HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,

SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 14 JULY 2015

NEW IRAN AGREEMENT COULD CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE, STABILITY IN MIDDLE EAST – SECRETARY-GENERAL

• Speaking from Addis Ababa today, the Secretary-General warmly welcomed the historic agreement in Vienna and congratulated the P5+1 and Iran for reaching this agreement, calling it a testament to the value of dialogue.
• The Secretary-General said he believes that this agreement will lead to greater mutual understanding and cooperation on the many serious security challenges in the Middle East.  As such, it could serve as a vital contribution to peace and stability both in the region and beyond. The Secretary-General added that the United Nations stands ready to fully cooperate with the parties in the process of implementing this historic and important agreement.
• Meanwhile, Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also welcomed the agreement, noting that his agency will be asked to monitor and verify the nuclear-related measures set out in the agreement. He expressed confidence in the IAEA’s ability to do this important work and said that it stands ready to undertake the necessary monitoring and verification activities when requested.
• With respect to the clarification of outstanding issues related to the possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme, the IAEA and Iran earlier today in Vienna also agreed on a Road-map as part of the Framework for Cooperation between the Agency and Iran. Under this Road-map, and with the cooperation of Iran, the IAEA will be able to establish an understanding of the whole picture concerning these issues and report its assessment to its Board of Governors by the end of the year.

SECRETARY-GENERAL TAKES PART IN SECOND DAY OF FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT IN ADDIS ABABA

• The Secretary-General has been in Addis Ababa for the second day of the Financing for Development Conference. He participated today in a series of events on gender equality, industrial development and the role of the private sector. His remarks at all these events are online.
• In the margins of the Conference, the Secretary-General also met with the Vice-President of Sudan. He said that a transparent and inclusive political process is the only solution for Sudan to address the violent conflicts on its territory, and called on the Government to support the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Regarding South Sudan, the Secretary-General said that the need for regional support and agreement on the way forward was more critical than ever.
• Yesterday, after a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the Secretary-General repeated his call to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar to give up war. He also urged President Museveni of Uganda and President Bashir of Sudan to use their influence on the parties to help end this conflict.
• Yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General visited the Empress Zewditu Memorial hospital to launch the UNAIDS MDG6 Report. The Secretary-General said that when it comes to halting and beginning to reverse the AIDS epidemic, the world has delivered – and yet AIDS is not over in any part of the world.
• The Addis conference is in its second day today, with countries engaging in informal consultations on the outcome document. The Main Committee will focus on the outcome document - to be known as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda – when it meets for the first time tonight in Addis.
• A number of new financing initiatives to support sustainable development and the implementation of the sustainable development goals have been announced on areas that include health, renewable energy, tax cooperation and data collection.

U.N. ENVOY UPDATES SECURITY COUNCIL ON SITUATION IN D.R. CONGO

• In the Security Council, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and head of the mission in the country, Martin Kobler, updated the Council on the situation in the DRC.
• Regarding the security situation, he underlined the operations by the Congolese army, and supported by the UN Mission against the Front Patriotique Résistance in Ituri, the FRPI. He said these operations were the most effective since the fall of the M-23 and were a testament to what collective actions could achieve.
• Earlier this morning the Security Council extended the mandate of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until mid-December 2015.

YEMEN: CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL TOPS 1,600 – U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE

• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said today in Geneva that at least 142 civilians, including 36 children and 27 women, were killed in Yemen, and 224 others wounded, between 3 and 13 July. This brings the total civilian death toll since 26 March to 1,670. Another 3,829 people were injured during this period. Civilian infrastructure has also suffered, with at least 187 sites partially or completely destroyed as a result of the armed conflict.
• Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that 13 trucks crossed into Yemen yesterday and 27 today. In July so far, more than 127,000 people are confirmed to have received emergency food assistance in the southern governorates of Taiz and Lahj. This distribution happened through WFP’s local partners, including the Yemen Ministry of Education.

U.N. ENVOY MEETS JORDANIAN AUTHORITIES, SYRIAN OPPOSITION

• The Special Envoy for the Secretary-General on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, visited Jordan today and met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh. Mr. de Mistura very much appreciated the Minister’s deep knowledge and analysis of the regional situation, particularly as Jordan is providing hospitality to a substantial number of Syrian refugees and is therefore heavily impacted by the situation in Syria. 
• Mr. de Mistura also met Syrian opposition figures who were present in Jordan. At the end of today’s meetings, Mr. de Mistura reaffirmed the Secretary-General’s resolve to spare no efforts to support the people of Syria in their yearning for peace and change. He stressed that both regional and international powers can do much more to end the raging conflict in Syria.
• Mr. de Mistura will continue his consultations with Member States in the region in the coming days.

AFGHANISTAN: HEAD OF U.N. MISSION SPEAKS OUT AGAINST DEADLY ATTACK ON MOSQUE IN BAGHLAN PROVINCE

• Nick Haysom, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Afghanistan, condemned an attack at a mosque in Baghlan province, which wounded more than 40 civilians.
• He stressed that the targeting of families and friends praying together highlights the perpetrators’ intent to destroy lives, and spread terror among civilians. More than 100 civilians have been injured or killed in the past two days.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE DEEPLY CONCERNED OVER ATTACKS,

• The UN Human Rights Office in Geneva today expressed its deep concern over recent attacks, discriminatory treatment and incitement to violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Turkey.
• The Office pointed to reports over the past two weeks alone of posters in Ankara encouraging the murder of LGBT people; a violent attack against a group of young gay men in Istanbul; and the rape, assault and robbery of Kemal Ördek, a human rights defender.
• The Office stressed that everyone is entitled to the same fundamental human rights without discrimination or arbitrary restrictions of any kind, including the rights to life, liberty, physical integrity, privacy, equality before the law, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
• It called on the Turkish authorities to take active measures to combat homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination; to uphold the rights of LGBT people to peacefully assemble and express themselves; and to ensure that LGBT victims of crimes are treated with respect and dignity and have access to protection mechanisms and effective remedy.

UP TO 1.3 MILLION PEOPLE IN EASTERN UKRAINE HAVE LITTLE ACCESS TO WATER – U.N. CHILDREN’S FUND

• The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today that up to 1.3 million children and adults have little or no access to water in eastern Ukraine. This is due to damaged or destroyed water lines and acute water shortages, UNICEF said.
• UNICEF and its partners have helped more than half a million people in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions access safe water since January, but more humanitarian partners are needed.
• UNICEF’s appeal for $55.8 million to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of children and families in eastern Ukraine for this year and that appeal is only 19 per cent funded.

U.N. WELCOMES JAPAN’S SUPPORT TO BOLSTER MILITARY ENGINEERING CAPACITY FOR PEACEKEEPING

• The Department of Field Support (DFS) says that with generous support from Japan, it will commence a Triangular Partnership Project to strengthen military engineering capacity in UN peacekeeping. The $38.5 million project will train peacekeepers from African countries in the use and maintenance of heavy engineering equipment. Successful trainees are expected to deploy to missions with critical engineering needs. 
• A trial training will start at the Humanitarian and Peace Support School in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2015. Once the project design is fully complete, full-scale trainings are expected to start in the beginning of 2016.

NEW U.N.-BACKED PUBLICATION FINDS HUGE GAPS IN ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES DEPENDINGO N LOCATION

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a new mental health atlas which says that huge inequalities in access to mental health services exist depending on where people live. The Atlas, on average globally, there is less than one mental health worker per 10,000 people.
• The report also shows that global spending on mental health is still very low and that the majority of spending goes to mental hospitals, which serve a small proportion of those who need care.

***The guest at the noon briefing was Robert Kirkpatrick, the Director of UN Global Pulse.