Secretary-General

Noon briefing of 30 July 2008

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON


UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES REVITALIZATION OF TRADE TALKS, FOLLOWING BREAK IN NEGOTIATIONS

  • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is disappointed to hear that the tremendous efforts made by key players to conclude the seven-year long Doha Round this year have not yielded the desired outcome. Success was particularly important at this juncture when the world faces major development challenges that include the food, fuel and financial crises, climate change, weak progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and the fight against poverty, and growing protectionist sentiments amid concern over global recession.

  • The Secretary-General spoke today to Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization on this issue. Looking forward, the two leaders stressed the need to ensure that the break in negotiations would not be long. They hoped that by regrouping forces, the Doha negotiations could be revitalized before the end of the year.

  • The Secretary-General is convinced that a successful conclusion to the talks was needed to energize international cooperation toward ameliorating conditions for developing countries to derive gains from trade and investment-led globalization. It would also advance efforts to improve the livelihoods of their peoples, especially the most poor and vulnerable as well as provide an important boost to the global economy by removing existing distortions in markets and strengthen trade governance, grounded on a development agenda.

  • Meanwhile, in the context of the global food crisis, the Secretary-General has urged nations to reconsider their policies restricting agricultural imports and exports as well as take concrete steps to exempt food purchases for humanitarian purposes. Special efforts must be made to improve production incentives for small farmers in developing countries as set forth by the United Nations Task Force on the Global Food Crisis.

SECRETARY-GENERAL’S GOOD OFFICES REMAIN AVAILABLE TO ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA

  • The Secretary-General notes that the Security Council today unanimously adopted Resolution 1827, which terminates the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) as of 31 July. The Council has taken this decision after both parties rejected options for a possible follow-on presence put before them by the Secretary-General at the request of the Security Council.

  • The Secretary-General regrets this decision by the parties but welcomes the decision of the Council to continue to remain actively seized of the matter. He also expresses hope that the parties would be able to break the current stalemate and create conditions necessary for the normalization of their relations, which is key to peace and stability in the region. The Secretary-General reaffirms that his offer of good offices remains available to the parties to help them implement the Algiers Agreements.

SECURITY COUNCIL TERMINATES U.N. MISSION IN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA

  • The Security Council this morning voted unanimously to terminate the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), effective as of the end of this month.

  • The Council demanded that Ethiopia and Eritrea comply fully with their obligations under the Algiers Agreements, show maximum restraint and refrain from any threat or use of force against each other, while avoiding provocative military activities. It requests that the Secretary-General further explore with Ethiopia and Eritrea the possibility of a UN presence in those two countries, in the context of the maintenance of international peace and security.

  • The Secretary-General, in a letter to the Security Council President, has detailed the Secretariat’s consultations with Ethiopia and Eritrea on the options for future UN engagement in their countries. Both parties have rejected the options put before them, he said. Yet the Secretary-General adds that he intends to continue working closely with both parties through his good offices, which remain available.

KARADŽI2; TO APPEAR BEFORE TRIBUNAL JUDGES AS SOON AS THURSDAY

  • Radovan Karadži3; is now in the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He was brought to the UN detention facility near The Hague early this morning. There, he went through the standard check-in procedures and met with representatives of the Tribunal’s registry who explained to him his rights and detailed the legal advice to which he is entitled. He is now scheduled to appear before the tribunal’s judges as early as Thursday.

  • In a statement, Prosecutor Serge Brammertz welcomed this development, saying that the arrest of Karadži3; is “immensely important for the victims who had to wait far too long for this day.” Brammertz also said that his team is reviewing the indictment, which was last updated in 2000, to ensure that it reflects facts established by the court and evidence collected over the past eight years.

  • Karadži3;, the former leader of Bosnian Serbs, was indicted for the most serious crimes under international law: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

CÔTE D'IVOIRE: LAST MILITARY OUTPOST ALONG GREEN LINE DISMANTLED

  • The UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire has dismantled the last military post along the so-called Green Line inside the former zone of confidence between the government-controlled south and the north of the country, which remains under some level of control by the former Force Nouvelles rebels.

  • A 20-kilometer wide and 600-kilometer long swath of land in the center of the country, the creation and scheduled dismantling of the zone of confidence and the internationally-manned military posts was one of the key elements of the Ouagadougou peace agreement which ended the Ivorian civil war.

DR CONGO: U.N. INVESTIGATORS EXAMINE EVIDENCE OF REPORTED VIOLATIONS IN TSHOPO DISTRICT

  • For most of last week, investigators from the Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo conducted an evidence gathering trip to the Tshopo district of Orientale Province. The aim of the mission, jointly executed with the Congolese government, was to look into reports of massive rapes, looting and torture committed in the area in July 2007 by a local militia.

  • Congolese doctors traveling with the mission examined victims on the spot and assisted in the evidence gathering. Also present were military lawyers who recorded statements and testimonies from victims and witnesses. They also advised the victims of their rights.

WFP: HUNGER INCREASING IN THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

  • According to a new UN survey in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, millions of people are experiencing hunger, at levels not seen since the late 1990s.

  • The three-week Rapid Food Security Assessment – conducted by the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization – found that nearly three quarters of households have reduced their food intake. The majority of families have cut out protein from their diet, many are scavenging for food, and more malnourished and ill children are being admitted to hospitals.

  • The food gap is a combined result of flooding last August, successive poor harvests and soaring food prices. With both food production and food imports on the decline, rice now costs almost three times what it did a year ago; maize has quadrupled in price.

  • WFP is urgently expanding food distribution to reach more than six million people, up from a little over a million now. It is also planning a new US$500 million operation to target the most vulnerable women, children and elderly people.

FAO HELPS ESTABLISH SEED ASSOCIATION FOR FARMERS IN CENTRAL ASIA

  • The Food and Agriculture Organization has helped to establish a regional seed association for Central Asia and the Caucasus.

  • Based in Ankara, Turkey, the association will provide millions of farmers with improved seeds that are suited to local conditions. Since only half the cultivable land in the region is currently farmed, this could help reduce the effects of soaring food prices.

CENTRAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND ALLOCATES US$30 MILLION FOR NEGLECTED CRISES IN SEVEN COUNTRIES

  • Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes today announced a US$30 million allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for neglected crises in seven countries.

  • The largest grant, for seven million dollars, will support agencies carrying out life-saving aid programmes in Chad, which is facing worsening insecurity and an influx of new refugees from Darfur and the Central African Republic. The other recipients are Syria, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Burundi, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

  • CERF commits one-third of all funds each year to redress imbalances in the global aid distribution. This is the second round of allocations from that segment, following an allocation of US$108 million in February.

UNESCO ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL LITERACY PRIZE RECIPIENTS

  • Literacy projects in Brazil, Ethiopia, South Africa and Zambia have won the four U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Literacy Prizes this year. A programme in Morocco and another from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) received Honourable Mentions.

  • Prizes are awarded every year in recognition of excellence and innovation in promoting literacy throughout the world.

  • The theme for this year was “Literacy and Health”, with a strong emphasis on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

TOURS OF U.N. HEADQUARTERS TO BE MODIFIED AHEAD OF RENOVATION

  • As the Organization’s Headquarters prepares for the Capital Master Plan, guided tours of the complex will be modified as of 1 August 2008 and limited to the General Assembly building. The cost of the tours will be reduced and a fresh route introduced that wraps around the General Assembly Hall and extends into Conference Room 4, the proposed site of the Security Council while its permanent chamber is being renovated.

  • The new 45-minute tour will inaugurate a special section for younger audiences, called “Children’s Corner”, as well as a multimedia virtual tour of the UN’s six main Organs, with pictorial highlights of the Organization’s history, structure, composition and offices around the world.

  • Showcased along the new tour route are updated exhibits of 60 years of peacekeeping, the work of the United Nations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, a sampling of the gifts donated by United Nations Member States, and individual exhibits on disarmament, landmines, the Holocaust, human rights, indigenous peoples, decolonization and the question of Palestine, to name a few. Tours will continue to visit the gathering place of the world and, in many eyes, the United Nations’ “visual identity”, the General Assembly Hall.

  • The cost of the tour, from 1 August, will be $12.50 for adults; $8.00 for seniors and students, and $6.50 for children.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

NO RECENT COMMUNICATION RECEIVED FROM FRENTE POLISARIO: In response to a question, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations had not formally received any communication from the Frente Polisario asking for the replacement of the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum.

U.S. COURTS ADDRESSING HUMAN TRAFFICKING ALLEGATIONS AGAINST DIPLOMATS: Asked about a recent report alleging that some diplomats at the United Nations had been involved in human trafficking, the Spokeswoman noted that the relevant cases are currently before the US court system, and she expressed the hope that justice would take its course.

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