HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
BAN KI-MOON TO TRAVEL TO
WASHINGTON, D.C. TOMORROW
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be traveling tomorrow
to Washington, D.C., where he will meet with CEOs dealing with climate change
issues at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Later in the day, he will be the keynote speaker at an
event organized by the National Association of Evangelicals, in an effort to
reach out to business and religious groups on climate change and the
importance of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
On Friday, he will meet members of the Peace Corps before
returning to headquarters.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS MYANMAR THIS
AFTERNOON
At 3 p.m., Security Council members are
scheduled to hold consultations to discuss a draft Presidential Statement on
Myanmar.
The Security Council
today received, in consultations, an update on the situation in Haiti from the
Secretary-General’s Special Representative to that country, Hédi Annabi. The
Council also heard from the chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee,
Ambassador Ricardo Arias of Panama.
After consultations yesterday,
the Council President, Ambassador Leslie Kojo Christian of Ghana, read out a
press statement on Nepal, in which he said that Council members expressed
their disappointment at the news of the delay to Nepal's Constituent Assembly
elections.
U.N.
ENVOY LIKELY TO RETURN TO MYANMAR BEFORE NOVEMBER
Asked whether the
Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, would travel back to
Myanmar sooner than November, the Spokeswoman said that he would most probably
go back to that country earlier, although he would first travel to other
countries in the region. No date has been set yet for his next visit to
Myanmar.
Asked what Gambari was trying
to achieve in Myanmar, Montas said that he had stated his goals clearly in his
briefing
to the Security Council last Friday.
Asked whether the Special
Adviser was strengthening the government of Myanmar by shuttling between
Senior General Than Shwe and Aung San Suu Kyi, the Spokeswoman said that
Gambari's clearly stated intentions were to protect the rights of the people
of Myanmar and to help achieve genuine national reconciliation.
Asked whether the
Secretary-General is frustrated that Security Council members have not yet
agreed on a Presidential Statement on Myanmar, Montas said that is a matter
for the members of the Security Council.
BAN
KI-MOON APPEALS TO ALL PARTIES TO RECOMMIT
TO PEACE RESOLUTION OF DARFUR CONFLICT
In the Secretary-General’s
progress
report on the deployment of the AU-UN hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID),
he says that the implementation timeline for the operation is being delayed
owing to the challenges encountered in efforts to obtain land for the
construction of the UNAMID offices and accommodations in
Darfur, as well as delays in obtaining feedback regarding the list of
troop-contributing countries submitted to the Government of Sudan.
Regarding the continuing
violence in Darfur, the Secretary-General said that the ongoing loss of life
and displacement of civilians is unacceptable and is not contributing to an
atmosphere conducive to the upcoming peace talks in Libya.
He reiterates his appeal to all
parties to recommit themselves in good faith, as a matter of the highest
priority, to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and to observe an immediate
cessation of hostilities.
While outlining the ongoing
preparations for the peace talks, the Secretary-General says that the
fragmentation and lack of unity among the movements continue to be a cause of
concern. He said it is paramount that the parties now show seriousness and
commitment and enter the negotiation process well prepared and in earnest so
as to reach a final negotiated settlement to the conflict as soon as possible.
For UNAMID to deploy and be
effective, for a cease-fire to take place and hold, and for the political
negotiations to begin and bear fruit, all must play their respective parts,
the Secretary-General concludes.
Regarding the preparations for
the Libya negotiations, UN Special Envoy Jan Eliasson, who is in Khartoum
today,
met with Presidential Advisor and Chief Negotiator Nafie Ali Nafie. He
also chaired a high-level meeting with senior representatives of the regional
partners, including Libyan Minister for African Affairs Ali Triki, to finalize
preparations for the negotiations.
ATTACK LEAVES SOUTH DARFUR TOWN
COMPLETELY DESERTED
The UN Mission in Sudan
provided further details of the recent attack that took place in and around
the town of Muhajariya in South Darfur.
The mission reports that an
estimated 6,000 villagers and displaced persons fled to the north of the town,
seeking refuge around an African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) group site.
Other residents reportedly fled
to neighboring villages and the surrounding areas, leaving the town, which
previously had a population estimated at 20,000 inhabitants, completely
deserted.
A large number of houses in
Muhajariya have been burnt to the ground, as well as several shops in the
market.
CÔTE
D’IVOIRE: SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES CONCERN
ABOUT DELAY IN IMPLEMENTING PEACE AGREEMENT
In the Secretary-General’s
latest report
on Côte d’Ivoire, he says that the security situation has been calm since the
signing of the Ouagadougou peace agreement in March 2007. Security continues
to improve, despite a June attack on an aircraft carrying Prime Minister
Guillaume Soro.
The political atmosphere has
also improved somewhat, but delays in implementing the peace agreement are
serious causes for concern. Difficulties in unifying the army have delayed the
disarmament programme and the redeployment of State administration throughout
the country. This, in turn, has placed serious strains on preparations for
general elections, including a nationwide identification scheme.
Among the report’s
recommendations, the Secretary-General appeals to the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) to work closely with the UN Operation in Côte
d’Ivoire (ONUCI)
in realizing the Ouagadougou Agreement. He also recommends that current UN
troop levels be maintained.
U.N.
NEPAL ENVOY STRESSES IMPORTANCE
OF CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
In reaction to the postponement
of the elections in Nepal, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative
there, Ian Martin, stressed today the importance of political parties
maintaining their alliance, and going forward to agree on how to sustain the
peace process and its implementation, and to create the conditions for the
Constituent Assembly election.
Martin also condemned the
assassination of a local official yesterday, highlighting frustrations by all
communities across Nepal, on the poor state of public security.
He also said that without
greater cooperation among the parties and civil society at the local level,
the risk of communal tension and violence remains considerable.
The Secretary-General’s latest
report on Nepal will be issued next week, and Mr. Martin will be in New York
the following week to brief the Security Council.
Asked what the United Nations
can do to deal with problems regarding Nepal, the Spokeswoman noted that
Assistant Secretary-General for Political
Affairs Angela Kane on Tuesday
briefed the Security Council on what the United Nations could do better there.
She added that the Secretary-General’s next report on Nepal would come out
shortly.
SECRETARY-GENERAL
MEETS WITH HEAD OF NEW GUATEMALA
IMPUNITY COMMISSION
The Secretary-General received a visit yesterday
afternoon from Carlos Castresana Fernández, whom the Secretary-General
appointed recently to head the International Commission against Impunity in
Guatemala (known by its Spanish initials as CICIG).
The Secretary-General expressed his full support for the
work of the Commission and thanked Mr. Castresana for accepting the
assignment. The Commission is still in the preparatory phase, and Mr.
Castresana said he expects it will begin operations in Guatemala by the
beginning of January.
PREVENTION OF MASS ATROCITIES AMONG
U.N.’S “MOST SACRED CALLINGS”
The United
Nations University and the
International Crisis Group are today holding an all-day event at UN
Headquarters on preventing genocide. The goal is to explore the work of mass
atrocity prevention across the UN system, with a particular focus on the
Office of the Special Representative for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass
Atrocities.
In a
message to the
event, the Secretary-General says preventing mass atrocities is among the UN’s
and international community’s most sacred callings. Regrettably, however, it
is a duty we have not always carried out well, he adds. The killing fields of
Rwanda, Cambodia and the Balkans stand silent witness to the brutality that
passed unchecked by an international system lacking both the will and the
vision to act. The Secretary-General concludes that we can and must do better.
SECRETARY-GENERAL
URGES SCALING UP OF RESOURCES
FOR MENTAL HEALTH CARE
Today is World Mental Health Day. In a
message
to mark the occasion, the Secretary-General says that resources for mental
health are scarce and that the proportion of those who need, but do not
receive, care is more than 60 per cent.
He adds that fear of stigma leads many
to avoid seeking care and that the consequences are enormous in terms of
disability, human suffering, and economic loss.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
U.N. KOSOVO MISSION COMPOUND
PARTIALLY EVACUATED: Asked about an evacuation at
the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the
Spokeswoman confirmed that there was a partial evacuation of the UNMIK compound
today, following the discovery of a device underneath a UN police car during a
routine sweep. It is not known at this time exactly what the device was, but
UNMIK says that all staff members are fine. The NATO Kosovo police Force is
currently investigating the incident, Montas said
DATE ON SECRETARY-GENERAL PORTRAIT TO
BE UPDATED AT END OF HIS MANDATE: The Spokeswoman,
in response to a question concerning a portrait of Ban Ki-moon that had been
given by Iran, noted that the Iranians had chosen not to include an end date for
Ban Ki-moon’s term as Secretary-General, since his mandate has not yet ended.
***The guest at the noon briefing was
Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC), to launch the latest UNODC survey
on opium cultivation in South East Asia (Lao People’s
Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Thailand)
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
