HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,

SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 2015

SECRETARY-GENERAL UNDERSCORES URGENT NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT IN SOUTH SUDAN

• In a statement issued today, the Secretary-General took note of the outcome of the last round of negotiations between President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar, as reflected in the agreement they signed in Addis-Ababa on 2 February 2015.
• He regrets that neither of them compromised on a mutually acceptable power-sharing formula. He emphasised that no sustainable peace will be found in South Sudan unless its leaders place the interests of the civilian population above their own.
• He underscored the urgent need for them to agree on a comprehensive and inclusive peace agreement that addresses key institutional reforms, economic governance, reconciliation, and accountability for the crimes committed since the beginning of the conflict, in a manner consistent with international standards.
• The Secretary-General once again called on both parties to urgently and strictly adhere to the Cessation of Hostilities agreement signed on 23 January 2014. He urged them to prepare for the next round of talks with the intent to expeditiously end the conflict.
• He commended the mediators, and Heads of State and Government of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, for their tireless efforts and commitments to broker a peace agreement in South Sudan and assures them of the UN’s readiness to assist, along with other partners, in their efforts to engage the South Sudanese parties.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES ALL SIDES IN UKRAINE TO HALT DANGEROUS ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights today urged all sides to halt the dangerous escalation in the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
• Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called on States and all those with influence in the region to take measures to ensure compliance with the Minsk accords, which have a direct bearing on the human rights situation in the eastern part of Ukraine.
• He said that bus stops, marketplaces, schools, hospitals and residential areas have become battlegrounds in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, which he added was in clear breach of international humanitarian law governing the conduct of armed conflicts.
• The High Commissioner said that the death toll now exceeds 5,300 people, with more than 12,200 having been wounded since last April.
• The High Commissioner stressed that any further escalation will prove catastrophic for the 5.2 million people living in the midst of conflict in eastern Ukraine.
• The next report of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is scheduled to be released at the beginning of next month.
• Mr. Zeid also began a visit to the United States today. This is the first official visit by the UN human rights chief to Washington D.C. to meet senior US administration officials and members of Congress since 2007, when former High Commissioner Louise Arbour made a similar visit.

HEAD OF HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL WELCOMES NEW CHAIR OF COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON GAZA

• Following today’s announcement on the resignation of Professor William Schabas as Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict, the President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Joachim Ruecker of Germany, has decided to appoint current Commission member Mary McGowan Davis to replace Professor Schabas as Commission Chair. 
• The Commission, now comprised of Mary McGowan Davis and Doudou Diène, both of whom were appointed in August last year, continues its important work and is scheduled to present its findings to the Human Rights Council on 23 March as mandated.
• In another statement, Ambassador Ruecker thanked Professor Schabas for his work over the past six months. The President also noted that the Commission is now in the final phase of collecting evidence from as many victims and witnesses as possible from both sides. 
• The report of the Commission of Inquiry is scheduled to be presented to the Human Rights Council at its upcoming session on 23 March 2015. 

OVER 981,000 PEOPLE DISPLACED BY VIOLENCE IN NORTHEASTERN NIGERIA

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that, according to reports by Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, attacks on communities in the northeast of the country have been occurring almost every day since January.
• More than 981,000 people have been displaced across the country since the State of Emergency was declared by the Government in May 2013. More than 90 per cent of those displaced are located in the Northeast of the country and most of them are living with host communities while a little more than 100,000 in camps managed by the authorities.
• As many as three million Nigerians living in the north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe risk being unable to meet their basic food needs by July this year.
• The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also warned that some 100,000 children are at risk of severe malnutrition in the area.

WORLD COURT DISMISSES GENOCIDE CLAIMS BY CROATIA AND SERBIA

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the UN, ruled today that neither Croatia nor Serbia had committed genocide against each other’s populations during the 1990s wars in the former Yugoslavia.
• In its judgment, which is final, without appeal and binding for the Parties, the Court explains that the intent to commit genocide, by destroying a population in whole or in part, had not been proven by either country.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

• At 12:30 p.m., Ambassador Liu Jieyi, Permanent Representative of China and President of the Security Council for February, briefed the media on the Council’s programme of work for the month.
• The Spokesman announced that 26 Member States having paid their regular budget assessments to the UN in full, with the Philippines being the most recent.