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

FRIDAY, 8 JULY 2016

 

CHINA: SECRETARY-GENERAL WILL SPEAK AT XIN PHILANTHROPY CONFERENCE

  • The Secretary-General was in Beijing today, where he met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang before traveling to Hangzhou. Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will speak at the Xin Philanthropy Conference in Hangzhou and we’ll provide those remarks once we get them. He also met at lunch today with a group of Chinese philanthropists and we’ll try to provide a readout later this afternoon.
  • Yesterday, the Secretary-General had meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. 
  • In those meetings, the Secretary-General and his interlocutors discussed Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and South Sudan and encouraged China to remain seized on these issues.  They also discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and exchanged views on ways to de-escalate the heightened tensions and find a path for denuclearization through dialogue.
  • The Secretary-General reiterated the readiness of the United Nations system to continue to work with the Government of China to advance all three pillars of the UN Charter: peace and security, development and human rights.   The full readout of his meetings yesterday is online.

 

SYRIA: U.N. HUMANITARIANS EXTREMELY CONCERNED BY SITUATION IN ALEPPO

  • The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is extremely concerned at the unfolding situation in Aleppo, Syria, particularly the situation for the estimated 300,000 people trapped in the eastern part of Aleppo City due to heavy clashes along Castello road, the only road in and out of this part of the city.  Heavy fighting over the past few days has continued to put civilians at risk of death and injury while effectively cutting off humanitarian’s access to people in need of assistance.
  • This follows intensified fighting by all parties to the conflict in Aleppo city and surrounding areas in recent weeks, including reports of airstrikes, shelling, and heavy clashes, causing many civilian casualties and injuries. It has also caused damage to schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure, and hindered humanitarian aid operations.
  • The United Nations calls on all parties to the conflict to take all measures to protect civilians, as required under international humanitarian law, in order to safeguard the lives of all civilians living in Aleppo city.
  • It also calls on all parties to the conflict to take all measures to facilitate humanitarian access, particularly to eastern Aleppo city, as required under international humanitarian law.

 

HEAD OF U.N. IN IRAQ CONDEMNS ATTACK TARGETING SHIA SHRINE

  • Ján Kubiš, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, strongly condemned the attack which targeted the Shia shrine of Seyyed Mohammad in Balad, north of Baghdad, yesterday, in which many innocent people were killed or wounded.
  • He said that it is clear the attack on the shrine aims to spark sectarian tensions and drag Iraq back to the dark days of sectarian conflict. He added that with the people’s awareness and unity, the terrorists’ goals will not be achieved.
  • Mr. Kubiš also expressed pain and shock at the staggering death toll from the 3 July Da’esh suicide bombing in Baghdad’s Karada neighbourhood. The UN Mission in Iraq has a press release with more details.

 

U.N. PEACEKEEPING CHIEF SAYS RECENT DEVELOPMENTS RISK REVERSING POSITIVE TRENDS IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

  • The Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, briefed the Security Council this morning on the Central African Republic.
  • He said that recent developments on the ground since the finalization of the Secretary-General’s special report risk reversing the positive trends that have prevailed since the completion of the transition.
  • Mr. Ladsous also stressed that MINUSCA cannot act alone in support of the Government’s efforts, and cannot replace the leadership of the national authorities.
  • He said that the country needed a real commitment by the national authorities to inclusive and transparent governance and to addressing the root causes of the crisis, as well as continued international support.

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: THOUSANDS FLEE RENEWED TENSION

  • The UN Refugee Agency says today that thousands of people from the Central African Republic (CAR) have crossed the border into Chad and Cameroon to escape renewed tension and fighting since mid-June.
  • UNHCR staff in southern Chad have helped the Government’s national refugee commission register more than 5,000 CAR refugees in the villages of Sourouh and Mini.
  • A further 555 refugees have crossed to Yamba village in eastern Cameroon.
  • Before the new influx, UNHCR and its partners were providing protection and assistance to over 67,000 CAR refugees in southern Chad and some 260,000 in Cameroon.
  • There are also 415,000 internally displaced people within CAR.
  • UNHCR has so far only 11 per cent of the funding needed for its CAR operations.

 

RESURGENCE OF VIOLENCE IN SOUTH SUDAN ON EVE OF FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE

  • The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) condemns in the strongest terms the resurgence of violence in the country.
  • The Mission also deplores the indiscriminate shooting attack on a senior United Nations agency official that took place yesterday evening in the Tomping area of Juba.
  • Such an act constitutes a grave violation of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the Government of South Sudan and the United Nations, and the Mission calls on the authorities to investigate this incident and bring the perpetrators to account.
  • The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for its part stresses that nearly one in four of South Sudan’s citizens is displaced within its borders or in neighbouring countries, affecting some 2.6 million people against a population that stood at 11.3 million in 2013. A large majority are children.

 

CENTRAL AMERICAN COUNTRIES AGREE ON NEW MEASURES FOR ASYLUM-SEEKERS AND REFUGEES

  • Yesterday in Costa Rica, the San José conference on forced displacement in Central America concluded its work.
  • The participants, who hailed from Government, international organizations and civil society, agreed on a number of responses, including on the reception of asylum-seekers and refugees, opportunities for self-reliance and local integration, and enhanced regional cooperation.
  • The number of people fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras has surged to levels not seen since armed conflicts wracked the region in the 1980s.
  • In 2015, asylum-seekers from this region topped nearly 110,000 – a more than five-fold increase over three years – with most of them seeking safety in Mexico and the United States, as well as Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.

 

$2 MILLION FROM THE PEACEBUILDING FUND TO SOMALIA

  • The UN Peacebuilding Fund started sending $2 million to the National Window of the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Somalia, from which the funds will flow to the Central Bank of Somalia.
  • Peter de Clercq, UN Resident Coordinator for Somalia, said that this marks a milestone in our efforts to strengthen national systems and provide the Federal Government of Somalia with the means to bolster its legitimacy with its citizens. 

 

Secretary-General

Schedule

Resources