Tuesday, August 31, 2010

 

 

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR COORDINATED APPROACH
TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• The
  
  Secretary-General
  
  spoke today at the launch the
  
  Global Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons at UN
  Headquarters.
   

• Describing the Plan of
  Action as a clarion call, he said that, despite steps taken to
  stop human trafficking, a common, coordinated and consistent
  approach much be taken. The Plan of Action will help to achieve
  exactly that.
   

• The Plan will engage
  governments and criminal justice systems, civil society, the
  private sector, the media, and concerned citizens. Under the
  Plan, the fight against human trafficking will become part of
  all the UN’s broader development and security policies and
  programmes.
   

• The Secretary-General
  urged Member States, the private sector and philanthropists to
  contribute generously to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund
  for those who are trafficked, especially women and children.
   

• He also called on Member
  States to increase technical assistance to countries that
  support the fight against trafficking, but lack financial
  resources and expertise. He noted that often, these are
  countries from which people are trafficked, so their needs are
  especially urgent.

 

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT CONCERN
FOLLOWING PAKISTAN FLOODS

• An
  estimated half a million women affected by the floods in
  
  Pakistan are expected to give birth during the coming six
  months, according to the
  
  World Health Organization.
  One month after the gradual onset of the devastating floods,
  reproductive health remains a significant concern across
  Pakistan’s flooded areas. After conducting assessments of
  maternal, neonatal, and child health, the
  
  UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has established labour rooms in
  selected areas. Also, UNFPA teams have assisted in approximately
  5,600 safe deliveries so far.
   

• Pakistan’s floods have
  so far affected an estimated 17.6 million people, 70 per cent of
  whom are estimated to be women and children, according to the
  
  UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
   

• Also, the Executive
  Directors of the
  
  UN Children’s Fund, and the
  
  World Food Programme,
  
  
  Anthony Lake and
  
  
  Josette Sheeran, respectively,
  have
  
  called on the international community to step up their
  support for the victims of the floods in Pakistan. The pair made
  their call following a joint visit to one of the worst affected
  parts of the country.

 

U.N. MISSION: THREE ABDUCTED AIR CREW IN DARFUR
RELEASED UNHARMED

• The
  
  
  UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
  reports that the three
  Russian aircrew members who were abducted on Sunday in Nyala,
  
  
  South Darfur,
  were safely released today.
   

• The
  Mission adds that, on Monday, a UNAMID team met with several
  community leaders at the Kalma camp for displaced persons, to
  discuss reconciliation among opposing sides following the
  violent incidents in the camp in July.
   

• 
  During the meeting, UNAMID called upon all camp leaders to
  reconcile their differences in the interest of the displaced
  people, to live in peace and receive humanitarian assistance.
   

• Asked who the Russian pilots worked
  for, the Spokesperson explained that they were employed by a
  private company, Badr Airlines, which in turn was contracted by
  a company that supplies UN peacekeepers.

 

SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS MANDATE OF U.N. MISSION
IN LEBANON

• On Monday afternoon, the
  
  Security Council extended the mandate of the
  
  UN Interim Force in Lebanon by one year, until the end of
  August 2011.
   

• Today is the last day of
  the Russian Presidency of the Security Council. On Wednesday,
  Turkey will assume the Council’s rotating
  
  presidency for the month of September.

 

CYPRIOT LEADERS TO HOLD INTENSIVE TALKS NEXT WEEK

• The leaders of Cyprus’
  Greek and Turkish communities, Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis
  Eroglu and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias, will hold
  intensive talks next week as part of United Nations-led
  reunification negotiations,
  
  according to the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for
  Cyprus,
  
  Alexander Downer.
   

• They met today to work
  out the dates for upcoming talks, Downer said.
   

• The issue of property
  will be the focus of the talks, which is scheduled to run all
  day on both 7 and 10 September. That aspect of the talks tries
  to resolve numerous complex claims between the two sides on
  property seized decades ago.
   

• The meetings began in
  2008 after the then-leaders of the two communities committed
  themselves to working towards a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation
  with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council
  resolutions.
   

• Noting that negotiating
  the settlement is “a very difficult process,” Downer told
  reporters after today’s talks that the leaders have made strides
  in the key area of governance and power-sharing, as well as in
  issues pertaining to the economy and the European Union.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES CONFERENCE’S FOCUS ON
GLOBAL HEALTH

• The UN Department of
  Public Information is holding a conference with non-governmental
  organizations that is underway in Melbourne, Australia.
   

• In a video message to
  the conference, the
  
  Secretary-General thanked the participants for coming
  together to advance global health and the achievement of the
  
  Millennium Development Goals. He told the gathered NGOs, “We
  at the United Nations not only value your activism – we depend
  on it.”
   

• He particularly welcomed
  the conference’s focus on women’s and children’s health. The
  Secretary-General said that was the area where we are most
  behind, although evidence shows it is also where we can get the
  biggest return on our investment.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

RWANDAN
CONTRIBUTION TO U.N. PEACEKEEPING GREATLY APPRECIATED:
Asked about reports that Rwanda is threatening to pull out
peacekeepers from UN operations, the Spokesperson said that

UN peacekeeping operations very much appreciate Rwanda’s troop
contribution as well as their performance under UN command. Rwanda
currently contributes (as of 31 July) 3,485 soldiers, 143 police
officers and 24 staff officers to UN operations. He added, in
response to further questions, that there was no fixed date for the
issuance of a report on the

Democratic Republic of the Congo,
which will come out soon.

 

NEGOTIATIONS ARE ONLY WAY TO RESOLVE
ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN FINAL STATUS ISSUES:
Asked about the

Israeli-Palestinian peace
process, the Spokesperson said that the

Secretary-General believes
that negotiations are the only way for the parties to resolve all
final status issues and he calls upon both sides to show leadership
courage, and responsibility to realize the aspirations of both
peoples. We should all be aware that this is an opportunity that
must not be wasted, Nesirky added.

 

U.N. MISSION CONFIRMS EXPLOSIONS IN
KANDAHAR CITY: Asked about
reports of explosions in Afghanistan, the Spokesperson later said
that the

UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirms that
there were a number of explosions in

Kandahar city at around 8:00
p.m. in the evening of 30 August. It is not clear what the targets
were. The UNAMA compound was not hit by any explosions, and no staff
were hurt.

 

*** The guest at the
Spokesperson’s Noon Briefing on Tuesday was the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in
Conflict, Margot Wallström.