HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

THURSDAY, 11 AUGUST 2016

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO VISIT HIS “AMERICAN MOTHER” IN SAN FRANCISCO

• The Secretary-General will be leaving for San Francisco this morning from Los Angeles. In San Francisco, he will have a meeting with Governor Jerry Brown of California to thank him for his and his state’s support for the fight against climate change.
• He will also visit the person he calls his “American mother”, Libba Patterson. Ms. Patterson, who is now 99, and her family hosted a young Ban Ki-moon in 1962 when he was in the US as part of a Red Cross-sponsored programme.
• The Secretary-General had a series of events yesterday in Los Angeles. He participated in an event recently resettled refugees from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East at an event co-sponsored by the International Rescue Committee, the Annenberg Foundation and the UN Foundation.
• In his discussions with the refugee families, the Secretary-General said the UN would be there for them as it had been there for him when he was a displaced young boy in war-torn Korea. And in a message to communities that had seen recent influx of refugees, the Secretary-General said that these newly arrived families needed to be welcomed, embraced and integrated into their new communities.
• The Secretary-General also participated in a public discussion with Congressman Ed Royce of California, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He thanked the Congressman for his leadership on a wide-range of global issues. During a bilateral meeting, they had an opportunity to discuss the situation is South Sudan, Myanmar and the Korean peninsula.
• He also participated in two events with the creative community yesterday, in which he talked to attendees about how he strongly believed in the ability of the industry to be a power for social good.

NO MILITARY SOLUTION POSSIBLE IN SYRIA: U.N. ENVOY

• The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, spoke to reporters in Geneva today and said that the fighting in Aleppo right now shows that no military solution is possible in Aleppo or elsewhere in Syria.
• He said that discussions have been continuing in Geneva with US and Russian officials on how to obtain a workable humanitarian pause in Aleppo, and he expects those talks to continue tomorrow.
• Mr. de Mistura and his Special Adviser, Jan Egeland, both underscored that a three-hour pause is not enough for humanitarian workers.  They have reiterated the UN’s request for a 48-hour pause so that humanitarian convoys can effectively go into Aleppo and provide aid. 

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF CRITICIZES BULGARIA’S MIGRATION SYSTEM

• The UN High Commissioner for Human rights today criticized what he said was Bulgaria’s system of automatically jailing migrants attempting to enter   -- and attempting to leave -- the country in an irregular manner.
• The High Commissioner, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, speaking after a staff visit to Bulgaria, praised improvements in the country’s asylum systems, including upgraded facilities, and better treatment of children.
• But, he said, “…one of the most serious problems is that virtually all people entering Bulgaria in an irregular manner are detained as a matter of course.”
• Mr. Zeid said, “Even worse, they may also be prosecuted and jailed - for a year or even more - if they try to leave the country.”
• “The act of leaving the country is criminalized in spite of the right of everyone, under international law, to leave a country, including their own,” he said.

 U.N. TO HELP IRAQ FIGHT CORRUPTION

• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Iraq signed an agreement in Baghdad today to help the Government to detect, investigate and prosecute corruption.
• The agency said, “… with Da’esh nearly defeated, strengthening governance is a top priority.”
•  The Development Programme said it will recruit international investigators to help m train Iraqi investigators.

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON SOUTH SUDAN

• This morning, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, briefed the Security Council in closed consultations via videoconference.