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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESPERSON’S NOON BRIEFING

BY EDUARDO DEL BUEY, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

THURSDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER 2011

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS SUICIDE BOMBINGS IN PAKISTAN

 

• The Secretary-General strongly condemns Wednesday’s suicide bombings in Quetta, Pakistan, which reportedly targeted officers of the region’s Frontier Corps.  The attacks left scores of people dead, including two children, and wounded many others.

 

• The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the continued loss of Pakistani lives at the hands of terrorism.  He extends his deep condolences to the families of the victims and the Government of Pakistan.   The Secretary-General commends the efforts of the Pakistani Government to combat terrorism and wishes to re-confirm the solidarity of the United Nations with the people of Pakistan to that end. 

 

BAN KI-MOON VISITS A TRAINING FACILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPERS IN CANBERRA

 

• The Secretary-General spent the last full day of his Pacific trip in Sydney and Canberra today.

 

• This morning, he gave a speech at the University of Sydney in which he said time was running out to tackle climate change and that a revolution of hope was under way in the Middle East and North Africa.

 

• Later he flew to Canberra, where he joined a group of school children to plant an olive tree at the National Arboretum.

 

• The Secretary-General then visited the Australian Federal Police's training school for police being deployed to international missions such as UN peacekeeping operations. He watched a training exercise in which police cadets played the part of rioters in a mock-Pacific Island village.

 

• The Secretary-General later met the Governor-General of Australia, Ms. Quentin Bryce, and attended a dinner in his honour at Government House.

 

• The Secretary-General returns to New York on Friday.

 

SECURITY COUNCIL TO MEET ON SUDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN

 

• The Security Council will hold closed consultations on Sudan and South Sudan on Thursday afternoon.

 

GREEK AND TURKISH CYPRIOT LEADERS DISCUSS PROPERTY ISSUE IN NICOSIA

 

• On Cyprus, the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities discussed the issue of property in Nicosia today.

 

• The next meeting will be held on Monday, when they will move on to the question of citizenship, immigration and aliens.

 

SOUTH KORDOFAN: U.N. OFFICIALS CONCERNED OVER ATTACKS AGAINST CIVILIANS

 

• The Secretary-General’s Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and on the Responsibility to Protect have expressed their grave concern over the reports of continued attacks on civilians in South Kordofan, Sudan.

 

• In a statement, Francis Deng and Edward Luck reminded the Government of Sudan of its responsibilities to protect populations – irrespective of their ethnic, religious or political affiliation – from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

 

GLOBAL FOOD PRICES REMAINED UNCHANGED BETWEEN JULY AND AUGUST – U.N. AGENCY

 

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that world food prices have remained virtually unchanged between July and August of this year.

 

• The Organization says that the price of cereals has risen, with the cereal production not expected to offset the additional demand and prices continuing to be high and volatile.

 

• It has also warned that pressure on the world's soil resources and land degradation are threatening global food security.

 

• At a meeting to launch a new global soil partnership for food security, the Organization’s director, Jacques Diouf, called for renewed international efforts to ensure sufficient fertile soils for today and for the future.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

LETTER FROM PALESTINIAN ACTIVISTS RECEIVED BY U.N. MIDDLE EAST PROCESS: Asked about a letter addressed to the Secretary-general by Palestinian activists, the Deputy Spokesperson said that the letter had been submitted to the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL HAS REPEATEDLY EXPRESSED U.N. COMMITMENT IN FIGHT AGAINST HAITI CHOLERA OUTBREAK: On the origin of the cholera outbreak in Haiti, the Deputy Spokesperson said that an Independent Panel of Experts was established in January and that the Panel submitted its report to the Secretary-General in May. He added, the Panel concluded that the Haiti cholera outbreak was caused “by the confluence of circumstances and was not the fault of, or deliberate action of, a group or individual person.” Del Buey said the Secretary-General has repeatedly expressed the continuing commitment of the United Nations to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Government and the people of Haiti in the ongoing fight against the cholera epidemic which caused significant loss of life.

 

U.N. HAS NOT DEPLOYED ANY KNOWN HUMAN RIGHTS-VIOLATING FIJIIAN PEACEKEEPERS: On peacekeepers from Fiji, the Deputy Spokesperson said that the United Nations reviews the offers of troop contributions from that country on a case-by-case basis. The UN has not deployed and will not deploy any known or suspected human rights violators.

 

FRENCH POLYNESIA DISCUSSED DURING SECRETARY-GENERAL’S PACIFIC VISIT: When asked if the subject of French Polynesia came up during the Secretary-General’s current visit to the Pacific, the Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General, during his joint press conference with Prime Minister John Key in New Zealand on Wednesday, said he had listened to the concerns of some leaders, including French Polynesia, concerning the right of self-determination. 

 

Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
United Nations, SA-1B15
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
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