HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS,
Monday, October
26, 2009
BAN KI-MOON
STRESSES NEED FOR AMBITIOUS CLIMATE CHANGE DEAL IN COPENHAGEN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in Seattle today,
where this afternoon, he will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws
and deliver a lecture on the renewed multilateralism that the world is
seeing today.
The United States, he is to say, is central to the
renewed multilateralism, and he will discuss President Obama’s vigorous
engagement within the framework of the United Nations.
A major test of the new cooperation is just around the
corner, he will say, when nations meet six weeks from now at the Copenhagen
climate change conference. He will say that Copenhagen does not need to
resolve all the details, but countries must agree to a deal that establishes
an ambitious framework for progress on fundamental issues.
Yesterday, the Secretary-General attended an event
hosted by the City of Seattle dubbed the “Shrinking Bigfoot”, a programme
raising awareness among local students about climate change, conservation,
and the responsibility to protect the planet. He spoke to children between
the ages of 5 and 16 and called on all people, young and old, from around
the world to consider the well-being of Mother Earth by conserving and
changing our daily lifestyles and living habits toward a more energy and
resource frugal way.
Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General met with
the CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, and expressed gratitude for the
corporation’s support for the efforts of the United Nations.
This morning, the Secretary-General met with Bill and
Melinda Gates – who, he has said, are using their wealth to make the world a
better place. The Secretary-General is to return to New York tomorrow
afternoon.
SECURITY
COUNCIL BRIEFED ON ENHANCING U.N.-A.U. RELATIONSHIP
In the Security Council this morning,
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy, was
joined by the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support,
Susana Malcorra, to brief members on practical ways to strengthen the
capacity of the African Union to build and maintain peace, as well as to
reinforce the relationship between the United Nations and the African Union.
Le Roy presented a report on the Secretary-General’s
assessment of the recommendations made by the AU-UN Panel that was
established by the Security Council.
The report includes recommendations for the United
Nations to streamline its presence in Addis Ababa and provisions of
additional capacity-building to the African Union in key areas identified by
the Panel.
Le Roy welcomed the enhanced peacekeeping role of the
African Union and its regional economic communities.
He noted that over the past five years the United
Nations has broadened and deepened its strategic and operational partnership
with the African Union.
BAN KI-MOON
STRONGLY CONDEMNS DEADLY BOMBINGS IN BAGHDAD
In a
statement issued on Sunday afternoon, expressing the Secretary-General’s
sorrow at the news of the car bombing attacks in central Baghdad, in which
hundreds of people were killed and wounded. He strongly condemned these
senseless and indiscriminate acts of violence that repeatedly target the
innocent and aim to disrupt Iraq’s recovery.
And he urged all Iraqis to unite in the face of these
deplorable acts and to work with heightened urgency to protect Iraq’s
political progress, including by adhering to the date of 16 January 2010 to
hold free and fair national elections.
Today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative
for Iraq, Ad Melkert, expressed continued concern over the humanitarian
situation at Camp Ashraf. He confirmed the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq’s
commitment for the duration of this critical period to monitor the situation
in the Camp on a daily basis. The United Nations calls on the international
community to provide all possible assistance in this regard, including
resettlement to third countries of those that want to leave the camp.
Asked about Iraq’s request
for an investigation into possible foreign involvement in the recent
attacks, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General had referred the
matter to the Security Council and awaited their reply.
BAN KI-MOON IS TROUBLED BY LATEST
TENSIONS AROUND JERUSALEM’S AL-AQSA MOSQUE
Asked about the recent
disturbances at the Haram Ash-Sharif/Temple Mount Compound, the Spokeswoman
said that the Secretary-General was troubled by those disturbances and the
tensions in Jerusalem. He calls for calm, and for all sides to respect the
sanctity of the holy sites and cease provocations.
The Secretary-General, Montas
said, is grateful to Jordan for its efforts to reduce tensions.
His Special Coordinator,
Robert Serry, has been active in seeking to ease the situation and the
United Nations continues to monitor events very closely.
She added that, on October 8,
Serry visited the Harem Al Sharif/Temple Mount compound. Following his visit
and meetings with the parties, which aimed to defuse tensions, Serry
stressed that the Secretary-General had been very concerned at the recent
clashes in Jerusalem. Serry added that incitement from any quarter regarding
holy sites and provocative actions in East Jerusalem do not serve the
sanctity of the city or the cause of peace. They must stop, he said.
Montas noted that Serry had
said, “We cannot allow a further outbreak of violence or let extremists set
the agenda.”
U.N. AND PARTNERS RESPOND TO NEEDS OF
PEOPLE DISPLACED BY SOUTH WAZIRISTAN FIGHTING
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) says that some 13,800 people fleeing South Waziristan in the latest
influx following fighting in northwestern
Pakistan have now been registered, joining another 80,500 who had fled
since June. There are now about 182,000 registered displaced people in two
neighbouring districts in the northwest.
The United Nations has done contingency planning for
this latest influx and has had relief supplies pre-positioned and local
partnerships in place. We have already been assisting the first wave of
displaced people and stand ready to increase our assistance as numbers rise.
To date, UN agencies and their partners have
distributed over 1,000 tons of food. About 30,000 people have benefited from
a distribution of household items, while 35,000 have received hygiene kits
to prevent the spread of disease in these difficult, congested conditions.
Also, by rehabilitating water supplies and installing
hand pumps, humanitarian agencies have ensured that 45,000 displaced people
have access to safe water.
U.N. REFUGEE
AGENCY COMPLETES SHELTER PROGRAMME IN AFGHANISTAN
As 2009 draws to a close, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
is nearing the completion of a shelter programme in
Afghanistan that has provided aid to more than 50,000 returnees this
year. Since 2002 until the end of September 2009, UNHCR has provided shelter
assistance to almost 190,000 vulnerable returnee families, benefiting an
estimated 1.2 million returnees to Afghanistan, mainly in rural areas across
the country.
Meanwhile, the provincial government of Bamyan, with
the support of international agencies, has launched the literacy campaign to
make Bamyan an illiteracy-free province in the next five years. That
campaign started on 17 October 2009.
Asked about the call by one
Presidential candidate for the removal of the head of the Independent
Electoral Commission and the closing of some polling stations, the
Spokeswoman said that the elections and the run-off are an Afghan-led
process, and the decision would need to be taken by the Afghan electoral
bodies.
On this matter, she noted,
Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission is reviewing the number of
polling locations and staff required for the run-off. Some locations where
fraud took place in the first round may not be re-opened, she said, and the
United Nations was pressing to make sure that the fraud that happened in the
first round does not happen again.
She added, in response to
further questions, that the United Nations has not lowered its threshold for
what would constitute a free and fair election in Afghanistan.
GREECE: SERIOUS
CONCERN OVER ALLEGED OFFICIAL VIOLENCE AGAINST REFUGEES
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) today
expressed serious concern over recently reported violent incidents at a
detention centre for aliens in Greece.
According to the allegations, police officers
responsible for guarding the centre abused and beat detainees, including a
17-year old minor, who had to be transferred to a hospital. UNHCR has called
for a thorough investigation into the incidents.
Last week, a UNHCR delegation visited the detention
centre in question. It reported that more than 700 people, including
refugees from war-torn countries, unaccompanied minors, women with babies,
and other particularly vulnerable groups, were being held in deplorable
conditions.
UNHCR has reiterated its appeal for the closing down of
the centre.
It has also asked the Greek Government to review its
policies and provide proper reception facilities and special care to those
who are in need of international or humanitarian protection.
MORE THAN ONE
MILLION PEOPLE DISPLACED IN EASTERN/ CENTRAL AFRICA IN PAST SIX MONTHS
There has been a net increase of more than one million
internally displaced persons (IDPs) across Eastern and Central Africa just
in the past six months. This is according to a Displaced Populations
Report published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA).
Countries with ongoing massive internal displacements
include Sudan with 4 million, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 2.12
million, and Somalia with 1.55 million.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded a net
increase of over 779,000 new IDPs in the last six months as a result of
renewed violence, especially in North and South Kivu provinces.
Other causes of the increased displacements are the
escalation of the conflict in south central Somalia, intermittent clashes in
Sudan, especially in the south and in Darfur, plus ongoing violent attacks
by suspected members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) across the region.
The combined displaced population – IDPs and refugees
-- in the Eastern and Central African region now stands at very close to 12
million people.
SIERRA LEONE:
SPECIAL COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTIONS OF THREE FORMER REBEL LEADERS
In its last judgment to be handed down in Freetown,
the Special Court for Sierra Leone has upheld the convictions and
sentences passed on three leaders of the rebel Revolutionary United Front
(RUF).
The charges include forced marriage as a crime against
humanity and attacks against UN peacekeepers – the first time that an
international criminal tribunal has entered guilty verdicts for both
charges.
The Court dismissed all the appeals of the defendants,
except one regarding Augustine Gbao for the charge of collective punishment,
which has been overturned. Gbao will still have to serve the 25-year
sentence originally imposed on him.
The other defendants, Issa Sesay, will serve 52 years
and Morris Kallon will serve 40 years.
The remaining trial, involving former Liberian
President Charles Taylor, at The Hague still continues.
HEAD U.N. PEACEKEEPING TO VISIT NIGERIA,
DR CONGO AND BURUNDI
The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
Operations, Alain Le Roy, will travel to Abuja, Nigeria, tomorrow evening to
attend a high-level meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council.
He is also scheduled to visit peacekeeping missions in
the Great Lakes region – in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
and in Burundi.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he will assess
the security situation in eastern DRC, and discuss the extension of state
authority and institution building and other areas that are critical for
peace consolidation efforts.
In Burundi he will see firsthand how the operations are
working as an integrated mission of the United Nations.
PROVISION OF 30
MILLION INSECTICIDE-TREATED MOSQUITO NETS TO NIGERIA WELCOMED
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray
Chambers, has applauded the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria, for its commitment to provide 30 million long lasting insecticidal
mosquito nets to the Nigerian Ministry of Health.
According to Chambers, this is the single largest
allocation towards meeting the Secretary-General’s goal of universal net
coverage by 2010. It will save over 100,000 lives in Nigeria, he adds.
BRITISH
PROFESSOR HONORED FOR ADVANCING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The UN Development Programme (UNDP)
honoured a British professor for her outstanding contributions to work on
advancing human development at a ceremony held in Busan, in the Republic of
Korea, today.
This year’s Mahbub ul Haq Award was presented to
Professor Frances Stewart of the United Kingdom for her lifetime
achievements in promoting human development. Stewart —a leading development
economist at Oxford University— has been one of the key figures associated
with the concept of human development since the Human Development Report
was first published in 1990.
UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT ACCEPT COMMERCIAL
EXPLOITATION OF ITS NAME AND LOGOS
Asked about an
incident last week when a man dressed as the Colonel Sanders character of
the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain entered the United Nations through the
Visitors’ entrance, the Spokeswoman said that the man was treated like other
visitors and sent through the screening tent. He was given access to the
General Assembly public lobby, as any visitor is given after screening.
Unfortunately,
Montas said, a security guard inappropriately took it upon himself to extend
this guest's tour. At this point, the man abused the privilege of access to
the building by going to the second floor of the General Assembly building
and attempting to stage events with a clear commercial purpose.
As soon as it was clear that the guest was abusing
the privilege of entry into the UN for commercial purposes, UN security
escorted him out.
The United Nations, she said,
does not accept the use of the UN emblem or logo for commercial purposes,
adding that the incident “should not have happened”.
***** The guest at the noon briefing today was Janos
Pasztor, Director of the Secretary-General's Climate Change Support Team, who
provided an update on the climate change negotiations leading up to Copenhagen.
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