HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

 

FRIDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2015

 

*There was no noon briefing on Friday. Instead, the Secretary-General spoke to the press in the following press encounter:

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I returned last night from an emergency visit to the region, during which I had long and detailed discussions with the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders.

Later this morning, immediately after this press stakeout, I will join by video conference today’s meeting of the Quartet  which will be held this morning in Vienna at 11 o’clock New York time to discuss the alarming escalation of violence in Israel, Palestine and particularly in Jerusalem.

My Envoy, Special Coordinator [for the Middle East Peace Process] Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, will be there to represent me in person. 

During my meetings in the region on the Middle East, all agreed on the urgent need to reduce tensions and avoid actions that would further fuel the violence.

I was profoundly troubled by what I saw and I heard.

People on both sides shared heartbreaking stories of violence against their loved ones. 

I strongly condemned all acts of terror and violence, and I offer condolences to the families of those who have been killed or injured.

The tensions around the Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount have the potential to add a religious dimension to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that could be exploited by extremists on both sides, with potentially dangerous regional implications.

I welcome the assurance of Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu that Israel has no intention of changing the status quo on the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount, which many Muslims believe is under threat.  I appreciate the efforts of H.M. King Abdullah of Jordan, in accordance with Jordan’s special role as Custodian.

The level of incitement is utterly unacceptable.  It is critical for all parties to avoid provocative rhetoric and actions that can further inflame passions in an already overheated environment.

It is equally critical that Israel exercise maximum restraint and make sure that security measures are properly calibrated, so that they do not breed the very frustrations and anxieties which perpetuate violence.   One killing or house demolition creates a whole family of angry people.  One neighbourhood closure creates a community of despair.  One funeral can spread rage among thousands. Force should be a last resort, not a first resort.

Security measures alone will not end the violence. Only by [restoring] a political horizon can we hope to overcome today’s despair and focus on achieving long-term peace.

I also urged President [Mahmoud] Abbas of Palestine to harness the energy and passion of the people, particularly young people, towards a peaceful direction -- to realize their aspirations of peace and [make] stability a reality, rather than resorting to violent means.

This is at heart a political conflict that will require a serious negotiation process by two partners willing to make the necessary compromises to reach the long-desired goal of a two-state solution.

The Quartet remains committed to working with all relevant parties – on the ground, regionally and internationally – to create the conditions for a return to meaningful bilateral negotiations.

I thank the members of the Quartet – including Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and European officials, as well as the Arab leaders who are taking part in today’s meeting, for their efforts.

Despite the anger and polarization, there is still time to step back from the brink. 

Our envoys plan to visit Israel and Palestine in the near future to explore significant steps that each side can take to restore confidence and move towards an end to occupation and the establishment of a viable, sustainable Palestinian state, living in peace with Israel.

Thank you.

Q:   Is it time, Secretary-General, for the two leaders to meet face-to-face?  Is that something that you suggested to them?SG:   I strongly suggested and urged them to sit down together.  There is no substitute to direct talks at the leaders' level, and I conveyed this when I talked to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and he said that President [Mahmoud] Abbas has my invitation and I also conveyed this message to President Abbas: Please try to have a dialog directly.  And when I went to Jordan with His Majesty King Abdullah, I also urged him to play a very important role as custodian of the agreement, and he said that he will do his best.

Q:   Secretary-General, staying in the region on Syria, there are talks in Washington, possibly in the administration, of a no-fly zone over Syria; would the U.N. endorse that?

SG:   Well, I will see whatever would be necessary to bring peace and stability and protect the human lives; but at this time I do not have any comments on the idea of no-fly zone.  This idea of a safe zone, no-fly zone has been mentioned and floated many times in the past, but let us see how this discussion is moving on.  Thank you.

Q:   Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General.  On the Quartet meeting, what would the United Nations, what is the United Nations seeking from the Quartet meeting?  You've talked in some generalities -- that they would like to see next steps.  What kinds of specific things would the U.N. like to see to try the Quartet do to try to defuse this situation?

SG:   This is going to be through the Quartet principals meeting [this year] -- in February and September and now October.  And while the principals had three meetings, with our envoys, Quartet envoys, have been constantly meeting and discussing how the Quartet can really bring the parties together to bring peace and stability.  And I'm going to brief what I have discussed with the leaders during last two, three days.  And as you know Secretary Kerry has already met the Prime Minister Netanyahu and he is going to engage in Jordan, I understand tomorrow, with President Abbas and Jordanian King, so all this kind of concerted and joint efforts, I hope, will result and bring some, first of all, stopping violence and reducing and de-escalating this current situation.  This is, I think, of first and foremost importance.  I strongly urge the importance of de-escalating the situation.  One of my messages to the leaders in the region is that if this kind of violence, implicated with religious implications, will create the much, much worse situation.  It may spin out of control.  Before that, it is important to take action now.  I think this should be the major, main points of discussions in the Quartet.

Q:   Mr. Secretary-General, your legal office has done a study concerning providing protection to the Palestinian people.  The Presidency of Spain has distributed to the members of the Security Council.  Now we understand your position and many western leaders to defend the right of Israel to defend their civilian population from attacks and to protect them, but the question is: who will protect the people living under occupation, the Palestinian people, for 50 years?

SG:   This is one of the points of which I had the serious discussions with President Abbas and also the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, [Nabil] Elaraby, and upon the request of Security Council, I have submitted the compendium of historical examples since the days of League of Nations, starting from early 1920s and up to most recently, there are more than a dozen cases, almost 20 or something cases, where United Nations has been providing some protective forces or engagement.  For me as a Secretary-General at this time, it is now in the hands of Security Council and President Abbas strongly asked under current situations, they needed international protection or presence.  I made it clear to the members of the Security Council that while I distribute this compendium, this does not suggest any policy option or policy recommendation from my part.  Thank you.

Q:   Thank you, can you comment please, Mr. Secretary-General, on President [Bashar al] Assad's visit to Moscow and his meeting with President [Vladimir] Putin, and what should be done now and urgently for Syria at this moment?

SG:   I sincerely hope that through President Assad's visit to Russia and meeting with President Putin, they really have a very concrete and serious discussions of how to bring this current, violent situation and transform into a political dialog, political negotiation.  I hope this opportunity will provide such an occasion that the leaders in the region realize that there is no point, it’s needless to continue this kind of military options.  And I have been repeatedly saying there is no such military option, there should be a political solution.  Now, I hope that President Assad fully realizes through his meeting with President Putin, in a sense that I would really hope that this will really change some dynamics on the ground.

Q:   I wanted to ask on Burundi, just this morning the UK Ambassador said that the UK is concerned of a threat of genocide, is the word that he used, so I'm wondering under Rights Up Front what are your thoughts about Burundi and what the UN or the Secretariat can do.  And I wanted to ask about what the John Ashe case, or what has been called the John Ashe case -- what do you conclude from what has come out so far on how it penetrated the UN and what type of reforms do you think are needed?  Thank you.

SG:   On this genocide issues, I hope there should be some creative investigations by the relevant experts and there should be, first of all, a clear understanding and investigations.  And if the conclusion is that there were such kind of genocide issues, then there should be accountability, justice must prevail and perpetrators must be brought to justice. 

About this former PGA (President of the General Assembly) John Ashe's case, I was really shocked and very concerned to learn of this serious allegation against John Ashe, which goes to the heart of the work of the United Nations and its Member States.  I have made it quite clear all the times that the United Nation's staff or leadership should work with the highest level of integrity and ethical standard.  That is why I have made this one of the top priorities, and I have asked OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services) to have a thorough investigation and I have established a small task force led by my Chief of Staff, Susana Malcorra, to draw out some means and measures -- how we can make more transparent and accountable measures, particularly on the case of President of General Assembly, Office of the President of General Assembly.  We have all of the discussion of this matter with President [Mogens] Lykketoft, the current PGA.  He fully supports what I'm going to do, with all this investigation by OIOS and with our own internal discussions to draw up some measures to improve the conduct of the Office of the PGA.  And if necessary, I'm going to recommend to the General Assembly to take some legislation, so that the United Nations, whether it is the Member States’ side or the staff, Secretariat side, we all have a responsibility and duty to conduct our duties [in] a transparent and accountable [way], with the highest integrity and ethics.

Q:   Sir, UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) has acknowledged in a statement that it has found at least some of its personnel had posted on social media incendiary rhetoric, potentially that could be used to incite violence, so I'd like to know your reaction to that finding; and, secondly, what steps would you recommend that UNRWA take and their staff take to make sure this never happens again, a zero-tolerance policy, if you will?  Thank you.

SG:   I think that it was corrected by the senior leadership of UNRWA, after having discovered that kind of remarks.  And I made it clear that there should be some coherent and correct statement whenever something happens.  I think that has been addressed already.  Thank you very much.  Thank you. 

SPECIAL ENVOY FOR YEMEN WORKING TO ARRANGE FACE-TO-FACE TALKS

• Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the Special Envoy for Yemen, told the Security Council this morning that Yemen is ablaze and the Yemeni population is in a catastrophic situation. The country is bleeding and its cities collapsing.
• He informed the Council that President Hadi informed the Secretary-General, in a letter from 19 October, of his intention to send a delegation to participate in peace talks in order to negotiate an end to the present conflict based on the framework provided by Security Council Resolution 2216. The Special Envoy will start working immediately with the Government of Yemen, the Houthis and other stakeholders to agree on the agenda, date and format for these talks.
• Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said he hopes that these first face-to-face talks will chart a course towards a rapid end to the fighting, the resumption of political dialogue, and Yemen’s return to an orderly and peaceful political transition.
• The last Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report indicates that there are over 21 million people in need of humanitarian response – 80 per cent of the population. Some 20 million lack access to safe drinking water.  The number of severely malnourished children exceeds 500,000.
• The obstruction of commercial shipping continues to undermine the lives and livelihoods of Yemenis. Fuel which is critical for transport, the functioning of hospital and for the pumping of water in many areas of Yemen is still not reaching the country in sufficient quantities. According to the same OCHA report, only 1% of Yemen’s normal monthly fuel requirements were allowed into the country in September.

SECRETARY-GENERAL HOPES FOR PEACEFUL ELECTIONS IN COTE D'IVOIRE

• The Secretary-General is closely following developments in Côte d’Ivoire ahead of the presidential election which will take place on 25 October 2015.
• The Secretary-General welcomes the continued commitment of national stakeholders to participate in the democratic process in a peaceful and transparent manner which will ensure that the electoral outcome reflects the will of the people of Côte d’Ivoire. A successful electoral process is the responsibility of all concerned. In this regard, the Secretary-General calls on all voters to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election. He reminds all political leaders and their constituents to continue to address any outstanding disputes through peaceful means in accordance with the laws and Constitution of Côte d’Ivoire.
• The Secretary-General reiterates the commitment of the United Nations to supporting the electoral process in Côte d’Ivoire.

MILLIONS OF DISPLACED, REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS FACE COLD WINTER

• The first winter weather, including freezing temperatures, rain and storms, has arrived in many parts of Central and South Eastern Europe and is already affecting refugees and migrants arriving or transiting through there.
• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has responded by distributing raincoats, blankets and basic relief items. Between now and February 2016, and subject to funding being available, winter relief packages will be distributed to the most vulnerable.
• Winter plans also include targeted provision of emergency shelters including family tents, refugee housing units and emergency reception facilities, and supporting efforts to improve reception and waiting areas and preparing or adapting them to winter conditions.
• In the coming weeks, 15 million displaced Syrians and Iraqis in the Middle East will face another winter away from home. Winter will be especially tough for the many who are living in insulated garages, basements or unfinished buildings, animal stalls or other flimsy makeshift structures.
• UNHCR's winter plan for the Syria situation requires $171 million to reach 2.5 million people, and is 89 per cent funded with $147 million received by mid-October. The plan for the Iraq situation to reach 700,000 people requires $66 million and is only 52 per cent funded, with $34 million received as of mid-October.

U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY CONCERNED BY TESTIMONIES OF ABUSE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN EUROPE

• The U.N. Refugee Agency is concerned by credible testimonies it has received of abuse of refugee and migrant women and children on the move in Europe.
• Refugee and migrant children moving in Europe are at heightened risk of violence and abuse, including sexual violence, especially in overcrowded reception sites, or in many locations where refugees and migrants gather, such as parks, train stations, bus stations and roadsides.
• UNHCR appeals to all concerned national authorities in Europe to take measures to ensure the protection of women and girls, including through providing adequate and safe reception facilities. UNHCR also asks authorities, as a matter of urgency, to find alternatives to the detention of children.

FLOODING AFFECTS 25,000 SAHRAWI REFUGEES IN TINDOUF CAMP

• Heavy rains and flooding have caused widespread damage to five camps providing shelter to some 90,000 of the most vulnerable Sahrawi refugees in south-west Algeria's arid Tindouf region.
• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and its partners have begun to assist some 25,000 people - 5,000 families - whose homes and food supplies were damaged or destroyed.
• Over the next two days, 1,500 family tents, 10,000 plastic sheets and 400 plastic rolls to address the immediate shelter needs will be airlifted, as well as 10,000 blankets, 2,000 jerry cans and kitchen sets. Shelter materials to repair buildings will also be provided.
• The number of people in need could increase as the rains, which began last Friday, are forecast to continue until at least Sunday. There have been no reports of casualties among the refugees in the hardest hit Awserd and Dakhla camps, as well as Laayoune, Boujdour and Smara camps.
• UNHCR is urgently appealing to donors for emergency funds as its 2015 budget for the Tindouf operation is around just 20 per cent, leaving a huge funding gap and restricting operational activities.

SHELTER AND FOOD ARE PRIORITIES FOR NEPAL

• Six months after the April and May earthquakes in Nepal left nearly 9000 people dead and destroyed more than 600,000 houses, the priority is to provide shelter and food before the harsh winter weather begins.
• "While much has been achieved, the humanitarian community remains committed to meet remaining needs," said Jamie McGoldrick, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal.
• "With winter on the way, we must ensure adequate shelter and food security, particularly for more than 80,000 families." He added that the humanitarian community was proud of the support it had provided to the Government and people of Nepal, but that present conditions were a concern.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF CONCERNED AT RAPIDLY WORSENING SITUATION IN BURUNDI

·    The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is extremely concerned at the rapidly worsening security and human rights situation in Burundi.

·    According to the Human Rights team on the ground, at least 198 people have been killed in Burundi since 26 April 2015, one third of them -- 63 people -- in the last three weeks alone.

·    The Human Rights Commissioner is particularly shocked at the deadly incident which took place on 13 October in the Bujumbura neighbourhood of Ngagara, where at least nine civilians were reportedly summarily executed by police forces.

WORLD POLIO DAY: FEWER CHILDREN THAN EVER WITH POLIO

• Never before in the history of polio have so few children in so few countries contracted the crippling virus – but we cannot rest until the number of cases is zero, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on the eve of World Polio Day.
• Peter Crowley, head of the Polio Unit at UNICEF, said that progress to end polio is real and dramatic, with now just two countries in the world where the wild poliovirus has never been interrupted: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• This year, for the first time in history, Nigeria has succeeded in interrupting transmission of wild poliovirus, and in India, there have been no cases in four years.  Globally there have been just 51 cases of wild polio virus since the beginning of 2015, compared with 242 wild polio cases for 2014.  

ALL-STAR LINE-UP FOR DAVID BECKHAM FOOTBALL MATCH IN AID OF UNICEF

• An all-star line-up of footballing legends was announced to play at the David Beckham Match for Children in aid of UNICEF at Old Trafford, United Kingdom.
• Some of the biggest names in football will come together for the one-off match on Saturday 14 November 2015 to raise awareness and funds for UNICEF‘s work for the world’s most vulnerable children.
• The Great Britain and Ireland team will be captained by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham and managed by fellow UNICEF Ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson. The team includes a galaxy of football stars, including Manchester United players Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and Phil Neville.
• The Rest of the World XI, led by Zinedine Zidane and managed by Carlo Ancelotti, will also field some of the best players to have graced the game from European Champions to World Cup winners, including Cafu, Luis Figo and Ronaldinho.
• Money raised through profits from ticket sales and donations made on match day will go to UNICEF’s work providing lifesaving care including protection, health and nutrition for some of the world’s most vulnerable children.

TWO MORE STATES PAY U.N. BUDGET DUES IN FULL

• The Democratic People's Republic of Korea and South Sudan have fully paid their regular budget contributions. 136 Member States have paid their dues in full.