Secretary-General

Noon briefing of 1 June 2009

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MICHELE MONTAS

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK


Monday, June 1, 2009

BAN KI-MOON BRIEFS ON SRI LANKA VISIT, OTHER RECENT MISSIONS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this morning briefed an informal meeting of the General Assembly on latest developments, including a first-hand account of some of his recent missions as well a look ahead to events in the coming weeks.

  • The Secretary-General noted that he had traveled to Geneva where he addressed the Conference on Disarmament. There, he had stressed the need to break the stalemate that has persisted for more than a decade. In his speech today and in a statement issued Friday, the Secretary-General welcomed that members of the Conference have done just that by adopting a programme of work after 12 years at an impasse. This augurs well for developments in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation, he said.

  • But he said he deeply regrets that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is choosing to go in a negative direction. He repeated his call for the country to refrain from taking any further provocative actions and to return to the process of dialogue.

  • The Secretary-General also briefed on his recent visit to Sri Lanka.

  • He noted that he had consistently and repeatedly raised the strongest concern over civilian casualties. In regard to some reports in the media, he said the final total is not yet known. Most of these figures do not emanate from the UN and most are not consistent with the information at our disposal. He went on to categorically reject any suggestion that the United Nations has deliberately under-estimated any figures. And he again said whatever the total, the casualties in the conflict were unacceptably high.

  • He said he had strongly urged the Government to recognize international calls for an inquiry, and repeatedly stressed the need for full accountability and transparency. The Secretary-General hopes the Government will follow up on the joint statement, issued at the conclusion of his visit.

  • Any inquiry conducted by the international community would require, he said, first, the full cooperation of the host government, or, second, the support of the UN Member States, expressed through the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly or the Security Council.

  • The Secretary-General said, “I stand ready to do whatever we can in the interests of justice, human rights and Sri Lanka's political future. “

  • On Pakistan, which is witnessing one of the largest, fastest displacements the world has seen in the past 15 years, he reported that some 2.4 million people in the Swat valley have fled their homes, including nearly 2 million in the past three weeks. Noting the immense human suffering, he said that only one fifth of a $543 million appeal had been received. He warned that if we do not get the rest of the funds, we will have to start cutting services.

  • The Secretary-General also flagged important occasions in the weeks ahead, including the planned launch at the G-8 Summit in Italy of the UN’s Global Vulnerability Alert, which will provide real-time information on the social effects of the economic crisis worldwide.

  • In response to questions on media reports sourcing casualty figures of the last phase of the Sri Lankan conflict to UN officials, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General has categorically rejected the allegations by news organizations in his informal address this morning to the General Assembly.

  • She added that she herself has sought verification of the figure of 20,000 civilian casualties with the concerned UN Staff who were present at meetings of UN Senior Officials but found that no reports of such a figure was made at those meetings. "The number of 20,000 is not a UN number," she said.

  • Montas said that the United Nations has never underestimated the casualty numbers nor engaged in any manner in manipulating them nor in soft pedaling the message communicated to the Sri Lankan Government on the necessity of avoiding civilian casualties.

  • Montas also said, in response to more questions on the subject, that figures released by the United Nations in the course of the conflict were estimates based on information received from hospital workers and other health experts working at the facilities were victims were being treated.

  • The Spokeswoman, in response to another question, said that the United Nations has been informed that the doctors being held in government camps are in good health. "These men are heroes who have saved lives in some of the toughest conditions imaginable and they should be receiving the maximum care and assistance possible," she said. "The Secretary-General made it clear during his visit [to Sri Lanka] that detaining them is not appropriate and he is hoping that they will be released soon."

PAKISTAN: SPONTANEOUS CAMPS FOR DISPLACED REMAIN A CONCERN

  • The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, and the Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees are carrying out registration inside camps, while the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), is registering people outside camps. Over the past week, five spontaneous camps have been closed with people moving into established camps.

  • The existence of numerous spontaneous camps continues to be matter of concern as they impede registration procedures for internally displaced persons (IDPs). They also restrict their ability to receive relief supplies, services and information on long-term support.

  • On the issue of shelter, rising temperatures are making it more difficult for families to remain in tents. So efforts are being made to provide adequate and culturally acceptable shelter. UNHCR is working closely with the World Food Programme (WFP) to assess and provide necessary facilities such as shaded areas, water points and toilets for internally displaced persons living outside camps. Many of them have been staying in lines in the heat for the distribution of non-food items.

  • The UN Population Fund, (UNFPA) has initiated psychosocial support for women in camps of four districts (Lower Dir, Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsadda) through individual counseling and focus group discussions. General health hygiene awareness and reproductive health sessions are also conducted in camps.

  • UNICEF is supporting 29 Child Friendly Spaces which are functional and effectively engaging children in different learning, creative and recreational activities in 13 IDP camps.

  • Water and sanitation conditions in IDP camps need urgent attention to prevent spread of water-borne diseases.

  • Montas, in response to a question, said that curtailing some UN humanitarian programmes would be an extreme measure agencies might resort to if their appeal for new funds from member states is not met satisfactorily and in a timely fashion. She also explained that such measures would be in line with UN standard practices in such cases. Meanwhile, she added, the agencies are doing as much as they possibly can to assist vulnerable populations.

  • Montas, in response to another question, said that the UN had only estimates of the number of civilians displaced by the fighting in the Swat Valley.

TURKEY ASSUMES SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY FOR JUNE

  • Turkey has assumed the rotating presidency of the Security Council for this month. There are no meetings or consultations planned for today.

  • Council members are expected to be discussing this month’s programme of work at a meeting tomorrow morning, followed at 12:30 by a press briefing by the Council’s president, Turkish Ambassador Baki Ilkin.

SOUTHERN SUDAN: U.N. ENVOY CONCERNED OVER INCREASE IN ETHNIC CLASHES

  • The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, has expressed major concern over the recent increase in violent ethnic clashes in two states in Southern Sudan.

  • In a statement issued at the end of a two-day visit to the area, Special Representative Qazi said that compared to Darfur, recent casualties from the clashes in Upper Nile and Jonglei States have been higher, for the same period.

  • He urged the international community, the regional and local actors to address the situation as an utmost priority.

  • In recent months more than 1,000 people have been killed in Upper Nile and Jonglei States as a result of violent ethnic clashes. Just last month, the United Nations deployed 120 police, military, as well as civilian personnel in Akobo and Pibor counties in an effort to calm down tension between rival ethnic groups.

  • In a separate statement, Qazi has also, on behalf of the United Nations, extended his condolences to both the bereaved family and the people of Sudan over the death of former Sudanese president Jaafar Nimeiri, who died over the weekend.

  • The Joint Special Representative of the African Union and United Nations in Darfur, Rodolphe Adada, also expressed his deep sorrow over the death of the former Sudanese president, Mr. Jaafar Nimeiri.

  • Meanwhile, the new Deputy Force Commander for the UN/AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Maj. Gen. Mbutyana Duma Dumisani of South Africa, arrived in El Fasher over the weekend to take up his duties. He is replacing Maj. General Emmanuel Karenzi of Rwanda. Dumisani said upon arrival that he plans to work, among other tasks, on addressing the Mission’s enormous logistical and deployment challenges. This is Maj. Gen. Dumisani’s third peacekeeping assignment.

  • And delivering a Secretary-General message in Dar-es-Salam at an event marking Peacekeeping Day on Friday, the UN Country Representative Julitta Onabanjo said that 22 female soldiers are expected to be among the 835 Tanzanian peacekeepers who will soon be joining UNAMID’s ranks.

DR CONGO: U.N. MISSION SUPPORTING EFFORT TO OUST REBELS FROM NORTHEAST

  • The Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) is supporting Congolese government forces in an ongoing effort to flush out Rwandan rebels from the DRC’s northeastern regions.

  • The offensive, launched this past Thursday, involves an aerial maneuver over Lubero Territory in the restive North Kivu province, where fighters from the FDLR (Democratic Froces for the Liberation of Rwanda) have routinely attacked civilians and destroyed their property. The Mission says that a top objective of the operation is to exert pressure the FDLR and prevent threats against the vulnerable populations.

  • And earlier today in The Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC) began public hearings to consider challenges by defense lawyers to the admissibly of the case against alleged Congolese militia commander Germain Katanga. The Court says that it is the first time that it will take up a challenge to admissibility based on the complementarity principle. The hearing will see the participation of a government of DRC delegation headed by the Minister of Justice.

  • An alleged commander of the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI) Katanga was arrested and transferred to the Court in October 2007. In March, the Court decided to join his case and that of accused Congolese militia leader Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui of the Nationalist Integrationist Front (FNI) into one single case of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

MORE THAN 70,000 DISPLACED SINCE START OF WAVE OF FIGHTING IN SOMALIA

  • In Somalia, more than 70,000 people have been newly displaced since fresh fighting erupted in the Somalia capital, Mogadishu, on 7 May, according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

  • Most of those displaced are in need of emergency shelter, sanitation and clean water.

  • Along the Afgooye corridor, where a third of the newly displaced people have gone, the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) and its partners are reaching a total of 250,000 people with clean piped and trucked water.

  • In the same corridor, UNHCR, through a local implementing partner, has started the distribution of non-food items, such as plastic sheets, mats, blankets, jerry cans and cooking utensils, to some 50,000 people recently displaced.

  • The World Food Programme (WFP) has also been using local partner organizations to distribute a total of 4,600 metric tons of assorted food commodities to around 333,900 beneficiaries in the same area.

U.N. ASKS FOR OVER $700 MILLION TO RESPOND TO INCREASING HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN ZIMBABWE

  • The United Nations and humanitarian agencies in Zimbabwe have issued a revised appeal for $718 million to assist six million people. This is an increase of $168 million from the original appeal launched in November 2008.

  • The upward revision is due to a sharp decline in the provision of basic social services, which is considered one of the root causes of the extensive spread of the current cholera outbreak. The disease has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 people and infected nearly 100,000 people to date.

  • According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) food insecurity continues to be a major problem.

  • In November 2008, agencies requested some $550 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, of which only $246 million has been received.

  • Catherine Bragg, Assistant Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said, “We hope that donors will continue to be generous to the people of Zimbabwe who need help to save and rebuild their lives after years of adversity”.

NEW HEAD OF U.N. MISSION’S MARITIME TASK FORCE TAKES OVER IN LEBANON

  • A ceremony marking a transfer of authority in the Maritime Task Force of the Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) took place today aboard a Belgium ship off the coast of Lebanon. Rear Admiral Jean-Thierry Pynoo of Belgium passed the leadership of the Task Force to Rear Admiral Ruggiero Di Biase of Italy in the presence of UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Claudio Graziano, senior Lebanese Armed Forces officers and foreign diplomats in post in Lebanon.

  • Force Commander Maj. General Graziano praised “the constructive relationship” between the Maritime Task Force and the Lebanese Navy, saying it is vital to the successful implementation of the UN mandate.

DELEGATIONS DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATING TEXTS, AHEAD OF COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE

  • A second round of UN Climate Change Talks kicked off today in Bonn, Germany. It’s the first time that delegates from 182 countries will discuss key negotiating texts -- which can serve as the basis for an international climate change deal, in Copenhagen in December.

  • The Copenhagen agreed outcome is to follow on the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires at the end of 2012.

  • The Executive Secretary of the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Yvo de Boer, expressed confidence that the world was on track towards negotiating a solid deal in Copenhagen. He said the political moment was right to reach an agreement.

  • The talks opening in Bonn today will run through 12 June and are the second in a series of five major negotiating sessions this year leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

  • The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is urging climate negotiators to ensure that fisheries and acquaculture are not neglected during the ongoing discussions regarding the Kyoto Protocol’s successor. FAO is among 16 international organizations that are warning that the world’s fishing and coastal communities will bear the brunt of climate change's impacts.

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES GOVERNMENTS TO ADDRESS TOBACCO THREAT

  • Yesterday was World No Tobacco Day.

  • In a message to mark the occasion, the Secretary-General urged governments everywhere to address the needless threat to public health that tobacco consumption represents.

  • He stressed that some 5.4 million people die from illnesses caused by tobacco consumption, while up to half of all smokers die from a tobacco-related disease. Left unchecked, he said, tobacco-related deaths will rise to more than 8 million by 2030.

  • That we continue to allow such diseases to be caused by tobacco consumption is a global tragedy, said the Secretary-General, adding that it also comes at vast expenses.

EGYPTIAN DOCTOR AND NICARAGUAN N.G.O. TO RECEIVE 2009 U.N. POPULATION AWARD

  • This afternoon, the Secretary-General will present the 2009 United Nations Population Award to two laureates: an Egyptian doctor, Mahmoud Fathalla, and a Nicaraguan non-governmental organization, Movimiento Comunal Nicaragüense.

  • The Population Award is given to individuals and institutions for outstanding work in population and in improving the health of individuals.

  • In his remarks, the Secretary-General is expected to underline Dr. Fathalla’s impact in the field of family planning, reproductive rights and ending maternal deaths. He will also highlight the work of Movimiento Comunal Nicaragüense – which focuses on development, gender equality and environmental protection.

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