HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

 

BY FARHAN HAQ

ASSOCIATE SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

 

 UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
 

Thursday, March
18, 2010
 

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, SIGNS ACCORD WITH COLLECTIVE
SECURITY TREATY ORGANIZATION

• In Moscow today, the
  
  Secretary-General met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and
  they discussed the situation in the
  
  Middle East, including tomorrow’s meeting at the principals’ level
  of the Quartet.
   

• They also talked about
  nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, climate change, peacekeeping
  operations, UN-Russia cooperation and the joint declaration that was
  signed earlier in the day between the United Nations and the Collective
  Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
   

• The Secretary-General
  also held talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the Middle East,
  
  Afghanistan, Iran, the
  
  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,
  
  peacekeeping, the CSTO, Somalia and Russia-UN cooperation. They held
  a press encounter afterwards, in which the Secretary-General stressed
  the need for direct peace talks between the Israelis and the
  Palestinians.
   

• After that meeting, he
  signed the joint declaration between the United Nations and the CSTO
  with that body’s Secretary-General, Nikolai Borduzha. The
  Secretary-General said that he saw potential for enhanced
  cooperation with the CSTO in a number of areas of common interest,
  including counterterrorism, drug trafficking and conflict prevention.
   

• Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General
  received an honorary degree from the Moscow State Institute of
  International Relations. He delivered an
  
  address, saying that the world needs Russia’s creative engagement
  across the United Nations’ agenda.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS ROCKET ATTACK ON ISRAEL

• The
  
  Secretary-General
  
  condemns today's rocket attack from Gaza which killed a civilian in
  
  Israel.
   

• All such acts of terror and violence against
  civilians are totally unacceptable and contrary to international law.

 

SECURITY
COUNCIL TOLD OF CROWDED POLITICAL CALENDAR IN AFGHANISTAN

• The Under-Secretary-General for
  
  Peacekeeping Operations,
  
  Alain Le Roy, today presented the
  
  Secretary-General’s recent
  
  report on
  
  Afghanistan to the
  
  Security Council in an open meeting.
   

• He noted that, in the midst of a military surge and
  heightened military tempo, we face a crowded political calendar in the
  months ahead.
   

• Le Roy said that we must not underestimate on the
  one hand the importance and on the other hand the complexity of
  initiating a political process of reconciliation and reintegration. That
  is a process that should continue to be Afghan-led, he added.
   

• And he noted that the Council will debate the
  mandate renewal of the
  
  UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) in the next few days,
  adding that the Mission’s staff is continuing courageously to implement
  UNAMA’s mandate with determination.

 

SECURITY
COUNCIL ADOPTS RESOLUTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL COURTS

• Before its meeting on Afghanistan, the
  
  Security Council adopted two resolutions. In one, the Council
  
  decided to hold an election on 29 June to fill a vacancy on the
  
  International Court of Justice. In the other, it extended the terms
  of some ad litem, or short-term, judges serving on the
  
  International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
   

• At 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, the Security Council held
  consultations on the
  
  Democratic Republic of the Congo, at which Council members were
  briefed by the Under-Secretary-General for
  
  Peacekeeping Operations,
  
  Alain Le Roy.

 

U.N. ENVOY
WELCOMES SIGNING OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN DARFUR REBEL GROUP AND GOVERNMENT OF
SUDAN

• Speaking in Doha earlier today, the Joint Special
  Representative and head of the
  
  UN/African Union Mission in Darfur,
  
  Ibrahim Gambari, welcomed the signing of the framework agreement
  between the Government of Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement.
  
   

• Gambari said he was particularly happy that this
  agreement comes barely a month after a similar deal between the
  Government and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
   

• He said this also boosts the number of potential
  peace partners for UN/AU peacekeepers in
  
  Darfur, a welcomed development in the face of recent hardships
  endured by the Mission personnel.
   

• Asked about reports that some JEM members had
  been re-arrested in Sudan, the Spokesperson said that the United Nations
  did not have confirmation of that yet. He added that the United Nations
  hopes that the JEM and the Sudanese Government will implement the
  framework agreement of 21 February in good faith and make further
  progress towards comprehensive and inclusive talks, even though the 15
  March deadline set by the Government has now passed.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES SIERRA LEONE’S RECOGNITION OF THREAT POSED BY
CORRUPTION

• In his latest report on the work of the
  
  UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone, the
  
  Secretary-General welcomes the recognition by President Ernest
  Koroma that corruption poses a serious threat to the country. He also
  welcomes the Anti-Corruption Commission’s swift response to take on the
  problem.
   

• Noting a need for critical financial support to
  allow Sierra Leoneans to enjoy the dividends of peace, he appeals to
  international donors to provide additional support to the National Human
  Rights Commission, as well as to the Government’s Special Trust Fund for
  War Victims.
   

• While there have been improvements in the political
  climate, the Secretary-General regrets that fostering political
  tolerance and promoting non-violence remain difficult. He urges the
  political parties to build trust and mutual confidence while abiding by
  the code of conduct as well as the provisions of the related joint
  communiqué they signed in April 2009.

 

DEPUTY
SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF MOBILIZING RESOURCES FOR MDGs

• The Deputy Secretary-General,
  
  Asha Rose Migiro, addressed the Special Meeting of the
  
  Economic and Social Council with the Bretton Woods Institutions, the
  World Trade Organization and the
  
  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, earlier
  Thursday.
   

• In her
  
  remarks, she noted how all of those present had come together to
  mobilize action and resources within the
  
  Financing for Development process to achieve the
  
  Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
   

• This meeting, together with the
  
  High-level Dialogue of the General Assembly on Financing for Development
  next week, will provide crucial inputs, she said. She highlighted that,
  earlier this week, the
  
  Secretary-General released his report entitled “Keeping
  the Promise,” which points out that progress towards the MDGs has
  been uneven, both across goals and regions. 

 

RWANDA
TRIBUNAL AFFIRMS CONVICTION OF SINGER ON GENOCIDE CHARGES

• An appeals chamber of the
  
  International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has
  
  affirmed the conviction and sentence of Simon Bikindi, a former
  singer and composer, on charges of direct and public incitement to
  commit genocide. Through his songs and during stage performances,
  Bikindi had exhorted Hutu extremists to exterminate the ethnic Tutsi
  minority.
   

• Meanwhile, the appeals chamber reversed a number of
  the convictions of Simèon Nchamihigo and reduced his sentence to 40
  years, from life in prison. He was a deputy prosecutor in a Rwandan
  prefecture during the 1994 genocide. The chamber confirmed his
  convictions for genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity
  for instigating the murders of a number of Tutsi families in the region
  under his jurisdiction.

 

MORE THAN
200 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE MOVED OUT OF SLUM CONDITIONS SINCE 2000

• Some 227 million people in the world have moved out
  of slum conditions since 2000,
  
  according to the new
  
  UN-HABITAT report on the
  
  State of the World Cities 2010/2011.
   

• UN-HABITAT says that this means that governments
  have collectively surpassed the target set by
  
  Millennium Development Goals by more than double. It adds that the
  trend is the result of slum upgrading.
   

• However, UN-HABITAT also stresses that 55 million
  new slum dwellers have been added to the global urban population since
  2000. The progress made has not been enough to counter the growth of
  informal settlements in the developing world.
   

• The report notes that without drastic action, the
  world slum population will probably grow by six million each year.

 

W.H.O.
REPORTS GROWTH IN RESISTANCE TO TUBERCULOSIS DRUG TREATMENT

• In a new report, the
  
  World Health Organization (WHO) says that in some areas of the
  world, one in four people with tuberculosis (TB) becomes ill with a form
  of the disease that can no longer be treated with standard drugs
  regimens.
   

• For example 28 per cent of all people newly
  diagnosed with TB in one region of north western Russia had the
  
  multidrug-resistant form of the disease (MDR-TB) in 2008. This is
  the highest level ever reported to WHO. Previously, the highest recorded
  level was 22 per cent in Baku City, Azerbaijan, in 2007.
   

• In the new WHO report, Multidrug and Extensively
  Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: 2010 Global Report on Surveillance and
  Response, it is estimated that 440,000 people had MDR-TB worldwide in
  2008 and that a third of them died.
   

• In sheer numbers, Asia bears the brunt of the
  epidemic. Almost 50 per cent of MDR-TB cases worldwide are estimated to
  occur in China and India. In Africa, estimates show 69,000 cases
  emerged, the vast majority of which went undiagnosed.

 

OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

GROUP OF FRIENDS ON MYANMAR TO MEET ON 25 MARCH:
Asked about the next meeting of the Group of Friends on

Myanmar, the Spokesperson confirmed that the

Secretary-General had scheduled a meeting of that Group on 25 March. He
added that the Secretary-General had received a letter from UK Prime
Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONSULTING ON TERMS OF REFERENCE
FOR SRI LANKA ADVISORY PANEL: Asked about remarks by the

Secretary-General  that there would be “no delay” in setting up an
advisory panel on

Sri Lanka, the Spokesperson noted that at this stage, the
Secretary-General is consulting broadly, including with his

High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the terms of reference for the
panel. Work would continue for now on the terms of reference before any
panel would be named.