.HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON
BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, March 26, 2009
SECRETARY-GENERAL NOMINATES HELEN CLARK OF NEW ZEALAND AS NEW U.N.D.P.
ADMINISTRATOR
Following consultations with the
UNDP Executive Board, the Secretary-General has written to the President
of the General Assembly requesting the General Assembly to confirm
Helen Clark of New Zealand as the new Administrator of the UN
Development Programme (UNDP)
for a term of four years. Clark replaces Kemal Dervis of Turkey.
The Secretary-General is deeply grateful to Dervis for
the services he has rendered to the Organization and for so ably leading
UNDP at a critical juncture. The Secretary-General is particular
appreciative of the great leadership displayed by Dervis in the
implementation of his mandate.
Clark’s nomination came at the end of an extensive
selection process which included the establishment of a senior appointments
panel chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General which consisted of senior UN
officials, as well as two outside experts in financial and developmental
economics. After an interview process, a short list of candidates was then
recommended to the Secretary-General for his consideration.
Clark was selected, amongst a group of excellent
candidates, for her outstanding qualifications and numerous accomplishments
in her long career. She is expected to bring to the position her well honed
consensus building skills and commitment to a multilateral approach to
addressing global financial and development issues.
Clark has been a member of the New Zealand Parliament
since 1981, and was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2008.
Asked about further action by the General Assembly, the Spokeswoman said it
would be up to Assembly to confirm Clark’s appointment.
Asked about the impact of Clark’s nationality on her appointment, Montas
said that she was chosen for the job because she is exceptionally qualified.
BAN KI-MOON
URGES G-20 LEADERS TO HELP POORER NATIONS WEATHER WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS
The Secretary-General has written to the participants
of the G-20 meeting in London emphasizing his strong concern that unless
urgent and decisive action is taken to buffer the blows of the global
downturn on the most vulnerable, the economic crisis may soon be compounded
by an equally severe crisis of global instability.
He writes: “A prolonged and severe recession, if not
addressed boldly with urgent attention given to the needs of the vulnerable,
could affect countries and regions with profound consequences for the
security and stability of us all.” Noting that financial flows to developing
countries have fallen precipitously, he stressed the need for a global
stimulus package that meets the needs of developing countries.
A quarter of the resources urgently needed would be for
the protection of the most vulnerable people and countries. In his letter,
the Secretary-General urges the G-20 leaders to meet the funding needs of
the programmes of the United Nations and World Bank to enable them to
respond effectively to the crisis – including through the proposed
Vulnerability Fund – as well as the funding needs of established vehicles
such as the
Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. In particular, he urges them
to help address the root causes of the food security crisis by establishing
a new mechanism to support smallholder farmers in developing countries.
Reminding them of their pledges last November to
refrain from raising new barriers to investment and trade, the
Secretary-General appealed to G-20 leaders to avoid erecting new barriers
that could slow economic recovery, and trigger grave social consequences.
He also urged them to consider the plight of migrants as they respond to the
crisis.
A genuine solution of the crisis, the Secretary-General
said, requires a new international financial and economic architecture that
reflects the changing realities in the world and gives greater voice to
emerging and developing economies.
These issues were
discussed during the Secretary-General’s meeting yesterday with Prime
Minister Gordon Brown as the Secretary-General himself told you at the
stakeout. Asked about the financial architecture
proposed in the Secretary-General’s letter, the Spokeswoman noted that the
proposal is to be discussed by the G-20 countries.
Asked about financing measures, Montas said that, regarding official
development assistance (ODA), the current level of aid is roughly $100
billion per year. The Secretary-General’s proposal is to increase it to
$125 billion for each of 2009 and 2010.
This is more than doable if countries fully implement the pledges they made
in Gleneagles to increase aid, Montas said. The proposal, she added, also
includes long-term lending.
U.N.-A.U.
DARFUR PEACE ENVOY BRIEFS SECURITY COUNCIL
The
Security Council this morning held closed consultations on
Sudan. Djibril Bassolé, the Joint African Union-UN Chief Mediator for
Darfur, briefed Council members on the Darfur political process. This was
his first briefing to the Council since he took up his post last August.
The Council also heard from Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, who briefed the members on his recent
visit to Darfur and the work of the UN-Sudanese Government assessment
mission to the three Darfur states.
Asked whether the Security
Council would discuss Sri Lanka, the Spokeswoman said that, this afternoon,
the members of the Security Council have scheduled an inter-active
discussion, outside of Council chambers, on Sri Lanka.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes will provide a
briefing on the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka. The session is closed.
DARFUR
PEACEKEEPERS AIRLIFT EXAM MATERIALS TO REMOTE SCHOOLS
The UN-African Union Hybrid
Operation in Darfur (UNAMID)
today assisted in airlifting exam materials to remote secondary schools
located across North Darfur. Three helicopter flights distributed exam
papers to nine locations around the state.
This is the second such
airlift that UNAMID has conducted for the 2009 certificate examinations,
which are being held across Sudan and are scheduled to start on 30 March.
UNAMID reports that the
security situation in Darfur is relatively calm, with few incidents of
banditry activities.
Meanwhile, the ongoing
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process in Sudan marked
another milestone on Tuesday, when the reintegration component of the
programme started in Ed Damazin, in Blue Nile State.
SECRETARY-GENERAL ARRIVES IN MOSCOW FOR SPECIAL CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN
The Secretary-General has arrived in Moscow, where on
Friday he will speak at the Special Conference on
Afghanistan that is being convened under the aegis of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization.
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This evening, the Secretary-General will have a working
dinner with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
REPORT:
ARBITRARY DETENTION IS PERVASIVE IN AFGHANISTAN
The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights today released a
report saying that many Afghans are often detained without lawful reason,
with detainees in many instances not enjoying their basic rights enshrined
in the country’s constitution.
The report says that detainees frequently do not have
access to a lawyer, are unable to challenge the legality of their detention
before an impartial judge and do not enjoy the presumption of innocence
before being tried in a lawful court.
In a briefing today in Kabil, Norah Niland, UNAMA’s top
human rights official, said the United Nations looks forward to working with
the Afghan authorities to develop practical activities aimed at ending
arbitrary detention in Afghanistan.
NUCLEAR WATCHDOG'S BOARD GATHERS TO PICK NEW LEADER
The Board of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA)
is meeting today in closed session in Vienna to decide on the appointment of
the next Director General.
Japan has nominated Ambassador Yukiya
Amano for the post, and South Africa has nominated Ambassador Abdul Samad
Minty. In order to be appointed, a candidate must secure a two-thirds vote
of the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors by secret balloting.
IAEA Director General Mohamed
ElBaradei’s term of office expires on 30 November 2009. He has served as
Director General since 1997 and has said that he is not available for a
fourth term of office.
ASIA-PACIFIC
REGION AT GREATER RISK IN COMBINED FUEL, FOOD AND CLIMATE CIRISES
The Asia-Pacific region is at the epicenter of what is
now being referred to as a “triple threat”: the convergence of the food and
fuel crises, climate change and the current economic crisis. That’s
according to the 2009 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the
Pacific, launched today by the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of ESCAP, said that
the severity of the triple crises required a more responsive,
action-oriented agenda. She added that the Survey’s findings and
recommendations will serve as a guide to policymakers during these uncertain
times.
UNITED STATES
RESUMES FUNDING OF U.N. POPULATION FUND
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is
welcoming the announcement by the US State Department to officially
resume funding to the Fund – around 50 million dollars for 2009.
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director, said
this marked a new era for women, girls and their families around the world.
She also noted that the United States will, once again, take a leading role
in championing women’s reproductive health and rights.
Obaid said that the resumption of US funding would
allow UNFPA to maintain its ongoing global initiatives, such as training
midwives, expanding access to family planning, delivering reproductive
health supplies to clinics in remote areas and ending violence against
women.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
U.N. MONITORING REPORTS OF ALLEGED ISRAELI AIR ATTACK IN SUDAN:
Asked about reports that Israel had attacked a convoy in Sudan, the Spokeswoman
said that the United Nations is aware of the news reports and has no further
information on the matter. We are following developments, she said.
U.N. CONSIDERING OPTIONS IN MADAGASCAR CRISIS:
In response to a question, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations
continues to explore its options regarding the situation in Madagascar.
*
The guest at the briefing was Marc Scheuer, Director of the Secretariat of the
UN Alliance of Civilizations, who discussed the upcoming Second Forum of the
Alliance.
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