HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
SUMMARY OF
REPORT ON ALGIERS BOMBING RELEASED
A
summary of the Report of the Independent Panel on Accountability related
to the attack on the United Nations premises in Algiers in December 2007 was
made public today. The report itself was presented to the Secretary-General
on 21 September 2008.
The Panel, which was comprised of Mr. Ralph Zacklin
(Chair), Mr. Jean Jacques Graisse, Mr. Sinha Basnayake, Ms. Zelda Holtzman
and Ms. Marisela Padron, was established on 19 June 2008. In accordance with
its terms of reference, the Panel was mandated to gather and review
documentation relating to the attack, identify the officials and offices
concerned with the security of the United Nations operation in Algiers, make
findings regarding acts or omissions of individuals at Headquarters and in
the field in implementing relevant security regulations and rules which may
have prevented the attack or mitigated its effects.
It was also mandated to make recommendations regarding proceedings against
individuals or others giving due regard to applicable rules of the
Organization.
The Panel’s report is based on extensive interviews of
54 individuals and an intensive review of thousands of pages of documents
concerning the security framework and the communications involving the
Algiers office in the period 2006-7.
Asked about follow-up to the report’s findings, the
Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General is setting up a small internal
review board to pursue any administrative matters and disciplinary measures.
She declined to speculate on what measures might be taken. She later added
that the small team will draw staff from the Office of Human Resources
Management and the U.N. Development Programme. It will act on the
recommendations of the Panel with strict attention to due process.
Asked whether the report would be made public, she said
it would not, beyond the executive summary. Montas said that the United
Nations must consider the security impact of the full report, which is
extremely sensitive and describes how the United Nations gathers, analyzes
and uses information to protect staff. She also noted the need to respect
the due process rights of staff who will be subject to administrative or
disciplinary action.
Montas expressed the Secretary-General’s profound
appreciation for the staff working in the field under very difficult and
sometimes dangerous circumstances.
EXCEPTIONAL
LARGE-SCALE EFFORT IS NEEDED TO HELP HAITI RECOVER FROM HURRICANES
Hédi Annabi, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Haiti,
briefed
the Security Council in an open meeting on the devastating series of
hurricanes that hit that country recently, as well as the nomination and
confirmation of the new Government there. He said that we stand
simultaneously at a time of challenge and one of hope.
Annabi emphasized that an exceptional, large-scale
effort is needed to help Haiti recreate a basic infrastructure, warning
that, without such an effort, Haiti cannot hope to truly begin the process
of recovery. He said that if we stay the course and remain engaged in an
effective partnership with Haiti, the country can emerge from its troubled
past toward a better future.
He also briefed Troop Contributing Countries for the
UN Mission in Haiti earlier, and the Council continues to discuss Haiti
in its closed consultations.
NEW HEAD OF U.N. PEACEKEEPING TRAVELS TO
DARFUR TODAY
The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
Operations, Alain Le Roy and the Secretary-General's Special Representative
in Sudan, Ashraf Qazi,
visited Abyei yesterday as part of Le Roy’s week-long familiarization
tour of the Sudan.
While in Abyei, they met with members of the newly
formed Joint Integrated Unit and Joint Integrated Police Unit. These units
are responsible for security and policing in the town under terms of the
Abyei roadmap agreement that emerged after violent clashes displaced over
50,000 people from the town last May and left 98 dead.
Today they met with First Vice President of the
Republic and President of the Government of Southern Sudan Salva Kiir in
Juba. Mr. Le Roy noted that while the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
remains on track, much needs to be done to fulfill the CPA within the time
remaining and the parties must redouble their efforts to accomplish the
remaining benchmarks.
Later today, he is traveling to El Fasher, North
Darfur.
The UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) also
reports that the African Union, United Nations, Government of Sudan
(GoS), Tripartite Committee for the Deployment of UNAMID, held its first
meeting yesterday in Khartoum.
Leading the UN and AU Tripartite Committee delegations
were the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra;
the UN Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, Ms. Susana Malcorra.
Rodolphe Adada, the AU-UN Joint Special Representative also took part in the
meeting.
The Committee was established as a result of
consultations that took place among the three parties on the fringes of the
AU Summit of July 2008 in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, to review the deployment of
UNAMID and outline practical solutions to the challenges this represents.
Briefing the press about the meeting yesterday, Ms.
Malcorra said the discussions focused on the logistical aspects of UNAMID’s
deployment and actions required to ensure that it was expeditious and
effective.
DR CONGO: NEW U.N. FORCE COMMANDER
COMPLETES WORKING VISIT TO NORTH KIVU
The new Force Commander for the Mission in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), Lieutenant-General Vincente Diaz de
Villegas, completed his first working
visit to North Kivu. General Diaz took up his functions last week. While
in North Kivu, he met with UN peacekeepers and the UN coordination team. He
was briefed on the security and military situation and was later escorted on
a tour of strategic peacekeeping bases.
Meanwhile, in Kinshasa, Mission and government
officials discussed the implementation of the Amani Programme, which focuses
on peace, security and development in the northeast. Government officials
assured MONUC of their commitment to the military disengagement plan agreed
between the government and various armed groups.
And the Mission notes some progress in creating buffer
zones between the warring parties. However, as of today, violence continues,
with increasing intensity, in the northeast. And the Mission continues to
call on the parties to conform to the Goma Acts of Engagement signed last
January.
Asked about criticism by residents in the area of Saké
that MONUC has not been acting forcefully, the Spokeswoman said that the
Mission has been acting in accordance with its mandate, which allows it to
use force to protect the population (under Chapter VII of the UN Charter).
ENVOY FOR GREECE-FYROM TALKS MEETS WITH
BOTH SIDES IN NEW YORK
The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for the talks
between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Matthew
Nimetz, held a meeting this morning with the two sides here at UN
Headquarters.
In a press
encounter following the meeting, Nimetz confirmed that he had presented
the representatives from Athens and Skopje with a new set of ideas, which
they would now take back to their capitals for further study.
Asked if these ideas represented a “final proposal,”
Nimetz said that mediators were not in a position to offer
“take-it-or-leave-it” deals.
UNITED NATIONS IS ASSISTING THOSE
AFFECTED BY KYRGYZSTAN EARTHQUAKE
According to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the death toll from the earthquake in
Kyrgyzstan is not expected to increase dramatically, but approximately
211 displaced families have also been identified.
A camp is being set up for the displaced families, and
the Government of Kyrgyzstan is assessing the situation and providing
assistance with the support of the humanitarian community present in the
country.
Relief items, including tents, mattresses, blankets,
warm clothing, food and other basic necessities, are starting to reach the
affected areas, and the electricity supply has been restored.
OCHA is allocating an emergency cash grant to provide
basic non food items as well as two generators, while the International
Organization for Migration is providing accommodation and care to up to 50
children from the affected village of Osh.
Two emergency health kits that were stockpiled by the
World Health Organization have been used in the response, and UNICEF has
released hygienic and sanitary kits for the affected population. The United
Nations Population Fund has provided clean delivery kits and other supplies.
ACCUSED FORMER RWANDAN MINISTER
TRANSFERRED TO ARUSHA TRIBUNAL
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
says that Augustin Ngirabatware, the former Rwandan minister of
planning, was transferred today to Arusha, from Germany. He is now pre-trial
detention at the seat of the Tribunal in Arusha.
He was arrested in Frankfurt two weeks ago on nine
counts of genocide and crimes against humanity, including mass murder and
rape.
DISASTER REDUCTION EFFORTS MUST BE
INCORPORATED INTO DEVELOPMENT WORK
Today is the International Day for Disaster Reduction.
In a
message to mark the occasion, the Secretary-General says that now, more
than ever, when we are trying to accelerate national and international
efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, disaster risk reduction
needs to be acknowledged and incorporated as a key plank of that work.
He also adds that we need to mobilize society at every
level to reduce risk and protect health facilities so that they can save
lives.
This year’s
International Day falls on the third anniversary of the earthquake that
hit South Asia.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
EXPERTS TO DEVELOP PLAN OF ACTION ON HOW
CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS HUMAN HEALTH: A meeting of experts convened by the
World Health Organization (WHO) in Madrid
agreed today to develop a plan of action to explore how climate change
affects human health. Such a plan will help Member States strengthen evidence,
which will in turn pave the way towards policy action. WHO says that, in the
last decade, even though climate change has been increasingly acknowledged as an
important risk to human well-being, its effects on health have received little
research attention.
LOCAL COMMUNITY CONTROL OF NATURAL RESOURCES CAN IMPROVE
INCOME FOR RURAL POOR: The U.N. Environment Programme, the U.N. Development
Programme, the World Bank and the World Resources Institute today
launched the World Resources Report 2008. The report focuses on how
expanding nature-based enterprises and granting local communities more authority
over their natural resources can increase income for the rural poor and help
them become more resilient to climate change and other threats.
NEW TOOLS WILL HELP STANDARDIZE REGULATIONS FOR ORGANIC
PRODUCTS: The Food and Agriculture Organization, the U.N. Conference on
Trade and Development and the umbrella organization for organic agriculture
worldwide have
unveiled new tools to help farmers in developing countries market their
organic products. Specifically, the tools assess the wide range of organic
standards and regulations around the globe, and also set minimum requirements
for organic certification bodies.
**The guest at noon was Mr. Ralph Zacklin, former Assistant
Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and head of the Independent Panel on
Accountability related to the attack on the United Nations premises in Algiers
in December 2007, who briefed on the panel’s report.
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