HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS,
NEW YORK
Friday, April
11, 2008
BAN KI-MOON
WELCOMES UPCOMING SUMMIT ON ZIMBABWE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
congratulates the
leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for their timely
initiative to convene a summit of Heads of State in Lusaka, Zambia, on 13
April to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe.
He is pleased that regional leaders are mobilizing and
coordinating to help Zimbabwe overcome its post-electoral crisis through
peaceful means.
The Secretary-General is concerned that the situation in
Zimbabwe could deteriorate if there is no prompt action to resolve this
impasse.
SECRETARY-GENERAL WRAPS UP OFFICIAL
VISIT TO RUSSIA
The Secretary-General
has wrapped up his three-day visit to Russia and is on his way back to New
York. Earlier today, he visited UN staff working in Moscow, as well as a
museum in the capital.
On Thursday evening, the Secretary-General had a
tête-à-tête meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in which they
discussed Kosovo.
They followed that with a larger meeting, in which their
delegations discussed Kosovo; the Middle East, including the meeting to be
held in Moscow this summer on that subject; Darfur, and the need for
helicopters for the African Union-United Nations hybrid operation there;
Afghanistan and Cyprus. On the last matter, Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe briefed the meeting’s participants on his recent
visit to Cyprus and the region.
The Secretary-General and Foreign Minister Lavrov
spoke to the
press after their meeting. The Secretary-General said he was strongly
encouraged in his meetings in Russia, including with the President and the
President-elect, by Russia’s commitment to the central role of the United
Nations and to multilateralism.
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: TERMINATING U.N.
MISSION
COULD RESULT IN RESUMED HOSTILITIES
The Secretary-General’s latest special
report on
Ethiopia and Eritrea is out today as a document. In it, he says that after
hearing out Security Council members, there are 4 options left to be
considered as regards a UN peacekeeping presence in the region.
First, there remains a chance to resume the Mission
unchanged if Eritrea resumes fuel supplies and lift all restrictions on the
Mission.
Another option would be to terminate the mission, while a
third option could leave a small observer presence in the border area to
defuse tensions and report to the Council on the situation.
A final option would include creating liaison offices in
Asmara and Addis Ababa to maintain UN readiness to help the parties implement
the ruling of the Boundary Commission, among other tasks.
These options are not ideal as they bear serious risks
and would not resolve the dilemma created by Eritrean restrictions on the
Mission. Terminating the Mission, for example, could result in a resumption of
open hostilities.
As things stand today, the Secretary-General says that
the only option likely to allow the UN to monitor the situation evenly seems
to be the deployment of small observer missions either side of the disputed
border.
In conclusion, the Secretary-General says he will engage
the parties on the four options and submit a further report to the Council
before July 31 when the Mission’s mandate is due to expire. In the meantime,
he advises the Council to consider sending a mission to the region to discuss
issues related to the implementation of the Border Commission’s ruling.
Ultimately, the Council should make the necessary decisions as a matter of
priority.
He also urges Eritrea and Ethiopia to end the stalemate
and accept the assistance of the Security Council and his good offices and to
respect the agreements they have signed.
FIRE SWEEPS THROUGH REFUGEE CAMP IN
EASTERN CHAD
A fire swept through part of the remote Goz
Amer refugee camp in eastern Chad on Friday, leaving some 3,000 Darfurian
refugees homeless, according to the
Office for UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
UNHCR staff reported that 10 people were
slightly injured, and many refugees lost all their food rations and meagre
belongings.
"The refugees have already suffered so much
tragedy and now face yet another trauma," said UN High Commissioner for
Refugees António Guterres in Geneva. "I am deeply relieved that there was no
loss of life in this devastating fire. We will do everything we can to help
and to get shelter and food supplies to them as quickly as possible."
The cause of the midday blaze was believed to be an untended cooking fire
which spread rapidly, fanned by high winds.
U.N. ELECTORAL
STAFF TO REMAIN IN NEPAL REGIONS
UNTIL BALLOT COUNTING ENDS
Following the historic Constituent Assembly election in
Nepal yesterday, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative there, Ian
Martin,
congratulated the Nepalese people for having demonstrated their commitment
to democracy by casting their ballots in large numbers.
Both the Secretary-General and Martin commend the people
for their large participation and conducting the election in a peaceful
orderly manner, stressing that it is now important for political parties and
their leaders to accept the people’s decision through this election, or pursue
any challenges through proper legal process according to electoral laws.
This has been Nepal’s most observed election, with both
international and national observer groups in the coming days and weeks,
making public their findings regarding the electoral process, including
preparations, polling and the post-polling process.
Following the 60 percent voter turnout, Nepal’s
independent Election Commission began transporting ballots from polling
locations to the 75 district centres, where counting is currently taking
place.
The UN Mission’s electoral staff will remain in the
regions and districts until the count is complete, and the monitoring of arms
and armies will continue.
Meanwhile, High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise
Arbour said today she was deeply saddened by a number of deaths that occurred
during the run up to the election and on Election Day itself.
She extended her condolences to the families concerned,
and encouraged the Government to act quickly to set up an independent inquiry
to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
Asked when the
Secretary-General is planning to go to Nepal, the Spokeswoman said she had no
dates to announce at present.
GAZA HUMANITARIAN SITUATION REMAINS
“VERY DIFFICULT”
According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the
situation in Gaza continues to be very difficult.
Last month, 2,400 trucks entered the Gaza Strip.
That is down from the more than 10,000 trucks that entered in March 2007. In
addition, a scarcity of animal feed is causing meat prices to skyrocket.
In related news, UNRWA has been providing 112,000 liters
of diesel to municipalities each month for solid waste management. But the
lack of electricity often forces coastal municipalities to dump their sewage
into the sea.
UNRWA also reports that it has had to expand its school
feeding program. It is now feeding some 110,000 Gazan children in around 110
schools everyday.
U.N. BUILDS NEW HOUSES FOR PALESTINIAN
REFUGEES IN LEBANON
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in
the Near East (UNRWA) just inaugurated
150 new units of concrete housing in Lebanon. The houses will provide shelter
for more than a hundred families near the Nahr El Bared Camp, which was
destroyed by fighting last year.
The new housing lowers the pressure on the nearby Beddawi
Camp, where refugees from Nahr El Bared had previously fled.
Rebuilding Nahr El Bared, which is home to some 30,000
refugees, will cost more than $200 million and is the biggest single project
that UNRWA has even undertaken. UNRWA will soon announce the date of a
pledging conference, which will seek donor commitment to the reconstruction
plan.
HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF WELCOMES SENEGAL’S KEY
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has
warmly
welcomed the latest change to Senegal’s Constitution, which now makes it
possible for the country’s courts to try former Chadian President Hissene
Habre.
Habre – who has been living in Senegal since he was
deposed in 1990 – has been accused of gross human rights violations during his
time in power.
According to Arbour, it is rare for one State to take
measures to enable the prosecution of a former Head of State of another
country, and Senegal should be commended for its leadership in this regard.
This is a very positive development in the struggle to strengthen
accountability, she added.
Arbour also urged the international community to continue
its support to Senegal to ensure that Habre will go on trial in the near
future.
HUMANITARIAN CHIEF WRAPS UP VISIT TO
GULF REGION
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and
Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes has wrapped up his trip to the Gulf
region with a stop in Doha, where he met yesterday with Qatari leaders.
The six-day trip was intended to strengthen partnerships
between the UN and the Gulf States in addressing humanitarian crises
worldwide.
Holmes urged Gulf States to work with the United Nations
and other international actors to address both individual humanitarian crises
and the complex global challenges of rising food prices and the effects of
climate change.
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE WORKSHOP HELD IN
TIMOR-LESTE
The UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT)
and the local Government there today held a workshop aimed at strengthening
and sustaining democratic governance in the country.
In the workshop, participants devised a strategy for
strengthening accountability and sustaining democratic governance over the
next five years, included ensuring a separation of power between the different
branches of government; developing an independent judiciary and incorporating
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms into the formation and
growth of state institutions.
The plenary discussion was led by Prime Minister Xanana
Gusmão followed by Interim President Fernando do Araujo, Justice Minister
Lucia Lobato and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Atul
Khare.
D.R. CONGO:
ATTACKS ON AID WORKERS UNACCEPTABLE
Asked about the
suspension of aid activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the
group Medicins sans Frontieres, the Spokeswoman said that the humanitarian
action plan for the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second largest in
the world, after Sudan, reflecting the continuing need for humanitarian
assistance in the vast country.
It is
unacceptable, Okabe said, that non-governmental organizations and UN agencies
providing essential humanitarian goods and services are being brutally
attacked and robbed of both money and equipment in the course of doing their
duty.
She called upon
the authorities in South Kivu to do their part to ensure a better security
environment so that the humanitarian needs of the population can be met.
KENYA HUMANITARIAN APPEAL EXPANDED
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) has
expanded its appeal for Kenya, in light of the need to respond to the
recent drought, to cover humanitarian needs through 2008. The Emergency
Humanitarian Response Plan for now asks for $189 million covering assistance
for internally displaced persons, early recovery and the current drought.
With funding to date of $38 million since the original
Plan was launched in January, the revised and expanded plan seeks an
additional $150 million for emergency actions for up to 500,000 people
affected by post-conflict disruptions, and 840,000 people at risk from
drought.
OCHA has also said that $68 million is needed to
implement this year’s Humanitarian Response Plan for nearby Ethiopia.
BAN KI-MOON TO VISIT WEST AFRICA
The Secretary-General, accompanied by his wife, will be
traveling to West Africa later this month.
He plans to make official visits to Ghana, Liberia,
Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire.
His first stop will be Accra, Ghana, where he is
scheduled to address the opening of the 12th United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
He also plans to meet with Ghanaian President John Kufuor and the Foreign
Minister during his official visit to that country.
From Accra, he will travel to the Liberian capital
Monrovia where he will meet with the country’s leadership, the leadership of
the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and the UN
Country Team.
From Monrovia, the Secretary-General plans to travel to
Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso where a bilateral meeting is planned with
President Blaise Compaore, the Facilitator of the Inter-Ivorian Dialogue and
current Chairman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
His final stop is Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, where meetings
are planned with President Laurent Gbagbo, the Prime Minister, and with
opposition leaders and civil society. He will also meet with the leadership of
the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI).
BAN KI-MOON LOOKS FORWARD TO PAPAL VISIT
Pope Benedict’s visit to the United Nations and address
to the General Assembly will be the fourth such papal visit, following Pope
Paul VI in 1965 and Pope John Paul II in 1979 and 1995.
His visit falls on the anniversary of the
Secretary-General’s visit to the Vatican on 18 April 2007, when he invited the
Pope to the United Nations.
During his three-hour visit to UN Headquarters, the Pope
will address the General Assembly and UN staff in two separate events, and
meet with the Secretary-General and the Presidents of the General Assembly and
Security Council.
The Secretary-General looks forward to meeting with the
Pope again and continuing their discussions on issues of common concern, such
as poverty reduction, climate change and disarmament and dialogue among
civilizations.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SECURITY COUNCIL PLANS HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON CONFLICT
PREVENTION: The Security Council
held consultations today to discuss arrangements for the high-level Council
meeting that will take place next Wednesday, which is to be chaired by South
African President Thabo Mbeki. That meeting will be an open debate with regional
and sub-regional organizations, concerning conflict prevention.
KOREAN ASTRONAUT TO CARRY U.N. FLAG INTO SPACE: The
UN Office for Outer Space
Affairs in Vienna reports that next Thursday, it will hold an event with the
Republic of Korea concerning the space journey being undertaken by Korea’s first
astronaut, Yi So-yeon, on board the International Space Station. The astronaut
is carrying the UN flag with her.
MALI VACCINATION CAMPAIGN STARTS TOMORROW: The World
Health Organization (WHO) reports that a week-long
campaign will begin
tomorrow to vaccinate nearly 6 million people across southern Mali against
yellow fever. With a Brazilian company supplying half the necessary vaccine,
this is the first time ever that a mass vaccination campaign will be undertaken
thanks to “south-south supply,” according to WHO.
SOARING PRICE OF FOOD IMPORTS
TO HIT AFRICA THE HARDEST: It will cost the
world’s poorest countries 56 percent more to import cereals in 2007/2008 than it
did one year earlier, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
warns
in its latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, which says that
37 countries are currently facing food crises. Low-income countries in Africa
will be hit the hardest, with the cost of such imports there expected to rise by
74 per cent. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is undertaking a detailed
assessment on the impact of increasing food prices in 30 countries, including 23
in Africa.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION DETERIORATING IN SOMALIA:
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the
humanitarian situation in Somalia is
deteriorating faster than expected. Three key factors have contributed to
this -- an abnormally harsh dry season with higher-than-average temperatures and
unusually dry winds, increasing civil insecurity, and rising inflation rates.
WEB MANAGEMENT POLICY NOT
UNIQUE: Asked whether the United Nations
blocks certain web sites on its computer network, the Spokeswoman noted that the
United Nations was no different from other organizations in having a management
policy regarding its web site.
THE WEEK
AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Sunday, April 13
In Cape Town, the Deputy Secretary-General delivers the
keynote address at the inauguration of the 118th Assembly of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union.
In Doha, Qatar, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim
delivers the keynote speech at the 8th Doha Forum on Democracy, Development, and
Free Trade.
Monday, April 14
At
9:30 a.m., the Secretary-General and the President of the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) open a special high-level ECOSOC meeting with the Bretton Woods
institutions, the World Trade Organization and the UN Conference on Trade and
Development.
This
morning, the Security Council receives a briefing and holds consultations on
Liberia. In the afternoon, it holds a private meeting with Troop Contributing
Countries to the UN Observer Mission in Georgia, followed by consultations on
Georgia.
At
11 a.m. in Room S-226, Agnes Asekenye-Oonyu, Chief of the Asia Pacific
Section of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and other
human rights experts discuss the impact of armed conflict on children in Sri
Lanka.
The
guest at the noon briefing is Ellen Margrethe Løj, the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia.
All
week in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, the Committee of Experts on Public
Administration holds its seventh session.
All
this week in Vienna, the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
holds its 17th session.
From
today through 25 April in Geneva, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families holds its eighth session.
From
today through Wednesday in Oslo, a conference on Climate Change and Official
Statistics explores the role of official statistics in the measurement of the
impacts of climate change.
Tuesday, April 15
Today and tomorrow, the General Assembly meets to discuss
“Financing for Development: review session on Chapter IV of the Monterrey
Consensus (Increasing international financial and technical cooperation for
development)”.
This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a
resolution on the UN Observer Mission in Georgia, followed by consultations on
the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
From 3 to 4 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council
Chamber, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator John Holmes briefs on the Central Emergency Response Fund.
From 3 to 5:30 p.m. in Conference Room 8, there will be a
briefing on “HIV and sex work”.
Today and tomorrow in Kyoto, Japan, the International
Telecommunication Union hosts a global symposium on the relationship between
information and communication technologies and climate change.
Wednesday, April 16
This morning, the Security
Council is scheduled to hold a high-level debate on regional and subregional
organizations and conflict prevention. The Secretary-General is scheduled to
attend.
From 1 to 2.30 p.m. in the Dag
Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a round table on “The value of
trademarks and the costs of counterfeiting to developing countries”.
From 3 to 5.30 p.m. in the
Economic and Social Council Chamber, there will be a panel discussion on “Moving
ahead with the aid effectiveness agenda in 2008: From here to Accra and Doha”.
In Copenhagen, the Deputy
Secretary-General attends the first meeting of Denmark's Commission on Effective
Development Cooperation with Africa.
From today through Friday in
Dakar, Senegal, the UN Industrial Development Organization jointly sponsors an
“International Conference on Renewable Energy in Africa - Making Renewable
Energy Markets Work for Africa: Policies, Industries and Finance for
Scaling-Up.”
Thursday, April 17
At 1:15 p.m. in Conference Room
2, the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security sponsors a presentation
on "A fissile material cut off treaty and its verification" by Professor Frank
Von Hippel, the Co-Chair of the International Panel on Fissile Materials.
In Vienna, the UN Office for
Outer Space Affairs holds an event, including a video downlink, on the space
journey by Korea’s first astronaut, Yi So-yeon, who is onboard the International
Space Station and carrying the UN flag with her.
Friday, April 18
This morning, Pope Benedict XVI visits UN Headquarters. He
is scheduled to meet with the Secretary-General and address the General
Assembly.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
