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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday,
December 10, 2008
U.N. MARKS 60TH
ANNIVERSARY OF UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should
act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and
freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind,
such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and
security of person.
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 7: All are equal before the law and are
entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
arrest, detention or exile.
Article 16: Men and women of full age, without any
limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and
to found a family.
These are articles from the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, whose 60th anniversary is being celebrating
today. And today, of course, is also Human Rights Day.
In a
message to mark the occasion, the Secretary-General says the Declaration
reflects humanity’s aspirations for a future of prosperity, dignity and
peaceful coexistence. It is and always will be a core part of the UN’s
identity. The international community has drawn enduring inspiration from
the Declaration to build a great foundation of laws that now protect
countless people around the world, he adds.
We have come a long way, the Secretary-General says.
But the reality is that we have not lived up to the Declaration’s vision –
at least not yet. In that regard, the Secretary-General says he has been
very humbled and saddened at having seen so many people whose human rights
are being abused and not properly protected.
The Secretary-General has also prepared a Human Rights
Day video message that will be shown this afternoon to the General
Assembly.
In a separate
statement today, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay explains
the significance of the Declaration. She says that, when it was signed, for
the first time, all human rights were recognized as belonging inherently to
all people, rather than being gifts bestowed upon them by ruling regimes.
Also today, nearly 250 chief executive officers from
the UN Global Compact issued a
statement renewing their commitment to respect and support human rights
within their spheres of influence, and calling on Governments to meet their
human rights obligations. The signed statement was published in the
Financial Times today.
Meanwhile, the UN Information Centres around the world
report that events are being organized to mark Human Rights Day.
In Paris, France, for example, a collection of short
films on human rights is being screened at the Palais de Chaillot, where the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted 60 years ago.
In India last Sunday, 2,500 students marked the
anniversary by running on New Delhi’s most prominent avenue.
In South Africa, the UN Information Centre helped
launch a ten-day banner campaign in major cities across the country.
At UN Headquarters, next Monday at 7 p.m. in the
General Assembly Hall, there will be a Human Rights Day Concert featuring UN
Messenger of Peace Maestro Daniel Barenboim and members of the West-Eastern
Divan Orchestra. The event, which is being sponsored by the Spanish Mission,
will include statements by the Secretary-General, the President of the
General Assembly and the Vice President of the Government of Spain.
Asked about a petition from a group calling for the
rights of the “unborn child”, the Spokeswoman said that the
Secretary-General has not yet received that petition and had no reaction to
it at this time.
Asked whether the Secretary-General has a position on a
declaration on homosexuality that has been proposed for the General
Assembly, Montas said that the declaration has not been submitted to the
Assembly yet. The Secretary-General had yet to see the text, she said.
Asked whether Pillay has spoken enough on economic
rights, the Spokeswoman noted that Pillay had mentioned the importance of
economic rights at her press briefing on Tuesday. She said that economic
rights are what the
Millennium Development Goals are about and these are high on the agenda
of the Secretary-General and his High Commissioner for Human Rights.
SECRETARY-GENERAL ARRIVES IN POLAND TO ATTEND CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS
The Secretary-General has arrived in Poznan, Poland, to
attend the UN conference on climate change. He will address the conference
tomorrow and will appeal to the gathered leaders to not allow the various
crises confronting them to be used as an excuse to defer action on climate
change.
Upon arrival in Poznan, he was briefed by Yvo de Boer,
Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
He then proceeded to a working luncheon with his Climate Change envoys --
Ricardo Lagos, Festus Mogae, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Srgjan Kerim.
On the eve of the high-level segment of the conference,
the Secretary-General is holding a series of bilateral meetings with
officials attending the conference. He is scheduled to attend an official
dinner tonight hosted by the Government of Poland.
WORLD BANK
ISSUES PESSIMISTIC ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR 2009
In its newly-released Global Economic Prospects
report for 2009, the World Bank finds that a significant slowdown is
taking place everywhere, including in previously resilient developing
countries.
Global GDP is predicted to fall from 2.5 percent this
year to 0.9 per cent next year, with rich countries likely seeing negative
growth. The report also predicts that world trade will contract by more
than two percent next year. That’s the first such decline in more than a
quarter century.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has just
announced the creation of a US$2 billion fast-track facility. It’s
designed to speed up grants and long-term, interest-free loans to help the
world’s poorest countries cope with the global financial crisis.
In other news, the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean, in its latest
report, finds that the percentage of the region’s people living in
poverty dropped slightly last year, to just less than one-third of the
population. Extreme poverty, however, rose slightly – to just shy of 13 per
cent. There continue to be significant inequalities in income distribution.
The report notes that the region’s prospects for next
year are bleak. Employment is expected to stagnate, and the most seriously
affected countries will be those that depend on migrant remittances or have
direct links with the United States market.
SECURITY
COUNCIL TAKES UP GOLAN HEIGHTS, U.N. REGIONAL PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY CENTRE AND
OTHER MATTERS
The
Security Council held consultations this morning on the UN Disengagement
Observer Force (UNDOF)
in the Golan Heights, following a meeting with the countries contributing
troops for that Force. Its current mandate expires at the end of this month.
After that, the Council discussed the UN Regional
Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, which is based in
Turkmenistan. Then it intends to hold a formal meeting on non-proliferation.
This afternoon, at 3:00, the Security Council has
scheduled consultations on missing Kuwaiti persons and property in Iraq, and
on the sanctions committee for Sudan.
The Council wrapped up its debate on terrorism
yesterday with a
Presidential Statement calling on all Member States to redouble efforts
to tackle global terrorism.
AGENCY FOR
PALESTINE REFUGEES “NOW RUNNING ON EMPTY”
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
in the Near East (UNRWA)
reports that it managed to get 13 trucks into Gaza today – containing
medicine and cooking oil – but the Agency still maintains that this is not
enough.
Meanwhile, Filippo Grandi, UNRWA’s Deputy Commissioner
General, today warned that, unless the Agency’s financial outlook improves
significantly in the coming months, UNRWA faces the very real prospect of
having to make cuts in basic education and health services.
UNRWA’s cash reserves have plummeted from just over
US$60 million at the beginning of 2006 to just US$1 million this month.
“Effectively we are now running on empty”, Grandi warned. He was addressing
the annual pledging conference for UNRWA here at Headquarters.
FACILITATORS OF
D.R. CONGO TALKS SATISFIED WITH PROGRESS
The facilitators of the Nairobi dialogue between the
Congolese Government and the Congrés national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP)
of Laurent Nkunda have expressed satisfaction at the progress achieved after
two days of talks.
Both Olusegun Obasanjo, the Secretary-General’s special
envoy for the Great Lakes region, and Benjamin Mkapa, his African Union
counterpart, said they are optimistic that the substantive discussions
between the parties will begin before the end of the month. "We are building
the foundation that should take us to substantive talks. We are satisfied
that we are making progress," Obasanjo said.
U.N. DARFUR MISSION HELPS SUDANESE
POLICE DEPLOY NEAR NYALA
The African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID)
has handed over basic utensils and equipment to Sudanese police, to support
their deployment at two new posts near UNAMID’s Headquarters in Nyala, South
Darfur. The decision to install those posts came in the aftermath of an
increase in carjacking of UN and international non-governmental organization
vehicles.
The new posts will deal with the deteriorating security
situation and serve as permanent checkpoints to support the night patrols
carried out by Sudanese personnel around the UNAMID compound.
Meanwhile, the UNAMID Joint Special Representative,
Rodolphe Adada, met with the Joint Chief Mediator, Djibril Bassolé, in
Khartoum today, to discuss the recent consultations that took place in Doha
with different stakeholders.
They also talked about ways to reach a comprehensive
ceasefire and to create an environment conducive to the revival of the peace
process.
Asked about the status of UNAMID Deputy Force Commander
Karenzi Karake, the Spokeswoman said that he continued to have a contract in
that position.
U.N. SOMALIA
ENVOY WELCOMES LEADER’S RETURN TO MOGADISHU
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has welcomed the return to Mogadishu of
Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the chairman of the Alliance of the Re-liberation
of Somalia. Sheik Sharif, who was involved in the Alliance’s reconciliation
talks with the transitional government, is back home after 2 years abroad.
Ould-Abdallah said that Sheik Sharif’s return to Mogadishu marks a welcome
development for that process.
WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION TO ESTABLISH CHOLERA CONTROL AND COMMAND CENTRE IN ZIMBABWE
In response to the widespread cholera outbreak in
Zimbabwe, the World Health Organization (WHO)
is working with partners to establish a cholera control and command centre
-- to coordinate efforts to fight the sickness. In that regard, the agency
is seeking donor support for a US$6 million cholera response plan proposal.
WHO warns that there are serious regional implications
behind the outbreak, with cholera cases crossing into South Africa and
Botswana.
WHO has already sent enough medical supplies to treat
50,000 people for common conditions for three months, as well as to treat
3,200 moderate cases of cholera. WHO has also sent epidemiologists, a water
and sanitation expert and a logistician to Harare to strengthen response
efforts on the ground.
HIGH-LEVEL U.N.
DELEGATION VISITS CAMBODIA
Visiting Cambodia this week, a high-level Secretariat
delegation, led by Assistant-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Mr. Peter
Taksoe-Jensen, met yesterday with Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the
Royal Government Task Force on the Khmer Rouge Trials, H.E. Sok An.
In the meeting, the parties held constructive
discussions on various issues of mutual concern with regard to the
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).
There, both sides welcomed the significant achievements
made by the Extraordinary Chambers, including progress towards the imminent
start of the first trial.
They also recognized the ECCC’s potential to address
impunity for the crimes of the former Khmer Rouge regime and expressed the
hope that the ECCC will become a model for future judicial systems.
The parties also agreed on the need to act
expeditiously, and expect the results of the joint sessions to be reported
to the Government Task Force and the Steering Committee by the end of
January 2009.
U.N. ORGANIZES
INTERNATIONAL DONOR MEETING FOR POST-NARGIS RELIEF EFFORTS IN MYANMAR
Seven months after the devastating Cyclone Nargis in
Myanmar, the United Nations in Yangon
organized an international donor meeting yesterday.
The participants at that meeting, including
representatives of governments and non-governmental organizations, stressed
that health support in the cyclone-affected areas is on top of the agenda.
The UN’s Revised Appeal of US$451 million is currently
two-thirds funded. Agriculture and early recovery continue to be the least
funded sectors, followed by health.
SRI LANKA:
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME CONTINUES TO PROVIDE FOOD ASSISTANCE TO THOSE IN NEED
The World Food Programme (WFP)
is continuing its weekly dispatch of food convoys to the Vanni area in Sri
Lanka for the third month, and it reiterates that its mandate is to provide
food assistance to those in need.
WFP, in cooperation with the Government of Sri Lanka
and other stakeholders, has dispatched a total of 4,120 tons of mixed food
commodities to meet the needs of an estimated 200,000 internally displaced
persons in the Vanni region.
WFP provides food assistance to 1.1 million people
composed of internally displaced persons, the economically affected, school
children and other most vulnerable people in Sri Lanka.
U.N. DEMINERS
RESTART OPERATIONS IN NEPAL, FOLLOWING END OF MONSOON SEASON
The Nepalese Army, assisted by the United Nations Mine
Action Team, has
recommenced demining after a five-month break due to the monsoon season.
Nepalese Army engineers have been redeployed in three
districts in the eastern region of Nepal at the beginning of December.
The UN Mine Action Team Programme Manager in Nepal,
Stephen Robinson, said the Nepalese Army had the opportunity to make Nepal a
mine impact free country within the next three years.
Five minefields have been cleared in Nepal during this
year; however, there are 48 military pattern minefields remaining, as well
as a number of protective fields consisting of improvised explosive devices.
U.N. OFFICIAL
CALLS FOR SOLUTIONS TO PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATIONS
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres
today
opened a two-day international dialogue on protracted refugee
situations. The discussions are aimed at finding solutions for the nearly
six million people who have spent years, sometimes decades, in exile with no
end in sight.
Opening the conference, Mr. Guterres noted that the
burden of hosting these refugees falls almost exclusively on developing
countries. Once the media spotlight turns away, displacements can go on
unnoticed for years, he added. Guterres urged the international community
as a whole to do more to share the burden and come up with comprehensive
solutions to the problem.
THOUSANDS OF
CHILDREN DIE AND TENS OF MILLIONS INJURED EACH YEAR IN PREVENTABLE ACCIDENTS
According to a new report by the
World Health Organization and
UNICEF, more than two thousand children die every day from accidental
injuries. And tens of millions of children are hospitalized each year with
injuries that often cause lifelong disabilities. 95% of these injuries
occur in developing countries. The top five causes are road crashes,
drowning, burns, falls and poisoning.
The report offers several recommendations, including
child-appropriate seat-belt and helmet laws; child-resistant closures on
medicine bottles, lighters, and household products; and redesigning nursery
furniture, toys and playground equipment.
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