.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, February 19, 2009
BAN KI-MOON
LAUDS TIMOR-LESTE PROGRESS, PLEDGES FULL SUPPORT
Speaking in an open meeting of the Security Council,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today lauded the
remarkable progress made over the past year in Timor-Leste.
“We begin 2009 with a clear horizon,” he told the
Council, in which the country can finally devote its undivided attention to
the essential task of building the strong and durable foundations that are
crucial for long-term stability and prosperity.
The Secretary-General pledged the full support of the
United Nations system in helping the Timorese people realize their hopes for
security, stability and well-being.
TOP
HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL BEGINS SRI LANKA VISIT
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and
Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes arrived in Colombo this morning at
the start of a three day visit to Sri Lanka.
Holmes met with various senior officials, including the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Disaster Management and Human
Rights, the Secretary of Defense and the Minister of Resettlement. He also
met with the United Nations
Country Team in Sri Lanka.
Holmes held constructive meetings with the Government
officials, in which he stressed the need for civilians caught in the
conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka to be protected from harm, underscoring
his concern about reportedly heavy civilian casualties.
He also stressed that civilians must be allowed to
leave the affected area.
In this regard, Holmes reiterated his call on the need
for all parties to respect international humanitarian law.
In a joint press conference with the Minister of
Foreign Affairs following his meetings, Holmes called upon the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to allow civilians to leave the conflict area,
and to cease the forcible recruitment of civilians, including minors.
He further reiterated the need for all parties to do
everything possible to prevent civilian casualties.
Tomorrow, Holmes is scheduled to visit the vicinity of
Vavuniya, where he will meet people displaced from the conflict zone.
KOSOVO: HEAD OF U.N. MISSION BRIEFS
SERBIAN LEADERS ON TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY TO EUROPEAN UNION
Today in Belgrade, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Kosovo, Lamberto Zannier, met with Serbian leaders and
officials, including President Boris Tadic and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.
They exchanged views on issues of concern and the way forward.
Zannier briefed the officials on the deployment of the
European Union’s mission in Kosovo, known as EULEX, as well as on the
reconfiguration of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
He said he expected the European Union to play an increasingly important
role in helping to resolve practical issues.
Earlier this month, Zannier held similar consultations
with the authorities in Pristina.
GAZA: U.N, RELIEF AGENCY CHIEF MEETS
WITH VISITING U.S. CONGRESSMEN
On Gaza, the office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator
for the Occupied Palestinian Territory reports that the Nahal Oz fuel
pipelines and the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza are open
today, and the Erez crossing is open for international staff. But the Karni
and Sufa crossings remain closed, as does the Rafah crossing between Gaza
and Egypt.
Karen AbuZayd, the Commissioner-General of the UN
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
met today in Gaza with John Kerry, the Chairman of the United States Senate
Foreign Relations Committee. Two U.S. Congressmen, Brian Baird and Keith
Ellison, also visited Gaza today.
The U.S. representatives visited UNRWA’s Headquarters
and toured areas of Gaza damaged by the fighting. They also were briefed on
UNRWA’s work, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the difficulties
caused by the lack of full access through the crossings.
Asked about Palestinian
prisoners held by Israel, the Spokeswoman noted that the issue of prisoners
is being discussed as part of a possible agreement.
UNITED NATIONS, PAKISTAN AGREE ON $385
MILLION PLAN TO IMPROVE HEALTH SERVICES
In Islamabad today, the United Nations and Pakistan’s
Ministry of Health and Population Welfare signed a joint initiative to
address the needs for improving health and population issues in the country.
Fourteen UN agencies operating in Pakistan have
combined their strength to plan, develop and implement the Joint Programme
on Health & Population, with an overall objective to improve the health
policy, planning and regulation leading to a more equitable, responsive and
fair financing of a decentralized health system.
The programme has an estimated budget of around $384.7
million.
The vision of the Health and Population Joint Program
is based on the ‘Health for All’ approach, through five well-targeted
components which will be treated in a holistic manner to ensure linkages and
common concerns are well articulated.
“One Programme” builds upon, and stems from the
reviewed and extended U.N. Development Framework and identifies key areas of
support, expected outcomes and outputs that all UN entities jointly aim for.
MISSION IN CHAD
DID NOT DENY SECURITY TO GEORGE CLOONEY, DOES NOT HAVE OWN ARMED POLICE
In response to questions, the Spokeswoman said
she was still trying to ascertain the facts concerning a report that alleged
that the United Nations had withdrawn a security escort from actor George
Clooney while he was visiting Chad.
She also said that Mr. Clooney traveled to Chad
in his own capacity, not in his role as a UN Messenger of Peace.
The UN Mission in Chad and the Central African
Republic (MINURCAT)
itself does not have armed military police, Montas said; rather, it relies
on Chadian police and EUFOR (the European Force in Chad) for armed escorts.
EUFOR has been advised of the presence of Mr.
Clooney and indicated that it would be prepared to provide Mr. Clooney with
emergency support, if required, within the area of its operations, she
added.
On the logistics side, the Spokeswoman said that
the World Food Programme (WFP) was contacted in January by the "Not on Our
Watch" Foundation, which has acted as a donor to WFP's flight service in
Sudan. They requested WFP to assist with their planned trip to eastern Chad.
The Foundation brought George Clooney and journalists with them.
WFP has provided flights to eastern Chad and at
times, other logistical assistance needed to visit WFP project sites, Montas
noted. The Not on Our Watch team is also in contact with other NGOs and has
travel plans with them.
MISSION IN SUDAN HAS NO SPECIFIC
KNOWLEDGE OF UGANDAN REBELS’ WHEREABOUTS
Asked whether
the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)
is aware of the whereabouts of two Lord’s Resistance Army leaders who are
under International Criminal Court indictment, the Spokeswoman said that
UNMIS says that, contrary to media reports, UNMIS is not and has not been
“preparing to help the return to Uganda of Okot Odhiambo and Dominic
Ongwen.”
UNMIS, she
said, has no specific information about their whereabouts, beyond a general
understanding that the two individuals are not inside the territory of the
Sudan. UNMIS has not facilitated, and will not facilitate, the return of the
two men to Uganda, she added.
DR CONGO: TRAINING TO START FOR MILITARY
LAW OFFICIALS
Continuing the implementation of a key part of its
mandate, the Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
will on Saturday begin a military justice course for some 580 Congolese
military staff.
Participants will include military field commanders and
lawyers, registrars and prosecution staff, as well as police inspectors and
court clerks.
The workshop will be held at various locations
throughout the DRC through June. Its curriculum includes a review of the
DRC’s legal texts and international humanitarian law, sexual abuse; military
court management and the ethics and code of conduct for judiciary officials.
The goal of this initiative is to improve or reinforce
the skills those with oversight of the implementation of Congolese military
law.
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT FUND ELECTS NEW
PRESIDENT
Addressing the International Fund for Agricultural
Development’s annual Governing Council meeting in Rome,
IFAD’s outgoing President, Lennart Bage, called on world leaders to do
more to address the fact that long-term food supply is not keeping up with
rising demand.
With access to the right seeds, fertilizer and
irrigation and financing, most of the world’s 500 million smallholder farms
could double or triple their yields. In Africa and Asia, such farms
cultivate 80 per cent of the total farmland.
In other news, IFAD’s Governing Council has chosen
Kanayo F. Nwanze of Nigeria as the agency’s next President. Mr. Nwanze has
30 years of experience in agriculture, rural development and research and is
currently the agency’s vice-president. Mr. Nwanze takes up his post on
April 1st.
CLIMATE CHANGE: UN-BACKED EVENTS
UNDERWAY AROUND THE WORLD
A three-day
conference on maritime transport, hosted by the U.N. Conference on Trade
and Development, has wrapped up in Geneva with a call for the industry to do
more to limit its carbon dioxide emissions. Maritime transport accounts for
as much as four percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions; that
number could triple by 2050. Experts are urging changes in vessel designs,
engines, propulsion systems, and energy use.
At a meeting in Beijing, organized in part by the
World Meteorological Organization, international experts focused on ways
to cope with the increasing frequency and severity of droughts and extreme
temperatures around the world. Several experts cited as an example the
recent heat wave, drought and wildfires in Australia.
And the City of Copenhagen today became the 100th
participant in the Climate Neutral Network. The Network, led by the
U.N. Environment Programme, was launched one year ago to promote global
action towards low-carbon economies and societies.
MORE THAN 200 LANGUAGES HAVE BECOME
EXTINCT
According to a new atlas by the UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), more than
200 languages have recently become extinct.
Among them are Manx from the Isle of Man, Aasax from
Tanzania, and Eyak from Alaska. The atlas establishes that India, the United
States, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico, countries that have great linguistic
diversity, are also those which have the greatest number of endangered
languages.
But the situation is not all bad. For example, Papua
New Guinea has the greatest linguistic diversity on the planet, with more
than 800 languages, but relatively few of those languages are endangered.
In connection with the new atlas, UNESCO
Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today said the death of a language leads
to the disappearance of many forms of invaluable cultural heritage.
Office of the
Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
Back to the Spokesperson's Page
