HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,

SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2014

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO TRAVEL TO INDIA

• The Secretary-General will travel to India later this week to visit Gujarat and New Delhi. This will be his fourth trip to the country as the UN Secretary-General.
• He will travel to Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, on Saturday, 10 January, and deliver a keynote speech at the Inaugural Session of the 7^th Vibrant Gujarat Summit the following day.
• Addressing world leaders, policy makers, and representatives from the business community and academia, the Secretary-General will stress the need to promote inclusive and sustainable development in India and globally.
• While in Gujarat, the Secretary-General is also expected to visit Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram as well as a solar power plant to see for himself national efforts to promote sustainable development.
• In Gujarat and Delhi, the Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with key Indian leaders, including President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj.
• The Secretary-General will also meet Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and UN Goodwill Ambassadors in India.
• On 12 January, the Secretary-General is expected to deliver the 13^th Sapru House Lecture, organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs. He will conclude his visit to India on 13 January, following his meetings with UN staff and heads of UN agencies working in India. 

U.N. MISSION IN D.R. CONGO HELPS TO TAKE CONTROL OF MAIN BASES OF ARMED GROUP

• The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) announced yesterday that the Congolese Army, with its support, has managed to take control of the main bases of the Front National de Libération (FNL) which is an armed group from Burundi operating in the Uvira region, in the eastern DRC.
• The Head of the Mission, Martin Kobler, said that this joint action was a strong signal for all armed groups, including the Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), to choose peace and surrender.
• MONUSCO’s Force Commander ad interim, Major General Jean Baillaud, said that the successful operation was a clear demonstration of the joint capacity of the Congolese Army and the mission’s forces, and of their shared determination to neutralize all armed groups in the country.

PEACEKEEPERS COME UNDER ATTACK IN SOUTHERN DARFUR

• The African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has reported that its peacekeepers came under attack by unidentified armed men today while on patrol in the  Burumburum area, about 11 kilometres north-east of Khor Abeche, in South Darfur.
• Two attackers were killed in the firefight. There was no injury to any of the peacekeepers or damage to mission property.
• The Mission reports this is the second attack on UNAMID in this area in as many months.
• The Mission's Acting Joint Special Representative, Abiodun Oluremi Bashua, commended the peacekeepers for their robust response to the attackers and called on the Government of Sudan to speedily investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.
• Also today, another UNAMID patrol was attacked at a water point by a group of unidentified assailants about five kilometres south-west of the mission team site in Habilla, in West Darfur.
• The peacekeepers did not sustain any injuries but the attackers seized a water tanker and a vehicle.

U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR TO VISIT LEBANON

• UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos will visit Lebanon from tomorrow through Friday.
• She is expected to meet with senior Lebanese officials, local authorities, humanitarian partners and people affected by the Syria crisis.
• The visit will focus on how the international community can support the Government of Lebanon, whose social services have been affected by the Syria crisis, in providing assistance to vulnerable Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians.
• The recently launched Lebanon Crisis Response Plan identifies approximately 2.2 million highly vulnerable individuals with acute needs, primarily Syrian refugees, in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.
• An estimated 2.9 million people in the most vulnerable communities and locations were also identified to need support through investment in services, economies and institutions.

CONFLICT IN SYRIA DISTRUPTS EDUCATION FOR 670,000 CHILDREN

• The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported that the continuing conflict in Syria and the recent closure of some schools in Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zour governorates and parts of rural Aleppo is believed to have disrupted education for 670,000 children.
• Between January and December alone, there were at least 68 attacks on schools across Syria, according to data available to UNICEF.
• These attacks reportedly killed and wounded hundreds of children. The real numbers are expected to be higher, and there are indications that some attacks against schools were deliberate.
• UNICEF has also repeatedly called upon all parties to the conflict to uphold their responsibility to protect children, schools and other civilian infrastructure from the conflict.
• It repeats that call as a new year begins with children in Syria still facing terrible threats to their safety, wellbeing and, of course, education.
• Also today, the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane, briefed the Security Council on the disarmament of Syria’s chemical weapons programme.

NO EBOLA REPORTED IN IRAQ, SAYS W.H.O.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday that no suspected cases of Ebola have been found in Iraq, contrary to a rumour reported by several media outlets.
• In a joint statement with Iraq’s Ministry of Health, WHO said it had conducted a full investigation and that all sources contacted had denied the existence of any suspected Ebola cases in Iraq.