BY MARTIN
NESIRKY

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

 UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

 

Thursday, March 4, 2010
 

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON TO TRAVEL TO CHILE TO ASSESS HUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE

• Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Chile
  this evening.

• He wants to express solidarity and sympathy with
  the people and government of Chile following the 27 February earthquake.
  He will also assess the humanitarian assistance effort and the scale of
  the disaster for himself.
   

• The Secretary-General is expected to meet on Friday
  with President Michele Bachelet and President-elect Sebastian Pinera, as
  well as senior government officials in charge of national disaster and
  emergency humanitarian assistance. He will reiterate that the United
  Nations system, through its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
  Affairs (OCHA),
  is committed to assisting the Chilean government and people in any way
  required, both immediate and long-term.
   

• During his visit, he is also expected to visit the
  city of Concepcion, one of the cities most affected by the earthquake,
  and to meet with staff at the UN Ecomomic Commission for Latin America
  and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
  and other UN agencies and programmes which have a presence in Chile.

 

SECURITY
COUNCIL DISCUSSES IRAN AND SUDAN SANCTIONS, HEARS FROM NEW AFGHANISTAN ENVOY

• The
  
  Security Council, in a meeting this morning, heard an update on the
  sanctions placed on Iran under resolution 1737 by the Chairman of the
  Council’s sanctions committee dealing with that resolution, Ambassador
  Yukio Takasu of Japan. Among other things, he noted the work that the
  Committee has done to try to obtain more information about arms-related
  materials from Iran that was found on board two ships, the Hansa India
  and the Francop.
   

• The Security Council then continued its discussions
  in closed consultations. Under other matters in those consultations,
  Council members heard the incoming Special Representative for
  
  Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, and discussed sanctions on Sudan.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL SELECTS MEMBERS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FINANCING ADVISORY GROUP

• The Secretary-General has selected the 19 members
  for the new High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing that
  will work to mobilize the financing promised for climate change during
  the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December.
   

• The Secretary-General
  
  announced the launch of the Group on 12 February. The
  Secretary-General established the Group to study the potential sources
  of revenue for financing mitigation and adaptation activities in
  developing countries, and to make progress on this key issue in the
  course of 2010.
   

• The Group will be co-chaired by Mr. Gordon Brown,
  Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
  Ireland, and Mr. Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic
  Republic of Ethiopia. Joining them will be high-level officials from
  Ministeries and Central Banks as well as experts on public finance,
  development and related issues.
   

• Tentatively, the Group is scheduled to hold its
  first meeting on 29 March in London. 
   

AFGHANISTAN
FACES MOST CHALLENGING YEAR

• Kai Eide gave his farewell press conference today
  as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in
  
  Afghanistan. He told reporters in Kabul that this year will be the
  most challenging that Afghanistan has faced since the fall of the
  Taliban. He said that it is a year where negative trends have to be
  reversed, or they will become irreversible.
   

• Eide emphasized that a successful transition
  strategy depends on a change of mindset in the international community
  and among Afghan authorities, in which the Afghan people take greater
  control over their own future.
   

• He was asked about potential peace talks with
  insurgents, and responded that “it is high time that we get into this
  kind of a political process”. Eide said that the reconciliation and
  peace process, whatever shape it takes, should get underway as soon as
  possible.

 

CYPRUS
LEADERS DISCUSS ECONOMIC MATTERS

• The Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders,
  Mehmet Ali Talat and Demetris Christofias, met at the UNFICYP Chief of
  Mission Residence in Nicosia today.
   

• Speaking to the press after the meeting, the
  Secretary-General’s
  
  Special Envoy, Alexander Downer, said that there was substantial
  discussion about the economy and that the representatives are likely to
  meet again in the latter part of next week – while the leaders’ next
  meeting is going to be on the 16th of March.  At that meeting, it’s
  expected that there will be more discussions on the economy as well as
  European Union matters. 

 

LEBANON:
SPECIAL COORDINATOR MEETS WITH PRIME MINISTER

• The UN
  
  Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Michael Williams, met today with
  Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and they discussed the
  Secretary-General’s recent
  
  report on the implementation of resolution 1701.
   

• Williams said afterward
  that the most recent report highlights that, despite recent rhetoric,
  the situation along the Blue Line has remained relatively stable, and
  all parties have continued to reassure the United Nations of their
  commitment to the cessation of hostilities and the full implementation
  of resolution 1701.
   

• While this is important
  and positive, Williams added, it should not detract from the importance
  of working towards a permanent ceasefire as called for in Resolution
  1701.  He also welcomed the decision of President Michel Sleiman to
  convene the national dialogue next week.

 

U.N. HUMAN
RIGHTS CHIEF VOICES CONCERN OVER SITUATIONS IN SRI LANKA, IRAN AND SUDAN

• This morning in Geneva, the High Commissioner for
  Human Rights, Navi Pillay,
  
  introduced her Office’s annual report to the Human Rights Council.
   

• On Sri Lanka, she said the opportunity for peace
  and reconciliation continues to be marred by the treatment of
  journalists, human rights defenders and other critics of the
  Government. 
   

• Pillay added that she remained deeply concerned by
  the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran where there has been a
  violent crackdown on dissent and by the wave of executions in Sudan.
   

• On Egypt, she said an urgent and independent
  inquiry into the killings of migrants trying to enter Israel via the
  Sinai Desert must be conducted.
   

• The High Commissioner also stressed that the United
  States should now conduct thorough investigations into allegations of
  torture at the detention centres in Guantanamo Bay and Bagram.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL STANDS READY TO APPOINT HEAD OF NEW GENDER ENTITY

• Last December, the Secretary-General submitted to
  the General Assembly an important reform proposal outlining his vision
  for the new gender entity. It is now up to Member States to take
  decisive action on this long overdue reform process.
   

• The Secretary-General has been urging Member States
  to expedite matters and take this up in the General Assembly as a
  priority.
   

• The Secretary-General looks forward to a swift
  decision by the General Assembly and stands ready to appoint the senior
  official who will head the new entity.
   

 U.N.
PROVIDING LOGISTICAL SUPPORT TO CONGOLESE ARMED FORCES OPERATION

• In response to a
  question, the Spokesperson noted that the UN Mission in the Democratic
  Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
  has a set of conditions, in line with Security Council resolutions,
  concerning the way in which it supports operations by the Congolese
  Armed Forces. Primarily, MONUC provides logistical support limited to
  Congolese operations that are underway, including such things as fuel,
  transport and evacuations of wounded personnel.
   

• That assistance, Nesirky
  said, was taking place for Operation Amani Leo, which technically began
  on 1 January but has moved into an operational phase recently.
   

• Asked about UN
  involvement with Congolese Armed Forces units that have been linked to
  human rights violations, the Spokesperson recalled that MONUC has an
  agreed procedure in place with the Congolese Armed Forces, which it has
  used to screen all units and commanders directly involved in operations
  that MONUC is called upon to assist. This includes joint planning of
  these operations as required by the Security Council.
   

• Asked about any
  involvement by the United Nations with Colonel Innocent Zimulinda,
  Nesirky said that units commanded by Zimulinda are not receiving any
  assistance from MONUC.

 

UGANDA:
U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO LANDSLIDE VICTIMS

• The UN refugee agency has
  
  agreed to provide urgent assistance to Ugandans left homeless by a
  major landslide in the east of the country.
   

• UNHCR’s team in Uganda has mobilized an initial
  stock of tents and plastic sheeting for emergency shelter that will
  cover the needs of 5,000 people.
   

• Since October last year, Uganda has been
  experiencing heavy rains believed to be the consequence of the El Nino
  phenomenon, which is expected to last for another month.

 

DARFUR:
U.N.-A.U. MISSION TO ASSESS NEW DISPLACEMENTS CAUSED BY RECENT CLASHES

• The security situation in Darfur remains relatively
  calm but unpredictable.

• The African Union – United Nations Mission in
  Darfur (UNAMID)
  is in the process of verifying the reported clashes in the Jabel Marra
  area. The Mission is planning a humanitarian mission in collaboration
  with humanitarian agencies, to meet the needs of the newly-displaced
  persons, who have fled the region in the past months.
   

• A UNAMID team has conducted verification patrol to
  villages and interacted with the Sheikhs (or traditional leaders) of the
  new arrivals who informed that about 7,000 persons had been displaced to
  one village in the last two weeks, and require humanitarian assistance.
  
   

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SECRETARY-GENERAL
HAS APPEALED FOR SECURE ELECTIONS IN IRAQ:
Asked about recent violence in Iraq just before the elections there, the
Spokesperson said that the elections are on track, with some special groups
already voting and the bulk of the voting to take place on Sunday. The
Secretary-General, he said, has appealed for elections to be held in secure
conditions so that all those who wish to vote can do so safely.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO PARTICIPATE IN QUARTET
MEETING IN MOSCOW: Asked about an
agreement by Arab nations for Palestinians to hold proximity talks with
Israelis, the Spokesperson welcomed any movement forward on the Middle East
peace process. He said that the Secretary-General would participate in
Quartet discussions on the Middle East, to be held in Moscow on 19 March.