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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

 

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

 

WEDNESDAY, 05 OCTOBER 2011

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL SET TO TRAVEL TO NORWAY, DENMARK AND SWEDEN

 

• The Secretary-General will depart New York on Sunday, 9 October, for a three-country visit that will take him to Norway, Denmark and Sweden.

 

• In Norway, the Secretary-General will attend the “Energy for All – Financing Access for the Poor” conference and participate in a high-level panel on the theme, “Energy and the Road Towards Rio+20.”

 

• While in Oslo, he will join King Harald V in the 150th anniversary celebrations of the birth of Fridtjof Nansen, the renowned Norwegian explorer. Nansen was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and served as the League of Nations' first High Commissioner for Refugees.

 

• The Secretary-General will also hold talks with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and meet with members of the Norwegian Parliament. He will visit the site of the 22 July bomb attack in Oslo.

 

• The Secretary-General will then travel to Denmark, where he will attend the 3G Global Green Forum, a high-level public-private partnership which brings together leaders from government, business, finance and civil society.

 

• He will meet Queen Margrethe II, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and other senior officials, and visit the site of the new UN City in Copenhagen, which is being constructed.

 

• The last stop on the Secretary-General’s trip will be in Sweden, where he will visit Dag Hammarskjöld's grave in Uppsala.

 

• In Stockholm, he will meet with Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other top officials.

 

• The Secretary-General will return to New York on Wednesday, 12 October.

 

HAITI: U.N. ENVOY WELCOMES CONFIRMATION OF NEW PRIME MINISTER

 

• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Haiti, Mariano Fernández, has welcomed the confirmation of Garry Conille as Prime Minister, after a vote by the country’s Senate yesterday.

 

• Mr. Fernandez congratulated President Michel Martelly, as well as the President of the Senate and the President of the lower house of Parliament, for their efforts and constructive dialogue.

 

• He said he hoped that the programme of the Prime Minister would get approval from both houses so that the major projects of national reconstruction can begin without delay.

 

• The Spokesperson noted that the Secretary-General will be writing to the new Prime Minister.

 

U.N. work continues after bombing, U.N.D.P. Chief says in nigeria

 

• Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), laid a wreath at the site of the August attack on the UN House in Abuja yesterday.

 

• Speaking to reporters following her meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan, she stressed that UN staff working there were unarmed civilians who had dedicated their lives to helping the people of Nigeria.

 

• She vowed that the attack would not stop the critical UN development work there.

 

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES NEED FOR POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT IN RULE OF LAW REFORM

 

• On Wednesday morning, the Deputy Secretary-General spoke at a meeting of the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee.

 

• She stressed that political engagement is crucial for successful rule of law reform. 

 

• The relative absence of national stakeholders and grass-roots experiences in high-level policy discussions on rule of law, the Deputy Secretary-General noted, has hampered progress in this field.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REACTION TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL VOTE ON SYRIA: Asked about the Secretary-General's reaction to the Security Council vote on Syria last night the Spokesperson said the Secretary-General believes the violence in Syria unacceptable, and cannot continue like this. He has been calling on the international community to speak and act in a coherent manner. The Secretary-General regrets that the Security Council has not been able to agree and hopes it will overcome its divisions and find a collective way to address the situation. He believes we have a moral obligation to prevent further bloodshed and help the people of Syria out of this dangerous crisis.

 

DEVELOPMENTS IN BAHRAIN: Asked about developments in Bahrain, the Spokesperson noted the Secretary-General had issued a statement last Friday which said that the Secretary-General called for the release of all political detainees and reiterated his appeal to the Bahraini authorities at the highest level to ensure the application of due process and respect for international human rights norms.

 

Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

United Nations, SA-1B15

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055