U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY CONCERNED THAT
LIBYAN SECURITY SITUATION MAY HINDER
PEOPLE FROM ESCAPING VIOLENCE

• With the number
  of civilians crossing into Tunisia
  having plummeted since Wednesday
  afternoon, the United Nations
  Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
  is very
  
  concerned that the security
  situation in Libya may be preventing
  people from fleeing the violence.
   

• Compared to
  earlier in the week, when between
  10,000 and 15,000 people were
  entering Tunisia daily, fewer than
  2,000 made it across the border on
  Thursday.
   

• UNHCR says that
  the border on the Libyan side is now
  manned by heavily armed
  pro-Government forces.
   

• It has also
  heard from those who managed to
  enter Tunisia that mobile phones and
  cameras are being confiscated.
   

• Significant
  progress has been made in evacuating
  Egyptians and those of other
  nationalities from Tunisia, but some
  12,500 people – mostly from
  Bangladesh – still need to be
  repatriated.
   

• 
  In response to a question, the
  Spokesperson said that a special UN
  humanitarian envoy for Libya will be
  named soon.
   

• 
  Asked about casualties, he said that
  the United Nations is not in a
  position to verify casualties, given
  its lack of unimpeded access into
  Libya.

 

UNITED NATIONS HAS RECEIVED REQUEST TO
CHANGE CREDENTIALS OF LIBYA’S U.N.
REPRESENTATIVE

• 
  Asked about the credentials of the
  Libyan Permanent Representative to
  the United Nations, the Spokesperson
  confirmed that the Secretary-General
  has received correspondence from the
  Libyan authorities, naming Ali
  Abdussalam Treki as their designated
  Permanent Representative.
   

• 
  The United Nations has also received
  an earlier letter withdrawing the
  credentials of Permanent
  Representative Mohammed Shalgham and
  Deputy Permanent Representative
  Ibrahim Dabbashi. That letter is
  also being studied.
   

• 
  Asked about the Secretary-General’s
  contacts with Mr. Treki, Nesirky
  said that he was unaware of any
  contacts since Mr. Treki had served
  as President of the General
  Assembly.
   

• 
  He clarified that recognition of
  countries is a matter for Member
  States. Libya is a recognized UN
  Member State, and, as with all
  Member States, it can designate whom
  it chooses as its representative at
  the United Nations.

 

SUDAN: SECURITY COUNCIL VOICES DEEP
CONCERN OVER RECENT ABYEI CLASHES

• The
  
  Security Council received a
  briefing on Thursday afternoon by
  Assistant Secretary General for
  Peacekeeping Operations Atul Khare
  on the security situation in Abyei
  and in South Sudan.
   

• In a
  
  press statement issued
  afterward, the members of the
  Security Council expressed deep
  concern over the recent fighting in
  Abyei, and condemned the use of
  violence.  They urged all parties to
  work to reduce tensions, by
  implementing the agreements made in
  Kadugli in January of this year. The
  members of the Security Council also
  urged the parties in Abyei to
  cooperate with the UN Mission in
  Sudan (UNMIS)
  as it assists them in resolving
  their differences.
   

• 
  Asked whether the Mission had
  transported Governor Ahmed Haroun to
  talks on Abyei, the Spokesperson
  confirmed that it had, and said that
  the UN Mission is mandated to
  provide good offices to the
  Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
  parties in their efforts to resolve
  their differences through dialogue
  and negotiations.
   

• 
  The UN Mission in Sudan, he said,
  has been working with the parties,
  including the local authorities, to
  contain any potential violence which
  may escalate.
   

• 
  Following the recent clashes in the
  Abyei Area, the Comprehensive Peace
  Agreement parties met today at the
  UNMIS premises in Abyei, Nesirky
  said.
   

• 
  The meeting addressed the immediate
  security situation in Abyei and
  adopted specific steps to ensure the
  implementation of the Kadugli
  Agreements of 13 and 17 January.
  These include establishing a
  standing committee consisting of
  representatives from the two
  parties, the two armies, the two
  police forces and security services,
  as well as the command of the Joint
  Integrated Units.

 

D.R. CONGO: CHILDREN FACING MULTIPLE
CHALLENGES TO SURVIVAL, SAYS HEAD OF
U.N. CHILDREN’S FUND

• With sexual
  violence rampant in the northeast of
  the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  (DRC), United Nations Children’s
  Fund (UNICEF)
  Executive Director Anthony Lake
  
  said today that children there
  are facing multiple challenges to
  their survival, health, and welfare.
   

• Thousands of
  children were among the victims of
  the more than 14,500 cases of sexual
  violence reported in DRC in 2010.
  Hundreds more children were abducted
  and forcibly enlisted by various
  armed groups operating in the
  region.
   

• Mr. Lake, who
  is on an official fact-finding trip
  to the region, has called for
  greater protection and better
  health, education and other services
  for children. There should be no
  impunity for crimes against
  children, he said.

 

U.N. AGENCY TO HELP D.P.R.K. TACKLE
FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE OUTBREAKS

• A team of
  animal health specialists from the
  United Nations Food and Agricultural
  Organization (FAO)
  and the World Organisation for
  Animal Health (OIE) has
  
  arrived in the Democratic
  People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to
  help veterinary authorities in the
  country respond to outbreaks of
  foot-and-mouth disease among pigs
  and cattle.
   

• The mission
  aims to assess the situation on the
  ground in order to provide guidance
  and technical assistance to DPRK
  officials to help them contain
  outbreaks and to prevent the further
  spread of the disease.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL VALUES GENEVA TALKS:


Asked about the funding of officials
working on the Geneva International
Discussions, concerning Georgia and
Abkhazia, the Spokesperson noted that
the participants of the Geneva
International Discussions completed
their fifteenth session today. He added
that the Secretary-General values those
talks.

 

HEAD OF U.N.
GENDER EQUALITY BODY ANNOUNCES
INITIATIVE TO BOOST WOMEN’S ROLES IN
CONFLICT RESOLUTION: Michelle
Bachelet, Executive Director of

UN Women, has

unveiled a new initiative to enhance
the role of women in conflict
resolution. The body will create an
international roster of gender experts
who can be rapidly deployed to work on
issues such as constitutional law,
electoral and party law, and legal aid –
all critical to post-conflict
reconstruction processes.

 

***The guest at the Noon Briefing was
Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency
Relief Coordinator. She briefed
reporters on Libya and other areas of
humanitarian concern.

 

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS[1]
26 FEBRUARY – 4 MARCH 2011

 

Saturday, 5
March

 

There are no major
events scheduled for today.

 

Sunday, 6 March

 

Today, Mohamed
Chande Othman, the Independent Expert on
the situation of human rights in the
Sudan, will begin a visit to Southern
Sudan and Abyei in the transitional
areas of the country. His visit will end
on 13 March.

 

Monday, 7 March

 

At 10:00 a.m.,
there will be a meeting of the Working
Group of the Whole of the Special
Committee on Peacekeeping Operations in
Conference Room 2 of the North Lawn
Building (NLB).

 

At 1:00 p.m., in
the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium,
there will be a press conference on the
Nagoya – Kuala Lumpur Supplementary
Protocol on Liability and Redress to the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
Participants will include Ahmed Djoghlaf,
Executive Secretary of the Convention on
Biological Diversity.

 

At 3:00 p.m., the
Trusteeship Council will meet in
Conference Room 3 (NLB) to elect its
President and Vice-President.

 

Today, in Vienna,
there will be a press briefing on the
urgency of addressing the plight of
Palestinian political prisoners in
Israeli prisons and detention
facilities. Speakers will include Abdou
Salam Diallo, Chairman of the Committee
on the Exercise of the Inalienable
Rights of the Palestinian People and
Permanent Representative of Senegal to
the United Nations in New York.

 

Today, in Vienna,
there will be a meeting of the Board of
Governors of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).

 

Tuesday, 8 March

 

Today is International Women’s Day.

 

Today, in London,
the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund
for Victims of Human Trafficking will
launch its Small Grants Facility.
Participants will include Executive
Director of the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Yury Fedotov and
UNODC Goodwill Ambassador Mira Sorvino.

 

This morning, the Security Council will
be briefed by the Department of
Political Affairs (DPA).

 

At 10:00 a.m.,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Deputy
Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro will
be among the speakers at a forum on
“Investing in Women and
Entrepreneurship: Solutions to
Addressing MDG 3” sponsored by the
United Nations Office for Partnerships
and the US Chamber of Commerce Business
Civic Leadership Center. It will be held
in Conference Room 1 (NLB).

 

At 11:00 a.m., in
the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium,
there will be a press conference on Rio
2012. Participants will include Sha
Zukang, Rio 2012 Conference
Secretary-General.

 

At 11:00 a.m.,
United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark will
host a live Twitter chat about women and
development issues.

 

Wednesday, 9 March

 

There are no major events scheduled for
today.

 

Thursday, 10 March

 

This morning, the Security Council will
hold an open debate on the
“Comprehensive Strategy for the
Realization of peace and Security in
Somalia.”

 

Friday, 11 March

 

This morning, the
Security Council will hold consultations
on the 1591 (Sudan sanctions) Committee.