HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday, May 19, 2008
BAN KI-MOON TO
TRAVEL TO CYCLONE-HIT MYANMAR
Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon is scheduled to travel to Thailand and
Myanmar tomorrow, May 20.
He is expected to arrive in Yangon on Thursday and will
first go to the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis. He is also scheduled to
meet with senior Government officials in Myanmar.
He will then head to Bangkok for a series of bilateral
meetings on Friday, May 23, before returning again to Yangon on Sunday, May
25, for a pledging conference that will be co-sponsored by the UN and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
He is planning to return to New York on Monday.
His objective is to reinforce the ongoing aid operation,
see how the international relief and rehabilitation effort can be scaled up,
and work with the Myanmar authorities to significantly increase the amount of
aid flowing through Yangon to the areas hardest hit by the disaster.
The objective is also to more effectively coordinate and
systematize the international community's emergency relief and longer-term
rehabilitation and reconstruction assistance.
MYANMAR
PLEDGING CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR THIS SUNDAY
The following is a joint
statement by the
Secretary-General and the Chair of the Association of Southeast Nations
(ASEAN):
In recognition of the outpouring of international
solidarity and support for alleviating the devastating impact of Cyclone
Nargis on Myanmar and the widespread suffering caused to its people, the
United Nations and ASEAN announce the convening of an ASEAN-UN International
Pledging Conference.
This Conference will be held on Sunday 25 May in Yangon,
Myanmar, and will be co-chaired by the United Nations and ASEAN. Member
States of the United Nations are invited to participate in the Conference at
the Ministerial level.
The Conference will focus on the needs of those affected
by the cyclone, and seek international support and financial assistance for
the international humanitarian response to meet the most urgent challenges, as
well as longer term recovery efforts.
The co-convenors call on the international community to
rise to the occasion and translate their solidarity and sympathy into concrete
commitments to help the people of Myanmar emerge from the tragedy and rebuild
their lives.
MYANMAR: HUMANITARIAN CHIEF TOURS
HARD-HIT AREAS
AS FOOD SHORTAGES LEAD TO DISPLACEMENT
Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, who arrived in
Myanmar yesterday, today visited three cyclone-affected areas, including the
town of Labutta in the Delta, with full cooperation from the Myanmar
authorities.
Holmes also met with the humanitarian country team and
with the Myanmar Red Cross today; he plans to meet with Government officials
tomorrow.
As for the situation on the ground, several agencies
report that population displacements are continuing, driven by food shortages
in the hardest-hit villages.
Relief arriving on commercial flights is being
transported to cyclone-affected areas, but not in the quantity or frequency
required to meet people’s needs, the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says.
Heavy rain is preventing the movement of cargo along some
roads to the delta, while requests for the approval of international staff to
travel to that region are still pending.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has so far
dispatched
enough food to feed more than 250,000 people, via 13 air cargo shipments into
Yangon.
WFP has purchased enough rice inside Myanmar to feed over
1.5 million people for two weeks. More than 1,000 tons of beans have also
been purchased, allowing WFP to move food quickly and efficiently to those who
need it most.
Agencies working in health have made available more than
350 tons of medical supplies and equipment, including three million water
purification sachets, as well as water containers, insecticide-treated
mosquito nets, shelter equipment, emergency health kits and essential
medicines.
The World Health Organization has 17 surveillance teams
currently distributing medical supplies in the delta region. A surveillance
system for outbreaks has been established.
U.N. AGENCIES RUSH RELIEF SUPPLIES TO
CHINA QUAKE SURVIVORS
Regarding the earthquake in China, the United Nations is
continuing its relief efforts, following the request of the Government of
China.
The World Food Programme has distributed $100,000 worth
of noodles, while the UN Development Programme is
supplying tents, quilts, clothing and emergency lights.
UNICEF has
rushed half a
million dollars worth of emergency supplies to China. The first consignments
include a thousand tents and 15,000 blankets. Health equipment, medicines and
water and sanitation materials will soon follow.
The UN Environment Programme will procure and supply
water purifying and testing equipment.
Asked if the United Nations was
commemorating the days of mourning decreed by the Chinese authorities in
memory of the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan, Montas recalled that UN
staff in China had earlier today joined the Chinese people in three minutes of
silence at the UN compound in Beijing.
FOOD DISTRIBUTED TO DISPLACED SUDANESE
UN agencies and non-governmental organizations today
started distributing food to thousands of people recently displaced from Abyei
as a result of last week’s fighting there.
A total of five food centres are being set up covering
some 18 villages, according to the Humanitarian Coordinator for Southern
Sudan.
Following on from the initial assessment, the most
pressing needs are food, shelter, water and health. Humanitarian agencies are
also beginning to verify and reunite separated children with their families.
However, the rainy season is hampering access to some
areas in the east while insecurity is posing challenges to the west.
The exact number of those displaced from the Abyei area
is not yet determined but is in the range of 30,000 to 50,000 people.
HUMANITARIAN CONDITIONS ON DOWNWARD
SPIRAL IN SOMALIA
The Food and Agriculture Organization says that
humanitarian conditions in Somalia are on a downward spiral due to soaring
food prices, a devalued Somali shilling and worsening drought.
This leaves more than 2.6 million people, or 35 percent
of the total population, in need of assistance, the agency, adding that this
amounts to an increase of more than 40 percent since January.
The increase in needs is due mainly to the addition of
600 000 urban poor who fled violence in the capital Mogadishu and are living
in temporary shelter in the southern and central regions of the country.
An estimated 1 million Somalis are internally displaced,
FAO noted.
AFGHANISTAN: U.N. MISSION CONDEMNS
ATTACK ON FOOD AID CONVOY
Eide is also scheduled to have meetings with the Iranian
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Refugees, Interior and Defence during his
two-day visit to Iran.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reports
that a convoy of 79 trucks carrying World Food Programme (WFP) food was
attacked by anti-Government units using small arms fire and
rocket-propelled grenades over the weekend.
UNAMA condemned the unscrupulous attack on such
life-saving food aid and demanded an immediate end to these attacks, which
deny vital food to Afghanistan’s poorest communities and goes against all the
Islamic and traditional values of the Afghan people.
UN ENVOY MEETS IRANIAN PRESIDENT TO
DISCUSS AFGHANISTAN
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
Afghanistan, Kai Eide,
met with President Ahmadinejad of Iran today to build support for the
stability and reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Speaking after his meeting with the Iranian President,
Eide said: “We had a very constructive discussion on the challenges facing
Afghanistan and the importance of full co-operation with Afghanistan’s
neighbours to help secure peace, stability and progress for all people in the
region. We agreed that a stable Afghanistan will bring benefits for Iran and
we also had a productive exchange of views on the forthcoming Paris Conference
on Afghanistan as well as the current food security situation”.
IRAQ: U.N. ENVOY CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON
IRANIAN DIPLOMATS
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq,
Staffan de Mistura, has
condemned a recent attack in Iraq against Iranian diplomats.
Calling the attack outrageous, de Mistura says that
attacking foreign diplomats in Iraq aims to discourage normal diplomatic
relations between Iraq and the international community. Such attacks will not
succeed, he stressed.
NEPAL MURDER A SERIOUS BREACH OF
MONITORING AGREEMENT
The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) today
condemned the killing of businessman Ram Hari Shrestha. Commanders of the
Maoist army have acknowledged to UNMIN that the murder was committed by
members of the Maoist army.
According to UNMIN, this act is a serious breach of the
commitments made in the Agreement on Monitoring the Management of Arms and
Armies reached between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the then
Government, as well as of fundamental human rights.
UNMIN arms monitors have conducted a preliminary inquiry,
the results of which will be presented at the next meeting of the Joint
Monitoring Coordination Committee.
UNMIN calls on the Maoists to cooperate fully with the
police to ensure that all those responsible for ordering or carrying out the
abduction or killing are punished.
YEMEN LAUDED FOR PROTECTING PEOPLE
CROSSING GULF OF ADEN
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres today
praised Yemen for
providing protection to people making the dangerous Gulf of Aden crossing from
Somalia. He added that the international community should do more to help.
His agency and other international groups have stepped up
their efforts to assist Yemen and other countries in the region, and are
jointly calling for global action to better address the challenges.
So far this year, more than 18,000 people have made the
perilous Gulf of Aden crossing aboard smugglers' boats, double the number for
the same period a year ago. More than 400 people have died trying to make the
voyage this year.
$100 MILLION PUT ASIDE TO FIGHT EFFECTS
OF FOOD PRICE HIKES
The UN Emergency
Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, has decided to reserve $100 million from
current Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)
resources to respond to the most immediate life-saving activities in sectors
directly linked to the effects of the recent rise in global food prices (food,
agriculture, health, nutrition, and logistics).
Since its
inception in 2006, CERF has shown that it is a successful humanitarian funding
mechanism that ensures that aid is delivered in an effective, fast and
predictable way.
So far this year,
the Fund has already allocated almost $66 million to food interventions by all
UN agencies as compared to $37 million allocated during the first four and a
half months of 2007. Overall, the Fund has disbursed almost $800 million in
its short history.
Given the likely
extra demands on the Fund from food-related emergencies, and from multiple
crises and disasters around the world, the need to replenish CERF in the near
future is evident. The Secretary-General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator
are therefore encouraging all donors and potential donors to make additional
contributions to the Fund beyond the $425 million already pledged for 2008.
ECOSOC TO HOLD SPECIAL MEETING ON GLOBAL
FOOD CRISIS
Tomorrow afternoon, the Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) is holding a special meeting on the global food crisis.
From 3 to 6 p.m. in the ECOSOC Chamber, members will hear
briefings from the presidents of the General Assembly, Security Council and
ECOSOC. The meeting will focus on ways to minimize the negative impacts of the
current food crisis. It’s expected that the President of ECOSOC will, at the
end of the meeting, propose a set of policy actions over the short, medium and
long-term.
GLOBAL SECURITY THREATS COULD UNDERMINE
HEALTH PROGRESS
The 61st session of the
World
Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the World Health
Organization (WHO), started today in Geneva and will last all week.
Among the topics for discussion this year are flu
preparedness, female genital mutilation, the harmful use of alcohol, and links
between climate change and health.
Addressing the Assembly this morning, WHO
Director-General Margaret Chan
warned
that three international security threats – namely food security, climate
change, and pandemic influenza – have the potential to undo much hard-won
progress in public health.
U.N. BODY REVIEWS HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS
OF 16 COUNTRIES
From Geneva, the Human Rights Council’s Universal
Periodic Review Working Group concluded its second session this afternoon
after having
reviewed the fulfilment of human rights obligations for 16 States.
Those 16 States were: Gabon, Ghana, Peru, Guatemala,
Benin, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Pakistan, Zambia, Japan, Ukraine,
Sri Lanka, France, Tonga, Romania and Mali.
During the two-week session, interactive dialogues on a
wide range of human rights issues were held -- between the States under
review; the Working Group, which is comprised of the 47 members of the Human
Rights Council; and observers.
The Working Group’s next session will take place in early
December.
BAN KI-MOON
REAFFIRMS U.N.’S COMMITMENT TO SIERRA LEONE
Addressing the Peacebuilding Commission’s high-level
stakeholders’ consultation on Sierra Leone this morning, the Secretary-General
reaffirmed the
UN’s committment to the Sierra Leone Peacebuilding Cooperation Framework,
which was adopted last December.
He added that the Framework correctly recognizes that the
primary responsibility to address peacebuilding challenges rests with the
people and the Government of Sierra Leone. At the same time, the Framework
acknowledges that the international community should remain engaged, and
continue to support vital national efforts.
The Secretary-General expressed his sincere hope that
today’s high-level event will result in clear commitments to support the
Framework.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MEETINGS HELD IN MALAYSIA:
This morning, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang
and International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré
addressed the opening of the 2008 World Congress on Information Technology in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The UN Global Alliance
for Information and Communication Technology and Development, which works to
spread the benefits of information technology, held its third annual meeting,
also in Kuala Lumpur. The Alliance, which is self-funded, discussed its ongoing
initiatives, such as "Connect Africa", "Adopt-a-Village" and the "Cyber-Peace
Corps", and charted its next steps.
SECURITY COUNCIL TAKES UP BOSNIA: The Security
Council is holding an open meeting this morning on the situation in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. On the table is the latest
report to
the Secretary-General by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Asked if the Secretary-General was following developments in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and related discussions in the Security Council, the Spokeswoman
noted that Ban Ki-moon was being updated on a regular basis on the subject. She
added, in response to another question, that the Secretary-General had no
immediate plans to travel to the region.
IRANIAN PROPOSALS ARE BEING
STUDIED: The Spokesperson, in response to a
question, said the Secretary-General was still studying the nuclear proposals
submitted to him and other international authorities by Iran.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
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