HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

THURSDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2017
 

SECRETARY-GENERAL IN GERMANY FOR G20 SUMMIT

• The Secretary-General has arrived in Germany, where in Bonn, he took part in a G20 session on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• Before heading to Germany, the Secretary-General met with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit. They talked about increased cooperation between the two organizations, as well as pressing regional issues.

• Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council this morning, and told Council members that we must never allow the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to drift into the abyss of the extremism and radicalism sweeping the region.
• Mr. Mladenov said that Palestinians, Israelis and the international community have a duty to act responsibly, avoid escalating tensions, refrain from unilateral actions and work together to uphold peace.  Sadly, today, unilateral actions are returning the parties to a high-stakes collision course.
• He noted that on 6 February, the Israeli Parliament adopted the so-called “Regularisation Law” which enables the use of privately-owned Palestinian land for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank without the owners’ consent. If the law stays in place, he warned, it will have far-reaching consequences for Israel, while seriously undermining prospects for the two-state solution and for Arab-Israeli peace.
• He added that he continues to be concerned by the daily violence. So-called “lone wolf” attacks against Israeli civilians, though greatly reduced as compared to 2016, continue.
• Mr. Mladenov asserted that the two-state solution remains the only way to achieve the legitimate national aspirations of both peoples, as the Quartet and Security Council have recognised.

• The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, met in Moscow today with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov. They discussed the ongoing meeting in Astana and how best it can contribute to the preparations for the Geneva round of negotiations scheduled for next week. Other issues, such as humanitarian access and UN-Russia cooperation, were also discussed. The meetings were useful and productive.
• A five-member UN delegation is in Astana to lend its expertise in discussions on the consolidation of the ceasefire regime and related issues.

• Following the temporary suspension of UN missions into eastern Mosul earlier this week for security reasons, a new security risk assessment was undertaken and the suspension has now been lifted.
• Missions can resume again on Sunday. Despite the temporary suspension of UN missions, aid operations were not suspended, and many partners continued to deliver humanitarian programmes and assistance in eastern Mosul.
• Meanwhile, humanitarian partners in health are responding to an acute shortage of medical supplies in the newly accessible areas of Mosul by delivering medicines and other medical supplies to 16 primary health centres, one hospital and the Directorate of Health of Ninewa Governorate. These supplies will support treatment of patients with infectious diseases, chronic conditions, diarrheal diseases and trauma cases.

• The head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer, today sounded the alarm over the lack of information on the situation of some 20,000 internally displaced people on the west bank of the Nile in the north of the country.
• The UN Mission believes that the 20,000 people have fled Wau Shilluk to Kodok. Fighting between government and opposition forces has expanded geographically across the west bank over the past week and shows no signs of abating, forcing more people to flee their homes.
• Today, UN peacekeepers attempted to carry out a foot patrol to Wau Shilluk but were prevented from doing so by government soldiers, which Mr. Shearer has described as “very frustrating”. He said the UN wants to find out what has happened to those people and provide them with assistance, if needed.

• The UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) says that its intervention on 11 February against the heavily-armed column of the FPRC (Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de Centrafrique), consisting of approximately 300 combatants and pick-up trucks, took place in an uninhabited area according to rules of engagement. The aim of the operation was to prevent the group from crossing a "line" that had previously been communicated to the belligerents to prevent a major conflict in Bambari that could have had dramatic consequences for civilians.

• The UN mission reports that its attack helicopter destroyed at least four pick-up trucks. Because the FPRC took care of their casualties after the attack, the Mission is not in a position to ascertain the exact number of casualties.
• Following the attack, the UN Mission has been in touch with the FPRC at all levels to encourage them to stop fighting, stressing the mission’s impartiality and its determination to impose the measures communicated earlier to prevent a confrontation in Bambari.
• The Mission reiterates its resolve to use force to protect civilians in accordance with its mandate and calls on the armed groups to immediately cease hostilities and to resolve any dispute through dialogue.

• The African Union (AU), the UN, the European Union (EU) and the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) have issued a joint statement on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• The four partner Organizations say that they are increasingly concerned by the continuing impasse in the dialogue related to the implementation modalities of the 31 December political agreement.
• They call on all parties in the DRC, including the presidential majority and the opposition, to redouble in good faith their efforts towards a speedy conclusion of the ongoing talks.

• A new report from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine shows that survivors of sexual violence committed in the context of the country’s armed conflict are often denied justice and left without adequate care and counselling.
• The report notes that the country’s justice system lacks the laws, capacity and professional experience to effectively investigate and prosecute allegations of sexual violence, resulting in widespread impunity for perpetrators.
• The majority of the documented cases of conflict-related sexual violence happened when people, both men and women, were detained by either Government forces or armed groups.