HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
 
BY MARTIN NESIRKY, SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
 
FRIDAY, 9 MARCH 2012
 
 
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS COMPLETES SYRIA VISIT
 
  • Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos has concluded her two day visit to Syria.
  • Before leaving for New York, Ms. Amos issued a statement in which she said that it remains essential that a robust and regular arrangement be put in place, which allows humanitarian organizations unhindered access to evacuate the wounded and deliver desperately needed supplies. A proposal has been submitted to the Government of Syria and she has asked them to consider this matter with the utmost urgency.
  • On Friday in Turkey, Ms. Amos visited the facilities for displaced Syrians in Hatay province. She also met the Turkish Foreign Minister Mr. Davutoglu, to discuss regional contingency planning efforts.
 
JOINT SPECIAL ENVOY KOFI ANNAN DUE IN DAMASCUS ON SATURDAY
 
  • Asked about the Joint Special Envoy on the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan’s visit to the region, the Spokesperson said Mr. Annan on Friday had met the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister in Cairo, and was expected to meet later with the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Russia.
  • Kofi Annan will travel on Saturday to Syria, with a mandate to engage with all stakeholders to seek an end to the violence and bloodshed, and to seek a political solution so that the aspirations of the Syrian people can be realized.
 
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CONCERNED ABOUT CIVILIAN NEEDS IN CONFLICT AFFECTED AREAS OF SYRIA
 
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) is deeply concerned by the plight of the Syria civilian population in affected areas, in particular disturbing videos claiming patients were tortured inside hospitals.
  • The WHO’s position is very clear: health facilities must be treated as neutral premises and not used by one side or the other in any type of conflict.
  • The main challenges faced by WHO are getting unhindered access to the population in need, the limited capacity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the limited presence of international and national humanitarian organizations. A rapid response team of an Emergency Coordinator and a Public Health Officer has been deployed to reinforce coordination and health information management and dissemination and further staff would be deployed to ensure continuity for these critical functions.
  • Since the beginning of the crisis, the WHO Country Office in Syria has been able to provide ambulances and life-saving medical equipment such as ventilators, incubators for newborn babies and medical supplies for surgical operations and trauma care.
 
U.N. REFUGEE ANGENCY: YEMEN FACES NEW WAVE OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT
 
  • On Friday, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that Yemen is facing a new wave of internal displacement as tens of thousands of civilians flee tribal clashes in the north and renewed fighting between government troops and militant groups in the south.
  • In light of the increasing displacement and growing insecurity limiting movements of their staff both in the south and the north, UNHCR has set up local monitoring networks trained to recognize protection risks and urgent needs of internally displaced people (IDPs) to alert UNHCR and help ensure continued delivery of protection and assistance. UNHCR plans to double the number of these networks this year.
  • As part of the UN country team, UNHCR is preparing a funding proposal for emergency response, addressing the deepening humanitarian crisis and new displacement in the north and south of Yemen.
  • For 2012, UNHCR is seeking US$60 million to address the humanitarian needs of some 216,000 refugees and almost half a million internally displaced people in Yemen.
  • In response to question on the situation in Yemen, the Spokesperson said the situation is very complex, and that the UN Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, is travelling there to assess developments.

                                                                          U.N.: THOUSANDS OF CONGOLESE REFUGEES FLEEING INSECURITY ENTER UGANDA

 
  • The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that 3,000 Congolese civilians have fled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo into neighboring Uganda since the beginning of the year.
  • They’ve been fleeing from renewed fighting in North Kivu province.
  • UNHCR says the refugees have reported incidents of rape, abductions and looting.
  • The agency has opened a transit centre with a capacity for 1,000 people.
  • Fighting involving government troops, rebel forces and local defence groups in the DRC's eastern region has now forced a total of more than 100,000 people out of their homes since late November.
 
U.N. WELCOMES NEXT ROUND OF TALKS TO TRY TO RESOLVE WESTERN SAHARA DISPUTE
 
  • Asked about the upcoming meeting between Morocco and the Frente Polisario, the Spokesperson said the UN welcomes the fact that the parties are meeting for this new round of informal talks and remains committed “to find a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara” as mandated by the Security Council.
  • The main objective of the talks remains to discuss the proposals of the parties on a settlement.
  • In addition, the parties will continue their discussion on innovative approaches and topics of discussion, such as natural resources and demining, without prejudice to the final status of the Territory, and review the progress accomplished on confidence-building measures.
 
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
10 – 16 MARCH 2012
 
(This document is for planning purposes and is subject to change.)
 
Saturday, 10 March
 
There are no major events scheduled for today.
 
Sunday, 11 March
 
Today, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, will begin an official visit to Guatemala. It ends on 15 March.
 
Today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, will begin a visit to South Sudan. The visit ends on 17 March.
 
Monday, 12 March
 
This morning, the Security Council will adopt a resolution on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and hold a debate on the “Situation in the Middle East: challenges and opportunities.”
 
Today, in Geneva, Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), will speak to the press on international trademark and design systems in 2011.
 
Today, in Geneva, Ahmed Shaeed, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, will give a press conference.
 
Today, in Vienna, the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) begins. It ends on 16 March. The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, and Ambassador Carmen Bujan Freire of Spain, who serves as the Chairperson of the 55th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, will give a press conference today.
 
Today, in Marseille, France, the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, and the Chair of UN-Water, Michel Jarraud, will speak to reporters about the United Nations World Water Development Report.
 
Tuesday, 13 March
 
There are no major events scheduled for today.
 
Wednesday, 14 March
 
Today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is scheduled to deliver its first-ever verdict, issuing a judgment in the war crimes trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. At 1:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference by the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) on this case.
 
At 12:30 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference by the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters on an updated version of “The United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries (the UN Model)” which has been adopted. Speakers will include Alex Trepelkov and Michael Lennard of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and Armando Lara Yaffar of the UN Committee.
 
At 3 p.m., in Conference Room 2 of the North Lawn Building (NLB), there will be a panel discussion on “Human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, women’s empowerment and art” with Ashley Judd and representatives from UNODC.
 
Thursday, 15 March
 
This morning, the Security Council will hold consultations on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
 
Friday, 16 March
 
At 12:30 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a press conference by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on OIC-United Nations cooperation in various OIC initiatives, including peace and security and humanitarian initiatives and development with regard to the establishment of an independent and Permanent OIC Human Rights Commission.
 
 
United Nations, SA-1B15
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
 
 

 

 

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