Noon briefing of 9 December 2014

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2014

SECRETARY-GENERAL DELIVERS MESSAGE OF HOPE AT PERU CLIMATE CONFERENCE

• The Secretary-General is in Lima, Peru, where he delivered a message of urgency and hope at the opening of the high-level segment of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP20).
• The Secretary-General said that we know that by addressing man-made climate change, we can build more resilient, prosperous and healthier societies. He added that we must act now.
• All countries must be part of the solution and all of society must be engaged. In spite of recent positive announcements by countries such as the United States and China, he said that he is deeply concerned that our collective action does not match our collective responsibilities.
• The Secretary-General called on countries to deliver a balanced, well-structured and coherent draft text in Lima to be finalized in Paris next year.
• Later today, he is expected to hold meetings with ministers and officials from Saudi Arabia, Russia, the European Union, the Group of 77, Bolivia and China. The Secretary-General will also attend an UN Global Compact event called "Caring for Climate".

U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR EBOLA REPORTS REAL PROGRESS IN WEST AFRICA

• The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, briefed the press in Geneva today following his visit to West Africa, saying that Ebola response strategy is working, and that he saw real progress on the ground.
• However, he stressed that the response is highly complex and requires continuous effort by hundreds of different kinds of organizations and thousands of people.
• Dr. Nabarro said that N’Zerekore treatment centre in Guinea is a good example of the ongoing global response. The Centre is headed by a doctor from Niger and was built with money from the European Union and support from the World Food Programme (WFP). Health workers from the Red Cross and doctors from all around the world work in the Centre. Dr. Nabarro stressed that it is this kind of cooperation from a broad coalition that will defeat the disease.
• He also reiterated that the current outbreak will only end when the last person to experience Ebola is under treatment and is not followed by another case for at least 42 days.
• Achieving this goal requires relentless vigilance, the identification of all transmission chains and the isolation and effective treatment of all cases, he added.

U.N. AGENCY RESUMES FOOD VOUCHER PROGRAMME FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES

• The World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it is reinstating food assistance to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, thanks to a massive expression of support from the public, the private sector and donor countries.
• By mid-December, Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, as well as Egypt, will have their electronic food vouchers, also known as e-cards which will be uploaded with an average amount of USD$30 dollars for each family member, so that they can immediately use them to buy food from local shops.
• After suspending food aid to nearly 1.7 million Syrian refugees on 1 December, WFP launched an ambitious social media fundraising campaign, using the hashtag #ADollarALifeline that raised millions from individuals, the private sector and governments. Almost 14,000 individuals and private sector donors in 158 countries contributed $1.8 million dollars.
• As a result of the campaign, WFP has to date raised more than $80 million, including contributions from governments, surpassing the total goal of $64 million.
• Those contributions permit the full value of the e-cards to be distributed to refugees this month, with some funds carrying through to January.
• WFP added that this is very much only a stop-death measure. While we should be pleased this money has been received, it shows that these programmes really are able to work month to month and we need sustained support.

U.N. OFFICIAL SAYS THAT SITUATION IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC REMAINS VOLATILE

• The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, briefed the Security Council on the Central African Republic this morning.
• He said that the situation in the country remains volatile following the violence in Bangui in October, but that the political process is once again moving forward thanks to the efforts of the Central African Republic Mediator, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, as well as the United Nations and the African Union.

PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN DESTROYS WEAPONS FOUND IN CAMPS FOR DISPLACED PEOPLE

• The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has destroyed 25 firearms and hundreds of knives, machetes and other weapons confiscated from internally displaced persons living in the UN protection-of-civilians sites in Juba. The weapons were destroyed at a public event held today in the Mission’s Tomping site.
• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, Ellen Margrethe Loej, said that the Mission had decided to destroy weapons in full public view to reassure all concerned parties that the weapons and ammunition will never be used to commit any acts of violence, including human rights violations. These measures will maintain the civilian character of UNMISS protection of civilian sites.

U.N. POLITICAL CHIEF TRAVELS TO BURUNDI

• The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, is leaving for Burundi today for a three-day visit during which he will take part in a ceremony on 12 December to mark the closing of the UN Office in Burundi.
• Mr. Feltman will also, among other activities, meet with Burundian authorities and take part in a roundtable meeting entitled Progress, Challenges and Prospects, organized by the Government and its main regional and international partners.
• As of 1 January, the Mission will morph into a UN Electoral Mission in Burundi (MENUB) to observe Presidential, Legislative and local polls in 2015.

U.N. AIMS TO FACILITATE DIALOGUE IN LIBYA NEXT WEEK

• In a press conference in Tripoli yesterday, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, Bernardino Leon, said that the UN will start its dialogue starting next week.
• Mr. Leon said that the essence of the dialogue is based on respect for different views and the common interest to reach a political consensus. He added that the UN cannot impose solutions but is there to facilitate the dialogue. He also repeated to end airstrikes and violence.

DONORS PLEDGE REFUGEES $500 MILLION TO HELP 43 MILLION DISPLACED OR STATELESS PEOPLE

• Today, donor nations promised just over USD500 million for the work of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to help almost 43 million forcibly displaced or stateless people worldwide next year.
• Faced with multiple large-scale emergencies in the Middle East and Africa, UNHCR presented its total financial requirements of US$6.23 billion for the year 2015 at its annual pledging conference, the largest budget ever at the beginning of the year.
• While today9;s pledges are lower than last year and not sufficient to cover all needs, UNHCR says that they give the organization a vital funding indication ahead of the year, allowing it to plan and continue operations without interruption.
• The High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, thanked the donors for their strong and steadfast support, but warned that the gap between needs and available humanitarian funding was widening, with major emergencies in Syria, the CAR and South Sudan, among others.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE URGES THAI AUTHORITIES TO BRING PERPETRATORS TO JUSTICE

• In Geneva today, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that two human rights defenders working on land and natural resource issues have been murdered in the south of Thailand in the space of four days, as they challenged the legality of large private sector projects in the area.
• While police investigations have been launched into both killings, the Human Rights Office noted that in most previous cases, alleged perpetrators have not been brought to justice.
• It urged the relevant authorities to conduct a thorough, prompt and independent investigation into all disappearances and killings of human rights defenders. It also calls on the authorities to implement protection measures for human rights defenders, particularly those working on land rights.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR GLOBAL FAIRNESS AND EQUALITY ON ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY

• In his message on the International Anti-Corruption Day, the Secretary-General called on everyone to come together for global fairness and equity. He added that the world and its people can no longer afford, nor tolerate, corruption.
• The Secretary-General has urged everyone everywhere to get involved in “Breaking the Corruption Chain” - a joint UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Development Programme (UNDP) global campaign that asks people to avoid being part of everyday acts of corruption which undermine education, health, justice, democracy and sustainable development across the world.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL MARKS HUMAN RIGHTS DAY AT SCHOMBURG CENTER

• Tomorrow is Human Rights Day, and this year, it will also mark a second important occasion – the beginning of the Decade of People of African Descent.
• A day in advance of those events, the Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, will be visiting the Schomburg Center in Harlem this afternoon, where he will read passages of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• He is also expected to deliver remarks at the Center, touching on the recent troubling time in the United States. He is expected to talk about the Secretary-General’s recent call for peaceful demonstrations and for authorities to respect such non-violent expressions of opinion.
• Mr. Eliasson is also expected to underscore how the civil rights movement in the United States is a striking reminder of the power of peaceful protest.