HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY FARHAN HAQ
ASSOCIATE
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES OUTRAGE AT BOMBINGS IN INDIA
The Secretary-General is
outraged by the
series of bombings yesterday in the Indian city of Jaipur, which have claimed
the lives of a large number of people and injured many more.
He strongly condemns such terrorist attacks, and sends
his heartfelt sympathies to the Government of India and to the families of the
victims.
BAN KI-MOON INVITES MEMBER STATES TO
MEETING ON HOW TO ADDRESS SITUATION IN MYANMAR
The Secretary-General this morning was asked about his
recent conversation with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown about
Myanmar, and he noted that he has been talking with many leaders on
various ideas about the situation in that country following Cyclone Nargis.
He said that this afternoon, he has invited
representatives of key Member States, including donors and members of the
Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), to a meeting to discuss what
kind of concrete measures can be taken to deal with the situation in Myanmar.
Even though the Myanmar Government has shown some sense
of flexibility, he said, it has been far too short. The magnitude of this
situation requires much more mobilization of resources and aid workers.
Asked about the Secretary-General’s contacts with the
Myanmar leadership, Haq said that the Secretary-General has not been able to
contact Senior General Than Shwe by telephone, although he has tried to do so
repeatedly. He noted that the Secretary-General on Monday sent a second letter
to Than Shwe.
GREATER QUANTITIES OF HUMANITARIAN AID
REACHING MYANMAR, BUT MUCH MORE NEEDED
On the humanitarian front in Myanmar,
Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, who
briefed as the guest at today’s noon briefing, said that greater quantities of
food and water are arriving in Myanmar, but there is still a long way to ago.
He noted that as many as 2.5 million people may be “severely affected” by the
cyclone and its aftermath.
Local logistic hubs are being set up, Holmes said, but it
is difficult to determine how much relief assistance is reaching affected
areas. U.N. international staff are not being allowed to travel to the delta,
and the hundreds of national staff in that area are “increasingly
overstretched”.
There are now approximately 100 U.N. international staff
in the country, up from 75, and close to 40 new visas have been issued. The
U.N., non-governmental organizations, and international donors have succeeded
in getting roughly 25 to 30 flights into Yangon, including several earlier
today.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has now
dispatched a
total of more than 700 tons of rice, high-energy biscuits and beans -- enough
to feed 100,000 people. Today, WFP delivered enough biscuits to feed 82,500
people for a day, as well as enough rice to feed 16,000 people for two weeks,
by far the largest daily dispatch to date.
Meanwhile, WFP is also trying to get a helicopter into
the country so that it can reach people who are inaccessible due to flooded
roads. Each helicopter flight would be able to deliver enough biscuits to
feed 6,000 people. WFP is also planning to bring in 15 tons of ready-to-eat
meals – mostly rice and beans purchased in India – enough to provide 7,000
people with a day’s supply of food.
The World Health
Organization and UNICEF are
resupplying local clinics and distributing tens of thousands of tarpaulins, as
well as fresh water and supplies for water treatment.
Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization is
warning that time is running out to plant rice seeds in June for the main
2008 harvest. FAO notes that each dollar spent on agriculture between now and
the end of the year would represent a savings of ten dollars in food aid
during 2009. FAO is procuring rice seeds from inside Myanmar, and fertilizers
from outside of the country.
SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON WEEKEND
ATTACKS NEAR SUDANESE CAPITAL
The Security Council this morning heard in an open
meeting
from Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno
about the recent fighting in Sudan, including the weekend attacks by the
Justice and Equality Movement in the area near Khartoum. He told the Council
that we are concerned that the movement of significant numbers of JEM fighters
from Darfur to Khartoum went undetected, adding that the incident underscores
the serious shortfalls in the Mission’s resources, especially aerial
reconnaissance capabilities.
The Security Council yesterday afternoon adopted a
Presidential Statement strongly condemning those attacks and urging all
parties to cease violence immediately, respect their obligations under
international humanitarian law and commit to a peaceful resolution of all
outstanding issues.
Guéhenno also said that there has been an alarming
increase of violence in
Darfur itself. During the last six weeks alone, violence between rebels
and the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as between rebel factions, have taken
place in both North and South Darfur.
The Council continued its discussions about Darfur in
consultations.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO HOLD CONSULTATIONS ON
SOMALIA AND U.N. MISSION IN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA
In addition to its consultations on Sudan this morning,
the Security Council is also holding consultations on the international
tribunals dealing with Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
Then, at 3:00 this afternoon, the Council will hold
consultations on Somalia, and will receive a briefing on developments there
from Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe. Also, on
the racks today is a
letter
from the Secretary-General to the Chairman of the African Union Commission,
detailing UN support to the African Union Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM.
In that letter, the Secretary-General says UN support
should be geared towards assisting the African Union to build up its
institutional capacity to carry out its responsibilities, and to help ensure
that AMISOM is deployed, to the extent possible, on the basis of UN standards.
The Security Council this afternoon also expects to
receive a briefing from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations on the UN
Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
UNICEF FEEDS 44,000 CHILDREN IN SOMALIA
Faced with massive logistical and security difficulties,
in addition to droughts and soaring food prices, UNICEF has
continued its work
in Somalia unabated, getting food to some 44,000 children in recent days. The
children are among 300,000 displaced Somalis who fled fighting in Mogadishu
and are temporarily housed in UN-run camps in central and southern Somalia.
UNICEF says the children will each be receiving 10 kilos
of fortified corn-soya blend per month.
U.N. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME INVESTIGATING
SOMALIA ALLEGATIONS
Asked about corruption allegations made against UN
Development Programme (UNDP) activities in
Somalia, the Spokesperson said that UNDP has made clear that it takes these
allegations extremely seriously and is investigating them thoroughly. UNDP now
has a new legal framework to process exactly these types of cases. The new
Ethics Advisor is part of this new framework.
He said that there are two separate issues that have been
raised: retaliation and corruption. These two issues are being dealt with
separately.
On retaliation, the Spokesperson said, the office of the
Audit and Investigation has investigated the claims and has now submitted its
report to the UNDP Ethics Advisor. He will review the issue for possible
action and there is a possibility it could be reviewed by the UN Ethics
Office.
Regarding the issue of possible fraud, UNDP has been
looking formally into these new allegations since the beginning of the year,
Haq said. A team of investigators has been working on this and will travel to
the region as necessary to examine the situation on the ground. Until that
investigation is complete, UNDP cannot address detailed questions emanating
from the allegations.
AGRICULTURE NEEDS REINVIGORATING
The Secretary-General this morning
addressed the
opening of the High-Level Segment of the 16th session of the Commission on
Sustainable Development.
He said that, after a quarter century of relative
neglect, agriculture is back on the international agenda. The onset of the
current food crisis has highlighted the fragility of our success in feeding
the world’s growing population. Agriculture needs reinvigorating, he stressed.
The Secretary-General added that we will need to prepare
our agricultural systems for the effects of climate change, which is predicted
to have negative impacts on agricultural and land productivity in many parts
of the tropics – and especially in Africa and South Asia.
EFFORTS MADE TO BOLSTER WORKPLACE ROLE IN
GLOBAL AIDS RESPONSE
The International Labor Organization (ILO) is
launching a process to adopt a new international labor standard, which
would bolster the role of the workplace in the global response to HIV/AIDS.
In a new report, the ILO lays the groundwork for
discussion on this labor standard.
It is the first report of its kind to give a
comprehensive overview of action taken by Governments and international
organizations on HIV/AIDS, with specific reference to the world of work.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT HOLDS BILATERAL MEETINGS WITH
ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN LEADERS: Last week, the Office of the Spokesperson
for the Secretary-General flagged the President of the General Assembly’s
trip
to the Middle East. Today, the Spokesperson drew attention to the comments made
yesterday by the President of the General Assembly’s Spokesperson about the
visit. He noted that the President of the General Assembly held a series of
bilateral meetings, including with Presidents Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas,
and attended the opening of the “President’s Conference”.
SECRETARY-GENERAL HAS REPEATEDLY CONDEMNED ROCKET
ATTACKS AGAINST ISRAELI CIVILIANS: Asked about a rocket attack that caused
damage and injuries in the Israeli city of Ashkelon today, the Spokesperson said
that the Secretary-General has repeatedly condemned the rocket attacks that have
hurt innocent civilians in Israel. He has consistently called for the immediate
cessation of such attacks.
BAN KI-MOON SATISFIED WITH MEASURES ANNOUNCED BY MIDDLE
EAST QUARTET ENVOY: Asked whether the Secretary-General was satisfied with
the measures recently announced by Quartet Envoy Tony Blair, the Spokesperson
said that he was, and noted that UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East
Peace Process Robert Serry had issued a
statement on Tuesday welcoming those measures.
U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE HAS EXPRESSED CONCERNS ABOUT
HANDLING OF PROTESTS IN NEPAL: Asked whether UN officials were present at
protests in Nepal concerning Tibet, the Spokesperson said he could not confirm
that, but he added that members of the UN
Human Rights Office in Nepal do monitor protests taking place in the
country, and have expressed their concerns to the Nepalese authorities that
peaceful protests are dealt with in an appropriate and peaceful manner.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
