HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, June 25, 2009
BAN KI-MOON
HEADS TO ITALY FOR MIDDLE EAST QUARTET MEETING
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be leaving New York
later this afternoon. He expects to arrive in Trieste, Italy, tomorrow
morning, where he will attend a meeting of the Middle East Quartet.
Following the Quartet meeting, he will read out a communiqué at a press
conference, as per usual practice.
Also in Trieste on Friday, the Secretary-General will
meet with members of the League of Arab States’ follow-up committee on the
Arab Peace Initiative. He will also attend a meeting of the G-8 Foreign
Ministers on Afghanistan. That gathering will look at the situation in
Afghanistan from a regional perspective. It will touch on themes such as
cooperation in border management and countering illicit drug trafficking.
The Secretary-General will return to New York this
weekend.
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO BE BRIEFED BY SPECIAL ADVISER ON MYANMAR
Asked whether the
Secretary-General would travel to Myanmar following a visit to that country
by his Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, the Spokeswoman noted that the
Secretary-General would be briefed by Gambari in New York, before the
Secretary-General leaves for Japan next week.
The Secretary-General has
not yet announced when he would go to Myanmar.
U.N. FACT-FINDING MISSION TO HOLD PUBLIC
HEARINGS IN GAZA AND GENEVA
The UN fact-finding mission on the recent Gaza
conflict, mandated by the Human Rights Council and led by Justice Richard
Goldstone, will hold public
hearings this Sunday and Monday in Gaza City.
The hearings are a part of the mission’s
information-gathering work. Victims from all sides in the conflict, as well
as witnesses and experts, will be able to speak directly to the
international community.
The interviews will take place at the Gaza Headquarters
of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA). Further hearings will be held on July 6th and 7th in Geneva.
Asked how Israelis would be
able to testify to the Goldstone commission, the Spokeswoman said it was
expected that some would be able to give testimonies in Geneva on 6-7 July.
SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON LIBERIA
The
Security Council held consultations today on Liberia, including the work
of the sanctions committee for that country.
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations
Alain Le Roy briefed Council members on his recent visit to West Africa,
including stops in Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire.
IRAQ: U.N. ENVOY CONDEMNS BOMBING IN
SADR CITY
Staffan de Mistura, the
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Iraq, expressed the United Nations’ outrage and condemnation of the
horrifying bombing yesterday in Sadr City, part of a recent string of
bombings and shootings throughout Iraq.
“We have long been aware that
certain groups whose aim is to kill innocent civilians would try to take
advantage of an impending change in security arrangements in Iraq,” de
Mistura said. He appealed to all the country’s communities not to fall into
the killers' trap and to avoid responding to this provocation with sectarian
hatred and violence.
SECRETARY-GENERAL
CONCERNED ABOUT VIOLENCE AGAINST CIVILIANS IN IRAN
Asked about criticism from the Iranian Government
concerning the Secretary-General’s recent
statement on Iran, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General had
no specific reaction to the comments from Iran. He stands by the statement
he issued on Monday.
She noted, in response to the claim that the
Secretary-General’s statement had constituted “interference” in Iranian
affairs, that the Secretary-General had not referred to the Iranian
elections but, rather, to the post-election violence. He had made clear his
concerns about violence against civilians, freedom of expression and freedom
of assembly, as he has done with other countries.
As for the elections, Montas said, the
Secretary-General believes that is a matter for the people of Iran to
determine.
She added, in response to a further question, that the
Secretary-General had spoken by phone this week with Iranian activist and
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi.
U.N.
PUSHING FOR ACCESS TO ALL DISPLACED PEOPLE IN NORTHWESTERN PAKISTAN
UN agencies in
Pakistan are pushing to get access to all the displaced people in the
northwest who need assistance. “Humanitarian agencies are working hard to
assist all of those who are in need, but we have a long way to go”, said the
UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Martin Mogwanja. He warned that the most
vulnerable - including women, children, the disabled and elderly – are often
the hardest to reach of all, and we have to redouble our efforts where these
groups are concerned.
Agencies are trying
to improve access to goods, services and information for the disabled, the
injured, the sick, women and the elderly without family support and minority
groups.
The funding situation remains critical, with only 36
percent of the $533 million Humanitarian
Response Plan funded.
SPECIAL
TRIBUNAL FOR LEBANON SETS UP SECURE WEBPAGE FOR PUBLIC
The Office of the Prosecutor
(OTP) of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced today that it has
created and activated a secure
webpage that is now available for public use. The webpage is available
in the three official languages of the Tribunal: Arabic, English and French.
This webpage was designed
specifically for individuals who have valuable information for the
investigation but have no secure and confidential means to contact the
Investigation Division of the Office of the Prosecutor.
A.U.
PANEL CONCLUDES THIRD MISSION TO DARFUR
The African Union Panel on
Darfur has concluded its third mission to Darfur,
says the UN/AU Mission there (UNAMID).
The Mission says that the
Panel chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki conducted 10
days of public hearings on the conflict in order to determine ways to speed
up the peace process and create conditions for justice and reconciliation.
The Mission says the Panel
met with representatives of political parties, civil society, rebel
movements, ethnic communities and groups of internally displaced persons in
both Khartoum and half a dozen towns across Darfur.
Meanwhile, the UN/African
Union chief mediator for Darfur Djibril Bassole was in El Fasher for
consultations with Henry Anyidoho, the Deputy Joint Special
Representative of the UN/AU Mission in Darfur, other senior officials.
Bassole briefed the Mission leadership on the Darfur peace process and the
outcome of the Doha talks between the Government of Sudan and Justice and
Equality Movement (JEM). Bassole also met with local officials, both native
Darfuri and Arab, to hear their views and consider options going forward.
According to the Mission, the
security situation is calm today across Darfur.
ANOTHER
26,000 PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED IN LAST DAYS IN SOMALIA
Another 26,000 people have
been displaced from the Somali capital Mogadishu in the past five days,
according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
The latest wave of displacement was caused by mounting insecurity amid
fierce fighting between government forces and Islamist insurgents. UNHCR
says that there are now 160,000 civilians displaced by the fighting since
early May.
UNHCR also says that the
worsening security situation is making it more difficult for aid agencies to
reach and help those in need of urgent assistance.
ZIMBABWE:
FOOD INSECURITY PERSIST DESPITE IMPROVED PRODUCTION
High food insecurity persists
in Zimbabwe despite an improved agricultural production and a more liberal
import policy this year. That’s according to a
report issued today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO)
and the World Food Programme (WFP).
According to the report, this
year’s improved harvest comes after two consecutive years of poor production
and many rural households are still struggling to survive. The report
estimates that about 2.8 million people will face food shortages in the
coming months and will require some 228,000 tonnes of food assistance.
U.N.
AGENCIES CALL FOR TRANSITION TO GREEN ECONOMY
Twenty UN agencies are
calling for a worldwide transition to a low carbon, resource efficient
green economy that could deliver economic, social and environmental
opportunities.
The agencies issued a
statement at the General Assembly’s Conference on the World Financial and
Economic Crisis and it Impact on Development. It notes that the current
financial and economic crisis requires a collective response from the global
community which would lay a solid foundation for shared growth and
sustainable development.
Presenting the statement,
the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
said it reflected the determination of the agencies to be agents of change
towards a sustainable 21st century. He added that the statement was also a
strong signal from the international system, backing the Secretary General
in his repeated calls to seal the deal in Copenhagen.
UNESCO’S
WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE REMOVES BAKU FROM DANGER LIST
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee
reports that it has removed the Walled City of Baku in Azerbaijan from
its List of World Heritage in Danger. The site had sustained damages during
an earthquake in 2000 and
UNESCO has welcomed the Azerbaijani authorities’ success in preserving
it.
Meanwhile, UNESCO decided today to remove Germany’s
Dresden Elbe Valley from the World Heritage List due to the building of a
four-lane bridge in the middle of the landscape, which means that the
property has failed to keep its “outstanding universal value as inscribed”.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
GLOBAL FINANCIAL
CRISIS WILL AGGRAVATE HUNGER FOR MOST VULNERABLE:
The UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN),
a forum for nutrition-related issues, warns that the global financial crisis
will aggravate hunger and malnutrition among the most vulnerable. In the margins
of the G8 Summit being held this week, they are encouraging governments to
invest in programmes that increase the productivity of smallholders, strengthen
the livelihoods of the poorest households, and supply local markets with
affordable and safe foods for a healthy diet.
CLAIMS OF HARD
DRIVE REMOVAL FROM COMPUTER OF FORMER HEAD OF PROCUREMENT TASK FORCE ARE UNDER
INVESTIGATION: Asked about a claim that
the hard drive from a computer used by Robert Appleton, the former head of the
Procurement Task Force was removed, the Spokeswoman acknowledged that an outside
group was investigating the claim with no results available yet. She added, in
response to a further question, that Appleton was one of the candidates for the
post of Head of the investigation unit at the Office of Internal Oversight
Services (OIOS).
HEAD OF UNCTAD TO BE CONFIRMED BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
Asked about the Secretary-General’s choice of a head of the UN Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Spokeswoman noted that the Secretary-General
chooses the head of that body, who then must be confirmed by the General
Assembly.
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