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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESPERSON’S NOON BRIEFING

BY FARHAN HAQ, ACTING DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

FRIDAY, 8 JULY 2011

 

FUTURES OF NORTH AND SOUTH SUDAN ARE CLOSELY LINKED, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS

 

• The Secretary-General has arrived in Juba, where he will attend the independence ceremony of the new Republic of South Sudan on Saturday.
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• Before arriving in Juba, he stopped over in Khartoum, where he met with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti.
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• The Secretary-General told reporters afterward that, while the people of North and South Sudan will soon live in different countries, their futures will continue to be closely linked. He called on all Sudanese, from the North and South, to come together to shape their common future.
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• At the same time, the Secretary-General pointed to continuing challenges, including the violence in Southern Kordofan and the need for the parties to make the political compromises necessary to finally resolve the question of Abyei.

 

SECURITY COUNCIL SETS UP NEW PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN

 

• The Security Council this morning unanimously approved a resolution establishing the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) for an initial period of one year.
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• The Mission will consist of up to 7,000 military personnel and up to 900 civilian police personnel.
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• The Security Council also welcomed the appointment by the Secretary-General of Hilde Johnson as his Special Representative for the Republic of South Sudan.
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• The Security Council then heard from Said Djinnit, head of the UN Office for West Africa, about the latest developments in that region.

 

FEW CIVILIANS LEFT ON FRONT LINES OF LIBYA CLASHES, U.N. RELIEF ARM REPORTS

 

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that very few civilians remain on the front lines in Libya.
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• Misrata remains inaccessible by road, but assistance is arriving regularly by sea.
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• Despite the volatile security situation in the Nafusa Mountains region, humanitarian supplies and personnel are able to enter the area through a border crossing with Tunisia.
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• OCHA says the shortage of medicine and the departure of medical personnel continue to affect the health system in both Government- and opposition-controlled areas.
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• More than 700,000 people have fled Libya, while nearly 220,000 are internally displaced.
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• The UN and other organizations have confirmed the presence of explosive remnants of war and large caches of small arms in some several heavily populated areas of Libya.
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• UNICEF is helping to protect children, who are particularly at risk since they are prone to picking up the weapons and playing with them.

 

SENIOR U.N. REFUGEE OFFICIAL URGES ENHANCED GLOBAL RESPONSE TO SOMALI CRISIS

 

• The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, who is on a two-day trip to Ethiopia, has warned that humanitarian efforts to help Somali refugees arriving in the country could be overwhelmed if there isn’t a more rapid international response to the crisis.
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• Mr. Guterres on Thursday visited the Dollo Ado area in south-east Ethiopia and spoke to refugees escaping a drought and a conflict inside Somalia and saw the dire conditions firsthand.
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• With 1,700 people from Somalia now arriving each day into Ethiopia, agencies and the Government are struggling to cope with such high numbers. Kenya is experiencing a similar influx of refugees.

 

            U.N. FOOD AGENCY, CHILDREN’S FUND CALL FOR STEPPED UP HELP FOR HORN OF AFRICA

 

• As the drought continues to affect the Horn of Africa, the World Food Programme (WFP) is providing food assistance to 6 million people in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and eastern Uganda.
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• The Agency, however, expects that number to rise to 10 million in the days ahead, as the situation worsens.
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• It is working with these Governments, but says it will require nearly $500 million in funds. It currently faces a shortfall of nearly $200 million.
  Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that 2 million children face malnutrition and are threatened by this crisis.
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• UNICEF and its partners are setting up child immunization campaigns and working in the vital areas of water, food and sanitation.
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• However, funding shortfalls and denial of access in some areas could disrupt essential activities. UNICEF is asking for $32 million dollars for the coming three months to be able to provide life-saving services.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

NO FORMAL ISRAELI COMPLAINT RECEIVED ON 1701 REPORT: Asked about complaints concerning the Secretary-General’s latest report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), the Spokesperson said that the United Nations had not received a formal complaint from Israel so far. He added that the report and its conclusions concerning events on the Blue Line on 15 May are based on the investigation carried out by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

 

FLOTILLA PANEL CONTINUING ITS WORK: In response to a question on the Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident, the Spokesperson said the Panel was continuing its work and no specific date has been set for the submission of its report.

 

MEMBER STATES CAN OFFER SUGGESTIONS FOR NEW PEACEKEEPING CHIEF: Asked about the replacement for departing Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy, the Spokesperson said that Member States were free to offer suggestions on a replacement and those suggestions will be considered.

 

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

9 - 15 JULY 2011

 

Saturday, 9 July

 

Today, the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly will attend the Independence Ceremony of the Republic of South Sudan in Juba.

 

Today, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, will begin a visit to Algeria to study the effect of the country’s housing policies and programmes on the human rights of its people.

 

Sunday, 10 July

 

There are no major events scheduled for today.

 

Monday, 11 July

 

Today is World Population Day.

 

At 11 a.m., the Security Council will hold consultations on Libya.

 

At 12 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, will be the guest at the Noon Briefing.

 

Today, the 49th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) begins in New York. It will end on 29 July.

 

Today, the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty will begin in Conference Room 1 of the North Lawn Building (NLB). It will run until 15 July.

 

Today, in Geneva, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) will give a press conference on the environment and security sssessment in the Amu Darya River Basin.

 

Tuesday, 12 July

 

At 10 a.m., the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations Board of Auditors will be held in Conference Room 5 (NLB).

 

Today, an international media seminar on peace in the Middle East will begin in Budapest, Hungary. The seminar is co-hosted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) and the Foreign Ministry of Hungary. It ends on 13 July.

 

This morning, the Security Council will hold an open debate on children and armed conflict.

 

Wednesday, 13 July

 

This morning, the Security Council will hold a debate on Sudan.

 

Thursday, 14 July

 

This morning, the Security Council will receive a briefing by the Department of Political Affairs (DPA). In the afternoon, it will be briefed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

 

At 12:30 p.m., there will be a press conference in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium with Kimberly Prost, Ombudsperson to the Security Council's Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.

 

At 2:15 p.m., there will be a press conference in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium on the occasion of the Ninth Plenary Session of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).  This event is being chaired by the Permanent Mission of Singapore to the United Nations.

 

Today, in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) will hold a press conference on the Second Consultation on the Global Action Plan for Influenza Vaccines.

 

Friday, 15 July

 

At 11 a.m., the Security Council will hold consultations on the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA).

  

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