MARTIN
NESIRKY

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

 UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

 

Wednesday, February 24, 2009
 

 

 BAN KI-MOON
WELCOMES FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND DARFUR REBEL GROUP 

• Secretary-General Ban
  Ki-moon, in a statement yesterday afternoon,
  
  welcomed the Framework Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict
  in Darfur, which was agreed by the Government of Sudan and the Justice
  and Equality Movement (JEM) on 20 February 2010 in N'djamena and signed
  in Doha. 
   

• The Agreement represents
  an important step towards an inclusive and comprehensive peace agreement
  for Darfur, which will address the underlying causes of the conflict and
  the concerns of all Darfurian communities.
   

• The Secretary-General
  looks forward to the full implementation of the Agreement's provisions,
  and encourages all parties to engage in the inclusive Doha peace process
  with flexibility and political vision, and to agree on a definitive
  political settlement of the Darfur crisis.
   

• The United Nations and
  the African Union-United Nations Joint Chief Mediator will continue to
  assist the parties in their efforts to achieve this important objective.

 

DARFUR AID WORKERS EXPECT GREATER ACCESS IN WAKE
OF INITIAL PEACE DEAL 

• The UN/African Union
  Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has
  
  confirmed that some 1,500 people were displaced from their homes in
  January as a result of renewed fighting in the Jebel Marra region of
  West Darfur.
   

• The Mission says that
  volatile security conditions prevailing in that region in January had
  made it impossible for aid workers to verify reports of displacement and
  deliver relief goods.
   

• But following the signing
  yesterday of the Darfur Framework Agreement between the government and
  the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the Mission expects that aid
  workers will gain greater access to all parts of West Darfur.  It says
  that plans are already afoot to send in more fact-finding teams and
  relief supplies.

 

BAN KI-MOON
URGES STATES TO UNITE IN FIGHT AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

• The Secretary-General this morning
  
  spoke at a
  
  Security Council meeting on drug trafficking and organized crime,
  saying that such crimes affect almost all aspects of the UN’s work. He
  said that Member States have united to fight pandemics, poverty, climate
  change and terrorism, and they must do the same to counter organized
  crime.
   

• He urged Member States to strengthen the UN
  Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, now in its tenth year,
  notably through the establishment of a monitoring mechanism.
   

• Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the
  
  UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also addressed the Security
  Council, saying that vulnerability to organized crime can be reduced
  most effectively through development and security. At the same time, he
  said, we cannot just throw money or troops at this problem.  Peace and
  prosperity also depend on justice, including the legal frameworks and
  judicial institutions needed to ensure the rule of law.
   

• Also, UNODC
  
  issued today the report “Crime and Instability: Case Studies of
  Transnational Threats” which focuses in particular on the impact of
  flows of drugs, piracy around the Horn of Africa and minerals smuggling
  in Central Africa.

 

“DATE-RAPE
DRUGS” USE ON THE RISE, NARCOTICS BOARD WARNS 

• The
  
  International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) released its
  
  annual report today and in it, the Board warns that the use of
  so-called "date-rape drugs" is on the rise – partly due to sexual
  abusers trying to circumvent more rigorous drug controls by using
  substances not restricted by international drug conventions.
   

• The Board is also raising the alarm about new
  psychoactive substances which are easier to obtain and under less
  stringent international controls.

 

CLIMATE CHANGE REMAINS “A CLEAR AND PRESENT
DANGER” 

• The Secretary-General has
  urged Ministers of Environment and environment experts from across the
  world to reject the last-ditch attempts by climate sceptics to derail
  negotiations by exaggerating shortcomings in the Intergovernmental Panel
  on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report. 
   

• In a
  
  message to the 11th Special Session of the
  
  UN Environment Programme’s Governing Council and Global Ministerial
  Environment Forum -- which opened today in Bali – he said participants
  should tell the world that they unanimously agree that climate change is
  a clear and present danger and that they are continuing negotiations
  under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
   

• The Secretary-General
  also urged all Parties to remain engaged, to increase the level of
  ambition and to focus on implementation while negotiations continue.
   

• Asked about criticisms of
  the views put forth by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  (IPCC), the Spokesperson said that the science on global warming is
  clear. Some errors in an IPCC report do not disprove the vast amount of
  work on climate change, he said.
   

• Asked about
  dissatisfaction concerning the Copenhagen Accord, Nesirky said that it
  is clear that many people did not get all that they wanted in
  Copenhagen. However, the Spokesperson emphasized, although the
  Secretary-General had wanted more, he was clear that many positive
  things had been achieved in Copenhagen. He has been consistent that the
  international system was able to get to a good point in its efforts to
  deal with climate change, although more will need to be done.
   

SECRETARY-GENERAL DISCUSSES MIDDLE EAST PEACE
PROCESS WITH ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER

• In response to questions,
  the Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General spoke this morning with
  Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and they discussed the
  Israeli-Palestinian peace process,
  as well as the situation in the region.
   

• They discussed ongoing
  efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.  In this context,
  the Secretary-General regretted certain recent developments on the
  ground, including new demolition orders in East Jerusalem and the
  inclusion of holy sites in the Occupied West Bank on an Israeli heritage
  list.
   

• The Secretary-General
  also expressed his concern with the situation in Gaza and his
  disappointment that Israel has not accepted the UN's proposal to
  kickstart civilian recovery. He underscored the need for Israel to take
  positive steps on the entry of reconstruction materials into Gaza.
   

• On Lebanon, the
  Secretary-General raised the ongoing discussions on the village of
  Ghajar and hoped there would be speedy progress on the
  UNIFIL
  proposal for an Israeli withdrawal, as called for in Security Council
  Resolution 1701. He also urged an end to Israeli overflights and
  expressed his continuing concern at the lack of progress over the
  disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon. He further expressed his concern
  at the recent rhetoric in the region and its potential to escalate
  tensions. 
   

• Asked about the
  construction of a wall between Egypt and Gaza, the Spokesperson noted
  that the Secretary-General had made clear that there should be unimpeded
  access to Gaza for reconstruction materials.

 

ENVOY CALLS
ON ISRAEL TO RESUME EFFORTS TO REVIVE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS 

• The
  
  UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert
  Serry, called on Israeli President Shimon Peres today to discuss efforts
  to resume Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the situation in the West
  Bank, and the continuing crisis in Gaza.
   

• Serry received an
  assurance from President Peres that Israel intended to fully respect
  religious rights in places of worship.
   

• The Special Coordinator
  also underscored the Secretary-General’s deep concern at the situation
  in Gaza. Serry stressed that the blockade of Gaza was undermining
  legitimate commercial activity while empowering an illicit tunnel
  economy. He appealed for Israel to respond positively to the
  long-standing proposal of the Secretary-General to complete stalled UN
  construction projects in Gaza, and urged that the UN be more empowered
  to help the civilian population.

  

MORE THAN
340 CHILDREN KILLED IN AFGHAN CONFLICT IN 2009 

• Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General’s
  Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, today briefed the
  press in Kabul on her visit to
  
  Afghanistan.
   

• She said that 346 children were killed in the
  conflict in Afghanistan last year. Of those, 131 were killed by aerial
  strikes, 22 by Special Forces raids and 128 by anti-Government
  elements.  She said that she would engage in discussions with the
  International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Afghan Army to
  see what can be done when they encounter children in military
  operations.
   

• Coomaraswamy also expressed her concern about
  children in detention, adding that Afghanistan’s Minister of Justice is
  giving unimpeded access to prisons and juvenile centers to all child
  protection actors of the UN. She said the Minister of Interior said a
  special unit was being set up to investigate violence against girls,
  boys, and women.

 

“NON-PROLIFERATION EDUCATION” A WELCOMED AGENDA ITEM
FOR UPCOMING DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE 

• The Secretary-General addressed his
  
  Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters and in his remarks he’s
  highlighted the Board’s important role ahead of the 2010 Review
  Conference of the Parties to the
  
  Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which is being
  held at UN Headquarters in May.
   

• He also commended the Board for placing disarmament
  and non-proliferation education on its agenda as this too has enormous
  importance – not just for the future of any single treaty, but the
  future of international peace and security.
   

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
 

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO MEET
ARGENTINE FOREIGN MINISTER: Asked about
a meeting this afternoon between Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana and
the Secretary-General, the Spokesperson said that the meeting came at the
request of the Foreign Minister. The Secretary-General, he said, would be in
listening mode.
 

DUBAI KILLING SHOULD BE
FOLLOWED UP THROUGH INTERNATIONAL LAW:
Asked about the killing of a Hamas official in Dubai, the Spokesperson said
that the Secretary-General is aware of this matter and has taken careful
note of statements of European Union leaders in this regard. The United
Nations has no official information on the matter. Nesirky said that the
United Nations expects that it should be followed up through international
law enforcement cooperation.
 

UNITED NATIONS HOPES
AFGHANISTAN DECREE IS IN LINE WITH CONSTITUTION:
Asked about a legislative decree recently passed by Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, the Spokesperson said that the United Nations is currently studying
the decree. He said that the United Nations hopes that this decree is in
line with the Constitution and with what Parliament and civil society has
called for regarding reforms of the electoral system. At the London
Conference the Afghan Government and the international community jointly
committed to ensuring the integrity of the 2010 Parliamentary elections,
Nesirky noted.
 

ADDITIONAL POSITIONS IN
IVORIAN CABINET TO BE ANNOUNCED THURSDAY:
In response to a question, the Spokesperson noted
that, although some positions in the new Ivorian Government had already been
announced, additional names are expected to be announced on Thursday. The
Secretary-General has been following the matter with his Special
Representative in that country, Choi Young-jin.

 

 

*** The guest at the
noon briefing today was Anthony Banbury, Acting Principal Deputy Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Stabilization
Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH),
gave an update on the situation in Haiti.