HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BANK KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
CHINA ASSUMES
SECURITY COUNCIL’S ROTATING PRESIDENCY
With the start of a new month, Ambassador Zhang Yesui
of China takes over as
Security Council President for the month of October, replacing
Ambassador Michel Kafando of Burkina Faso.
There are no
Council meetings or consultations scheduled today.
On Monday, the last working day of Burkina Faso’s
Presidency, Ambassador Kafando delivered a press statement on behalf of
Council members condemning the terrorist attack that took place in Tripoli,
Lebanon, earlier that day.
U.N. AGENCY
CONFIRMS REPORTS OF CONGOLESE REFUGEES FLEEING INTO SUDAN
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
has
confirmed reports of an influx of Congolese refugees into an area of
Sudan bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Local authorities and aid agencies operating in the
area reported that, in recent days, approximately 1,200 refugees fled to two
villages, following attacks by armed groups believed to be Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA) fighters around the Dungu region of the DRC.
A four-day journey on foot brought the refugees to
safety inside South Sudan. Refugees gave accounts of abducted children and
homes set ablaze in acts of savagery. Asked why they fled to Sudan, they
said that the LRA had blocked all other routes out of the region, says UNHCR.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that bodies were seen floating in rivers along
the way.
Immediate concerns identified by aid agencies include
the proximity of the refugee settlements to the border, the likelihood of
LRA attacks and abductions of civilians, poor living conditions and the
diminishing stocks of food held by the local population.
UNHCR is working with partner agencies, particularly
the World Food Programme and UNICEF, to rush emergency assistance to the
beleaguered population.
Meanwhile, the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and
UNICEF are calling for the immediate and unconditional release children
abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army in the DRC. The children were
kidnapped from their schools during simultaneous attacks on the Kiliwa, Duru,
and Nambia villages in Orientale Province on in mid-September.
U.N. APPEALS FOR FUNDS TO HELP
DROUGHT-HIT SYRIANS
The United Nations today
launched an appeal for more than $20 million to help up to one million
drought-hit Syrians for a period of six months.
According to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Syria’s current drought is by far the worst it
has experienced in the last four decades.
The vast majority of funds requested in the appeal will
go towards agriculture, livelihoods and food.
Nearly $2 million from the UN’s Central Emergency
Response Fund has already been put towards the appeal.
NEARLY HALF OF MYANMAR HUMANITARIAN
APPEAL REMAINS UNFUNDED
According to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs’ Financial Tracking Services, nearly 50 percent of the
requirements in the revised UN Flash Appeal for Myanmar
remains unfunded.
Total contribution now stands at $240 million out of
the $482 million required, with agriculture and early recovery continuing to
be the least funded sectors.
Nearly 5 months into the post-disaster response in
Myanmar, over 33,000 metric tons of food have reached more than 733,000
people affected by the cyclone.
The United Nations underlines the importance of
continuous support through the various recovery phases and calls upon the
international community not to forget the cyclone survivors as the months
pass.
Wrapping up its 8th meeting, the Tripartite Core Group
on Myanmar yesterday recognized that the needs of the Cyclone Nargis victims
are still great and that increased and committed financial support is
necessary in order to continue assistance to the cyclone survivors. The
group – comprised of the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and the Government of Myanmar – will undertake periodic reviews to
regularly assess progress in the humanitarian effort, with the first review
coming up in November.
Meanwhile, UNICEF, in partnership with the World Health
Organization (WHO) and Myanmar’s Ministry of Health, is actively supporting
the promotion of safe feeding for infants and urging parents to ensure
exclusive breastfeeding for babies for the first 6 months. They recommended
that all infants should be fed exclusively with breast milk for the first
six months of life and also encouraged early initiation of breastfeeding,
which should start within one hour after birth.
SRI LANKA: UNITED NATIONS DEPLORES
TARGETING OF GOVERNMENT TRUCK
The United Nations in Sri Lanka says that it deplores
the placing of explosives by an unknown party on a Government truck that was
due to join a UN food convoy to the Wanni area.
The United Nations reiterates that humanitarian
operations and personnel must be protected at all times, in accordance with
international humanitarian law, and acknowledges the actions by the
Government to meet this responsibility.
The UN remains committed to supporting humanitarian
operations that will reach Sri Lankan citizens in the Wanni area with vital
aid.
Because of the effective cooperation of all involved,
the convoy is now scheduled to depart in the next days accompanied by UN
international staff.
SOMALIA: U.N.
ENVOY ALARMED BY INCREASING PIRACY
The UN Special
Representative for
Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has said he is extremely alarmed by the
increase in piracy carried out against ships both in Somali waters and in
international waters near Somalia.
He said piracy
is increasingly a threat to international navigation and free trade in an
already fragile environment. The millions of dollars in ransom paid to the
pirates and their associates inland and overseas has become a multi-million
dollar business which threatens stability in Puntland and in Somalia as a
whole.
Up to 10 ships
are reported to be held by pirates at present. Local Somali authorities say
that trade to ports, particularly in the north, has been badly affected.
In response to a
question, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations has no direct
involvement in the case involving a Ukrainian ship that was seized by
pirates off the coast of Somalia.
NEW U.N. INITIATIVE TO HELP CENTRAL
AFRICAN REPUBLIC
A new UN initiative, the Common Humanitarian Fund, has
set aside $2.5 million for 16 priority projects in the Central African
Republic. The new fund is managed by the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
as its administrator.
The monies that it provides will help aid agencies
protect the lives of newly displaced people, and provide health care and
water to those struck by violence.
It will also ensure that infants and young children can
survive crises and will help displaced people restart their lives upon
return to their original place of residence.
OCHA says that some $2.8 million has been pledged to
the Fund by some member states. It adds that a quarter of that money has
already been reserved for the humanitarian air service, which was just about
to cease operation for lack of cash.
MORE THAN 40 COUNTRIES TOOK 81 TREATY
ACTIONS AT 2008 TREATY EVENT
The
2008 Treaty Event concluded this morning with additional three countries
taking treaty actions.
During the more than week-long event, 42 Member States
took 81 treaty actions – there were 32 signatures and 49 ratifications,
accessions, consents to be bound and other actions.
This morning, Iceland and Greece signed the Convention
for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, while
Cameroon signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
and its Optional Protocol.
The Disabilities Convention received the most attention
at this year's Treaty Event, with six signatures and three ratifications.
That brings the total number of States Parties to 40. The Optional Protocol
to the Convention received seven signatures and two ratifications.
Since the first Treaty Event was held in 2000, a total
of 1,442 treaty actions have taken place during these events.
U.N. AGENCY DRAWS ATTENTION TO GLOBAL
TEACHER SHORTAGE
Ahead of World Teachers’ Day, which is this Sunday, the
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is
calling attention to the worldwide shortage of qualified teachers,
especially in Africa. To reach the goal of universal primary education by
2015, at least 18 million more teachers are needed, the agency says.
Meanwhile, UNESCO has
announced the winners of the Mondialogo School contest. In that
competition, students work in bi-national teams on photo essays, plays,
sculptures, webpages, and other projects. This year, the Lebanon-Serbia
team took first prize, while second prize went to the Indonesia-Ukraine
team. The Syria-United States and Germany-Mexico teams shared third place.
And the UN Environment Programme and UNESCO have
released an updated version of their popular YouthXchange Training Kit,
which is used to promote sustainable consumption patterns among young
consumers worldwide. The guide includes several new chapters, including on
how young people can balance dressing “cool” and fashionably with an
awareness of how their consumption impacts human rights and the environment.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL HIGHLIGHTS NEED
FOR INVESTMENT IN LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today addressed a high-level
forum on investing in landlocked developing countries, and she told them
that external investment is critical in enabling those countries to mitigate
their unfavorable geographic locations.
Halfway to 2015, she said, we need to accelerate
progress in implementing the
Millennium Development Goals, particularly in the 31 landlocked
developing countries.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
INTERNATIONAL DAY STRESSES CONCERNS OF
OLDER PERSONS: Today is the International Day of Older Persons. In a
message to mark the occasion, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reminds
everybody that in many parts of the world, the rights of older persons are still
violated every day. For example, older persons face age discrimination in the
workplace. In that regard, the Secretary-General says that national
ageing-specific policies need to be improved, and the concerns of older persons
need to be noticed in a wider policy framework.
COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE LOOKS AT COUNTRIES IN
CRISIS: Senior representatives from the United Nations, developing countries
and the donor community convened for a high-level conference in Copenhagen today
to push forward the early recovery agenda, exploring the concrete realities of
countries in crisis and how to begin to better rebuild in the immediate
aftermath of a crisis. Jointly sponsored by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Early Recovery
Practitioners’ and Policy Forum aims to outline a set of commitments and actions
to boost early recovery efforts. Forum participants will draw upon the lessons
learned from crisis situations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia,
Myanmar and Pakistan where early recovery strategies have been put in action.
BAN KI-MOON HOLDS
172 MEETINGS DURING GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Asked
about the Secretary-General’s bilateral meetings on the margins of the General
Assembly session, the Spokeswoman said that he had conducted 172 meetings (125
bilateral meetings with visiting leaders and 47 meetings with larger groups)
during that time.
COOPERATION ON
SOUTH OSSETIA TO BE DISCUSSED IN GENEVA:
Asked about any UN coordination with the European Union mission that has gone to
South Ossetia, the Spokeswoman noted that the topic will be discussed during a
meeting that will take place in Geneva on 14 October.
BAN KI-MOON TO
MEET CYPRUS ENVOY TODAY: Asked about the
schedule of Alexander Downer, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Cyprus,
the Spokeswoman said that he will meet with the Secretary-General this
afternoon.
NEPAL TRIP STILL
BEING PLANNED: Asked about reports that the
Secretary-General will travel to Nepal, the Spokeswoman said that a trip is
being planned, but she added that she could not yet confirm any dates.
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