HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2016
  
HEAD OF U.N. SOUTH SUDAN MISSION TO RETIRE

• The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Ellen Margrethe Løj has informed the Secretary General that she will be stepping down from her role at the end of November, after over two years of service to UNMISS.
• Ms. Løj was appointed by the Secretary-General in July 2014 and assumed her duties in Juba in September 2014. She had planned to retire at the end of her current contract, which expired at the end of August this year, but chose to remain at the helm of the Mission in the wake of the July crisis until the situation could stabilize. She will continue to lead the Mission until the end of November.
• The Secretary-General is deeply appreciative of her lifetime of service to further the cause of peace and development, especially during her distinguished career with UN Peacekeeping having headed both UNMISS and the UN Mission in Liberia from 2008 to 2012. He is particularly thankful to SRSG Løj for her dedication, commitment and important contributions at the helm of UNMISS during extremely challenging times.

• As earlier announced, the Secretary-General has established an internal and independent United Nations Headquarters Board of Inquiry into the incident that involved a United Nations – Syrian Arab Red Crescent relief operation to Urum al-Kubra (Big Orem), Syria, on 19 September 2016.
• The Board will be led by Lieutenant General Mr. Abhijit Guha and begin its work the week of 24 October 2016. It is to ascertain the facts of the incident and report to the Secretary-General upon the completion of its work.
• The Secretary-General will review the report and decide what further steps to take. He urges all parties concerned to extend their full cooperation to the Board.

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) informs that medical evacuations of sick and injured people could not begin this morning in eastern Aleppo as planned, because the necessary conditions were not in place to ensure safe, secure and voluntary evacuation of sick and critically wounded people and their families.
• The UN and humanitarian partners are present in Aleppo and ready to carry out medical evacuations as soon as conditions allow. We reiterate that the UN is not involved in any way in any proposed evacuation of other civilians from eastern Aleppo.
• Meanwhile, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, condemned the killing of four Palestine refugees on the night of 18 October as they attempted to leave the Khan Eshieh Palestine refugee camp, south of the Syrian capital, Damascus.

• The Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has welcomed the start of the cessation of hostilities that began at midnight on 19 October, and he urges all parties to work to ensure that the terms are fully respected.
• The Special Envoy notes that the Cessation of Hostilities is fragile but largely holding and underscores the improvement of the general security situation in Sana'a and several areas in Yemen, despite the reported cases of violations in other areas like Taiz and the borders with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He urges the sides to show restraint, avoid further escalation, and strictly adhere to the 72-hour ceasefire.
• The Special Envoy is liaising with the parties to agree on an extension for the duration of the Cessation of Hostilities to create a conducive environment for a long lasting peace in the country. He reminds all parties that the terms and conditions for the cessation of hostilities include commitments for the unhindered access for humanitarian supplies and personnel to all parts of Yemen.

• The Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, this morning briefed Member States and key partners ahead of the Donor Conference on the Central African Republic that will take place in Brussels on 17 November. He noted that the country had just emerged out one of the worst crises of its history and can now focus on stabilisation, reconciliation and reconstruction, while addressing the root causes of the conflict. He said that the international community has invested a lot to get there but the task ahead remains daunting. 
• Along with the Central African Government and its partners, Mr. Eliasson said that the UN has assessed the needs for recovery and peace consolidation to produce a National Plan for Recovery and Peacebeuilding, which will be presented at the Donor Conference and will be the basis to raise funds. Mr. Eliasson called on the international community to support the Plan. He said the country is at a turning point. The risk of conflict is high, he noted, but the chances of success are very real if we collectively invest in peace and address the causes and the consequences of the conflict.

• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called for the protection of civilians to be at the forefront of military planning as the Iraqi Government and associated forces attempt to re-take Mosul. He said he was worried about reports that fighters from Da’esh are using civilians as human shields.
• High Commissioner Zeid also stressed that the security screening of civilians leaving areas controlled by Da’esh to ensure they are not Da’esh fighters should be carried out only by lawful authorities such as the Iraqi Security Forces and the Iraqi police.
• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the total number of people displaced by the Mosul fighting stands at 4,140. Since yesterday’s briefing, 550 displaced families returned home as villages around Mosul were secured.
• In the early stages of conflict the number of displaced will fluctuate as frontlines move back and forth. This is a fluid situation, which humanitarian partners continue to monitor closely.
• Humanitarian partners continue to provide assistance to families displaced by the fighting, and are conducting assessments and providing assistance in recaptured areas where security conditions allow.
• Reports of Da’esh preventing civilians from leaving Mosul are extremely worrying, as are continued reports of violence against the civilian population inside the city.

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that today a convoy of over a dozen trucks with shelter and non-food items is being sent to Les Cayes and Jérémie while distributions are ongoing in multiple locations around four affected departments. OCHA notes that 590,000 children are reported to be in need of various types of assistance in four departments in Grand'Anse, South, Nippes, and the northwest. Many people including children have lost their birth certificates, preventing access to basic services including education. Addressing this is a priority for protection partners. 
• The UN Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) continues to support the response to the hurricane. They are facilitating access and security by clearing roads, providing escorts and security for convoys and aid distribution. Yesterday, a mobile UN military hospital was deployed to Beaumont, south of Jérémie, to provide medical assistance in the area.

• The Secretary-General met yesterday with H. E. Mr. Enex Jean-Charles, Prime Minister of Haiti, and H. E. Ms. Delcy Rodriguez, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, to discuss the urgent need to ramp up humanitarian aid to Haiti in the aftermath of hurricane Matthew.  The Secretary-General recalled the heart-breaking scenes of utter devastation he had witnessed in his recent visit to Haiti and his address to the General Assembly on the need to summon more support for the Haitian Government. 
• The Secretary-General and Foreign Minister Rodriguez then discussed Venezuela’s aid to Haiti and the initiative of President Nicolas Maduro to bolster a support package for Haiti.
• They also discussed the forthcoming elections in Haiti. The Secretary-General underscored the importance of fair and democratic elections for a return to constitutional order.

• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today issued a report on the preliminary investigation into human rights violations and violence perpetrated during demonstrations in Kinshasa last month. The report finds that Congolese police, armed forces and the Republican Guard used excessive – including lethal – force during the demonstrations, when at least 53 people were killed over two days, 143 injured and more than 299 unlawfully arrested. The preliminary investigation documented 422 victims of human rights violations, including violations of the right to life, to physical integrity, to the liberty and security of the person, peaceful assembly and expression. The figures do not reflect the full extent of the violations, as the UN teams were denied access to the official records of a number of key locations.
• The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the DRC, Maman Sidikou, urged Congolese authorities to conduct prompt and credible investigations into the violations documented in the report. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, expressed deep concern at the mounting number of very serious human rights violations by State security officers in recent months. He urged the authorities to prioritise justice and accountability for those violations and remedy for the victims, stressing that impunity only serves to fuel an already explosive situation in the country.

• The OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism is in the process of submitting its fourth report to the Security Council through the Secretary-General. The Security Council should receive it today and is expected to consider the report on 27 October.
• The report provides assessments and conclusions on the three pending cases, namely Kafr Zita (18 April 2014), Qmenas (16 March 2015) and Binnish (24 March 2015). It also includes overall comments regarding the assessments of the nine cases the Mechanism had investigated.

• Today the UN designated the character of Wonder Woman as an Honorary Ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls as part of a new campaign to help raise awareness of Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality.
• Speaking at the ceremony, the Under-Secretary-General for Public Information, Cristina Gallach, emphasized that while we have achieved progress towards gender equality, in many parts of the world, women and girls continue to suffer from discrimination and violence.
• She noted that many girls are still denied access to schooling and that equal pay remains an elusive dream for numerous women.
• Ms. Gallach also stressed that the achievement of every single Sustainable Development Goal is totally dependent on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

• The Spokesman confirmed that the United Nations has received a letter from the Government of South Africa concerning its withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and that letter is being processed by the Office of Legal Affairs.
• The Secretary-General deeply regrets the decision of the Government of South Africa. Over the past two decades, the world has made enormous strides towards the development of a global system of international criminal justice, with the ICC as its centrepiece.
• The Secretary-General recalls the significant role played by South Africa in the negotiations to create the ICC and the fact that it was one of the first signatories to the Rome Statute.