HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2016
 

SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES SADNESS OVER PASSING OF “DEAR FRIEND” AMBASSADOR JOSEPH VERNER REED

• The Secretary-General has expressed his profound sadness at the passing of Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, who he called an outstanding supporter of the United Nations.
• Ambassador Reed’s long and distinguished service to the UN encompassed four Secretaries-General and many roles, complementing a career in the private sector and the United States Foreign Service.
• The Secretary-General said Ambassador Reed was one-of-a-kind; a skilled diplomat, a global citizen, an art lover and a dear friend. 

• There are continued reports of ongoing aerial bombardment on eastern Aleppo city in Syria, as well as other areas in the Governorate, resulting in civilian casualties and severely damaging civilian infrastructure, including water networks, medical facilities and bakeries.
• The United Nations has called for a cessation of hostilities, to put an end to the indiscriminate bombing and shelling to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, and to enable urgent humanitarian life-saving assistance.
• At a minimum, weekly 48-hour humanitarian pauses are needed to allow humanitarian aid to enter, to allow for medical evacuations and to take those in critical condition out and provide civilians respite from the barrage of bombs and attacks.
• The UN and our partners have been ready, and remain ready, as soon as conditions allow, to deliver assistance to eastern Aleppo through cross-border and cross-line support.  Eastern Aleppo and its estimated population of 275,000 people is now declared as besieged.

• The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, is expected to visit Djibouti and Yemen from 1- 4 October.
• In Djibouti, the Emergency Relief Coordinator is scheduled to meet with key officials and visit local communities supported by humanitarian assistance.
• And in Yemen, where he will be from 2-4 October, Mr. O'Brien will meet officials in Sana'a and see first-hand the situation of internally displaced families and others who urgently need humanitarian aid.
• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will give you any information regarding media opportunities during the visit.

• Women and men from the Government of Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army, the FARC-EP, and international observers from the UN Mission in the country have started working together at the joint bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities Monitoring and Verification Mechanism Headquarters in Bogota.
• On Monday, representatives of the Government, the FARC-EP and the UN Mission begin joint activities in the first five of eight regional offices. They are also planning and coordinating logistics for regional offices and zones where the separation of forces will take place.
• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, wrapped up a six-day visit to Colombia yesterday, during which he witnessed the signing of the Peace Agreements. He described it as a deeply moving experience.
• The High Commissioner said that he would pay close attention to the fulfilment of the guarantees for the protection of members of the FARC from physical violence and stigmatization. Similarly, he said he would not hesitate to speak out or intervene if elements of the FARC fail to carry out their commitments.
• The Government and the FARC, and everyone involved in this process, must now raise our game, Zeid said, stressing that we simply cannot afford to let things slip and disillusion set in.

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in South Sudan has said they are increasingly concerned for the safety and well-being of some 100,000 people trapped in Yei, South Sudan, about 150 kilometres south-west of the capital Juba.
• Over 30,000 people have reportedly been displaced in the area following attacks on civilians and looting earlier this month.
• They joined several thousand others displaced from nearby Lainya County since mid-July, and up to 60,000 town residents who remain in the town with no means to leave and who are now in as much need as those who have been displaced by the conflict.

• UNHCR has also expressed concern that restrictions on the movement of people in eastern Ukraine have led to increased hardships and limited the access of thousands of people to heathcare and social payments.
• The Agency called on authorities to ease the plight of 26,000 people crossing the dividing line between government- controlled and non-government-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine
• The agency said that these people face exhausting procedures, including having to wait long hours in line to cross to see their relatives, purchase goods and medicines or resolve documentation issues in order to get their pensions and benefits.