Noon briefing of 16 September 2011

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESPERSON’S NOON BRIEFING

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

FRIDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2011

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS NEW U.N. CONTROLLER

• The Secretary-General announced today the appointment of Ms. María Eugenia Casar of Mexico as Assistant Secretary-General, Controller, Office of Programme Planning, Budgets and Accounts, in the Department of Management.

• Ms. Casar will replace Jun Yamazaki.
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• The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Yamazaki’s dedicated service as Controller and for his strong sense of professionalism and commitment to the ideals of the Organization.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO HOLD MEETING ON LIBERIA AND LIBYA TODAY

• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Haiti, Mariano Fernandez, briefed the Security Council earlier today.

• This afternoon, the Security Council will hold a meeting on Liberia and, then, on Libya.

REFUGEE AGENCY RESTORES ITS HOTLINE SERVICES IN TRIPOLI FOR REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS

• The UN Refugee Agency, or UNHCR, and its partners continue to be concerned about the situation of third-country nationals, including refugees, in Libya.

• They have been working closely with the Stabilization Team of the National Transitional Council to improve protection for refugees and migrants.

• UNHCR has restored it hotline services in the capital, Tripoli, and has received many calls from refugees and migrants, who say they have been detained, need food assistance or other protection incidents.

• It has also been contacted by the local military council in Zintan, in the Nafusa Mountains region, to find solutions for some third-country nationals – reportedly Somalis.

UNITED NATIONS FINALIZING EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN FOR PAKISTAN

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that 5.5 million people have been affected by the floods so far in Pakistan.

• More than 230 people have died, with 1.1 million homes damaged and destroyed and 4.5 million acres inundated.
• The United Nations is currently finalizing its emergency response plan, which will be launched early next week.

• The UN Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, is delivering safe water, sanitation and health supplies such as vaccines, to ward off disease.

• For its part, the World Food Programme (WFP) has distributed food to more than 15,000 people in the most-affected districts. It aims to provide half a million people with emergency assistance by the end of this month and will scale up its deliveries to reach 2.2 million by October.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) took part in a rapid health assessment, which found that one quarter of health facilities in affected areas are inaccessible, submerged by floodwaters or damaged.

REFUGEE AGENCY: SOUTH SUDAN SEEING INFLUX OF REFUGEES FROM SOUTHERN KORDOFAN

• The UN Refugee agency, UNHCR, says that South Sudan is seeing a growing refugee influx from Southern Kordofan, in Sudan.

• Over eight thousand civilians have fled into the newly independent state, according to the agency. It adds that there has been a surge in arrivals since last week – with up to 500 people a day from 100 people a day in August.

• UNHCR says that most of them are currently scattered in remote northern areas of Unity State, where humanitarian access is limited. Food supplies from the World Food Programme (WFP) have been air dropped to the region.

• UNHCR has conducted basic registration at the border and identified the most vulnerable among the new arrivals. It is also working on a site to relocate the refugees away from the border.

HAITIAN PRESIDENT PLEASED BY U.N. QUICK ACTIONS ON ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT BY PEACEKEEPERS
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• Asked about the use of tear gas to contain demonstrations in Haiti, the Deputy Spokesperson said that crowd control measures taken were up to the national police forces. Regarding the allegations of misconduct by UN peacekeepers, he said that the United Nations were pleased with the measures taken so far by the Uruguayan authorities. He added that Haitian President Michel Martelly had said he was pleased by the quick action of the United Nations in this case.

U.N. RIGHTS CHIEF WELCOMES AUSTRALIAN DECISION ON IDENTITY FOR TRANSGENDER, INTERSEX PEOPLE

• High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has welcomed the decision by the Australian Government to enable Australians who are transgender or intersex, or do not wish to identify themselves as male or female, to have their sex and gender identity properly identified on their passports.
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• She noted that making it simpler for people to obtain official documents that reflect their preferred gender will make life easier for thousands of people, in the process removing barriers that until now have prevented them from exercising their human rights on an equal footing with others.

GREEK AND TURKISH CYPRIOT LEADERS DISCUSS ECONOMY CHAPTER IN NICOSIA TODAY

• The leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities discussed the economy chapter today in Nicosia.

• Their next meeting will be on 27 September, when they will discuss the chapter on the European Union.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
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MONTREAL PROTOCOL ON SUBSTANCES BEING STRENGTHENED TO COVER PHASE-OUT OF 100 OZONE-DEPLETING SUBSTANCES: In his message on the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, the Secretary-General says that in the more than 24 years of the successful implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the protocol has been gradually strengthened to cover the phase-out of nearly 100 ozone-depleting substances. Only by limiting global climate change can we hope to achieve sustainable development for all, he says.

IRANIAN AUTHORITIES SHOULD CONSIDER RELEASING JAILED AMERICANS ON BAIL, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL: Asked about the efforts to release two Americans held in Iran, the Deputy Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General had already stated that, for humanitarian reasons, the Iranian authorities should consider their release on bail.

*** The guests at the Noon Briefing today were Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Chief of the Treaty Section of the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) and Udo Janz, Director and Special Adviser to the High Commissioner for Refugees in New York.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

AND THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ACTIVITIES

17 - 23 SEPTEMBER 2011

(This document is for planning purposes and is subject to change.)

Saturday, 17 September

There are no major events scheduled for today.

Sunday, 18 September

At 10:00 a.m., the High-Level Meeting on Global Sustainability will begin in Conference Room 6 in the North Lawn Building (NLB).

At 8:00 p.m., Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway will address press at Stakeout Location outside Conference Room 1 (NLB), after chairing the meeting of the Ad Hoc Liason Committee.

Monday, 19 September

At 9:00 a.m., the Secretary-General will open the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases in the General Assembly Hall. The meeting will run through 20 September. At 10:00 a.m., round table discussions will begin in the Economic and Social Council Chamber (ECOSOC) in NLB.

At 10:00 a.m., the Secretary-General will convene and address the opening session of the High-Level Symposium on International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation. The Symposium is organized by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force Office (CTITF) and will take place in Conference Room 2 (NLB). At 1:15 p.m., in parallel to the Symposium, a CTITF-sponsored media roundtable will be organized in partnership with the Department of Public Information (DPI) and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General in Conference Room 7 (NLB). The Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), Assistant-Secretary-General Robert Orr, will make opening remarks.

At 12:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will be the guest at the Noon Briefing.

At 3:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will make remarks at a meeting of the High-Level Group on “Sustainable Energy for All,” which will take place in Conference Room 5 (NLB).

At 3:00 p.m., there will be a High-Level event entitled “Women’s Political Participation- Making Gender Equality in Politics a Reality.” Participants will include Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women. The meeting will take place in Conference Room 3 (NLB).

At 5:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago.

Tuesday, 20 September

At 8:00 a.m., the Secretary-General will attend the Francophonie Meeting chaired by Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of Switzerland and Chair of the Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie, in the United Nations Delegates’ Dining Room.

At 9:30 a.m., the Secretary-General will open the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the theme, “Addressing desertification, land degradation and drought in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.” It will be held in the General Assembly Hall.

At 10:00 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of Switzerland.

At 10:30 a.m., the Secretary-General will participate in the High-Level Meeting on Libya in Conference room 3 (NLB).

At 11:30 a.m., the Secretary-General will speak at the High-Level Event on Food and Nutrition Conference Room 2 (NLB).

At 11:00 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Georg Kell, Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact Office, on the occasion of the Global Compact Private Sector Forum.

At 12:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will chair the United Nations Private Sector Forum 2011: Sustainable Energy for All, in the General Assembly Lobby.

At 1:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference on the United Nations Convention for Desertification.

At 2:30 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference on the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

From 4:00-6:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will host the High-Level Event entitled “Every woman, every child” in the ECOSOC Chamber (NLB).

Today, this year’s Treaty Event will begin on the 2nd Floor of the General Assembly Building. It will run from today to Thursday, 22 September, and from Monday, 26 September, to Tuesday, 27 September.

Wednesday, 21 September

Today is the International Day of Peace.

At 9:00 a.m., the Secretary-General will speak at the opening of the General Debate of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly in the General Assembly Hall. It will be held from today until Saturday, 24 September, and from Monday, 26 September, to Tuesday, 27 September.

At 11:00 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference on the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

At 11:30 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.

At 1:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will host a State Luncheon for the Heads of Delegation to the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly in the Visitors Lobby of the General Assembly building.

At 1:15 p.m., there will be a briefing on “The role of mediation in the settlements of disputes by peaceful means,” co-organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Office of the President of the General Assembly, in Conference Room 6 (NLB).

Thursday, 22 September

At 8:00 a.m. the Secretary-General will convene the High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Safety and Security in the General Assembly Hall. He will speak at the closing session at 12:00 p.m. in Conference Room 2 (NLB), after which he will address the press at the Stakeout location outside Conference Room 1 (NLB).

At 9:00 a.m., the Secretary-General will make remarks at the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of the Adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in the General Assembly Hall.

At 9:30 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Leonel Fernandez Reyna, President of the Dominican Republic.

At 12:30 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Sebastián Piñera, President of the Republic of Chile.

At 12:30 p.m., there will be an interactive luncheon on the theme “Empowering Rural Women for Food and Nutrition Security” at the Sentry Centers on 730 Third Avenue. Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), and Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women.

At 2:30 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Demetris Christofias, President of Cyprus.

This afternoon, the Secretary-General will attend the Security Council’s High-Level Meeting on preventive diplomacy.

At 3:30 p.m., the Secretary-General will attend the meeting on Cooperation with Member States on preventing and responding to Sexual Violence in Conflict in Conference Room 4 (NLB).

At 4:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will make remarks at the opening of the Round-table Discussion to commemorate the untimely death of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961 in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium.

Friday, 23 September

At 10:00 a.m., the Secretary-General will make remarks at the opening ceremony of the Thirty-fifth Annual Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 in Conference Room 2 (NLB).

At 11:00 a.m., the Secretary-General will participate in the Conference Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The Secretary-General will speak to reporters afterwards at Stakeout Location outside Conference Room 1 (NLB).

At 11:00 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference by Nabil El Araby, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States.

At 2:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference with Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

At 3:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will attend a Mini-Summit on Somalia.

At 5:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will attend the High-Level Meeting on the Yasuni-ITT Initiative with Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador, in Conference Room 5 (NLB).

Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

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New York, NY 10017