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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON
FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
SECRETARY-GENERAL BRIEFS COUNCIL ON GOALS FOR MIDDLE EAST TRIP
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed the
Security Council in closed consultations this morning on his visit to
the
Middle East, which will take him over the coming week to Egypt, Israel,
the occupied Palestinian territory, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and
Kuwait. Council members expressed strong support for his trip, he said
afterward.
At each stop, he told the Council, he will repeat his
call for an immediate and durable ceasefire and insist that Security Council
resolution 1860 be respected. He will also demand that urgent humanitarian
assistance be provided, without restriction, to those in need, and he will
encourage the diplomatic efforts underway among concerned parties.
As he said in his
press conference on Monday afternoon, his goal is to step up the pace of
joint diplomatic efforts regarding Gaza and southern Israel. The
Secretary-General sent a simple and direct message to all sides: the
fighting must stop.
He said he expects the parties now meeting in Cairo to
do what is required. They must agree to the elements of an immediate
ceasefire.
At a minimum, he said, that means a halt to rocket
attacks by Hamas militants and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The
international community must come together to stop the smuggling of weapons
into Gaza, he added, but by the same token, border crossings into Gaza must
be re-opened in full.
Asked whether the Secretary-General would meet
with Iranian officials during the current trip, the Spokeswoman said no
meeting was planned at this time.
Asked whether the Secretary-General’s call for an
“immediate” ceasefire was practical, Montas stressed that he would continue
to work for an immediate ceasefire, and that he had stressed that
negotiations could take place afterward, but for now, too many people are
being killed.
She noted that his call for an immediate
ceasefire and the resolution adopted by the Security Council could prod the
international community to push for one.
U.N.
HUMANITARIAN OFFICE SAYS OPEN SEWAGE FLOWS IN NORTHERN GAZA STREETS
The Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle
East Peace Process (UNSCO)
reports that a total of 94 truckloads, including
46 for aid agencies, were allowed entry into Gaza from Israel today through
the Kerem Shalom crossing. Included in those truckloads were 35 for
the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),
which contained, among other things, flour, whole
milk, cooking oil and food. An additional five trucks went to the World Food
Programme (WFP),
containing flour, cooking oil and high-energy biscuits.
In addition, the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt
was open today for aid supplies and medical evacuations; but the Nahal Oz
fuel pipeline and Karni crossing, both between Israel and Gaza, remained
closed.
According to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
as of this morning, 60 percent of Gazans were not receiving any power. OCHA
adds that Gaza’s electricity provider’s warehouse in Gaza City has been hit,
which has led to the destruction of desperately needed spare parts.
OCHA also says that many water wells and sewage pumps
are still not functioning due to the lack of electricity, diminished fuel
supplies for back-up generators, and the lack of spare parts.
Half a million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip still do
not have access to running water. That includes 60% of the people in Gaza
City. In addition, 80 percent of drinking water in Gaza is not safe for
human consumption, according to World Health Organization (WHO)
guidelines. In Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, which are both in northern Gaza,
sewage is flowing in the streets.
In other developments, WHO reports that the emergency
room of the Dorah Pediatric Hospital in Gaza was directly hit on Monday.
Staff are continuing to work despite the damage caused to the
infrastructure. OCHA says that the number of people who have fled their
homes in Gaza remains unknown, but is estimated to be in the tens of
thousands.
Meanwhile, in Geneva today, the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is currently in session,
expressed deep concern at the devastating effects that the current military
engagement is having on children in Gaza.
U.N. ENVOY
URGES SOMALIS TO PUT AN END TO VIOLENCE
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has
called on Somalis to seize the opportunity of the withdrawal of
Ethiopian troops from Mogadishu to ensure peace and stability in their
country. He urged them “to stop the senseless killings and violence.”
He also urged them to press ahead with the election of
a new President, and he appealed to Somali lawmakers to increase their
numbers and create a government of national unity.
Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the situation in and around the
northeastern town of Guri Elle is tense following heavy fighting in
December. The fighting claimed 40 civilian lives and displaced some 50,000
people.
Conditions for the displaced are made worse by the fact
that humanitarian agencies can hardly access the region because of the
widespread insecurity. But despite the challenges, the World Food Programme
(WFP) intends to deliver food aid to some 1.5 million Somalis every month.
Last year, the agency shipped some 260,000 tonnes of food to Somalia, almost
four times the amount in 2007.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
reports that more than 65,000 Somalis have sought refugee status in Kenya in
2008 alone. UNHCR estimates the total number of Somalis in refugee camps in
northeastern Kenya to be about 230,000. Last month, the United Nations and
its partners launched a $913 million appeal to help some 3.25 million
Somalis.
D.R. CONGO:
U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY CONCERNED OVER LORD’S RESISTANCE ARMY ATTACKS
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
says it is increasingly concerned about continued attacks by the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Oriental
Province, which borders Uganda and South Sudan.
UNHCR’s team in Dungu reports that the LRA has killed
an estimated 537 people, and kidnapped 408 others, since violence broke out
there last September.
According to rough estimates, more than 100,000 people
have been forcibly displaced. Many are still hiding in the bush,
particularly in areas around the town of Faradje. UNHCR is working with
local authorities and other agencies to find ways to deliver aid in these
insecure and inaccessible areas.
Also, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy on the Great Lakes region, will brief the Security Council on
the DRC talks this coming Thursday.
Asked about the contacts between the Special
Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)-affected
areas, Joaquim Chissano, and the LRA, the Spokeswoman said that Chissano is
in contact with the LRA and with regional actors. However, she noted, the
group has on three occasions refused to show up at a meeting point to sign
an agreement through international mediation.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ZIMBABWE CHOLERA OUTBREAK HAS CLAIMED MORE THAN 2,000
LIVES: In today’s update on the cholera situation in Zimbabwe, the World
Health Organization (WHO)
reports that the death toll there has now topped two thousand. More than
100 deaths – and nearly 1,500 new cases – were added just today. In all, there
have been close to 40,000 cholera cases reported in Zimbabwe so far. Virtually
no part of the country has been spared in the epidemic, WHO says. It has
affected all ten of Zimbabwe’s provinces, and nearly 90 per cent of the
country’s 62 local districts.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME SET TO RESUME CONVOYS ACROSS LIBYA
TO CHAD: The World Food Programme (WFP)
is about to begin delivery of food aid to some 250,000 Sudanese refugees in
Chad. WFP convoys are now traveling some 2,800 kilometres through the Sahara
desert from Libya in a bid to reach the refugees before the onset of seasonal
rains. WFP notes that Libya has been helping it with its aid convoys traveling
across the Sahara since 2004.
U.N. PREPARING POSSIBLE RESPONSE TO FLOODING IN FIJI:
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
says that heavy rains in Fiji have caused severe flooding in the North, Central
and Western Divisions of the islands since 8 January. The Fiji Interim
Government has yet to request international assistance at this time, but another
tropical depression is expected to bring more rainfall this week, which may
extend and compound the current situation. OCHA is discussing the UN’s response
in case international assistance is requested.
AT LEAST 34 U.N. STAFFERS KILLED IN ATTACKS IN 2008:
The U.N. Staff Union
reports that at least 34 U.N. personnel lost their lives as a result of
malicious acts in 2008. That’s down slightly from at least 42 U.N. staffers
killed in 2007. Those killed include at least seven World Food Programme truck
drivers in Sudan and Somalia, and ten peacekeepers in Darfur. In addition, a
suicide car bombing against a U.N. compound in northern Somalia claimed two
lives. Staff Union President Stephen Kisambira said that “the Staff Union once
again appeals to Member States to guarantee the minimal security conditions
necessary for the U.N. to carry out its life-saving work.”
NIGER, CANADA AND U.N.
WORKING TO FIND ENVOY MISSING IN NIGER: Asked
about an update in the case of missing Special Envoy for Niger Robert Fowler,
the Spokeswoman reiterated that the United Nations, the Government of Canada and
the Government of Niger are working in close partnership with each other and
regional actors to resolve this case, but she added that she had no information
to disclose at this time. She declined to comment to remarks attributed today to
Nigerien President Mamadou Tandja.
**The guest at noon was John Ging, Director of
Operations in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees
in the Near East (UNRWA),
via video conference link from Gaza.
Office of the
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