HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS,
Thursday, October
22, 2009
UNITED NATIONS
SADDENED BY MURDER OF DEPUTY SUDAN FORCE COMMANDER IN PAKISTAN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was saddened to learn of
the death of Brigadier General Ahmed Moinuddin, the Deputy Force Commander
of the United Nations Mission in Sudan, during an attack on 22 October in
Islamabad, Pakistan where he was on leave.
The Secretary-General sends his heartfelt condolences
to the bereaved family, to colleagues of Brigadier General Moinuddin in the
United Nations Mission in Sudan, and to the Government of Pakistan. He
commends the contribution of the Government of Pakistan to peacekeeping
efforts in Sudan and elsewhere, and hopes that the perpetrators of the
attack will soon be brought to justice.
Earlier today, the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Sudan Ashraf Qazi also strongly condemned the
barbaric killing of UNMIS Deputy Force Commander.
Asked why UN personnel have
been targeted in Pakistan, the Spokeswoman said that it is not clear whether
Gen. Moinuddin was personally targeted, with the circumstances of the attack
still to be determined. The Secretary-General and Qazi, she noted, have
called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Okabe added that security for
UN personnel in Pakistan remains a concern, and is being assessed around the
clock.
She said that Gen. Moinuddin had been on leave in
Pakistan, after serving for the past five months in UNMIS. At the time of
attack, he was in uniform and traveling to Army headquarters.
Asked how UN humanitarian
work in Pakistan could be conducted in such insecure conditions, the
Spokeswoman asserted that UN humanitarian staff try to do their work as best
they can, including at times through national staff or affiliates. If
operations are curtailed due to security reasons, the United Nations tries
to resume such work as soon as possible.
PEACEKEEPERS
END DEADLY ETHNIC CLASH IN NORTH DARFUR
Peacekeepers from the African Union – United Nations
Mission in Darfur, (UNAMID), have intervened in a deadly ethnic clash, near
Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur, between members of the Zaghawa and Birgid
tribes.
Two people died and six people from both sides
sustained injuries during the fighting, four of them critically. UNAMID
evacuated the critically injured by helicopter to El Fasher for further
treatment at a government hospital, and the others have been admitted into a
nearby UNAMID medical facility.
The immediate cause of the clash is believed to be
access to water sources and as a temporary solution, UNAMID has made
arrangements to supply water to the communities.
AFGHANISTAN:
PREPARATIONS IN FULL SWING FOR 7 NOVEMBER RUN-OFF ELECTION
The UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA)
reports that preparations by Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC)
for a second round are now in full swing. Ballot papers have been printed
and delivered, polling stations kits have been packed and distribution will
begin today.
The Mission asserts that the United Nations will offer
every support to Afghanistan’s electoral institutions to learn from the
experience of the first round, to ensure that we have a credible final
result that is accepted and faithfully reflects the will of the people.
Afghanistan’s voters deserve nothing less.
In this critical period of
the electoral process, the Secretary-General has decided to temporarily
dispatch Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber, Director of the Asia and Middle East
Division in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, to Afghanistan to
work with Kai Eide as the Deputy Special Representative for Political
Affairs, ad interim. Mr. Weisbrod-Weber will be arriving shortly in
Afghanistan for approximately two months.
Asked about complaints from a
candidate in Afghanistan about the first round of elections there, the
Spokeswoman asserted that the United Nations is supporting the Afghan
authorities to ensure that a successful second round takes place.
AFGHANISTAN HAS
WORLD MONOPOLY OVER OPIUM CULTIVATION
A new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC)
shows the devastating effects of opium beyond Afghanistan and the impact
of its trade on the world.
Afghanistan has the world monopoly of opium cultivation
– at 92 per cent--, according to UNODC. Every year, 900 tons of opium and
375 tons of heroin are trafficked from Afghanistan – with consequences on
the health and security of countries along the Balkan and Eurasian drug
routes, all the way to Europe, the Russia Federation, India and China, says
the new report.
The report also documents how the world’s deadliest
drug has created a market worth US$65 billion, catering to 15 million
addicts, causing up to 100,000 deaths per year, spreading HIV at an
unprecedented rate and funding criminal groups, insurgents and terrorists.
UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa says that
opium hasn’t caused such grief since the plague of addiction in China a
century ago.
BAN KI-MOON
URGES ACTION AGAINST FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING
The Secretary-General has addressed a special event on
human trafficking in the Economic and Social Council Chamber at UN
Headquarters, hosted by the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In his remarks, the Secretary-General reiterated his
calls to alleviate such factors as poverty, underdevelopment and lack of
equal opportunity, which make persons, especially women and children,
vulnerable to trafficking.
SECURITY
COUNCIL BRIEFED ON LATEST SITUATION IN CHAD AND CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The Security Council was briefed this morning by the UN
Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Edmund Mulet, on the
activities of the UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad, (MINURCAT),
specifically on the latest security and humanitarian situation in eastern
Chad and in the north-east of the Central African Republic.
Mulet spoke to the Council about the “Detachment
integre de securite” or DIS programme, which requires the Chadian police to
maintain law and order in the camps for refugees and Internally Displaced
Persons, (IDPs) in eastern Chad. The programme also aims to provide a
secure environment to facilitate humanitarian activities in the area.
Mulet stated that just over 21 million US dollars would
be required next year to assist MINURCAT in its activities. He told Council
members that MINURCAT was working with the Government of Chad to build
national ownership and capacity in implementing the DIS programme. He urged
the Council and the international community for support in this regard.
Mulet also stressed the need for progress in the
normalization of relations between Chad and Sudan to be matched by the
resolution of internal conflicts in both countries.
Earlier today, the members of the
Security Council heard from Gennady Tarasov, the High-Level Coordinator
who deals with missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals in Iraq. He
discussed the limited progress that has been made on identifying human
remains since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The Council President is
expected to read a statement to the press later today, concerning those
consultations.
PROPERTY ISSUES
DISCUSSED BY CYPRIOT LEADERS
Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish
Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met today under UN auspices in Nicosia. The
Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer, spoke to
the press afterwards.
He noted that the leaders met for two hours. They
mainly discussed the issue of property. They will meet again next Tuesday to
talk about the competencies of the federal government. There will also be
further discussions about external relations at that time.
TOP U.N. ENVOY
IN COTE D’IVOIRE MEETS BURKINABE PRESIDENT OVER IVORIAN ELECTIONS
The Secretary-General’s
Special Representative, Choi Young-Jin, met today with the Facilitator
of the Ivorian Dialogue, President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, in
Ouagadougou. Choi appealed to maintain the Ivorian electoral dynamic and
stressed the importance of quickly finding a compromise on the posting of
the provisional electoral list. The meeting with the President Compaoré is
part of a series consultations held by the Special Representative to move
forward the Ivorian electoral process.
Earlier this week, Choi met with the President of the
Independent Electoral Commission, as well as with the Presidents of two main
Ivorian parties -- Alassane Dramane Ouattara, of the Rassemblement des
Républicains (RDR) and Henri Konan Bédié of the Parti Démocratique Ivoirien
(PDCI).
BAN KI-MOON
LAMENTS LARGE NUMBER OF DISPLACED PERSONS IN AFRICA
In Kampala today, António Guterres, UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, delivered a
message on behalf of the Secretary-General to the African Union Special
Summit on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa.
While he noted a decline in the number of refugees in
Africa, the Secretary-General stressed that nearly 12 million people were
forcibly displaced by conflict within their own countries in Africa -- five
times the number of refugees. He also said that many people were displaced
by natural disasters.
The Secretary-General added that the political,
socioeconomic, developmental and external causes of displacement require a
wide range of responses. Taking action on these many fronts, and preserving
Africa’s long tradition of hospitality to the displaced, will require
courage and creativity, as well as solidarity and burden-sharing from the
international community.
MORE THAN SIX
MILLION DROUGHT-AFFECTED ETHIOPIANS REQUIRE FOOD ASSISTANCE
The Government of Ethiopia and humanitarian agencies
have
announced that an additional $175 million is required this year to
provide humanitarian assistance to 6.2 million people affected by a
prolonged drought and crop failure in Ethiopia.
The number of people in need has been increasing
steadily since January this year. The food security situation in Ethiopia
was already weakened the poor performance of the rains in 2008 and the
impact of high food prices globally.
The total food requirement is estimated at nearly 350
thousand metric tons of cereals, blended food, and cooking oil. The
humanitarian community is also helping the government to address non-food
requirements in the health and nutrition, water and sanitation and
agriculture and livestock sectors.
Given current trends in Ethiopia, the humanitarian
situation in the country is likely to deteriorate further in scale and
complexity in 2010.
TOP U.N.
PEACEBUILDING OFFICIAL VISITS SIERRA LEONE
Today, the Assistant Secretary-General for
Peacebuilding Support, Judy Cheng-Hopkins, starts a two-day visit to
Sierra Leone. During that time, she will meet with Government and UN
officials as well as other stakeholders including civil society groups.
Sierra Leone has been under consideration by the
Peacebuilding Commission for the past three years and provides a good case
study to examine the work of the UN in peacebuilding.
The Secretary-General's Peacebuilding Fund has
allocated approximately $37 million to peacebuilding projects in Sierra
Leone to assist in preventing a relapse into violent conflict.
GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA AND U.N. OPEN TOP MEETING ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND TECHNOLOGY
The Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social
Affairs, Sha Zukang, is in India, where he participated today in the Delhi
High-level Conference on Climate Change: Technology Development and
Transfer. In his opening remarks, Sha said that the sooner countries are
able to shift onto low-emissions paths and strengthen their resilience to
climate change's impacts, the better the prospects will be for humanity and
the planet.
The two-day conference, which is organized by the
Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Government of India, will
address an issue that has long been pivotal in the climate negotiations: how
to help countries unlock the full potential of technology in addressing both
climate change and national development. The outcome of the conference will
be delivered in Copenhagen by the Government of India.
SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH AMBASSADORS
FOLLOWING ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION ON GOLDSTONE REPORT
Asked about a meeting this morning, the Spokeswoman
confirmed that the Secretary-General met today with representatives of the
Arab Group, the League of Arab States, the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement, following the adoption of a
resolution on the Goldstone Report by the Human Rights Council. They
discussed the consideration of the resolution by the General Assembly, she
said.
The Secretary-General reiterated his call for the
convening of credible domestic investigations into any allegations of
serious human rights violations committed during the conflict, Okabe said.
Asked whether the Secretary-General would refer the
Goldstone report to the Security Council, she noted that the matter is
currently being discussed by Member States in the General Assembly.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
POPULAR LEBANESE
SINGER BECOMES NEW UNICEF ENVOY: UNICEF today
appointed Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram as a Regional Goodwill Ambassador for
the Middle East and North Africa. Ajram was chosen in part because of her
dedicated support for children’s issues in her native Lebanon.
According to UNICEF, goodwill ambassadors help focus the
world’s attention on the needs of children and can act as agents of change.
DEATH OF U.N. STAFF MEMBER IN
VIENNA OFFICES: In response to an earlier
question, the Spokeswoman said that the body of a male staff member from the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, (CTBTO), was found on Tuesday at
about 8:30 am in one of the stairwells in the E Building of the Vienna
International Centre. There are no suspicious circumstances and the Austrian
Police are now following up on the incident. The staff member's family has been
informed.
UN DAY CONCERT TO TAKE PLACE ON FRIDAY: On Friday
night, the United Nations Department of Public Information and the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations, in partnership with Culture Project, will present a
concert “A Tribute to Peacekeeping” in the General Assembly Hall, in observance
of
United Nations Day. The Secretary-General and the President of the General
Assembly will deliver opening remarks. Isha Sesay of CNN will be the evening's
presenter. Among others, UN Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and singer, Harry
Belafonte, will perform.
TINKER BELL EVENT TO TAKE PLACE SUNDAY: The world
premiere of the Walt Disney’s animated film “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure”
will take place on Sunday, 25 October, at 3:00 pm., in the Trusteeship Council
Chamber. The event will be ticketed and space is limited.
*** The guest at the noon briefing today was
John Ruggie, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights and
transnational corporations and other business enterprises. He spoke about his
report to General Assembly.
United Nations, S-378
Back to the Spokesperson's Page
