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nbsp
nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp ARCHIVES
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
nbsp SPOKESPERSON FOR SE ETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, June
12, 2008
BAN KI-MOON ADDRESSES INT''''L CONFERENCE ON
AFGHANISTAN
Se etary General Ban Ki-moon is on his way to London after attending the
International Conference in support of Afghanistan today at the Kleber
Conference Center in Paris.
nbsp
The Se etary-General this morning
addressed the
Conference, convened by the French Government and where President Hamid Karzai
launched a National Development Strategy for his country.
nbsp
The Se etary-General said that the Strategy quot will be tested in the most
remote villages quot of Afghanistan.
nbsp
He
said that the United Nations supports the Strategy''''s concept of quot Afghanization quot ,
explaining that such a policy was not only about channeling more international
assistance into Afghan institutions but to have all Afghans participate in the
rebuilding of their country.
nbsp
He
also called the elections that are to take place in 2009 and 2010 , a “ ucial
test of the institutions that we have eated together and of the confidence
that Afghans have in them.” (We have his statement upstairs, as well as the
final Declaration from the Conference itse .)
nbsp
The Se etary-General then held today a number of bilateral meetings on the
margins of the Conference. He first met with NATO Se etary-General Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer, and they discussed the proposals on Kosovo presented today by
the Se etary-General to the UN Security Council.
nbsp
The Se etary General also discussed Kosovo with Italian Foreign Minister
Franco Frattini.
nbsp
He
met later with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, thanking him for China''''s
strong assistance to Afghanistan and voicing his support for China''''s efforts
to deal with the damage caused by the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province.
He invited China''''s Prime Minister to attend the 25 September High-Level
Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals. They also discussed the Kosovo
proposals and Myanmar.
nbsp
During his series of bilateral meetings, the Se etary-General met tete-a-tete
with US Se etary of State Condoleezza Rice.
nbsp
Before leaving Paris for London, the Se etary-General met with President
Hamid Karzai and afterwards with the convenor of the Conference, French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, at the Elysee Palace.
nbsp
The Spokeswoman, in response
to a question, later said the Se etary-General and
President Sarkozy discussed the Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan, Cote
d''''Ivoire, Kosovo, Lebanon and Somalia.
nbsp
She also said that the
Se etary-General''''s last meeting in Paris was with EU High Commissioner Javier
Solana, with whom he discussed Afghanistan, Georgia, Kosovo and Iran.
nbsp
The Se etary-General and his
spouse, she added, have since departed Paris for London.
U.S. SUPREME
COURT DECISION ON GUANTANAMO BAY IS WELCOMED
The UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Louise Arbour,
welcomed
Thursday''''s decision by the United States Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush
that the U.S. Constitution extends to foreign detainees held in Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, and that they have the right to challenge their detention by habeas
corpus in the civilian courts.
nbsp
nbsp “The Supreme Court has
sent a vitally important message that the protections afforded by fundamental
human rights guarantees extend to these individuals and that effective
remedies must be available to them. After up to six years in detention in
Guantánamo Bay without satisfactory review of the reasons for their detention,
these detainees have the right to prompt review in the civilian courts,”
Arbour said.
SE ETARY-GENERAL OUTLINES PLANS ON KOSOVO
Today the Se etary-General
has moved forward with a series of measures on Kosovo.
nbsp
First, he has sent a special
report to the Security Council on the reconfiguration of the UN Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
nbsp
Second, he has sent letters to
both President Boris Tadic in Belgrade and Fatmir Sejdiu in Pristina informing
them of his intention to reconfigure the international civil presence in
Kosovo, as set out in his special report to the Security Council.
nbsp
Third, the Se etary-General
has indicated his intention to appoint a new Special Representative in
conjunction with the reconfiguration.
nbsp
Regarding the report, it
indicates the Se etary-General''''s intention to adjust the structure and
profile of UNMIK in a manner that enables the European Union to perform an
enhanced operational role in the area of the rule of law under a UN ''''umbrella''''
headed by his Special Representative, within the framework of resolution 1244
(1999). nbsp
nbsp
As for the letters, they
confirm the UN''''s position of ''''status-neutrality'''' on the question of Kosovo''''s
status and indicate the UN’s commitment to a dialogue with Belgrade in six
issue areas: police, justice, boundary management, Serbian patrimony,
transport and infrastructure and customs.
nbsp
The Se etary-General has
consulted with all relevant stakeholders including Member States of the
Security Council and Contact Group, the EU, Belgrade and Pristina.
nbsp
It is anticipated that the
Council will meet to discuss the report in the near future.
nbsp ZIMBABWE:
SECURITY COUNCIL TO HEAR HUMANITARIAN BRIEFING
We have confirmed that Haile Menkerios, the Assistant
Se etary-General for Political Affairs responsible for African issues, is
scheduled to visit Zimbabwe from 16-20 June for discussions on the political
situation and the upcoming elections.
nbsp
His visit is in follow-up to the Se etary-General’s
recent meeting with the President of Zimbabwe in Rome. nbsp
nbsp
Here at UN headquarters, John Holmes, the
Under-Se etary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator will brief the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in
Zimbabwe at 3 p.m. closed consultations.
nbsp
John Holmes will speak to reporters at the Security
Council stakeout immediately after his briefing.
nbsp
nbsp SECURITY
MECHANISM TO BE PUT IN PLACE
FOR COTE D’IVOIRE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
The
UN Mission in Cote
d’Ivoire (UNOCI) has confirmed that a security mechanism will be put in
place for the upcoming presidential election. This was one of the key subjects
of discussions during the Security Council’s visit to Cote d’Ivoire earlier
this week.
nbsp
The security mechanism will
begin next week on June 19th. nbsp
nbsp
It will see the coordinated
participation of the Ivorian army, the former rebel Forces Nouvelles, UN
peacekeepers in Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire and the Security Council-mandated
French force Licorne. They will secure Ivorian borders and provide security
inside the country during the voting period.
nbsp
The Mission said that the idea
was formally disclosed by its Force Commander at a meeting of regional UN
Force commanders.
SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS CONSULTATIONS
nbsp ON SUDAN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE
The Security Council
held consultations this morning on the
Sudan Sanctions
Committee and other matters.
nbsp
The
Italian Ambassador, as chair of Sudan Sanctions Committee, briefed on the
Committee’s work.
nbsp U.N. ENVOY
MEETS WITH PARTIES ON NAME ISSUE
The Se etary-General’s
Personal Envoy for the talks between Greece and The former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, Matthew Nimetz, met with the parties today at Headquarters.
nbsp
He said both parties have
resolved to get back to work and see if they can move towards a breakthrough
on the “name issue”.
nbsp
He confirmed that he would
go the region relatively soon and reiterated that the negotiation process does
not have any deadline.
nbsp WORLD FOOD
PROGRAMME APPEALS FOR PROTECTION OF AID SHIPS
nbsp AGAINST PIRATE ATTACKS IN SOMALIA
The World Food Programme (WFP)
today appealed
to naval powers to help protect its ships, which carry life-saving food aid,
from pirate attacks.
nbsp
WFP stressed that as many as
2 million Somalis could go hungry without this essential help.
Some 80 percent of WFP food for Somalia arrives by sea. .
nbsp
Meanwhile, today, just after dawn, a WFP-contracted truck driver was shot and
killed by gunmen in southern Somalia. He was part of a convoy of WFP-contracted
trucks carrying more than 300 tons of food aid to the areas hit hardest by
drought in central Somalia.
nbsp ATOMIC
AGENCY TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT HELP CHINA RECOVER RADIOACTIVE SOURCES IN QUAKE
AFTERMATH
In the wake of the deadliest
7.9-magnitude earthquake of 12 May that ravaged China´s Sichuan Province, the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
has
joined hands with the Chinese emergency teams to recover stray radioactive
materials buried in the rubble that could complicate relief efforts or cause
contamination.
nbsp
Immediately after the
earthquake, experts from relevant Chinese authorities were sent to examine the
safety status of nuclear facilities and radioactive sources within the quake
zone.
nbsp
Utilizing IAEA’s training and
donated equipment, a team of radioactive source search and recovery experts
fanned out a oss all disaster-stricken areas using radiation detection
equipment to pinpoint the location of 50 sources and safely recover all of
them.
nbsp
IAEA experts believe that this
is the first time that training has been used for source recovery after an
earthquake.
AFGHAN
GOVERNMENT LAUDED FOR WORLD’S LARGEST DRUG BUST
The Executive Director of the
UN Office on Drugs and ime (UNODC), today congratulated the Minister of the
Interior of Afghanistan for finding and destroying, with support from ISAF,
what is believed to be the world''''s largest seizure of drugs.
nbsp
The 236.8 metric tonnes of
hashish would have had a wholesale value of 400 million, according to the
NATO operation in Afghanistan. quot This is a massive seizure, and a major success
for counter-narcotics in Afghanistan quot , said the Executive Director.
nbsp
He also said that drugs are
financing terrorism and insurgency in Afghanistan and urged governments to
come forward with the names and evidence needed to bring the most wanted drug
traffickers to justice.
nbsp SE ETARY-GENERAL THANKS NEPAL FOR
nbsp PARTICIPATION IN PEACEKEEPING
On
the 50th Anniversary of Nepal’s continuous participation in the UN
Peacekeeping Operations, the Se etary-General in a message today expressed
special thanks and congratulations to the Government and people of Nepal, a
top five contributor of peacekeepers around the world.
nbsp
Highlighting that Nepal has contributed 60,000 peacekeepers in some 40
peacekeeping missions over the past five decades, the Se etary-General
commended Nepal’s and all peacekeeper-contributing nations’ participation to
foster global peace.
nbsp
Since the first operations began 60 years ago, peacekeeping has developed into
a flagship enterprise of the United Nations. Today, there are more than
110,000 men and women from nearly 120 countries deployed in conflict zones
around the world. nbsp
nbsp
Nepal and four other nations of the south together contribute nearly ha of
the U.N.’s peacekeepers.
nbsp U.N. MISSION
IN TIMOR-LESTE SUPPORTS
GROWTH OF LOCAL PRIVATE SECTOR
The
United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste is
looking to in ease its local financial expenditure in the coming years in
an effort to support the “Buy Local: Build Timor-Leste” campaign.
nbsp
The
campaign is an initiative of the Peace Dividend Trust following a study by the
Department of Peacekeeping Operations in 2005 that found that in easing
peacekeeping and partners’ expenditure in post conflict states has a positive
effect on local economies by eating employment and building the private
sector capacity.
nbsp
The
Peace Dividend Trust is now working in two countries where peacekeeping
missions operate – Timor-Leste and Afghanistan. It will also look to in ease
its presence in other countries where there are UN peacekeeping operations.
MARKING WORLD
DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR
The World Day Against Child
Labour is marked today and calls the world’s attention to the plight of
millions of girls and boys around the world who are victims of child labour.
In 2008, the message of the World Day is that Education is the right response
to child labour.
nbsp
According to estimates of the
International Labour Organization (ILO), there are 218 million child
labourers, of whom the vast majority is denied educational opportunities.
nbsp
In his message on occasion of
the World Day, the Director-General of the ILO, Juan Somavia, says meeting the
UN Millennium Development Goals - in particular Goal 2 related to universal
primary education - also means tackling child labour.
nbsp
The Director-General calls
for action to ensure education for all children at least to the minimum age of
employment and for education programmes that reach out to child labourers.
nbsp
UNICEF also sees education as
the best weapon in the global fight against child labour and says recent data
has provided hope: The number of children out of school has ped from 115
million in 2002 to 93 million in 2006.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
IRAQI REFUGEES IN IRAN SEEKING REPATRIATION FACING DELAYS: Small groups
of long-time Iraqi exiles in Iran seeking repatriation are being delayed by
complicated clearance procedures and sporadic border closures,
according to the UN
refugee agency.
LEBANESE FARMERS RECEIVE FARM ANIMALS: Farmers in south Lebanon have
received 200 cows and 1600 goats from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The gift is the first direct UN contribution to a compensation programme set up
by the FAO to average losses in south Lebanon’s agricultural sector caused by
the summer 2006 war. Some 450 families of farmers and cattle-breeders in some 40
villages in south Lebanon are expected to benefit from the programme, which will
cost around 1.9 million dollars in total. FAO estimates that the region lost
some 1600 cows and 20,000 goats during the 2006 war.
NO ANNOUNCEMENT YET ON NEXT HEAD OF PEACEKEEPING: The Spokeswoman, in
response to a question, said she could neither deny nor confirm press reports
that a French diplomat, Alain le Roy, was tapped to become the new head of UN
Peacekeeping in replacement of Jean-Marie Guehenno, also of France, who is
expected to step down at the end of July.
NEW REPORT ADDRESSES ROLE OF PEACEKEEPING AND FIELD SUPPORT DEPARTMENTS:
Asked for a reaction to iticisms included in a report by the General
Assembly''''s Fifth Committee about the roles of Department of Peacekeeping
Operation and the Department of Field Support, Montas said that the Se etariat
has received the report and will soon be answering questions raised by the state
members of the Committee.
UP TO SECURITY COUNCIL TO DECIDE: Asked if the Security Council would
be seized of the apparent dispute between Pakistan and the United States over a
reported U.S. raid on alleged Islamist militants in northern Pakistan, a raid
Pakistan has called an quot act of agression quot , the Spokeswoman said that it was up
to the Council to decide how to deal with the matter if and once Pakistan
requests it to take it up.
LAURA BUSH TO HOST UNESCO’S SECOND LITERARY MEETING: The
Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, today welcomed the
announcement by Mrs. Laura Bush that she will host a second literacy meeting in
New York on 22 September 2008 in her capacity as Honorary Ambassador for the UN
Literacy Decade. The symposium will draw together the conclusions of the six
regional literacy conferences organized by UNESCO during 2007 and 2008.
nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Office of the Spokesperson for the
Se etary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
