HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 31 MARCH 2017
 
SECRETARY-GENERAL VOICES DISAPPOINTMENT, ALARM OVER ISRAEL’S ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW SETTLEMENT

• In a statement, the Secretary-General took notice with disappointment and alarm of the decision by Israel to build a new settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory.
• The Secretary-General has consistently stressed that there is no Plan B for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace and security. He condemns all unilateral actions that, like the present one, threaten peace and undermine the two-state solution.
• Settlement activities are illegal under international law and present an obstacle to peace. 

IN IRAQ, SECRETARY-GENERAL APPEALS FOR GLOBAL SUPPORT FOR VICTIMS OF DAESH VIOLENCE

• The Secretary-General is on his way back to New York, after he visited the Hassan Sham camp in northern Iraq earlier today.  The camps is home to about 13,000 people from the Mosul area who had been forced to flee since the fight to recapture Daesh territory started last fall.
• During the visit, the Secretary-General was able to meet with families and visit a project to counter violence against women, as well as a school. Camp residents told him of the harsh and oppressive reality of living in areas under Daesh control, where basic services and food were extremely scarce. The women explained to the Secretary-General that the situation was trying for them. Many of them had escaped the area by walking miles and miles to safety.
• At the camp, the Secretary-General spoke to the press and appealed for greater support from the international community for people who had suffered, first from having lived under Daesh and now from being displaced. “Our resources are limited compared to the tragedy these people have lived,” he told journalists.  The Secretary-General also appealed for more support for the reconciliation efforts at the community and national levels that will be needed once the liberation of Mosul has been completed.
• Just before leaving Erbil for the camp, the Secretary-General met with a delegation of Yazidi elders who asked for support for their community.  The Secretary-General told them that he had personally raised many of their concerns during his meetings with the Prime Minister of Iraq and the Kurdish Regional President on Thursday.  He instructed the UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) to remain in close contact with the community to ensure that there is sufficient support for those Yazidis who had escaped Daesh control, especially women and girls. He also reiterated his call for accountability for crimes committed against the Yazidis and other communities.

U.N., PARTNERS DELIVER AID TO BESIEGED AREAS OF SYRIA’S DAMASCUS, HOMS

• Yesterday, an inter-agency humanitarian convoy delivered food and emergency items to 6,000 people, comprising Syrians and Palestine refugees, in besieged Khan Elshih, Rural Damascus. The last inter-agency convoy to the area was on 16 December 2016.
• A UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy also delivered multi-sectoral assistance for 107,500 people in need in Rastan in Homs. The last inter-agency convoy to the hard-to-reach area was on 12 February 2017.
• The UN continues to call for safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to close to five million Syrians in besieged and hard-to-reach locations across throughout the country.

U.N. MISSION REPORTS TENSIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

• The UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) continues to report tensions in and around Bakouma in Mbomou prefecture. The Mission yesterday thwarted an attempt by a group of some 40 suspected Lord’s Resistance Army elements to stop a UN logistics convoy travelling to Rafai. Peacekeepers fired warning shots, forcing the armed elements to flee.
• MINUSCA also reports tensions between armed groups in Totoyo, some 65 km west of Bouar, in Nana-Mambéré prefecture, which has caused civilians to flee to neighbouring villages. The Mission is maintaining a presence in the area to monitor the situation and protect civilians.
• Meanwhile, the Mission updates that the seven remaining anti-Balaka who were detained by peacekeepers during attacks in the Gobolo neighbourhood in Bria, Haute-Kotto prefecture, last week have been transferred to local authorities in Bangui.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES VENEZUELA TO MAINTAIN SEPARATION OF POWERS

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights today expressed his grave concern over the ruling by Venezuela’s Supreme Court to take over the legislative powers of the National Assembly.
• Urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its decisions, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein stressed that the separation of powers is essential for democracy to function and that keeping open democratic spaces is essential to ensure that human rights are protected.
• He also noted the regional engagement by the Organization of American States (OAS) on the situation in Venezuela, and urged all OAS member states to ensure human rights concerns are taken into consideration during their deliberations.

U.S. REMAINS PARTY TO PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE PACT – SENIOR U.N. OFFICIAL

• The head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) today took note of recent announcements by the United States administration regarding energy and the environment.
• Patricia Espinosa said that it is important to note that the precise impact on global climate action linked with these announcements remains unclear at this juncture and perhaps will only become clear over time.
• She said that she has made it clear from the outset that, following the change in the US administration, the UNFCCC Secretariat works with all Parties to advance climate action and take forward the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
• She noted that the new US administration is and remains a Party to the landmark Paris Climate Change Agreement, and that UNFCCC looks forward to welcoming and working with its delegations to the sessions planned for 2017.

SECURITY COUNCIL PASSES RESOLUTION ON U.N. PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

• The Security Council today held a formal meeting and voted to pass a resolution on the mandate of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
• Today is also the last day of the UK Presidency of the Security Council, with the United States becoming Council President tomorrow.