Secretary-General

Noon briefing of 14 October 2009

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FARHAN HAQ

ASSOCIATE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES “WORRYING DEVELOPMENTS” IN MIDDLE EAST

  • The Security Council is holding its periodic debate on the Middle East today. Briefing Council members this morning, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe said that, over the past month, there has been no significant progress and some worrying developments on the ground.

  • Pascoe referred to tensions in East Jerusalem surrounding the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount complex, in which rumors and an atmosphere of mistrust led to confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli police.

  • He said the status of the Old City and the religious sites within it are extremely sensitive issues that will only be fully resolved in final-status negotiations. Until then, he added, the repeated call of the Quartet on Israel to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem and on the Palestinian Authority to refrain from incitement remains more relevant than ever.

  • Pascoe said that, while the immediate crisis may have passed, the Secretariat remains concerned about the broader situation in East Jerusalem, and the potential for renewed tensions. In that context, he cited Israeli demolitions of Palestinian buildings and settlement expansion there.

  • Regarding the Gaza fact-finding mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone, Pascoe noted that the Secretary-General has from the outset supported the mission’s work. He added that the Secretary-General calls upon all of the parties to carry out credible domestic investigations into the conduct of the conflict without delay.

  • Turning to Gaza in general, Pascoe said the broader situation, especially regarding the closure policy, remains unsustainable and unacceptable. He reiterated the disappointment that the Secretary-General had expressed last month to the Israeli Prime Minister over Israel not approving the UN’s Gaza recovery proposals for schools, clinics and housing.

  • On Lebanon, Pascoe stressed that the early formation of a government supported by all is critical to enable the country to face important challenges in the political, economic, social and security spheres.

  • In conclusion, Pascoe said the pattern of events over the last month in the Middle East is a powerful reminder that, without a credible political horizon, forces of violence, tension and extremism on both sides will fill the vacuum. Now, more than ever, it is vital that politics is made credible, and that those who try to undermine politics by changing facts on the ground or resorting to violence are not allowed to set the agenda, he said.

  • Asked about the Secretary-General’s efforts to deal with the closures in Gaza, the Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General has been in regular contact with all interlocutors on issues including the situation in Gaza, most recently in phone conversations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. In his call with the Israeli Prime Minister, the Secretary-General, among other things, renewed his strong appeal for a United Nations' proposal for reconstruction activities in Gaza.

HONDURAS: BAN KI-MOON URGES PARTIES TO REMAIN FOCUSED ON ENDING CRISIS

  • The United Nations wishes to clarify that its position, regarding the legality of the removal of President Zelaya in Honduras has been clearly articulated by the General Assembly Resolution 63/301 adopted on 1 July 2009. This resolution “condemns the coup d’etat in the Republic of Honduras that has interrupted the democratic and constitutional order and the legitimate exercise of power in Honduras.”

  • A recent Honduran media report appears to refer to an analysis submitted by a consultant as representing the views of the Department of Political Affairs This is highly misleading. The Department of Political Affairs routinely receives reports and analyses of this type from consultants, academics and other experts. But its views are strictly in line with that outlined in the General Assembly Resolution.

  • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges the parties in Honduras to avoid distractions at this critical moment in the negotiations and remain focused on arriving at a consensual agreement to end the crisis in Honduras through dialogue.

  • He continues to strongly support OAS-led efforts to assist the parties in reaching a solution.

CYPRUS LEADERS HOLD TALKS ON EXECUTIVE POWER

  • Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met today under UN auspices in Nicosia. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Cyprus, Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, spoke to the press afterwards.

  • He noted that the leaders mainly discussed the issue of governance, focusing on the role of the executive, and related items.

  • The two leaders will meet again tomorrow – to continue their discussions and plant olive trees together as a symbolic gesture of peace.

  • Civil society representatives from the two communities will also be at the UN offices to express solidarity and support for the process.

  • Asked about the decision by the parties not to hold scheduled military exercises, the Spokesperson said that the United Nations welcomed all efforts by the parties to build confidence and hoped that those would continue.

BAN KI-MOON HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF SAFE HOSPITALS ON DISASTER REDUCTION DAY

  • Today is the International Day for Disaster Reduction. This year it focuses on the “Hospitals Safe from Disasters” Campaign.

  • In a message, the Secretary-General says that when disaster strikes, hospitals are the most critical infrastructure. With weather-related disasters on the increase, he adds, it is critical to ensure that health facilities are prepared for emergencies and able to provide life-saving care in their wake.

  • The Secretary-General calls on Governments and all decision-makers, including town planners, to review hospital safety. He says that hospitals must be designed, built and maintained so they can better protect health workers and patients alike when disaster hits.

  • Also marking this day, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) says that the tragedies that struck the Asia and Pacific region this month underscore the urgent action that must be taken to better protect hospitals from natural disasters.

CHIEF OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS VISITS EARTHQUAKE-AFFECTED AREAS IN INDONESIA

  • On a two-day mission to Indonesia, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, today visited the earthquake-affected area of the island of Sumatra.

  • The humanitarian chief also visited the city of Padang and the worst affected district of Padang Paramian.

  • He met the governor of West Sumatra, as well as the director of the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency and representatives of international humanitarian groups now on the ground.

  • In a helicopter tour of worst affected rural areas, Holmes saw valleys hit by dozens of landslides, and visited a community where more than 130 people had been killed, with many of the bodies unrecoverable.

  • Holmes pointed out that the one urgent issue is shelter supplies such as tents, especially in the rural areas. He said however, that access is still a major challenge in some places as many roads are badly damaged or even impassible to the areas where assistance is needed most.

NEPAL: FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES CAUSE DISPLACEMENT WHILE FOOD CRISIS LOOMS

  • Over in Nepal, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rainfall this month have displaced approximately 2,600 families. More than 18,000 families are affected, and are in need of food aid and access to clean drinking water.

  • In some areas, it is estimated that between 15 and 40 percent of the rice crop has been destroyed and a considerable number of livestock lost.

  • According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), immediate seed support to farmers is required to prevent a food crisis in 2010. FAO has deployed an agriculture assessment team to four western regions.

  • UNICEF is assisting 10,000 affected families with water treatment tablets for 10 days and providing washing materials for 5,000 families. The agency is also making available 6,000 health and hygiene kits as required.

PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN DARFUR CONDEMNS ARMED ATTACK

  • On Monday evening, at about 9:45, three unidentified gunmen opened fire on a military guard post of the AU-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in Kutum, North Darfur. They injured one UNAMID soldier in the arm.

  • The attackers had already escaped by the time the UNAMID Quick Reaction Force arrived on the scene of the attack at a water point, about 1.5 kilometres northeast of the Mission’s team site at Kutum.

  • The peacekeeper was evacuated to a UNAMID hospital, and his condition is currently listed as stable.

  • The Mission condemned this incident, which is yet another armed attack on UNAMID personnel, who are in Darfur to protect civilians and assist in pushing the peace process forward. The Mission stresses that any attack on peacekeepers constitutes a war crime, and reiterates its readiness to thwart any act of violence targeting its personnel and facilities.

  • UNAMID is also calling on the Sudanese authorities to speedily investigate the cases of violence against its civilian and military personnel, to bring an end to such attacks.

UNITED NATIONS STRESSES NEED TO PROTECT CIVILIANS IN YEMEN

  • Asked about recent UN activities to deal with the humanitarian crisis in northern Yemen, the Spokesperson mentioned, among other things, the visit by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes to Yemen last week.

  • He added that the United Nations was aware of media reports about an offer by rebels to open humanitarian corridors. He said that was welcome news, especially as the United Nations has been stressing the need for all involved in the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law, and the need for increased access to those in need.

  • Haq added that the United Nations has not, however, been contacted directly. Moreover, the modalities under which this could take place need further examination.

IRAQ: 100,000 PEOPLE HAVE ABANDONED THEIR HOME DUE TO ONGOING DROUGHT

  • Over 100,000 people in northern Iraq have abandoned their homes since 2005 because of severe water shortages, according to a study by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Drought and excessive well pumping have drawn down aquifer levels in the region, causing a dramatic decline of water flow in ancient underground aqueducts, known in Iraq as karez, upon which hundreds of communities depend.

  • The study is the first to document the effects of the ongoing drought on the karez systems, which thousands of Iraqis have depended upon for centuries for their drinking water and farming needs.

  • The rapid decline of karez is forcing entire communities to abandon their homes in the pursuit of new sources of water. Population declines have averaged almost 70% among the communities adversely affected since 2005, the study confirms.

I.C.T.Y. DISMISSES RADOVAN KARADZIC’S APPEALS AGAINST COMMENCEMENT OF HIS TRIAL

  • The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia yesterday dismissed an appeals motion by Radovan Karadži3; against the commencement of the trial against him, noting that it appeared to be based on a number of erroneous assumptions.

  • Among others, it dismissed Karadži3;'s contention that the Trial Chamber did not give appropriate consideration to the size and scope of the case against him, as well as his claim that, because he is representing himself, he faces particular difficulties in reviewing the material.

  • The Appeals Chamber also ordered the Trial Chamber in the Karadži3; case to delay the commencement of the trial until one week after the Prosecution files a marked up indictment, which it was ordered to submit at the Pre-Trial Conference.

HUNGER HAS REACHED HISTORIC HIGH WORLDWIDE

  • The combination of food and economic crises have pushed the number of hungry people worldwide to historic levels and that sharp spike in hunger triggered by the global economic crisis has hit the poorest people in developing countries hardest.

  • That’s according to a new report release today by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). The FAO estimates that more than 1 billion people are undernourished in 2009.

  • The rising number of hungry people is intolerable, said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf. We have the economic and technical means to make hunger disappear, what is missing is a stronger political will to eradicate hunger forever, he stressed.

  • Josette Sheeran, WFP Executive Director, added that at a time when there are more hungry people in the world than ever before, there is less food aid than we have seen in living memory.

MORE CHILDEN AFFECTED BY DROUGHT AND HUNGER IN HORN OF AFRICA

  • The United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) says it is deeply concerned about the increasing number of children affected by drought and hunger in the Horn of Africa.

  • According to the latest estimates, almost five million children under the age of five are now suffering from the consequences of chronic food insecurity caused by prolonged drought and the impact of the continuing conflict in Somalia, which affects wider parts of the region. Since May 2009, the number of young children in need of emergency assistance in the Horn of Africa has increased by nearly one million, says UNICEF.

  • UNICEF also says that, in this region, up to 50 per cent of under-5-year-olds are chronically malnourished and one in eight children die before reaching their fifth birthday.

UNICEF AND W.H.O. LAUNCH STRATEGY TO PREVENT AND TREAT DIARRHEA

  • UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) are launching a strategy to prevent and treat diarrhea – the second deadliest illness for children.

  • In a new report released today, the two agencies call to re-energize global campaigns to fight the disease in order to prevent the deaths of millions in the developing world. The report lays out a seven-point plan that includes a treatment package to reduce childhood diarrhoea deaths and a prevention strategy to ensure long-term results.

  • UNICEF Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman said inexpensive and effective treatments exist, but in developing countries only 39 per cent of children receive the recommended treatment. Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, added : “We know what must be done to prevent those deaths. We must work with governments and partners to put this seven-point plan into action."

HEAD OF U.N. POLITICAL AFFAIRS STARTS WEEK-LONG TRIP TO AFRICA

  • The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, will depart New York today for a weeklong (15-23 October) trip to southern and eastern Africa, including visits to South Africa, Angola, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya.

  • His focus will be on strengthening partnerships with key Member States and regional organizations in conflict prevention, peacemaking and post-conflict peace-building.

  • Pascoe will discuss UN cooperation with the region on issues including Somalia, Burundi, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the areas affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Madagascar.

  • In addition to holding high-level meetings with government and non-governmental counterparts, he will visit two UN political missions in the area: the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB) in Bujumbura, and the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) in Nairobi.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

HEALTHY OCEANS ARE KEY TO FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says that healthy oceans can be a new key to combating climate change. A new report released today estimates that carbon emissions--equal to half the annual emissions of the global transport sector--are being captured and stored by marine ecosystems. But it adds that these vital ecosystems are degrading at an accelerating rate. UNEP is calling on Governments to invest in the maintenance and rehabilitation of these marine ecosystems.

UNITED NATIONS IS READY TO RESPOND TO DISPLACEMENT IN PAKISTAN: Asked whether the United Nations could handle further displacements in northwestern Pakistan if the Government conducts major offensives there, the Spokesperson said that UN work in those areas was continuing, through the efforts of critical UN staff and affiliated non-governmental organizations. He added that, if humanitarian needs in the northwest increase, the United Nations would step up its efforts accordingly.

U.N.D.P. AND O.I.O.S INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING: Asked about the investigations by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) regarding the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Alan Doss, the Spokesperson said those investigations are ongoing.

**** The guest at the noon briefing was Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, who briefed on her report on the promotion and protection of the rights of children.


Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055

Transcript

The Security Council is holding its periodic debate on the Middle East today. Briefing Council members this morning, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe said that, over the past month, there has been no significant progress, and some worrying developments on the ground.

Full transcript All transcripts