wounded. UNICEF, for its part, estimates that urgently needed
items include some 500 tents and drinking water.
Across the border in Rwanda, the UN Resident Coordinator
met with the Country Team and dispatched an assessment team to the town of
Rusizi, near the Congolese border. UN staffers in the regions say that
immediate psychosocial support to the victims is of critical importance.
BAN KI-MOON COMMENDS SUDANESE LEADERS
FOR RESOLVING DIFFERENCES THROUGH DIALOGUE
The Secretary-General, in his latest
report to
the Security Council on
Sudan, says that the resolution of the stand-off between the two partners
to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is a positive and welcome development. He
commends President Omar al-Bashir and First Vice President Salva Kiir for
resolving their differences through dialogue.
At the same time, he stresses that the issue of Abyei
remains one of the most crucial challenges facing the two parties, and he is
extremely concerned about the recent clashes between the SPLA (Sudan People's
Liberation Army) and local tribes in that area.
The Secretary-General notes that the strategic assessment
of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)
indicates, among other things, the need for a review of the strength of the
Mission’s military component and clarification of its mandate with regard to
border demarcation, a census and elections.
Asked whether an agreement has
been reached on a status of forces agreement between Sudan and the
African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID),
the Spokeswoman said that is the case, and that a
status of forces agreement may be signed this week.
TIMOR-LESTE: U.N. POLICE STARTS TRANSFER
OF AUTHORITY
TO LOCAL COUNTERPARTS
In
Timor-Leste, UN Police today began the
progressive transfer of authority to the local police, handing over the
command of three police posts in capital Dili.
The transfer of authority is
intended to provide greater operational space and an opportunity for the local
police to operate more independently, under the supervision and continued
mentoring of international police forces.
The Secretary-General’s Special
Representative, Atul Khare, said the transfer marks an important milestone in
the reconstitution of the police force, and stressed that Timorese assumption
of responsibilities in all areas, assisted by the international community, is
essential for long-term sustainability of peace and development.
UNICEF
RAISES CONCERN OVER FATE OF YOUNG GUANTANAMO PRISONER
UNICEF has issued a
statement on the
case of Omar Khadr. He was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 for crimes
allegedly committed when he was 15 years old. A military commission at
Guantanamo Bay is reviewing his case today to decide whether his prosecution
for war crimes should go forward.
UNICEF stresses that those alleged to have committed
crimes while they were child soldiers should be considered primarily as
victims of adults and accorded special protection under international juvenile
justice standards.
UNICEF is concerned that if Khadr is prosecuted,
particularly in front of a military commission not equipped to meet those
standards, it would set a dangerous precedent for hundreds of thousands of
children who find themselves caught up in conflicts.
MAJOR HUMAN RIGHTS OBSTACLES STILL
PRESENT IN NEPAL
Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kang
Kyung-wha, on completion of her five-day visit to Nepal,
said major obstacles still remain to achieve the enjoyment of human rights
in the country.
Kang also said the on-going impunity as well as a
security vacuum in the country, has also led to increase in explosions and
violent activities in the country.
Adding that impunity still remains unchecked, the Deputy
High Commissioner urged that a commission on disappearances and a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, must be set up in accordance with international
standards, if they are to guarantee the rights of victims to truth, justice
and reparations.
Kang’s visit comes one year after the High Commissioner’s
last visit to Nepal and more than one year after the signing of the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
BAN KI-MOON TO VISIT CHICAGO
The Secretary-General is planning to visit Chicago. It is
part of his tour of major U.S. cities.
While in Chicago on Thursday and Friday of this week, the
Secretary-General will meet with Mayor Richard Daley to discuss the Mayor’s
efforts to turn Chicago into America’s greenest city.
The Secretary-General plans to visit a “green” building,
stop by a local high school, and also attend events at the MacArthur
Foundation, the Economic Club of Chicago, and the Chicago Council on Global
Affairs.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
WORLD CANCER DAY OBSERVED TODAY: Today
the World Health Organization (WHO) is observing World
Cancer Day.According to WHO, 84 million people will die of
cancer in the next 10
years -- more than 70 % of them in low-income countries -- unless action is
taken now. For its part, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is
marking the third anniversary of its Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy,
which was created to help poor countries confront increasing cancer cases by
integrating radiotherapy into comprehensive cancer control programmes.
IRAQ WORKING GROUP TO MEET IN MARCH: In a
letter to
the Security Council that is out as a document today, the Secretary-General
transmits the report of a working group set up between the Government of
Iraq and the UN Secretariat to deal with
issues involved in the termination of operations of the UN Iraq Account. The
working group report details how Iraq and the UN Secretariat intend to minimize
the number of unpaid letters of credit under that account. The working group
also agreed to meet in the middle of March to review the progress made.
BAN KI-MOON TO OPEN JACKSON HOLE SUMMIT: The UN and
the Jackson Hole Film Institute today announced that the first Global Insight
Summit will take place at the fifth annual Jackson Hole Film Festival in early
June. The Global Insight Summit represents an unprecedented collaboration,
bringing together entertainment leaders and UN officials to explore how film and
television can be used to bring awareness to global issues. The
Secretary-General plans to open the Summit.
* Under Secretary-General for Management, Alicia Barcena,
attended the noon briefing and provided details about a
ceremony held this
morning for UN senior managers to sign compacts -- a first and important step
towards a full and effective accountability framework within the UN Secretariat.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
