HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY
MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS,
NEW YORK
Wednesday,
February 27, 2008
BAN KI-MOON
URGES KENYAN PARTIES TO RESOLVE CRISIS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly
urges the parties
to the National Dialogue and Reconciliation to take the necessary steps
without delay to reach a solution to the ongoing crisis.
It is critical that the two sides maintain the positive
momentum.
It is also critical that the two leaders exercise their
responsibility to the people of Kenya who continue to suffer amid this
volatile situation.
The Secretary-General is grateful for the continuing and
tireless facilitation efforts of the Panel led by former Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, which have his full support.
Asked about the Secretary-General’s efforts to support
Kofi Annan, the Spokeswoman noted that on Tuesday, they were in communication
about the current impasse and on ways to deal with it. The Secretary-General,
Montas said, will do whatever he can to support Annan’s efforts.
BAN KI-MOON WILL ADDRESS HUMAN RIGHTS
COUNCIL ON MONDAY
The Secretary-General plans to be in Geneva on Monday to
address the High-Level Segment of the 7th session of the
Human Rights Council.
The Secretary-General is putting particular emphasis this
year on human rights issues, as we mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights. He looks to the Human Rights Council to make
every effort to meet the expectations of the international community, and to
strengthen and make effective the Universal Periodic review to the fullest
extent possible.
The Secretary-General is also expected to address the
executive session of the
Trade and Development Board in Geneva.
He should be back in New York on Tuesday afternoon.
Before leaving for Geneva, the Secretary-General will
visit this Friday afternoon the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in
College Station, Texas, where he has been invited by former President George
Herbert Walker Bush to give a lecture on U.S.-U.N. relations.
U.N. ENVOY FOR IRAQ STRONGLY CONDEMNS
ATTACKS ON PILGRIMS
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq,
Staffan de Mistura, strongly
condemned the targeted criminal suicide attacks on pilgrims heading to the
holy city of Karbala this past Sunday and Monday.
De Mistura said that the horrific attacks, which left
dozens of civilians dead and wounded, deserve universal condemnation. He
expressed his solidarity with the people of Iraq and extended his heartfelt
condolences to the families of the victims.
NEXT ROUND OF WESTERN SAHARA TALKS TO
TAKE PLACE IN MID-MARCH
The fourth round of talks on Western Sahara will take
place next month in Manhasset, from March 16th to 18th. That’s a change from
the originally planned dates of March 11th through 13th.
As before, the talks will be facilitated by the Personal
Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. Peter van Walsum. The meeting is in
implementation of Security Council resolutions
1754
(of 30 April 2007) and
1783
(of 31 October 2007).
Asked how the Secretary-General feels this round of talks
will differ from previous ones, the Spokeswoman said that van Walsum would do
all he could for the talks to move forward. Although progress depends on the
parties, Montas said, the very fact that the parties are meeting again is
important.
U.N. DARFUR FORCE CONDUCTS TEST PATROLS
The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur’s
(UNAMID) Formed Police Unit (FPU) from Bangladesh has
conducted its first long distance patrol aimed at testing their
operational capacity and enhancing the visibility of the UN Police in Darfur.
The patrol, which covered approximately 200 kilometers,
went from their base in Nyala in South Darfur to El-Fasher, the capital in
North Darfur.
Police Commissioner Michael Fryer of UNAMID said that the
patrol was also an opportunity to assess public response to UN Police presence
in the area.
Commenting on the operations of UNAMID Police in Darfur
since January 2008, Commissioner Fryer said “we have a long way to go, but the
officers are prepared to do their work and to make a difference.”
The FPUs are police officers who have received
specialized training in high-risk operations. The Bangladeshi unit is the
only formed police contingent currently in Darfur out of the recommended 19
contingents for UNAMID.
U.N. RELOCATION MOVEMENTS IN ERITREA
PROCEED TODAY
There have been no reported restrictions on relocation
movements in Eritrea today of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
The eight UNMEE vehicles that were stopped by soldiers of
the Eritrean Defence Force at a checkpoint yesterday were unable to load
supplies as they had planned and returned to Asmara empty.
The majority of peacekeepers from the Jordanian, Indian
and Kenyan battalions, and most of UNMEE's military observers, have now
relocated to Asmara.
The remaining troops in the Temporary Security Zone are
actively engaged in the packing and transportation of equipment and supplies
destined for Asmara.
UNMEE has been instructed to regroup all personnel and
equipment in Eritrea into Asmara, due to the lack of cooperation by Eritrean
Authorities in the Mission's efforts to temporarily relocate into Ethiopia.
INITIATIVE AIMS TO HALT PRACTICE OF
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
If we can come together for a sustained push, female
genital mutilation can vanish within a generation. That is what the Deputy
Secretary-General plans to say at the launch this afternoon of a new
initiative by 10 UN agencies to support governments, communities, and
women and girls to abandon the practice within a generation.
The agencies say female genital mutilation violates the
rights of women and girls to health, protection and even life, as the
procedure sometimes results in death.
Although decades of work by local communities,
government, and national and international organizations have contributed to
reducing the prevalence of female genital mutilation in many areas, the
practice remains widespread.
Between 100 and 140 million women and girls in the world
are estimated to have undergone female genital mutilation, and three million
girls are estimated to be at risk of undergoing the procedures every year.
EX-BOSNIAN SERB SOLDIER WILL SERVE
SENTENCE FOR RAPE AND TORTURE
According to the International Criminal
Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia, former Bosnian Serb soldier Dragan Zelenović was
transferred today to Belgium, to begin serving a 15-year sentence.
He pleaded guilty last year to raping and torturing women
and girls in the town of Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina after it was taken
over by Serb forces in 1992.
FOOD AID REACHES MADAGASCAR CYCLONE
VICTIMS
The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun
providing
emergency food assistance to tens of thousands of people in Madagascar
affected by last week’s Cyclone Ivan.
In the capital, Antananarivo, WFP has already distributed
three-day rations of High Energy Biscuits to 2,000 people now living in tents
after their homes were destroyed.
WFP has also distributed 500 kilograms of rations along
the country’s devastated east coast and on the island of St. Marie.
BIRD FLU UNDER CONTROL IN INDIA,
BUT U.N. WARNS OF POTENTIAL NEW OUTBREAKS
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today
commended India’s success in controlling a recent bird flu outbreak, but
warned
that the possibility of new outbreaks remains high. Intensive surveillance
should therefore continue, FAO stressed.
Given the recent bird flu outbreak in India and the
ongoing spread of the disease in Bangladesh, FAO has invited India,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar to participate in a regional meeting to
better coordinate bird flu control campaigns.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
NO POSTPONEMENT EXPECTED FOR LEBANON TRIBUNAL: Asked
whether the work of the Lebanon tribunal would be delayed because of problems in
obtaining funds, the Spokeswoman later added that the Secretary-General, in a
recent interview, had said that sufficient funds were available for the
establishment of the special tribunal and its operations for the coming 12
months but had appealed for additional funding for the operations of the
subsequent two years.
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO DISCUSS WITH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
PRESIDENT WHETHER TO HOLD A SESSION ON SUICIDE BOMBING: Asked whether the
Secretary-General supported the proposal by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for the
General Assembly to consider suicide bombing
as a crime against humanity, the Spokeswoman noted that, in his meeting with
Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder of the Centre, on Tuesday, the Secretary-General
had indicated that he would discuss with the President of the General Assembly
the idea of a session on the issue.
U.N. ENVOY WILL SOON VISIT MYANMAR: Asked about
legislation in Myanmar penalizing criticism of the referendum, the Spokeswoman
said that the UN’s focus is on Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari’s upcoming visit
to
Myanmar, when he is to raise such issues with the authorities and other
parties.
CLIMATE CHANGE ENVOY’S FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE WAS
SATISFACTORY TO AUDITORS: Asked about Climate Change Envoy Han Seung-soo,
the Spokeswoman reiterated that he had filed a financial disclosure at the
United Nations which was satisfactory to auditors.
U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER'S MANDATE EXPIRES IN
JUNE: Asked whether High
Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour would step down after her
current term ends, the Spokeswoman said that the High Commissioner has not yet
made her intentions public. Her mandate is up in June, so Arbour is expected to
announce her intentions within the next few weeks.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
