Thursday,
September 4, 2008 

 

[There noon briefing will resume on Friday, September 5]

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON'S
OPENING REMARKS

 

           
"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen.  I am glad to see you all in good
health.

 

I am grateful for this
opportunity to brief you on a subject which will be a top priority this
fall. I have with me Ad Melkert from UNDP and Rob Vos from DESA. These are
the two entities co-chairing the Task Force which produced the report we are
launching today.

 

As you know, the UN is
currently preparing for a gathering of world leaders on 25 September to step
up efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals. We have now passed the
midpoint in the race to reach the Goals, and concerted action has never been
more important.

 

I have called for a
comprehensive account of progress on the global partnership for development,
as embodied in Goal 8 of the MDGs.  The result is the first
report
of the MDG Gap Task Force -- Delivering on the Global Partnership for
Achieving the MDGs. It is the product of a unique and collective effort
by more than 20 UN entities as well as the World Bank, the

International Monetary Fund,
the
World Trade Organization and
the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

 

This report sounds a strong
alarm. The main message is that while there has been progress on several
counts, delivery on commitments made by Member States has been deficient,
and has fallen behind schedule. We are already in the second half of our
 contest against poverty. We are running out of time.

 

On Official Development
Assistance, the Report highlights a large delivery gap in meeting
commitments. Last year, there was a shortfall of 10 billion dollars.  Total
net aid from OECD/DAC countries amounted to only 0.28 per cent of their
combined Gross National Income, as opposed to the UN target of 0.7 per cent.
If we are to meet the 2010 target set at the G-8 Summit in 2005, ODA will
have to increase by 18 billion dollars a year. Of that, 7.3 billion dollars
would have to go to Africa.

 

On trade, the failure
to conclude a development round constitutes the largest implementation gap.
Even though aid for trade has increased in real terms, it has fallen as a
percentage of ODA.  The world’s poorest countries are still marginalized,
and many have been hit hard by high food and energy prices. The report
stresses that we need to move faster in reducing domestic and export
subsidies on agriculture in developed countries, and in addressing other
barriers to developing country exports and agricultural productivity growth.

 

On debt, there has been
some progress. Fewer countries today are hampered in their development by
massive debt. Debt relief has been or will be provided to 33 out of 41
eligible countries, cancelling more than 90 per cent of their external debt.
However, debt reduction needs to be extended to countries beyond the Heavily
Indebted Poor Country and the Multilateral Debt Relief initiatives. And
mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure sustainability and fair debt
workouts in the future.  

 

In health, access to
essential medicines has improved -- including those to combat HIV/AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis. But it is still far from adequate, and wide
variations in pricing mean that essential medicines -- including antibiotics
and painkillers -- are often unavailable to the poor. The report recommends
eliminating national taxes and duties on essential medicines, as well as
adopting generic substitution policies for essential medicines.

 

We also need to step up
efforts in transferring new technologies for development, including
for agriculture, infrastructure, and access to energy.  The report
highlights the need to transfer technology to address climate change, so as
to protect the most vulnerable.

 

As these gaps show us, a shift
in both quantity and quality is needed to fulfill the promise of halving
extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education and gender parity,
and improving the health and living conditions of millions of people. The
international community has a responsibility to live up to its commitments.

 

We have only seven years until
the deadline. The High-level Event on 25 September will provide an
opportunity to start bridging the gaps. We aim to make it a turning point --
a forum for world leaders to review progress and commit to concrete efforts,
resources and mechanisms.  By asking world leaders to announce their
specific plans and proposals, the High-level Event should prepare the ground
for a decisive conference on financing for development in Doha in November.

 

As
Chair of the Task Force that produced this year’s report, Mr. Melkert will
now add his observations.  Then he and Mr. Vos would be pleased to answer
your questions.

 

            Finally, in closing, allow me to extend
sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the plane crash
earlier this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Yet again, we
have seen the dangers faced by UN staff and international aid workers who
work tirelessly under difficult conditions to support people in need
throughout the world.  At this time of grief I know our thoughts are with
the families, colleagues and others touched by this terrible loss.

 

Thank you very much."

 

OTHER
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UN SYSTEM

 

UNITED
NATIONS CONFIRMS REMAINS OF 17 FOUND AT PLANE CRASH SITE IN DR CONGO

• The United Nations is now able to confirm that the
  remains of 17 people have been located in the vicinity of the site of
  the plane crash outside the town of Bukavu, in eastern Democratic
  Republic of the Congo. The process of positive identification of the
  remains will now be undertaken. Four Congolese and one Canadian
  employees of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) are among the victims.
  Also among the dead are one French citizen and one UN volunteer from
  India, both of whom worked for the Office for the Coordination of
  Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
   

• Alan Doss, the Secretary-General’s Special
  Representative for the DRC, said in a statement that he is deeply
  saddened by the death of all the passengers onboard the crashed plane.
  In addition to the UN staff, three employees of the Belgium office of
  Handicap International and 1 staff member of the Dutch chapter of
  Doctors Without Borders also died in the crash.

SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES GENERAL
ASSEMBLY ON GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY

• Addressing
  the General Assembly meeting on the
  
  United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy today, the
  Secretary-General stressed that although much progress has been made
  since the adoption of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy two years
  ago, it is the fundamental duty of the U.N. and member states to
  intensify efforts to implement the strategy across the board.
   

• Reflecting on witnessing the aftermath of the 18
  December in Algiers, the Secretary-General also underscored that
  terrorism is a global and multilateral cooperation is vital to fight it.
   

• He urged all member states to take multilateral
  counter-terrorism cooperation even further guided by the three main
  principles: innovative development of tools, multilateral
  counter-terrorism efforts in partnership with regional and sub-regional
  organizations and with civil society, and counter-terrorism efforts at
  the international level which leverage comparative strengths.
   

• Adding that counter-terrorism has been among his
  top priorities as Secretary-General, Ban invited all members to
  participate in the symposium on supporting victims of terrorism which he
  will convene, next week.

BAN KI-MOON ADDS HIS VOICE TO TRIBUTE
TO LATE ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT

• The Secretary-General, in his
  remarks at
  the General Assembly Tribute to the late President of Zambia, Mr. Levy
  Patrick Mwanawasa, said as Vice-President and later President, Mr.
  Mwanawasa was at the forefront of Zambian politics at a time of
  exceptional challenge and change in his country and in the southern
  African region as a whole.
   

• He also said he profoundly admired Mr.
  Mwanawasa's contribution as Chair of the SADC [South African Development
  Community], in particular in leading the efforts of the international
  community to restore democracy in Zimbabwe.

 DARFUR: FOOD RIOT IN REFUGEE CAMP
LEADS TO DEATH AND INJURY 

• A riot in a refugee camp in Darfur led to the death
  of one refugee and the injury of six other persons, including three
  policemen, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
  said in a press release issued yesterday.  The incident occurred at the
  refugee camp in Um Shalaya, 70 km southeast of El Geneina, the capital
  of West Darfur State, hosting primarily Chadian refugees. 
   

• The riot broke out around 10:00 AM Tuesday,
  September 2, when hundreds of stick-bearing and shouting women angrily
  demonstrated against a temporary food reduction due to logistical
  problems.
   

• The refugee agency said the reduction in the amount
  of sorghum, a staple that is widely consumed in both Chad and Sudan, was
  due to the inability to safely transport food from El Geneina to Um
  Shalaya camp. The food riot comes against a backdrop of repeated attacks
  on humanitarian  convoys throughout Darfur.
   

• There are approximately 6,600 refugees in Um
  Shalaya where new asylum seekers trickle in every month after fleeing
  violence in their home areas in eastern Chad.  In Darfur, there are an
  estimated 50,000 mostly Chadian refugees who are mainly settled along
  the border areas.

• Meanwhile, the African
  Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said it  received a
  report indicating that a World Food Programme (WFP) Mobile Truck was
  carjacked on Wednesday in the vicinity of Moraya, 55 kilometers
  northwest of Nyala in South Darfur. According to the tracking device,
  the vehicle was heading into the general direction of Jebel Marra.. The
  drivers onboard were robbed of their money and mobile phones and the
  whereabouts of the WFP staff members and the vehicle are unknown.
   

• In addition, reports
  received by UNAMID indicated that also on Wednesday, three UNICEF
  vehicles were ambushed by unknown gunmen while returning from a visit at
  Yara, 50 kilometers north of Nyala. Members of the team including a
  delegation from Khartoum together with UNICEF Head of office- Nyala. A
  UNAMID patrol was deployed to rescue the members. Two of the vehicles
  were rescued while the third managed to reach Nyala with its passengers
  having been looted of their properties left unharmed.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO ADOPT STATEMENTS
ON SOMALIA AND CYPRUS

• The Security Council is scheduled to meet this
  afternoon to adopt Presidential Statements welcoming both the Djibouti
  Agreement on Somalia and the launch of full-fledged negotiations aimed
  at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.

WORLD TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT
NOTES BLEAK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

• In its Trade and Development report,
  released today, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
  says that a sharp and prolonged downturn of the world economy is likely,
  due to uncertainty and instability in financial, currency and commodity
  markets, as well as the threat of tighter monetary policies in some
  major developed countries.
   

• World output is expected to grow by
  around three per cent in 2008, almost one percentage point less than
  last year, UNCTAD says.
   

• The short-term outlook is better for
  the developing world, where growth could exceed six per cent, but even
  that is threatened by fallout from the recession in the developed world.
   

• Many developing countries are also
  highly vulnerable to fluctuations in the price of the commodities that
  they export. The current system of global financial governance is
  ineffective in preventing recurrent speculative activities that
  ultimately destabilize the entire system, say UNCTAD economists, who
  recommend that Governments adopt stricter regulatory measures in this
  area.

NEW PROGRAMME ALLOWS COMPUTER USERS
“VISIT” ENVIRONMENTAL HOTSPOTS

• The U.N. Environment Programme has
  teamed up with Google Earth to create a new computer service that allows
  users to virtually visit nearly 200 of the world’s most dramatic
  environmental hotspots and witness firsthand in 3-D the impacts of
  climate change and other destructive human activities.
   

• Some of the highlights include “before
  and after” images of glaciers in Greenland and Alaska, the appearance of
  road networks in the remote rainforests of the Democratic Republic of
  the Congo, and the dramatic expansion of many West African cities.

UNITED NATIONS STEPS UP AID TO
VICTIMS OF STORMS IN HAITI

• UNICEF is stepping up its assistance to some 15,000
  Haitians affected by three successive storms in recent weeks. The
  ensuing winds and heavy rains caused major all across the country. In
  response, UNICEF and the World Food Programme are delivering 15,000
  blankets, 5,000 hygiene kits, 7.5 tons of food and 60,000 liters of
  potable water are being shipped to the town of Gonaives.
   

• UNICEF expects the assistance to increase in the
  coming days. Also, the UN Country Team will soon launch an appeal for
  funding. Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers are airlifting those who were forced
  to climb onto their rooftops to escape the flooding. It is feared that
  the water, which is becoming stagnant, will increase the risk of
  waterborne diseases.

AFRICAN HEALTH MINISTERS TO INTRODUCE
NEW MENINGITIS VACCINE

• Health Ministers from countries of the African
  Meningitis Belt today
  
  committed themselves to introduce a highly promising candidate
  meningitis vaccine. The vaccine is designed to prevent periodic
  epidemics of the deadly disease in these countries.
   

• The Ministers were meeting at the World Health
  Organization's 58th Regional Committee for Africa, which is being held
  in Yaoundé, Cameroon.