U.N. LAUNCHES EMERGENCY APPEAL TO MEET
HUMANITARIAN NEEDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN PAKISTAN

• The United Nations
  and Pakistan just launched an
  
  emergency response plan for $459.7 million over the
  coming weeks, to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of
  millions of people affected by the floods there.
   

• John Holmes, the
  Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that the death toll has
  so far been relatively low compared to other major natural
  disasters, but the numbers affected are extraordinarily
  high. He warned, “If we don’t act fast enough, many more
  people could die of diseases and food shortages”.
   

• The Government of
  Pakistan estimates that more than 14 million people have now
  been affected, to different degrees of severity, by the
  floods, which have devastated large parts of the country
  from north to south. The emergency is still evolving, with
  continued rainfall, more areas at high risk of flooding, and
  hundreds of thousands of people on the move. Urgent needs
  include shelter, food and medicine.
   

• Meanwhile, in
  Pakistan, UN agencies continue to work to assist the people
  affected by the floods and called for additional
  international assistance. The World Food Programme (WFP)
  says it is mobilizing all possible resources to ensure that
  those affected receive food assistance as swiftly as
  possible and is planning to have reached 2 million people
  with food by 20 August. Rapid food assessments have been
  concluded across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and indicate that
  some 2.6 million people need food.
   

• Despite the adverse
  weather, by Tuesday evening, WFP had reached nearly 370,000
  people with one-month food supplies in the worst affected
  areas of KPK. WFP is also scaling up food assistance to
  flood-affected communities in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.
   

• 
  
  UNICEF also says that 6 million children have been
  affected by the floods in Pakistan, with some 2.7 million
  children in need of urgent, life-saving assistance.
   

• UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
  trucks that had been trapped for a week by landslides
  finally reached Quetta today, carrying all-weather family
  tents for thousands of people in Balochistan Province made
  homeless by the floods. A further five trucks are expected
  to arrive in Quetta over the next hours, bringing help to a
  further 20,000 people.
   

• UNHCR has provided
  emergency shelter and relief assistance to over 160,000
  people, but the Refugee Agency is appealing for more funds
  in order to help meet the urgent needs of a further 560,000
  people.

FLOTILLA PANEL IS CONTINUING DISCUSSIONS
IN NEW YORK

• In response to
  questions, the Spokesperson confirmed that the panel looking
  into the 31 May flotilla incident held their first meeting
  on Tuesday afternoon, following a meeting between the four
  panel members and the Secretary-General earlier that day.
  Their discussions continued this morning.
   

• Asked about the
  panel’s meetings, Nesirky added that the panel would hold
  more meetings in the coming days. He noted that the panel is
  to send an interim report on its work to the
  Secretary-General in mid-September.

SPECIAL TRIBUNAL FOR LEBANON PURSUING ALL
POSSIBLE LEADS

• In a press release,
  the Office of the Prosecutor of the
  
  Special Tribunal for Lebanon responded to comments made
  recently by the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan
  Nasrallah, in which he offered information to assist the
  investigation into the assassination of former Prime
  Minister Rafik Hariri.
   

• The Office of the
  Prosecutor said that it must pursue all possible leads. In
  line with its mandate, the Office of the Prosecutor has
  requested the Lebanese authorities to provide all the
  information in possession of Secretary General Hassan
  Nasrallah. The Office of the Prosecutor also invites him to
  use his authority to facilitate its investigation.

SITUATION IN KALMA CAMP REMAINS TENSE AND
INSECURE

• The situation in
  Kalma remains tense and insecure, according to the
  Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). There were
  reports of gunfire overnight.
   

• The
  
  Joint UN/AU Special Representative for Darfur, Ibrahim
  Gambari, and the UN Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator, Georg
  Charpentier, today traveled with Government interlocutors to
  the Kalma camp for meetings with senior authorities in Nyala.
  They discussed the need to find amicable and practical
  solutions to resolve the situation and ensure protection for
  all internally displaced persons (IDPs) and civilians.

U.N.-MARKED ITEMS
SHOULD ONLY BE USED BY PERSONNEL IN U.N. OPERATIONS

• Asked about reports
  concerning the use of UN-marked blue helmets by Indian Rapid
  Action Force personnel in Srinagar, the Spokesperson said
  that the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)
  immediately brought the issue to the attention of the Indian
  Army authorities. We understand that directions have since
  been issued by the Indian authorities to prevent its
  recurrence.
   

• Nesirky added that
  UN-marked items can only be used by personnel serving in
  United Nations operations during their service under the
  blue flag and can not be used for other purposes, including
  by national armies in the conduct of their operations.

W.F.P. EMERGENCY OPERATION ENTERS NEW
PHASE IN DROUGHT-STRICKEN NIGER

• The World Food
  Programme (WFP) has
  
  begun a major round of feeding in Niger for 670,000
  young children and their families as part of an emergency
  operation to reach as many as 8 million food-insecure people
  in the drought-stricken West African country.
   

• WFP says that the
  food distributions come at the peak of the critical ‘lean
  season’ period, when family food stocks are exhausted ahead
  of the October harvest. Families with children under two are
  to receive specialist nutrition products for the children
  and a general ration of staple foods for themselves.
   

• Food assistance and
  nutrition support is being provided to other severely
  affected regions, including Tahoua, Dosso, Maradi, Tillabery
  and Diffa. Working with 24 local and international
  non-governmental organizations and other partners,
  
  WFP has steadily increased operations this year as the
  scale of the crisis has grown.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SECURITY COUNCIL
BRIEFED ON CENTRAL AFRICA: The

Security Council held consultations on Central Africa this
morning. Council members heard a briefing from Assistant
Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun on
the situation in that region.

SECRETARY-GENERAL
DISCUSSED QUARTET’S ROLE WITH U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE:
Asked about the discussions that the
Secretary-General had recently with US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton on the Middle East Quartet, the Spokesperson
said that they had spoken last week by telephone and had
discussed US envoy George Mitchell’s work, the efforts being
made to move to direct negotiations and the Quartet’s role in
that process. The Secretary-General is actively engaged in
efforts to foster the right atmosphere so that the Israelis and
Palestinians can move to meaningful direct talks.