Noon briefing of 4 November 2014

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,

DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2014

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS OVERARCHING IMPERATIVE FOR PLANET’S FUTURE, SECRETARY-GENERA SAYS IN VIENNA

• The Secretary-General wrapped up his visit today to Vienna, where he spoke at a Forum on Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
• In his remarks, the Secretary-General said that the overarching imperative for our planet’s future is sustainable development, and that inclusive and sustainable industrial development can drive success.
• He also met with Lamberto Zannier, Secretary-General of the Organization on Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) before addressing the body’s Permanent Council.
• The Secretary-General told the Permanent Council that we are a world in transition, where the global security landscape is shifting dramatically. He said that we must do more to combat discrimination and marginalization, including of minority groups, which is indispensable to the pluralistic, tolerant and progressive societies we want.
• The Secretary-General’s last engagement before departing Vienna for New York was a meeting of the high-level Business and Investment Forum on the margins of the UNIDO conference.
• He will arrive in New York this evening.

U.N. EBOLA RESPONSE ENVOY VISITS LIBERIA, MEETS PRESIDENT

• The Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), Anthony Banbury, was in Liberia today, the last leg of his visit to the three most impacted countries.
• He met with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and visited a logistics hub ran by the World Food Programme (WFP).
• Besides food assistance to 1.3 million people since April, WFP is also providing crucial transport and logistics support, particularly to medical partners, in capital cities and in remote areas.
• Yesterday, the Chairs of the Peacebuilding Commission Configurations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone met to discuss the potential impact of the Ebola crisis on state institutions and political stability.
• They agreed to focus on challenges related to state functioning, as well as on anticipating the long-term impact of the crisis on social cohesion, security and political institutions, to complement national, regional and international efforts.

SECRETARY-GENERAL REPEATS CALL FOR INCLUSIVE, CIVILIAN-LED TRANSITION IN BURKINA FASO

• The Secretary-General continues to be greatly concerned about the current crisis in Burkina Faso and its impact on national and regional stability. The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an inclusive, civilian-led transition leading to full restoration of constitutional order through democratic elections.
• As part of its consultations, the joint UN-African Union-Economic Community of West African States mission met yesterday with the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, in his capacity as the Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Governments. Mohammed Ibn Chambas also briefed Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe in Lome on the progress of the ongoing consultations. All interlocutors concurred that the transitional process in Burkina Faso should be in line with constitutional provisions.
• The joint mission has returned to Ouagadougou to continue its engagements with all the parties with the objective to reach an agreement which restores the constitutional order and enables a democratic and civilian-led transition.
• The joint mission is encouraged by the commitment of the parties to resolving the crisis peacefully and in accordance with the national constitution.

U.N. RELEASES $3.5 MILLION IN EMERGENCY FUNDS TO ADDRESS HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA

• On Nigeria, the United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has allocated $3.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for humanitarian operations in Nigeria’s northeast.
• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the CERF funds will go towards protection, health and water, sanitation and hygiene needs.
  The interventions will be implemented in Yobe and Borno States, which are currently bearing the brunt of conflict in the region.

U.N. RELIEF OFFICE URGES PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS, AID WORKS IN EASTERN D.R. CONGO

• The Office for the Coordination Affairs (OCHA) is calling today for the protection of civilians and for aid workers to be able to carry out their work without hindrance in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Attacks by armed groups in Beni and the surrounding areas have killed up to 100 people since early October and displaced an estimated 20,000 people.
• North Kivu is the country9;s most volatile province with a wide-spread presence of armed groups. Some 861,000 people are internally displaced, representing nearly a third of the 2.7 million displaced people in the DRC.
• Following the recent attacks, the UN Mission in the country is reinforcing its presence, alongside the Congolese Armed Forces.

U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY VOICES CONCERN OVER DEADLY VIOLENCE IN REFUGEE CAMP IN KENYA

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it is concerned about the security situation at the refugee camps at Kakuma in northwest Kenya. Sporadic disturbances that began a week ago have claimed the lives of eight refugees from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan.
• Kenyan law enforcement agencies have beefed up security, particularly at Kakuma 4, where most of the trouble has occurred. The Department of Refugee Affairs and UNHCR are together engaging refugee leaders and conflict resolution measures have also been instituted.
• UNHCR appeals for calm and peaceful coexistence among all communities in the camp.
• Kakuma camp hosts nearly 180,000 refugees from more than 20 countries, the majority from South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan and the DRC.

U.N. RELIEF WING APPEALS FOR NEARLY $200 MILLION AHEAD OF WINTER IN IRAQ

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is calling for $173.1 million to address the immediate needs of 1.26 million people across Iraq in need of assistance over winter.
• Since this January, 1.9 million people have been displaced across Iraq, many fleeing with little more than the clothes on their backs. Close to 50 per cent of the displaced have found refuge in the high altitude areas of Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where temperatures in the winter can often drop below zero.
• An estimated 516,000 Iraqis are in need of immediate shelter support this winter, including weather-appropriate tents, as well as warm clothing, food, heating and cooking fuel, and health services. An estimated 1.1 million children will require additional care during the winter months due to acute respiratory infections and chronic diseases, and up to 50 per cent of those displaced will need some form of medical attention.
• Lifesaving assistance over the winter is a key component of the revised Strategic Response Plan, a $2.2 billion appeal aimed to address the humanitarian and protection needs of some 5.2 million Iraqis through December 2015.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TO DEPART FOR UNITED KINGDOM, SWEDEN AND GERMANY

• The Deputy Secretary-General will leave New York this evening for London, where he will hold bilateral meetings with UK Government officials tomorrow. On Thursday, he will deliver the opening keynote speech at the Economist World Water Summit in London.
• Later that day, the Deputy Secretary-General will depart for Stockholm. On Friday, he will hold bilateral meetings with the Swedish Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Minister for International Development and Cooperation. He will also have a meeting with Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria and deliver a speech at the United Nations Association of Sweden.
• Early next week, the Deputy Secretary-General will travel to Berlin for bilateral meetings with Government officials of the Federal Republic of Germany. On 11 November, he will deliver the 2014 Willy Brandt Lecture at the Humboldt University in Berlin. On 12 November, the Deputy Secretary-General will travel to Bonn for meetings with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other UN funds, agencies and programmes.
• The Deputy Secretary-General will return to New York by the middle of next week.

U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY LAUNCHES GLOBAL CAMPAIGN TO END STATELENESS

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launched a 10-year global campaign aimed at ending statelessness today.
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie and more than 30 celebrities and world opinion leaders published an Open Letter, saying that 60 years after the United Nations first agreed to protect stateless people, it9;s time to end statelessness itself.
• At least 10 million people worldwide are currently stateless and a baby is born stateless every 10 minutes. Not allowed a nationality, they are often denied the rights and services that countries normally offer their citizens.
• Most situations of statelessness are a direct consequence of discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or gender, and new risks of statelessness have emerged with the growing number of major conflicts in places such as the Central African Republic and Syria, among others.
• The UN Agency also stresses that 27 countries at present deny women the right to pass their nationality on to their children on an equal basis with men, a situation that can create chains of statelessness that span generations.