HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESPERSON’S NOON BRIEFING

BY MARTIN NESIRKY, SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

FRIDAY, 22 JULY 2011 

U.N. TO CONVENE GLOBAL MEETING ON HORN OF AFRICA CRISIS

 

• An international meeting organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), involving Member States and the United Nations, will be held on Monday in Rome to look at the response to the crisis in the Horn of Africa.
• The World Food Programme (WFP) says it will provide food assistance to 175,000 people in the Gedo region bordering Ethiopia and Kenya. It will soon commence distributions of food to 40,000 displaced people in the Afgooye corridor. Airlifts will also begin in the next days to Mogadishu, where WFP is already assisting 300,000 people, as well as for northern Kenya.
• WFP now has a revised appeal for $340 million for its response to this drought. The Agency’s Executive Director, Josette Sheeran, was in Nairobi today, and will visit the Dadaab Refugee Camp on Saturday.
• The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) adds that so far this month they have delivered 1,300 tons of life-saving supplies to treat more than 66,000 malnourished children in the hardest-hit areas in southern Somalia.
• With more than 1,000 people arriving in Mogadishu everyday, largely from the Lower Shabelle area, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) continues its aid response. On Wednesday, the Agency distributed 1,500 emergency assistance packages, that is enough for 15,000 displaced persons in southwest Mogadishu. Another 7,500 packages will be distributed in the coming weeks.
• Overcrowding is a problem in both Dadaab and Ethiopia’s Dollo Ado camp. To ease congestion, the Agency is continuing its airlift of emergency aid, including tents for more than 75,000 people.
• Asked about UN agencies’ access to Somalia, the Spokesperson said that the Organization’s only interest in Somalia in this moment is to save lives. The UN welcomed the previous statement from Al Shabaab welcoming humanitarian agencies to resume operations in areas under their control. Nesirky reiterated the need to increase assistance to populations in acute distress, wherever they are.

 

U.N.-AFRICAN UNION ENVOY CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE PEACE AGREEMENT IN DARFUR

 

• Ibrahim Gambari, the Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative in Darfur, briefed the Security Council this morning.
• He said that considerable progress has been made in the Doha negotiations in recent months.
• The challenge for the international community, Mr. Gambari said, is to determine how best to impress on all sides of the conflict that a military solution is not the way to go.
• Every effort should be made to reach a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive peace agreement as soon as possible, he said, adding that the people of Darfur have suffered too long and too deeply.

 

NEW U.N. REPORT SPOTLIGHTS NEED FOR BOLSTERING JUSTICE SYSTEM IN D.R. CONGO

 

• A new UN report on mass rapes and other human rights violations committed in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo highlights the need to reinforce the country’s justice system.
• Between the 31st of December last year and the 1st of January, at least 47 women were victims of sexual violence, including rape. The report notes that the actual number of rapes may be considerably higher.
• While the investigation could not definitively ascertain who committed the violations, elements of the Congolese armed forces were consistently pointed out as the alleged perpetrators.
• The report also stressed the need for urgent measures to prevent reprisals against victims and witnesses and to strengthen protection of civilians.
  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRC, Roger Meece, stressed the importance of all military officers’ obligation to cooperate fully with investigations.
• For her part, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay recommended a vetting mechanism to ensure that alleged perpetrators of serious rights violations are excluded from security forces.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST HAVE ACCESS TO SOUTH KORDOFAN – U.N.

 

• Asked about the situation in South Kordofan, the Spokesperson said that the UN system has repeatedly expressed its concern about what is happening in the area. The Secretary-General believes that it is important for the international community to have access, which is currently not at the level which would allow the UN and others to provide assistance to those in need.

  

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

23 - 29 JULY 2011

 

Saturday, 23 July

There are no major events scheduled for today.

 

Sunday, 24 July

 There are no major events scheduled for today.

 

Monday, 25 July 

Today, the General Assembly will begin a high-level meeting on youth, as part of the International Year of Youth. The high-level meeting will have as its overarching theme “Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”. It will end 26 July.

At 11:15 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference on the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Youth with Joseph Deiss, President of the 65th Session of the General Assembly; Alek Wek, model, humanitarian and author; Ahmed Al hindawi, Leaders of Tomorrow; and Monique Coleman, UN Youth Champion.

Today, there will be an International Emergency Ministerial Meeting on the Horn of Africa in Rome convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

 

Tuesday, 26 July

This morning, the Security Council will hold an open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine.

Today, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will launch its “World Investment Report 2011.”

 

Wednesday, 27 July

This morning, the Security Council will adopt resolutions on the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and the Somalia Monitoring Group. It will then receive a briefing on United Nations peacekeeping operations. In the afternoon, the Security Council will receive a briefing and hold consultations on the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

At 11.00 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Evo Morales Ayma, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, on the theme, “human right to water and sanitation.”

At 1 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Force Commanders of the United Nations peacekeeping operations. General Patrick Niamvumba of the African Union-United Nations operation in Darfur (UNAMID), General Chander Prakash of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), and Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

 

Thursday, 28 July

Today is the first official World Health Organization (WHO) World Hepatitis Day.

This morning, the Security Council will adopt resolutions on the African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), followed by a briefing and consultations on Libya.
 

Friday, 29 July

At 11:00 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a briefing by members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on the conclusion of the Committee's current session.