Secretary-General

Noon briefing of 22 April 2008

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

BAN KI-MOON ARRIVES IN BURKINA FASO FROM LIBERIA

  • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is now in Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, after a few hours spent in Monrovia, Liberia.

  • The Secretary-General today addressed a joint session of Liberia’s legislature in the capital, Monrovia, telling the parliamentarians that he had come to the country to see its remarkable achievements in recovering from a devastating conflict, and to reassure the Liberian people of his steadfast commitment to peace, stability and prosperity in that nation.

  • He noted that the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has embarked on the first phase of its drawdown, adding that he will recommend to the Security Council that there be a gradual and phased drawdown of the Mission's military and police components, linked to the Government's ability to assume full responsibility for its national security.

  • The Secretary-General later spoke to the press before leaving Liberia, saying that the recent worldwide protests over soaring global food prices has demonstrated the need for Liberia to meet the Millennium Development Goals in order to be safe from the weaknesses of globalization while taking advantage of its myriad opportunities for growth and prosperity.

  • He added that it is regrettable that rape continues to be the most commonly committed crime in Liberia, and he called on community leaders, government leaders, traditional chiefs, elders and prominent Liberians to take the lead in combating the scourge of rape and other acts of sexual and gender based violence.

  • Upon arrival in Monrovia yesterday the Secretary-General was greeted by an honour guard and received the traditional Liberian gift of a live chicken and an egg, as well as a key to the city, making him an honorary citizen of the Liberian capital.

  • He met this morning with Vice President Joseph Boakai, and with members of the Cabinet. They discussed the recovery efforts since the war and the challenges ahead for Liberia as well as the peace building projects underway.

  • The Secretary-General has since travelled to Burkina Faso, where this evening he is to meet with President Blaise Compaore and Prime Minister Tertius Zongo.

SECURITY COUNCIL TAKES UP DARFUR

  • The African Union-United Nations Joint Special Representative for Darfur, Rodolphe Adada, and John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, briefed the Security Council this morning on the situation in Darfur.

  • Special Representative Adada says that the challenges facing the UN-AU joint operation in Darfur (UNAMID) are formidable in all aspects.

  • It is disturbing, he says, that even though Darfur is at the top of the international agenda, this attention has not thus far been matched with the action to provide UNAMID with the means to accomplish the tasks assigned to it.

  • He appealed again to the Security Council to redouble its efforts to assist the mission in overcoming the logistical and political obstacles it currently faces.

  • John Holmes, in his briefing, says he is saddened and angry that after five years of suffering, and four years since the Security Council became actively engaged, we still have not been able to find a lasting solution to the suffering of the millions of men, women and children in Darfur.

  • Further progress in the deployment of UNAMID will help, he said, but only an end to all violence and concrete steps towards a political settlement will make the fundamental difference needed, as the rebel movements themselves above all need to recognize.

  • In the absence of any real progress towards a solution, Holmes concludes, profound human suffering will continue to grow in Darfur.

UNITED NATIONS IN SUDAN COMMENDS HISTORIC CENSUS

  • The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), meanwhile, commends the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on the commencement of the historic 2008 Sudan census, which kicked off today.

  • The Secretary-General himself, in a statement issued last Friday, welcomed the intention of the Government of National Unity to proceed with the holding of the national census, saying that it is an important milestone in the implementation of the Agreement.

RISING FOOD PRICES HAVE BECOME A SILENT TSUNAMI

  • Rising food prices have become a “silent tsunami” that threatens to plunge more than 100 million people into hunger. That’s according to the World Food Programme (WFP), which says that high food prices are creating the biggest challenge in the agency’s 45-year history.

  • As one example of the urgency of the situation, WFP says it will have to suspend school feeding in Cambodia next month, unless it finds new funding in time.

  • WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran is calling for a worldwide response on par with that following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. What is needed is large-scale, high-level global action, with a special emphasis on partnerships between governments, UN agencies and other humanitarian actors, Sheeran says.

  • For its part, WFP is seeking funding for scaling up mother-child health programmes, school feeding, life-saving distribution networks, cash and voucher programs, and local purchases from small farmers.

  • WFP also stands ready to support policy reform and provide advice and support for government agriculture development programmes.

  • Asked about comments from Thailand’s Prime Minister criticizing the Secretary-General’s comments on bio-fuels, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General had in fact called for a complete analysis of all the factors that lead to a rise in food prices, and had not only focused on countries producing food.

  • Asked about the appropriate venue for discussing food issues, Montas said that discussions are taking place everywhere – in London today, in the Secretary-General’s meetings yesterday and at the Food and Agriculture Organization high-level meeting in June. Next week, she said, all UN agencies, funds and programmes would discuss the issue when they meet in Bern, Switzerland.

GAZA POWER PLANTS TO SHUT DOWN WITHOUT FUEL BY TOMORROW

  • According to the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), if no fuel is allowed in tomorrow, Gaza’s power plant will shut down and there will be increased electricity cuts in most areas of Gaza, lasting up to 8 hours a day.

  • In an effort to save fuel, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been prioritizing food distribution, solid waste removal and sewage projects. Despite this, some 500,000 Gazans living in 12 municipalities are already being forced to live without solid waste management capacity. UNRWA reports that its fuel supplies will be exhausted by this Thursday. If fuel still hasn’t been allowed in by then, UNRWA will have to cut food aid to 650,000 refugees and garbage collection services for 500,000 Gazans.

  • Asked about the Secretary-General’s reaction to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s meeting with Hamas leaders, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General had not commented on that specific initiative but generally welcomed initiatives that can help to bring peace to the region. This effort, she said, would need to be analyzed by the Department for Political Affairs.

POLITICAL AFFAIRS CHIEF URGES MORE DIALOGUE BY IRAQ’S NEIGHBORS

  • Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe today spoke to a ministerial meeting of Iraq and its neighbours in Kuwait, on behalf of the Secretary-General. Pascoe urged more dialogue and stronger support by Iraq’s neighbours for stabilizing the country, including through the opening of embassies in Baghdad. He said that the opening of embassies would be “a very positive step.”

  • Pascoe also described the stepped-up UN efforts to help the Government and people of Iraq through the work of UNAMI, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, which Pascoe visited over the weekend.

  • The United Nations, he said, is helping Iraq with political dialogue, the resolution of internal territorial disputes, the holding of governorate elections later this year, the review of Iraq’s constitution and efforts to help Iraq’s refugees and internally displaced persons.

FRIENDS OF LEBANON DISMAYED AT POLITICAL STALEMATE

  • On the margins of the meeting in Kuwait of Iraq’s neighbouring countries, a number of concerned countries, along with officials from the Arab League, the European Union and the United Nations, met as the “Friends of Lebanon” to discuss the situation in that country.

  • Terje Roed-Larsen, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Implementation of Resolution 1559, represented the Secretary-General at that meeting.

  • The Friends of Lebanon ended their meeting with a joint statement, saying that they are deeply dismayed at the ongoing political stalemate and calling for the immediate election of the consensual candidate, General Michel Suleiman, as President without prior conditions.

SOME 77,000 PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED BY FIGHTING IN YEMEN

  • The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is launching an appeal for nearly $3 million to help protect some 77,000 people in northern Yemen, who have been affected by fighting between a rebel group and Government forces.

  • Both people who have returned to their villages and those who continue to be displaced need aid, according to UNHCR. With the funds it gets, the agency plans to distribute basic supplies, such as blankets, stoves and mattresses, as well as tents and reconstruction materials.

  • In response to a question, the Spokeswoman said that, contrary to press reports, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) office in Sana’a, Yemen, has not been closed and UNDP staff continue to go about their work. A security assessment is now underway. All UNDP programmes in the country continue to operate and UNDP project offices outside of Sana’a remain open.

UNITED NATIONS DELIVERS AID TO INDIGENOUS IN COLOMBIA

  • The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has organized an emergency humanitarian mission to bring assistance to several indigenous communities along the Guaviare River in east-central Colombia, who are virtually cut off from the rest of the world.

  • Last week, UNHCR delivered 14 tons of food from the World Food Programme to some one thousand people. The remote area is disputed by rival irregular armed groups and is reachable only by boat. The mission made four stops along the river.

  • In addition to food rations, basic hygiene kits and school materials were also distributed.

  • The mission was part of a series of preventive protection measures to protect indigenous groups from losing their traditional lands.

WESTERN SAHARA: ENVOY PRESENTS CONCLUSION TO SECURITY COUNCIL

  • In response to questions about the assessment by the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, that was circulated in the Security Council on Monday, the Spokeswoman said that van Walsum had been acting in his role as the facilitator for Western Sahara and had some leeway in that role to present his own conclusions.

  • The Secretary-General’s position, Montas said, was presented in his own report. The Spokeswoman could not confirm that van Walsum had said that an independent Sahara was not a realistic option, but she noted that many reporters had obtained his proposals.

U.N. MISSION IN GEORGIA INVESTIGATES REPORTED INCIDENT

  • Asked about the shooting down of a Georgian unmanned aerial vehicle, the Spokesperson said that the UN Mission Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) had not seen the incident firsthand. But UNOMIG is now engaged in an investigation into this matter.

  • She declined to comment on bilateral matters between Russia and Georgia.

  • Asked whether there is a UN resolution that forbids the flying of reconnaissance aircraft by Georgia over Abkhazia, Georgia, she later clarified that Security Council resolution 937 (1994) welcomes the 1994 Moscow Agreement, which says, “The parties shall scrupulously observe the cease-fire on land, at sea and in the air and shall refrain from all military actions against each other.”

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

THEATRE SHOW ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE OPENS IN AFGHANISTAN: The UN Mission in Afghanistan helped to support a new Afghan theatre show which opened today in Kabul, which highlights the need to deal with the impunity of past human rights abuses. The play, ‘AH-5787’, is named after an anonymous Afghan prisoner, and the United Nations hopes that the show can encourage all Afghans to explore their past and come to terms with Afghanistan’s years of conflict.

ARMED RESPONSE NEEDS SECURITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZATION: Asked about a proposal from Amnesty International for the United Nations to act to obtain the release of some 350 people reportedly taken hostage by the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Spokeswoman could not confirm that they had been taken hostage, and she noted that any armed response would need to be authorized by the Security Council.

NO U.N. BODY CAN VERIFY REPORTS OF TORTURE CAMPS IN ZIMBABWE: Asked about reports of torture camps in Zimbabwe, the Spokeswoman said that there was no United Nations body that could verify those reports on the ground. She noted that the Secretary-General had met on Monday in Ghana with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe.