HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
Monday,
October 22, 2007
WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY IS TOPIC OF
OPEN DEBATE TOMORROW
Tomorrow, the Security Council is scheduled to hold an
open debate on Women, Peace and Security.
The Council will discuss the implementation of
Resolution 1325, on addressing gender-based violence against women and
including a gender perspective in areas of peace and security.
MYANMAR AGREES TO U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS
RAPPORTEUR VISIT
The Government of Myanmar has confirmed that it has
agreed to the visit by the Secretary-General’s Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights in
Myanmar, Paolo Sergio Pinheiro.
In a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday,
Myanmar’s Foreign Minister suggested that Pinheiro’s visit take place before
the ASEAN Summit meeting, scheduled to open on 17 November.
SECURITY
COUNCIL CONDEMNS BOMBINGS IN PAKISTAN
The Security Council this morning
adopted a
Presidential Statement condemning in the strongest terms the bomb attacks that
took place in Karachi, Pakistan, last Thursday.
The Council underlined the need to bring the
perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of the bombings to justice,
and urged all States to cooperate actively with the Pakistani authorities in
this regard.
SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES COTE D'IVOIRE
The Council then received a briefing in an open meeting
on Côte d'Ivoire by Abou Moussa, the Secretary-General’s Principal Deputy
Special Representative for that country.
He noted the progress in implementing the Ouagadougou
Peace Agreement and the restoration of State authority throughout the country.
The Council followed the open briefing on Côte d'Ivoire
with closed consultations on the same topic.
POLIO IMMUNIZATION DRIVE TO BEGIN THIS
WEEK IN SUDAN
The World Health Organization and UNICEF
announced that they will launch, together with the Sudanese Federal
Ministry of Health, a major polio immunization campaign in all of Sudan this
week and again next month.
According to WHO, a confirmed poliovirus case in Sudan
was found in a 30-month-old boy from South Darfur, with the onset of paralysis
reported last month. The virus has been genetically linked to the virus
circulating in Chad, where six cases were confirmed this year.
Prior to the confirmed poliovirus case, Sudan has been
certified polio-free, with no cases reported since August 2005.
According to WHO, Sudan will implement coordinated and
cross-border outbreak response activities as Chad synchronizes its response in
the next two months, and UNICEF stressed the importance of national support
for these campaigns, and emphasized that every effort must be made to ensure
that all children are fully protected, including a firm commitment from those
involved in the ongoing conflict in Darfur to guarantee safe access and
movement for vaccination teams.
Meanwhile, the UN Mission in Sudan reports that “a large
number” of people were moving away from the Kalma camp housing displaced
persons (IDPs) to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, following a shooting
incident there late last week. The mission says the IDPs fear renewed fighting
and shooting.
ATTEMPTED PIRATE ATTACK OFF SOMALI
COAST IS CONDEMNED
The World Food Programme (WFP)
has condemned an attempted pirate attack off the coast of Somalia, which
occurred yesterday.
The agency says that it received a distress call from a
Somali contractor early yesterday morning when the contractors came under
attack from pirates in 2 speed boats some 60 miles off the Somali port of
Brava, south of Mogadishu.
The ship had just unloaded some 7,000 tons of food and
was sailing back to Mombasa, Kenya.
Though the vessel and its crew escaped unhurt, WFP says
it remains very concerned about piracy off Somalia and appeals to the
international community to help secure the waters off Somalia and protect
humanitarian deliveries. Arrangements are now being made for a French naval
vessel to escort WFP cargos next month.
Meanwhile, discussion continues with the Somali
authorities to obtain the release of the agency’s Officer-in-Charge for
Mogadishu, Idris Osman, who has been detained without charge since Wednesday.
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura also spoke out
about conditions in Somalia by condemning the assassination of Bashir Nor
Gedi, an executive with the private Shabelle Media network who was gunned down
in his home on Friday.
BAN KI-MOON URGES RESTRAINT AFTER
TURKISH PARLIAMENT
DECIDES TO ALLOW CROSS BORDER ACTION IN IRAQ
In a statement
issued last Friday, the Secretary-General’s expressed concern about the
decision by the parliament of Turkey enabling the armed forces to take cross
border military action in Iraq against PKK targets.
While noting that recent attacks by the PKK inside Turkey
have been rightly condemned by the international community, the
Secretary-General strongly urged all sides to demonstrate restraint at this
delicate juncture.
He also called on the Government of Iraq and the
Kurdistan Regional Government to ensure that Iraq's territory is not used to
mount cross border attacks.
U.N. ENVOY WILL MEET WITH
REPRESENTATIVES OF GREECE, FYROM
In a statement issued today by the Secretary-General’s
Personal Envoy for the Greece/FYROM talks, Matthew Nimetz says he will meet
with representatives of the two parties in New York on 1 November.
He hopes that the groundwork can be laid for more
intensive discussions that will find a mutually satisfactory resolution of the
name issue and related matters.
He adds that both parties have indicated a sincere desire
to reach a solution.
A second statement will be issued at the conclusion of
the meeting.
SHORTAGE OF ANESTHETICS IN OCCUPIED
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
says it is very concerned about reports from the Gaza Strip that a shortage of
anesthetics, caused by Israeli import restrictions, has resulted in the
closure of surgery rooms and healthcare centers.
OCHA is also concerned about the inability of people with
emergency conditions to leave the Gaza Strip to obtain medical care elsewhere.
OCHA further notes that closures and restrictions have
resulted in increasing shortages of many basic food items and supplies in
Gaza.
“The economic noose continues to tighten around the necks
of the people of Gaza, who are being manifestly punished as part of a
political strategy,” says Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
John Holmes.
MILITARY STANDOFF CONTINUES IN DR CONGO
According to the UNs Mission in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (MONUC), the
military standoff continues in DR Congo between government and rebel forces.
On Saturday, a UN patrol was obstructed by some 500
internally displaced persons near a cantonment site for recently disarmed
fighters near the town of Rumangabo.
The protesters chanted anti-UN slogans and threw stones
at the patrol and demanded that the peacekeepers take direct military action
against dissident general Laurent Nkunda.
AFGHANISTAN:
INSURGENCY/ MILITARY OPERATIONS FORCE PEOPLE TO FLEE
In Uruzgan
province, the on-going insurgency and military operations have recently
resulted in population displacements. The World Food Programme is assisting
over 1,600 battle-affected families with 190 tonnes of food in the capital
Tirin-kot and in the Dehrawood district.
Meanwhile, more than 100 families who had been internally
displaced in Afghanistan returned to their homes in Balkh province late last
month, and the UN Refugee Agency says that more than 1,500 internally
displaced people have returned to their homes so far this year.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
EUROPEAN FOREIGN MINISTERS VISIT U.N. FORCES IN LEBANON:
The Foreign Ministers of France, Spain and Italy over the weekend paid a
visit to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). In Naqoura, they met with
UNIFIL Force Commander, Major-General Claudio Graziano, who briefed the
ministers on the work of the peacekeepers, as well as recent developments in the
peacekeeping mission’s area of operations. Graziano said at the end of their
visit, “It was the support of countries such as theirs which made possible the
swift and effective deployment of the enlarged UNIFIL. That deployment –
together with the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces south of the Litani
River – has allowed for the establishment of a new strategic environment in
southern Lebanon.”
HUMANITARIAN AND
INFORMATION EXPERTS MEET IN GENEVA TO DISCUSS EMERGENCY RESPONSE: In Geneva,
more than 300 humanitarian and information specialists are meeting this week to
discuss ways to improve humanitarian response in emergencies through better use
of information. The Global Symposium +5 “Information for Humanitarian Action” is
being hosted by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
