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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday,
December 2, 2008
MUMBAI ATTACKS:
ALL SHOULD COOPERATE IN BRINGING PERPETRATORS TO JUSTICE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
spoke this morning with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India over the
telephone. He once again expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of
the victims and the wounded in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last week.
They agreed that it was critical to bring the perpetrators to justice, and
that all should fully cooperate in this effort.
While commending the courage and resilience shown by
the Government and people of India, the Secretary-General reaffirmed his
condemnation of terrorism and his determination to provide a lead role for
the United Nations in dealing with this global menace.
In response to a question,
the Spokeswoman confirmed that the Secretary-General had received a letter
from the Government of Pakistan concerning the Mumbai attacks.
MINORITIES CONTINUE TO BE VICTIMIZED IN
IRAQ
The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI)
today issued today its 13th
report on human rights in the country, which noted substantial
improvements in general security conditions, but added that targeted
killings and criminal abductions for ransom continued during the first six
months of 2008.
During the reporting period, minorities continued to be
the victims of targeted violence, threats, assassinations and the
destruction of property and cultural sites.
The report also highlights serious concerns about the
situation of detainees across the country, including in the Iraqi Kurdistan
Region. Many detainees have been deprived of their liberty for month or even
years, often under harsh physical conditions, without access to defense
counsel, or without being formally charged with a crime or produced before a
judge.
PROBE INTO KILLING OF EX-LEBANESE PRIME
MINISTER HARIRI HAS NEW INFORMATION
The Secretary-General today transmitted to the members
of the Security Council the 11th report of the International Independent
Investigation Commission that has been looking into the 2005 assassination
of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The Secretary-General informed the Council that the
Commission has reported acquiring new information that may allow it to link
additional individuals to the network that carried out Hariri’s
assassination. The Commission, he noted, has requested that its mandate be
extended until 28 February 2009, to allow it to gradually transfer
operations until the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon starts functioning on 1 March 2009.
U.N. ENVOY
STRESSES URGENCY OF ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE ACCORD IN 2009
The Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle
East Peace Process (UNSCO)
reports that all crossings for goods going into Gaza remain closed today. No
fuel, humanitarian supplies or commercial commodities are being allowed in.
The Kerem Shalom crossing was last open on 27 November.
The Nahal Oz fuel pipelines and the Karni conveyer belt were last open on 26
November. The crossings at Sufa, meanwhile, have been closed since 13
September, UNSCO notes.
U.N. AGENCIES FIGHT CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN
ZIMBABWE
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that,
according to the latest figures on the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, there
are now nearly 12,000 cases, including 484 deaths.
The death rate at this point is 4 percent of all cases,
which WHO characterizes as high. For the epidemic to be considered under
control, the death rate had to be under 1 per cent.
WHO says it has been working with around 10 partners in
the health cluster in Zimbabwe, and it has presented an emergency plan to
control the cholera epidemic. The Ministry of Health of Zimbabwe has
accepted the emergency plan.
The areas most affected by the epidemic are Harare and
other urban areas.
UNICEF has announced a rigorous 120-day emergency
response to intensify relief efforts to Zimbabwe’s children. This is not
only in response to the cholera outbreak that 42 out of the 62 Zimbabwean
provinces were suffering from. It is also in response to a total collapse
of the education and health systems in the country.
SECURITY COUNCIL PERMITS STATES TO ENTER
SOMALI WATERS TO WARD OFF PIRACY
In its first consultations for December, the
Security Council approved its programme of work for the month.
After that, the Council adopted a resolution allowing
States and regional organizations to enter into Somalia’s territorial waters
to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, for a 12-month period.
The Security Council then heard from Francois Lonseny
Fall, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Central African
Republic, about the situation in that country.
Tomorrow morning, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of
the International Criminal Court, is expected to brief the Security Council
on his investigations in Darfur.
SITUATION STILL FRAGILE IN CENTRAL
AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The Secretary-General’s latest
report on the Central African Republic and the work of the UN
Peacebuilding Support Office there is available today.
In it, he says that the political, security and
economic situation remains fragile, a situation fueled by impunity for human
rights violations by both rebel and government troops.
He reaffirms the UN’s commitment to supporting the
country’s recovery process and he appeals to national stakeholders to work
together on the various peace agreements they have signed.
DARFUR:
PEACEKEEPERS INTERVENE IN CONFLICT BETWEEN MILITIA & DISPLACED PERSONS
The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in
Darfur (UNAMID)
reports that it had received information that two armed men reported to be
Janjaweed militia armed with a rifle were involved in a violent incident
yesterday at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in West Darfur.
UNAMID dispatched a team to the camp to verify the
information and found out that a quarrel had erupted between the two men and
the IDPs. During the incident, one IDP sustained a minor injury and one of
the militia members was severely beaten and later died.
UNAMID also reported that today, 10 armed men in a land
cruiser attacked a water pump in the vicinity of the same camp. They started
shooting at the pump. During today’s incident, another IDP sustained a minor
injury and was evacuated to a hospital, while one water pump and five
generators supplying the camp were set ablaze by the armed men.
A UNAMID team was immediately dispatched to the camp
and interposed themselves between the armed men and the IDPs, and it was
able to calm down the situation, which they continue to monitor.
UNICEF CONCERNED BY CHILD RECRUITMENT IN
D.R. CONGO
UNICEF reports that children continue to be enlisted by
armed groups in North Kivu, with at least 5 of them recently drafted into
armed groups in the town of Kitshanga. UNICEF also expressed concerns that
the majority of schools in Rutshuru territory remain closed to some 150,000
students despite promises by Laurent Nkunda’s rebels to reopen them. It
called for armed to create a safe environment for children to resume their
education.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), meanwhile, is continuing the voluntary
relocation of displaced civilians from the precarious Kibati camps to
safer sites just west of Goma. And further north of Goma, in Kanyabayonga,
aid agencies report that some 40,000 displaced persons have return to their
homes only to find them looted and destroyed.
CYPRUS TALKS MOVING AHEAD WELL
The Secretary-General’s latest
report on the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
is available today. In it, he says the formal negotiations towards a
comprehensive settlement in Cyprus are moving ahead well. Both parties are
engaging with each other in a constructive and open manner, he adds.
The Secretary-General also notes that the establishment
of economic, social and cultural ties will have a positive impact on the
ongoing efforts on Cyprus. Such contacts would nurture a sentiment of trust
between the communities and help ease the sense of isolation felt by the
Turkish Cypriots, he adds.
In the meantime, he says, and in the absence of a
comprehensive settlement, UNFICYP continues to play a vital role on the
island, both as a stabilizing factor on the ground and as a source of
critical support for his good offices mission. He therefore recommends that
the Security Council extend the mandate of UNFICYP by a further period of
six months, until 15 June 2009.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative in Cyprus, Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, spoke to the press in Nicosia
today, following today’s meeting of the Cypriot leaders in the UN Protected
Area.
He said the leaders had resumed their discussions on
governance, focusing this time on the federal public service. There were
several areas of convergence, he noted.
Zerihoun said the leaders will meet again on 16
December to take up the issue of external relations.
FINANCING FOR
DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE CONCLUDES IN DOHA
The follow-up
conference on Financing for Development wrapped up earlier today in
Doha, Qatar.
In their final
joint statement, the President of the General Assembly, Father Miguel
D’escoto Brockmann, and the President of the Conference, Sheikh Hamad bin
Khalifa Al-Thani Amir of the State of Qatar, called on U.N .Member States to
reaffirm their commitment to the Global Development Partnership as the
underlying principle of the Financing for Development Process.
While working to
improve the operation of the global financial system, the world must not
forget that it is the poorest that deserve the most concern and protection
against the impact of the crisis, they said, recalling the commitment of
developed countries to dedicate 0.7 per cent of their national income to
official assistance.
They called for
more resources for the International Monetary Fund, as well as a fundamental
review of the global institutions that govern international trade and
finance to make them more stable and equitable. They also pledged to pursue
the completion of the Doha round trade talks.
They also noted
the final outcome document’s call for the UN to hold a conference at the
highest level on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on
development. The Conference would be organized by the President of the
General Assembly, with the modalities defined by March 2009 at the latest.
Asked about the
Secretary-General’s concerns about the impact of the financial crisis on
climate change commitments, the Spokeswoman noted that, when he had traveled
to Doha, he had made clear his concerns about the effect that the crisis
could have on the pledges countries had made to support Financing for
Development. Similarly, she said, he was concerned about the potential
impact on commitments that have been made to fight climate change.
GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS COULD MAKE POOR
PEOPLE MORE VULNERABLE TO SLAVERY
The global economic crisis could make poor people more
vulnerable to slavery-like practices. That is according to the
Secretary-General’s
message for today, the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.
The Secretary-General adds that Governments, civil
society organizations, businesses and individuals must join forces to
protect victims, raise awareness and demand an end to all forms of slavery
and exploitation. We need new strategies to deal with this old curse, he
says.
Meanwhile, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi
Pillay
stresses that slavery is a crime against humanity. She notes that that
idea was first accepted internationally at the 2001 World Conference against
Racism in Durban. We have more on that upstairs.
BAN KI-MOON TO ENCOURAGE STATES TO SIGN
ON TO NEW CLUSTER BOMBS TREATY
An international treaty that prohibits the use,
production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions is opening for
signature, adding a new chapter to international humanitarian law, as well
as disarmament and non-proliferation.
In his message to the two-day signing conference of the
Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Secretary-General will encourage all
governments to sign and ratify the Convention without delay.
Adding that much work remains in mitigating the
dreadful humanitarian suffering caused by cluster weapons, the
Secretary-General will also reiterate the United Nations’ commitment to
continuing those efforts.
The Secretary-General will also highlight that this
Convention indicates a significant and fundamental change in the position of
many governments and that the signing conference also offers hope that
States can depart from other long-held positions in the light of new
evidence and new understandings of their own interests.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
LETTER ON HIRING IRREGULARITIES RECEIVED:
Asked about a letter that had accused the Office of Internal Oversight Services
(OIOS) of hiring irregularities, the Spokeswoman confirmed that a letter had
been received by the Secretary-General. The letter, she added, had also gone to
Under-Secretary-General for Management Angela Kane and to the head of OIOS,
Inga-Britt Ahlenius.
NEW CAMPAIGN TO HIGHLIGHT HUMANITARIAN IMPLICATIONS OF
CLIMATE CHANGE: The Food and Agriculture Organization today
warned that ocean warming, frequent tropical cyclones, flash floods and
droughts are likely to have a devastating impact on food production in Pacific
island nations. The report calls for bolstering food systems and more
systematic national development plans. The Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today
launched an awareness campaign about the humanitarian implications of
climate change. The campaign includes a website and is aimed at improving
disaster preparedness and response in countries that suffer most from extreme
weather events.
U.N. HELPS FLOOD SURVIVORS IN PANAMA: In response to
recent flooding in Panama, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs
reports that UNICEF is providing water and water purification tablets, while
the UN Population Fund has sent more than 20,000 family hygiene kits. OCHA will
also provide cash grants to purchase immediate relief items.
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