HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
During August,
the Spokesperson's noon briefings will take place on Monday's, Wednesday's and
Friday's.
Developments
within the UN system will be posted on the website daily during this time.
Friday, August
14, 2009
CLIMATE CHANGE
NEGOTIATIONS CONCLUDE WITH URGENT CALL FOR MORE TO BE DONE BEFORE DECEMBER
The Bonn Climate Change Talks – a United Nations
negotiating session toward a new global response to climate change –
concluded today in Germany.
Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
warned that negotiations had to pick up pace if there is to be success at
the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, this December.
He stressed that there were only 15 days of negotiating
time left before Copenhagen.
De Boer also said that industrialized countries needed
to show a greater level of ambition in agreeing to meaningful mid-term
emission reduction targets.
He added that poorer countries risk being left by the
wayside without access to technology and finance.
The next UN negotiating session will begin on 28
September in Bangkok. Before that, as you know, Heads of States and
Governments will gather here in New York for the Climate Change Summit
convened by the Secretary-General on 22 September -- which will give them
the opportunity to provide clear political guidance to negotiators ahead of
Copenhagen.
INCREASING VOTER TURNOUT IS MAIN
CHALLENGE FOR UPCOMING ELECTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN
The UN Development Programme (UNDP), in a
press release today, reports that increasing voter turnout is one of the
main challenges for the upcoming presidential and provincial council
elections in Afghanistan, on August 20. To raise awareness about voting
procedures and to step-up the number of voters, the Commission has enrolled
sports stars and civic educators to organize mock polling stations
throughout the country.
While the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC)
is fully in charge of this electoral cycle, the United Nations has been
requested by the Security Council and President Karzai to lead and
coordinate electoral assistance to the elections.
The United Nations, through
UNDP and under the general political guidance of the United Nations
Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA),
is providing substantial technical assistance to the IEC and other Afghan
institutions.
These activities include operational support to the
delivery of the elections, for example, advice to the Commission,
production, transport and general management of voting materials, training
of Afghan police, assistance to the Election Complaints commission,
assistance to the media commission, independent media monitoring, training
of national observers.
U.N. HUMAN
RIGHTS COMMISSIONER’S REPORT ON GAZA INDICATE
GROSS RIGHTS VIOLATIONS DURING LAST MILITARY OPERATIONS
Available today is a
report on the recent Gaza conflict by High Commissioner for Human Rights
Navi Pillay.
You’ll recall that the same Human Rights Council
resolution which set up Justice Richard Goldstone’s Gaza fact-finding
mission also requested the High Commissioner to issue a series of progress
reports on the situation there.
Today’s report is the first of that series. Pillay’s
report will be presented to the Human Rights Council, along with Justice
Goldstone’s report, on 29 September.
The Goldstone report will be made available next month,
prior to the Human Rights Council’s next session, which starts on 14
September.
In her report today, Pillay says there is significant
evidence which indicates that serious violations of international
humanitarian law, as well as gross human rights violations, occurred during
the military operations of 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009.
Pillay also expresses grave concern that Israel has not
yet complied with the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion on
the Wall.
She adds that the blockade of Gaza and the restrictions
on the movement of people and goods into, out of, and within the West Bank
amount to collective punishment under article 33 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention.
Pillay concludes that there can be no lasting peace
without respect for human rights and without accountability for human rights
violations.
BAN KI-MOON
WELCOMES RELEASE OF REPUBLIC OF KOREA CITIZEN DETAINED BY NORTH KOREA
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomes the release of a national of the
Republic of Korea working in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex who has been
detained by the authorities of the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea
since 30 March.
As this development comes on the heels of the release
of the two U.S. journalists, he appreciates the decision of the DPRK to take
positive measures based on humanitarian considerations. He extends his
warmest sympathy to the family of the released worker and the Government of
the Republic of Korea .
The Secretary-General renews his hope that a dialogue
will resume at the earliest possible time between the DPRK and the concerned
parties including inter-Korean dialogue. He continues to support dialogue
aimed at improving relations among them and resolving outstanding matters,
including the nuclear issue. The Secretary-General reiterates his unswerving
commitment to doing his best to assist those endeavors.
LEBANON: U.N.
ENVOY PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR THE FORMATION OF NEW GOVERNMENT
The UN’s Special Coordinator for
Lebanon, Michael Williams, met with Lebanese Prime Minister-designate
Saad Hariri in Beirut yesterday.
Following that meeting, Williams noted that the UN
stood behind the Prime Minister-designate’s efforts to form a new government
in consultation with all the political parties in Lebanon.
Williams said he hoped this process will be completed
soon in order to allow the new government to address the many socio-economic
and political challenges facing the country.
Williams also said he had been reassured by the
Lebanese authorities and different Lebanese political parties and groups of
their commitment to Security Council
resolution 1701, which deals with Lebanon and Israel.
He expressed hope that the new government, when formed,
will renew that commitment and work actively towards the resolution’s full
implementation.
SOMALIA: UNICEF, WHO AND
WFP LAUNCH FRESH EFFORTS TO HELP NEEDY CHILDREN AND MOTHERS
UNICEF and the World Health Organisation, (WHO),
in partnership with local authorities
launched the second round of Child Health Days (CHDs) for Somaliland,
when a package of critical health services will be delivered to needy
children and mothers.
About 440,000 children under the age of five and
500,000 women of child bearing age will be targeted for measles and polio
immunization, vitamin A supplementation and de-worming. The beneficiaries
will also receive aqua-tabs for water treatment, hygiene education, tetanus
vaccination for women and nutritional screening.
UNICEF has moved from water trucking to the
construction, rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of water points in
the drought-affected areas of Somaliland.
Meanwhile, in recent days, the World Food Programme
(WFP) and its partners have distributed some 110 metric tonnes of assorted
food commodities to many beneficiaries. In Mogadishu, five cooked meal sites
have just re-opened following a month-long closure caused by insecurity.
Every day, an average of 80,000 people receive cooked meals from those
kitchens.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPECTS AN UPDATE ON PROBE INTO HIRING
IRREGULARITY ALLEGATIONS: In response to a question about the allegations
suggesting irregularities in the recruitment procedures being investigated by
UNDP’s Office of Audit and Investigations, in conjunction with the Office of
Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), Okabe confirmed that the Secretary-General
is aware of the situation surrounding the hiring by UNDP of the daughter of Alan
Doss, his envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Secretary-General
has been assured that a thorough independent investigation is underway. He takes
this matter very seriously, and expects to see a report [of what has been done
to date] upon his return to New York, she said.
WFP’S
HUMANITARIAN AIR SERVICE RECEIVES CRITICAL SHORT-TERM FUNDING FOR CHAD
OPERATIONS: The World Food Programme, (WFP), says that it will able to
continue its
Humanitarian Air Service operation in Chad, but only for another month. And
that’s because it has received 1 million dollars from the United States in
response to its recent appeal for donations. However, if no new donations are
made, the Humanitarian Air Service remains at risk of suspending or altogether
ending its operations by late September. Meanwhile, the Humanitarian Air
Service’s operation along the West African coast remains in dire financial
straits. WFP says it urgently needs $3.3 million to keep up that operation
through the end of the year.
MALARIA-FIGHTING BED NETS TO BE FEATURED IN U.S.
TELEVISION HIT SERIES "UGLY BETTY": ABC’s hit series "Ugly Betty" will be
filming their season-premiere episode here at Headquarters during the evenings
of Wednesday the 19th and Thursday the 20th. The UN Foundation's Nothing but
Nets Campaign, which deals with malaria-fighting bed nets, will be featured in
the storyline. This project falls under the Creative Community Outreach
Initiative, which brings together the UN and the world of film and TV.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS[1]
Monday, 17 August
Starting today and until 21 August, the Special
Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge Bustamante, will be on an
official visit to Senegal.
Tuesday, 18 August
There
will be no noon briefing by the Spokesperson today.
Wednesday 19 August
The Secretary-General will attend a wreath-laying ceremony
to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the Baghdad bombing today at 10.29 a.m.,
in front of the memorial plaque located outside the meditation room, in the
Visitors’ Lobby of the General Assembly Building.
The Secretary-General will inaugurate the first observance
of World Humanitarian Day, at 10:35 in the General Assembly Building public
lobby, South exhibition hall of the United Nations Secretariat.
This morning, the Security Council will hear a briefing on
the situation in the Middle East. Consultations on the same subject will follow.
Thursday, 20 August
There
will be no noon briefing by the Spokesperson today.
Today,
the Security Council will hold consultations on the United Nations Interim Force
in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and on Sudan.
Friday, 21 August
No major events are scheduled for
today.
[1]This
document is for planning purposes only and is current as of DATE \@
"HH:mm" 15:13 DATE \@ "dddd, dd MMMM, yyyy" Friday, 14 August, 2009.
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