HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHENE DUJARRIC, SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

WEDNESDAY, 18 MAY 2016

SECRETARY-GENERAL COMMENDS KENYA’S HOSPITALITY TOWARDS REFUGEES, URGES NEED FOR HIGH-LEVEL REVIEW

  • The Secretary-General spoke today by telephone with President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya following the Kenyan Government’s decision of 6 May 2016 to close the Dadaab refugee camps.
  • He expressed deep appreciation to President Kenyatta and the people of Kenya for decades of generous hospitality to significant populations of asylum-seekers and refugees. The Secretary-General assured President Kenyatta that he appreciated the enormous task and responsibility involved in hosting large numbers of refugees, amidst daunting security challenges.
  • The Secretary-General urged President Kenyatta to continue to use the Tripartite Agreement, signed in November 2013 with the Federal Government of Somalia and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as a basis for the voluntary return of Somali refugees in safety and dignity.
  • He expressed the UN support to Kenya, including the proposal by the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, that a high-level bilateral review on the refugee situation in Kenya be conducted by the Government of Kenya and UNHCR.
  • The Secretary-General mentioned that the Deputy Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Refugees would visit Kenya at the end of May.
  • They look forward to discussing this issue forward with the Government of Kenya, and will underline the readiness of the UN to garner the support of the international community in addressing Kenya’s refugee challenges, with consideration for the host communities in Kenya as well as the sub-regional security concerns.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S NEW GRADUATES TO MEET THE CLIMATE TEST

  • The Secretary-General today spoke at the Columbia University Commencement Ceremony. He urged students to use their passion and compassion to help build a world in which all people enjoy dignity and peace.
  • Despite the dangers we face, you must remember that you are graduating into an era of wondrous opportunity, he added.
  • Encouraging them to meet the climate test, he asked them not to vote for politicians who deny the problem. He also urged them not to buy products that aren’t sustainable.
  • Later today, the Secretary-General is expected to attend at the Korea Society Annual Gala Dinner. Tomorrow he will visit the Marymount Manhattan College, where he will receive the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.

SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA STRESSES NEED TO REINFORCE CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES FOLLOWING INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION

  • The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, in a joint press encounter in Vienna today with the Austrian Foreign Minister, said that after the strong declaration yesterday by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the next step is to test that decision by reinforcing the cessation of hostilities and relaunching humanitarian aid.
  • At present, he said, the cessation of hostilities is holding at about 50 per cent and he said it needs to be brought up to 80 or 90 percent. Meanwhile, he said, humanitarian aid has recently reached close to 250,000 people, which is not enough but is an advance.
  • Depending on the progress on humanitarian issues and the cessation of hostilities, Mr. de Mistura said he was looking at dates for the next round of talks, bearing in mind that the holy month of Ramadan is approaching. 
  • On the humanitarian front, a convoy is on its way to East Harasta in Rural Damascus. This is the first time the UN has reached East Harasta since March 2013. 
  • The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, today deplored severe damages at the historic Byzantine Church of Saint-Simeon, part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria. The damages were possibly caused by an airstrike on 12 May.
  • UNESCO received several reports and photographs showing extensive damage to the church, including the remains of the pillar of Saint Simeon Stylites. The site of the church provides remarkable testimony to rural life in late Antiquity and during the Byzantine period.

YEMEN: SPECIAL ENVOY CONTNUES MEDITATION EFFORTS IN KUWAIT

  • The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, met today with the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and the two delegations to the Yemen peace talks and urged the participants to continue their efforts to reach a political agreement that will ensure the safety and stability of Yemen and its people.
  • In addition, the UN Special Envoy convened a number of bilateral meetings with the delegations and meetings with diplomats. Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that he was continuously working with the parties towards achieving a comprehensive peaceful agreement.
  • He said that the international community is ready to support Yemen and the participants in the talks must work constructively during the different meetings and working groups in order to achieve progress on the political, security, and prisoner and detainee issues.
  • He said that flexibility is needed to reach a political agreement, to spare Yemen more deaths and financial ruin, and to lessen the burden of its people. The parties must adhere to their responsibilities.

SRI LANKA: U.N. CONTINUES TO MONITOR HUMANITARIAN SITUATION FOLLOWING LANDSLIDES

  • The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that heavy rains, floods and landslides in several parts of Sri Lanka have affected over 352,000 people as of today, according to Government officials.
  • The United Nations continues to monitor the situation and is standing by should support be requested.

U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY LAUNCHES NEW CAMPAIGN TO ADDRESS FUNDING SHORTFALL FOR SHELTER

  • The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launched today a new global campaign, called Nobody Left Outside, aimed at facing a half-billion-dollar deficit in funds to provide adequate shelter for refugees living under its care.
  • This huge shortfall is severely undermining efforts to tackle one of the largest global displacement crises since World War II, the Agency warns.
  • Without a major increase in funding and global support, millions of people fleeing war and persecution face homelessness or inadequate housing in countries such as Lebanon, Mexico and Tanzania.
  • The campaign calls on the private sector to contribute funds for shelter solutions for 2 million refugees. It is aimed at individuals, companies, foundations and philanthropists worldwide.

AFTERSHOCK STRIKES ECUADOR, U.N. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME MONITORING BUILDINGS 

  • In Ecuador, a 6.7 magnitude aftershock rattled the country today in the coastal area near the place where the worst earthquake to hit the country in decades struck last month.
  • The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is monitoring the situation closely, assessing aftershock-struck areas, especially the previously affected houses and buildings.
  • UNDP is also kicking off the second, larger phase, of its recovery programme, training affected communities so they can repair key infrastructure and houses, with a special emphasis on providing opportunities and access for people with disabilities.

U.N. HEALTH AGENCY ASSESSES RISK OF ZIKA VIRUS IN EUROPE

  • A new report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) assessed the risk of a Zika virus disease outbreak occurring during late spring and summer in the European Region.
  • While the overall risk is low to moderate, countries where Aedes mosquitoes are present are more likely to experience a Zika virus outbreak. The report contains a series of actions that WHO recommends for countries, according to their likelihood of Zika transmission. 

UNMANAGED URBANIZATION COULD LEAD TO INCREASED INEQUALITY, WARNS NEW REPORT ON WORLD CITIES

  • The United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) released today its new World Cities Report. According to the report, two-thirds of the global population is expected to live in cities by 2030 and produce as much as 80 per cent of the global GDP.
  • The report, says, urbanization provides a great opportunity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, when unplanned and unmanaged, urbanization can lead to increased inequality, the growth of slums and disastrous impacts on climate change, the report said.

U.N. TO OBSERVE PEACEKEEPERS DAY TOMORROW

  • The United Nations will observe the International Day of Peacekeepers here at the UN headquarters tomorrow. The Secretary-General will lay a wreath to honour all fallen peacekeepers.
  • He will preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal will be awarded posthumously to 128 military, police and civilian personnel who lost their lives while serving in peacekeeping operations in 2015.
  • The Secretary-General will also lead the first-ever ceremony for the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage. That medal is named after the peacekeeper who saved hundreds of lives in Rwanda in 1994 before suffering a fatal injury while on duty.

**The guest at the noon briefing was Stephen O’Brien, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, WHO briefed from Nigeria.**

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