SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS
The Secretary-General is appointing Stephanie Williams of the United States as his Special Adviser on Libya. She will lead good offices and mediation efforts and engagements with Libyan regional and international stakeholders to pursue implementation of the three intra-Libyan dialogue tracks – that’s the political, security and the economic - and as well as support the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya.
Ms. Williams as you know has extensive experience in diplomacy and foreign security policy, and of course in Libya.
The Secretary-General is also appointing Beysolow Nyanti of Liberia as his new Deputy Special Representative in the UN Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS, and Resident Coordinator in South Sudan. Ms. Nyanti will also serve as the Humanitarian Coordinator.
Ms. Nyanti succeeds Alain Noudéhou of Benin to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his leadership and dedicated commitment to the people of South Sudan.
The Secretary-General also appointed George William Okoth-Obbo of Uganda as his Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect. Mr. Okoth-Obbo will succeed Karen Smith of South Africa, to whom the Secretary-General is deeply grateful.
Mr. Okoth-Obbo is currently Assistant Secretary-General and Secretary and Head of the Secretariat of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement.
He has had a United Nations career spanning more than thirty years, and he has served as Assistant High Commissioner for Operations at the UN Refugee Agency, among many other positions.
MYANMAR/AUNG SAN SUU KYI
I’ve been asked for our reaction to the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, and I’m sure you will have seen the statement made by the High Commissioner for Human Rights Bachelet condemning that verdict.
For his part, the Secretary-General reiterates his condemnation of the military takeover on 1 February and repeats the call for an immediate end to the violence and repression, for the respect for human rights, and for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Myanmar.
As you know, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the principles of equality before the law, the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, and all of the guarantees necessary for a person’s defense.
MYANMAR
The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms yesterday’s killing and injuring of a number of unarmed civilians by security forces in Yangon, when a vehicle rammed into protestors who were then fired upon with live ammunition.
The killing of peaceful demonstrators violates the fundamental human rights, freedom of expression, and the right of peaceful assembly, and is in clear defiance of calls by the Security Council for restraint and dialogue. The violence against civilians must stop and the perpetrators held accountable.
To date, more than 1,300 women, children and men have lost their lives in Myanmar since the takeover of the government by the military 1 February.
We reiterate our call for the military to refrain from violence and repression, and for a return to Myanmar’s democratic path.
Also expressing deep concern over yesterday’s attack on unarmed civilians was the acting Resident Coordinator in Myanmar, Ramanathan Balakrishnan.
He stressed in a statement that the freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and the actions by security forces are completely unacceptable.
AFGHANISTAN
Our humanitarian colleagues report that provision of winterization assistance continues across the country. Last week, more than 81,000 people received winterization assistance in Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan provinces. Some 284,500 people received relief food assistance, and about 46,000 people in Paktya and Kabul provinces people were reached with cash assistance.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization provided essential medicine items in the Nangarhar Province. And yesterday, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN Refugee Agency undertook a road mission to visit a distribution site and assess additional needs, including health, water and sanitation and hygiene services.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Securoty Council members heard from Bintou Keita, the head of the Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Secretary-General’s special representative there.
She began her briefing by noting the ongoing military operations by Ugandan and Congolese forces against the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces). She emphasized the Mission’s advocacy to put in place cooperation mechanisms, in the context of these operations, to ensure the security of UN peacekeepers and of course also civilians.
Turning to the illegal exploitation of natural resources, which she described as a major driver of conflict in the country, Ms. Keita said she is encouraged by the Government’s efforts to reform the mining sector.
As the country looks ahead to elections next year, Ms. Keita urged all political stakeholders to focus on taking forward the key reforms needed to consolidate the hard-won stabilization gains achieved so far and to overcome continuing challenges, particularly in the eastern part of the DRC.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
In the neighbouring Central African Republic, our UN peacekeepers are continuing to patrol the town of Kouango, in the country’s south. Following violence there last week by combatants associated with the UPC armed group, close to 1,500 people have sought refuge around the UN temporary base.
On Thursday, while Kouango was under attack, the Mission deployed helicopter reinforcements to help peacekeepers already on location. This intervention, as well as UN support to the Central African army, forced the combatants to flee.
The Mission condemns the attack and calls on the UPC - and all armed groups - to immediately end violence and to respect the ceasefire, as well as their commitments under the Peace Agreement.
MALI
You will have seen we issued a statement yesterday on Mali, in which the Secretary-General condemned the attack perpetrated against civilians on Friday afternoon, near the village of Songho, in central Mali. Reportedly 30 civilians were killed and several wounded and we dispatched peacekeepers to the area.
PEACEKEEPING MINISTERIAL
A senior UN delegation has arrived in Seoul, ahead of the 2021 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting, which begins tomorrow. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Atul Khare and Catherine Pollard, respectively the heads of Peace Operations, the Deparment Operational Support, as well as the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, will all three take part in this two-day event, hosted virtually by the Republic of Korea. More than 100 Member States and intergovernmental organizations are expected to reaffirm their support to UN Peacekeeping and pledge resources to strengthen peacekeeping.
This year, Member States have been asked to close capability gaps in peacekeeping through concrete pledges that align with the Action for Peacekeeping and priorities, the strategy to strengthen peacekeepers’ work on the ground.
For those of you who are early risers, the event will be broadcast live on UN Web TV starting at 5:30am tomorrow morning.
BOTSWANA/COVID-19
A quick COVID update from Botswana. With cases of the Omicron variant detected in the country, the UN team there, led by Resident Coordinator Zia Choudhury, is increasing its support for the Government’s COVID-19 response.
We are helping to enhance Botswana’s capacity to diagnose and treat the virus by providing medical and protective equipment.
UNICEF is providing risk communication support on health and safety measures, increasing access to education, and providing medical and nutrition support for vulnerable children.
Of the nearly two million vaccine doses delivered to Botswana, more than 700,000 came through COVAX. Botswana has achieved the World Health Organization’s target of vaccinating 40 per cent of the population by this month.
As of November 29th, 75 per cent of the people in the country have received at least one dose, while 68 per cent are fully vaccinated.
MIDDLE EAST
In a statement we issued over the weekend, the Secretary-General welcomed the successful conclusion of the Second Session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction. That session ended on Friday.
He congratulated the participating States of the Conference on their constructive engagement and the decision to establish a working committee to continue deliberations during the intersessional period.
SAMPAIO
This afternoon, the Secretary-General will speak at the General Assembly session to honour the late High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Jorge Sampaio.
The Secretary-General will say that Portugal lost an extraordinary leader, one of the country’s best. And he will mention the work that Mr. Sampaio did in the Alliance of Civilizations to promote preventive diplomacy and build bridges of dialogue and understanding between cultures and religions.
PRESS ENCOUNTER TODAY
At 2.45 p.m. this afternoon, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway will brief you at the Security Council Stakeout ahead of the Council’s Arria Formula meeting on the Protection of Education in Conflict.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
The Seychelles has paid up its budget dues in full taking us up to 139 fully paid Member States.
