HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Friday,
June 20, 2008
BAN KI-MOON:
KOSOVO PACKAGE REPRESENTS
"LEAST OBJECTIONABLE" WAY FORWARD
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this morning presented his
package of proposals on Kosovo at an
open meeting
of the Security Council,
telling Council
members that, in his almost 40 years of diplomatic life, he has never
encountered an issue as divisive, as delicate and as intractable as the Kosovo
issue.
Nevertheless, he said, he believes that the package given
to the Council last week represents the “least objectionable” way forward.
In that report, the Secretary-General noted, a
reconfigured and restructured UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
will continue to carry out a number of functions, including, significantly,
functions related to the dialogue on the implementation of provisions in six
areas contained in his letter to President Boris Tadic – police, courts,
customs, transport and infrastructure, boundaries, and Serbian patrimony.
Meanwhile, the European Union will take on some
increasing operational responsibilities in the areas of international
policing, justice and customs in Kosovo, within a reconfigured UNMIK, within
the mandate established by Security Council resolution 1244, and under an
“umbrella” headed by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative.
To lead this new phase of the mission, the
Secretary-General told the Council that he intends to appoint Lamberto Zannier
of Italy to be his Special Representative. He will help to carry forward the
vision presented in the Secretary-General’s report, and to lead a new phase of
dialogue, and he will be scrupulously balanced in his approach.
He stressed that his overriding objectives are to ensure
Kosovo’s overall stability, to protect and promote the interests of all of its
communities, and to maintain international peace and security in Kosovo and
the broader region.
The Council’s open meeting also included presentations
from President Tadic, representing Belgrade, and Fatmir Sejdiu, representing
Pristina.
After the meeting, the Security Council intends to hold
consultations on the Great Lakes region, to hear from the Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy, Joachim Chissano, about the peace talks with the Lord’s
Resistance Army.
Asked about a timeline for
future UN action, the Spokeswoman said that, after consulting widely with all
key stakeholders and presenting his report to the Security Council, the
Secretary-General was, today, listening to the views of Council members and
the next steps would follow after he hears from them.
Asked about the UN role in
Kosovo, Montas said it is based on resolution 1244 and the mandate provided by
the Security Council.
BAN KI-MOON INTENDS TO SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE FOR KOSOVO
The Secretary-General, in his
statement
to the Security Council this morning, expressed his intention to appoint
Lamberto Zannier of Italy as his Special Representative for Kosovo.
Mr. Zannier is currently on secondment from the Italian
Government to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
as Director of the Conflict Prevention Centre there. In that capacity, he has
been responsible for overseeing around 20 civilian field operations.
He has held a number of high level appointments since
joining the Italian Foreign Ministry in 1978 and has been closely involved
with the UN system.
SECURITY COUNCIL ADOPTS RESOLUTION
AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE
The Security Council late yesterday wrapped up its
meeting on women, peace and security by
adopting a
resolution demanding the “immediate and complete cessation by all parties to
armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians.”
The Council determined in that resolution that rape and
other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against
humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide.
It also affirmed the Council’s intention to consider
imposing “targeted and graduated” measures against warring factions who
committed rape and other forms of violence against women and girls.
UNICEF IS DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT
INCREASED ABDUCTION OF CHILDREN
A day after the Security Council adopted a landmark
resolution on sexual violence as a tool of war, UNICEF
says it is deeply
concerned by the increasing number of kidnappings and abduction of children,
particularly in violence-torn countries. In many cases these abductions are
being carried out with impunity by criminal gangs and armed groups.
The agency recalls that more than 50 children were
kidnapped since the start of the year in Haiti. In the Central African
Republic, armed gangs are terrorizing rural communities, including by
kidnapping children for ransom.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, children are
forcibly recruited by armed groups or are reduced to sexual slavery. In Iraq a
growing number of boys are made to fight for insurgent groups while young
girls are kidnapped and raped, murdered or trafficked within or out of the
country for sexual exploitation.
UNICEF calls on governments to live up to their
responsibility to enact and enforce measures to protect all children.
LEADERS OF GREEK AND TURKISH CYPRUS TO
MEET AGAIN IN JULY
Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative in
Cyprus, announced today that the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and the
Turkish Cypriot communities, Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat,
respectively, will meet again on 1 July.
He spoke following the announcement by representatives of
the two communities of a series of measures aimed at easing the daily life of
Cypriots across the island.
The measures provide for: educational programs in
connection with cultural heritage; steps on road safety; easing the movement
of ambulances between the two sides; the establishment of a Cyprus Joint
Committee on Health; cooperation for an island-wide assessment of all major
waste streams; and agreement on environmental education.
Zerihoun also announced that additional measures could be
announced in the coming days. “The momentum of the process has not slowed,” he
said. “It is in fact producing tangible results.”
ZIMBABWE: U.N. ENVOY MEETS WITH
SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT
Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile
Menkerios is in South Africa today, where he has met with President Thabo
Mbeki.
It appears that he will remain
in the area for some additional days.
In case the Security Council
decides to discuss the issue on Monday, the briefing will be given by
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe.
UN MISSION STARTS SENSITIZATION CAMPAIGN
FOR CONGOLESE ARMY
The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(MONUC) and a number of UN agencies have launched a week-long sensitization
campaign for the new integrated brigades of the Congolese army.
Some 1,800 soldiers will be trained in child protection,
human rights, how to combat sexual violence and the role of military justice.
The training lies not only within MONUC’s mandate of
support to the reform of the security sector in the DRC, but is also part of
the new zero tolerance campaign against child recruitment into armed groups,
which Alan Doss, the Secretary General’s Special Representative, launched last
week. The training is taking place at an army camp in Uvira, in South Kivu.
Meanwhile, the Mission reports a relative calm in the
west, and several violations of the ceasefire in the northeast, a situation
made worse by a wave of forced recruitment of children by various armed
groups.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL DISCUSSES FOOD
SECURITY WITH IMF
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro is in
Washington, D.C., today to participate in a working lunch with the
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the 24 members
of the IMF Executive Board.
The focus of the discussion will be on the “Food and
energy crises – the role of the UN and the Bretton Woods Institutions”. The
lunch provides an opportunity to discuss ways and means for the international
community to act together in addressing the crises.
The IMF is already a member of the Secretary-General’s
High-level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis.
REFUGEE AGENCY ALARMED BY REPORTED
FORCED RETURNS
OF ERITREAN ASYLUM-SEEKERS IN EGYPT
The UN Refugee Agency
says it’s very
alarmed over credible reports of ongoing, forcible returns of Eritrean
asylum-seekers from Egypt, despite UNHCR’s appeals for a halt to such returns
until it can access detention centers and evaluate claims for international
protection.
UNHCR is asking Egyptian authorities for unhindered
access to all asylum-seekers currently in detention.
It is also requesting them to urgently provide
information on the location and well-being of 1,400 Eritreans and other
persons of concern, whose names and detention locations had previously been
provided.
NEARLY $450 MILLION SOUGHT TO REBUILD
PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP
A high-level donor conference to provide for the
reconstruction of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon will take
place in Vienna next Monday, and is to help obtain funding for what the UN
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
says will be its largest reconstruction project ever.
UNRWA and the Lebanese Government have appealed for $445
million to rebuild Nahr el-Bared following the heavy fighting that took place
at the camp last year.
FUNDS FOR HELICOPTER OPERATION IN
MYANMAR CRITICALLY LOW
The World Food Programme
warned today
that critical shortage of funds for a helicopter operation providing essential
logistical support to nearly 50 aid agencies is threatening the relief effort
for 2.4 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.
WFP says that the operation to move life-saving supplies
to distressed communities by boat, truck and air will all halt by the end of
this month, unless they receive additional funding.
To date, only just over half of the $50 million required
for the logistical operation has been secured and much of this money has
already been spent on barges, boats, rivercrafts and basic infrastructure
needed to reach cyclone survivors in remote, hard-hit villages across the
Irrawaddy Delta.
Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs says the private sector is generously supporting the
Myanmar cyclone emergency response, with $30 million worth of contributions.
This includes $10 million raised by the United Nations Children’s Fund and
National Committees across the world.
Some of the largest private sector contributors to the
Myanmar cyclone relief effort include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
which gave a total of $3 million to non-governmental organizations.
WORLD REFUGEE DAY IS MARKED WITH THEM OF
"PROTECTION"
Today is
World Refugee Day.
Events taking place around the globe today are focusing on the fundamental
need for protection.
In his
message to mark
the day, the Secretary-General notes that conflict and poverty are the most
common reasons why people are compelled to leave their homes. Those factors
are now amplified by the effects of climate change, increasing scarcity of
resources and food shortages.
The Secretary-General says that, contrary to public
perceptions, developing countries actually bear the burden of hosting a larger
number of refugees, despite their limited resources.
He calls on the international community to redouble
efforts to address both the causes and consequences of forced human
displacement.
UN-BACKED ALLIANCE REPORTS STEADY
PROGRESS IN IMMUNIZATION
There has been steady progress in global efforts to
improve immunization programmes and strengthen health systems in the world’s
poorest countries. That’s according to the latest annual report by the GAVI
Alliance, a public-private partnership that includes the World Health
Organization and UNICEF among its members.
The report notes a steady increase in immunization
coverage rates in the 72 GAVI-eligible countries. In 2007, 75-percent of
children in those countries were immunized with three doses of diptheria,
tetanus and polio vaccines. That’s up from 64 per cent in 2000.
In related news, however, WHO is reporting a new outbreak
of polio in northern Nigeria that has begun to spread to nearby countries and
that could cause a major international outbreak on the scale of the one that
occurred between 2003 and 2006. More than 20 per cent of children in
high-risk areas of Nigeria remain unimmunized, WHO says. The agency notes
that Nigeria has planned two large-scale rounds of emergency polio
immunization in those areas in July and August.
U.N. COMMITTEE ON OUTER SPACE WRAPS UP
51ST SESSION
The UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has
wrapped up its 51st session in Vienna earlier today. During the
10-day session, delegates
discussed how to apply space technology to improve the world’s food
security, prevent and manage disaster and combat climate change.
The Committee also debated the impact of water scarcity
and floods on global food production and how to deploy space technology to
collecting data for sustainable development in areas such as agriculture,
deforestation assessment, disaster monitoring, drought relief and land
management.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NO IMMEDIATE ACTION ON
REPORTS OF POTENTIAL ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAN:
Asked whether the Secretary-General would act in response to reports about a
potential Israeli attack on Iran, the Spokeswoman said that there was not enough
information to act on, adding that the Secretary-General would stay informed on
the matter.
SECRETARY-GENERAL YET TO
RECEIVE LEETER FROM EGYPT ON SHAB’A FARMS:
In response to a question, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General had
not received a letter from Egypt concerning the status of the Shab’a Farms,
which has been claimed by Lebanon and by Syria.
BAN KI-MOON EXPECTED TO BRIEF
PRESS NEXT WEEK: Asked when the Secretary-General would brief the press
next, the Spokeswoman said he intended to do so next week.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS<![if !supportFootnotes]>[1]<![endif]>
Monday, June 23
This morning, the Security
Council is scheduled to hold a private meeting with Troop Contributing Countries
to the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), followed by consultations on
UNDOF and Eritrea/Ethiopia.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in
Conference Room 2, the UN Public Service Day and Awards Ceremony celebrates the
60th Anniversary of the Programme on Public Administration and Development.
General Assembly President
Srgjan Kerim begins an official visit to Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and
Austria.
From today through Thursday in
Vienna, the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
Organization holds its 30th session.
Today in Vienna, a high-level
donor conference takes place to raise funds for the reconstruction of the Nahr
el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon by the UN Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
From today through Friday, the
Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of
the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories visits Egypt,
before continuing on to Jordan and Syria.
Tuesday, June 24
This
morning, the Security Council is scheduled to be briefed by Salim Ahmed Salim
and Jan Eliasson, the African Union and UN Envoys on Sudan. In the afternoon, a
debate on peace and security in Africa (Djibouti/Eritrea) is scheduled.
At 10.15 a.m. in Room S-226, Steven Kull of the University
of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes; Yvonne Terlingen of
Amnesty International; and Craig Mokhiber from the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights brief on new survey data on the acceptance of the
use of torture, racial discrimination, women’s rights, freedom of the press,
democracy and governance.
At 11 a.m. in Room S-226, the Prime Minister of Djibouti,
Deleita Mohamed Deleita, and Djibouti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, brief on peace and security in
the Horn of Africa.
The guests at the noon briefing are Jan Eliasson and Salim
Ahmed Salim, the UN and African Union Special Envoys for Darfur, who will brief
on the Darfur peace process.
Wednesday, June 25
This morning, the Security
Council is scheduled to hold consultations on Iraq/Kuwait (missing persons and
property) and Guinea-Bissau.
From 10 to 11.30 a.m. in the
Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, the launch of Transparency International’s
Global Corruption Report 2008: Corruption in the Water Sector takes
place.
At 12.30 p.m. in the Office of
Legal Affairs, there will be a ceremony to honour the 11 countries that have
ratified the 2005 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of U.N. and
Associated Personnel
Thursday, June 26
This morning in the Security
Council, a briefing and consultations on the Middle East are scheduled.
At 11.30 a.m., the
Secretary-General is scheduled to brief the press at the Security Council
stakeout. There will be no noon briefing by the Spokesperson today.
At 12.30 p.m. in Room S-226, Special Adviser Jan Egeland is
scheduled to brief on his recent trip to the Sahel and on climate change in that
region.
At 1 p.m. at the Trygve Lie
Center for Peace, Security & Development International Peace Institute,
Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Antonio Maria Costa
launches the World Drug Report 2008.
From 2 to 4 p.m. in the Dag
Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be an interactive briefing on
genocide prevention––“Saving succeeding generations”.
Today is the International Day
against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking, as well as the International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture.
Friday, June 27
This morning, the Security
Council is scheduled to adopt a resolution on the U.N. Disengagement Observer
Force, followed by consultations on the Central African Republic.
At 11.15 a.m. in Room S-226, Wilfried Lemke, Special
Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, briefs the press.
The guests at the noon briefing are Léo Mérorès, President
of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General
for Economic and Social Affairs, and Nikhil Seth, Director of the Office for
ECOSOC Support and Coordination/DESA, who will brief in advance of ECOSOC’s
High-level Segment, which begins on 30 June.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
