HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 27 JANUARY 2017
MARKING INTERNATIONAL DAY COMMEMORATING HOLOCAUST VICTIMS, SECRETARY-GENERAL WARNS OF RETURN OF IRRATIONALITY, INTOLERANCE
- The Secretary-General spoke today at the ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, and he said that it would be a dangerous error to think of the Holocaust as simply the result of the insanity of a group of criminal Nazis. On the contrary, he said, the Holocaust was the culmination of millennia of hatred and discrimination targeting the Jews – what we now call anti-Semitism.
- History keeps moving forward, he added, but anti-Semitism keeps coming back. Anti-Semitism is alive and kicking. Irrationality and intolerance are back. We still see Holocaust denial, despite the facts. There is also a new trend of Holocaust revisionism, with the rewriting of history and even the honouring of disgraced officials from those days. And he warned that hate speech and anti-Semitic imagery are proliferating across the Internet and social media.
- The Secretary-General said that today we see anti-Semitism, along with racism, xenophobia, anti-Muslim hatred and other forms of intolerance, triggered by populism. He is extremely concerned at the discrimination faced by minorities, refugees and migrants across the world, and he added that he finds the stereotyping of Muslims deeply troubling. A “new normal” of public discourse is taking hold, in which prejudice is given a free pass and the door is opened to even more extreme hatred.
U.N. ENVOY TELLS SECURITY COUNCIL THAT SOMALIA’S PRESIDENTIAL POLLS MUST TAKE PLACE ON TIME
- This morning, the Security Council was also briefed by the Special Representative for Somalia, Michael Keating, who noted that the meeting was coming at an auspicious time following an extended and exhaustive parliamentary electoral process and just 12 days before the Presidential election.
- Mr. Keating said that an immediate priority was to ensure that the presidential vote took place on the agreed date, despite Al Shabab’s attempts to discredit and disrupt the election process, including carrying out a number of terrorist attacks this past week that left dozens dead.
- He also stressed that it was also essential that the last stage of the electoral process is conducted transparently and according to the agreed rules, which were designed to ensure a free and fair election.
U.N. MISSION REPORTS SHELLING IN SOUTH SUDAN’S MALAKAL
- The UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reports that intermittent shelling could be heard this afternoon in Malakal in Upper Nile from the Ditang area towards the north of the town, close to the UN base.
- This follows reports of heavy fighting on Wednesday between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and opposition forces in Ditang, Lelo, Artakong and Burkiny.
- Yesterday, the UN Mission reported that Malakal town was deserted, with SPLA soldiers in the area reportedly on high alert.
- The Mission reiterates it call on all parties to immediately cease hostilities and fully implement the peace agreement.
U.N. AGENCY SOUNDS ALARM AT MASS DEATHS OF RARE MONGOLIAN ANTELOPE
- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is warning of the mass die-off of a rare Mongolian antelope.
- Some 900 Saiga antelopes, almost 10 per cent of the sub-species' population, have been found dead in Mongolia's western Khovd province.
- Samples taken from carcasses indicated the animals were positive for Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), a highly fatal viral disease with plague-like impact on domestic sheep and goat herds, killing up to 90 percent of infected animals.
- The FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are leading a multinational effort to eradicate the disease by 2030.
- First identified in Côte d'Ivoire in the 1940s, the plague is now threatening over 75 countries.
U.N.-BACKED YOUTH FORUM TO SPOTLIGHT IMPORTANCE OF ERADICATING POVERTY, PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
- The two-day ECOSOC Youth Forum will start next Monday and will focus on the role of youth in poverty eradication and in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
- The annual event is a critical global platform where youth ministers and other government leaders, youth delegates, representatives from civil society and youth-focused organizations can contribute to discussions on issues affecting young people, including youth employment and empowerment, gender equality and climate change.
NUMBER OF U.N. MEMBER STATES HAVING PAID 2017 DUES REACHES 22
- Estonia, Finland and Switzerland have paid their regular UN budget dues in full, bringing the number of Member States which have done so to 22.
