Noon briefing of 24 September 2010

The Secretary-General opened a High Level Meeting on Revitalizing the Work of the Conference on Disarmament and Taking Forward Multilateral Disarmament Negotiations.

In his opening remarks, the Secretary-General urged members to push forward on bridging the gaps on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament through stronger multilateral partnerships. He said the next the next few years would be crucial.

Stressing that the multilateral disarmament machinery should deliver more and more quickly, the Secretary-General said only the political will of Member States can make that happen, and much remains to be done both on weapons of mass destruction and conventional weaponry.

He underscored that members of the Conference on Disarmament must accept that privilege of limited membership comes with responsibility, and added that non-members place their trust and hold them accountable. The Secretary-General also urged the non-members speak out their views through this conference.

The Secretary-General is set to close the session this afternoon recapturing the key elements of the meeting and presenting suggestions on some action-oriented steps for consideration by the member states. He will also present his Chairman’s Summary to the President of the General Assembly, and request that the General Assembly follows up on revitalizing multilateral disarmament negotiations.

On Friday morning, the Secretary-General also addressed a ministerial meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations Group of Friends. In his remarks, he said that dialogue is not an end in itself – it is also crucial to economic, social and human development and called for more pledges and building on the work of the Alliance.

He praised Spain and Turkey’s leadership of the Alliance, while noting that there is room for more countries to assume a greater role and provide increased support.

The Secretary-General also addressed the High-Level Meeting on Small Island Developing States, in the General Assembly this morning – that meeting’s focus was the five-year review of the Mauritius Strategy, which deals with advancing the sustainable development needs of Small Island Developing States.

In his remarks there, he said these states still lack sufficient access to financing for the dramatic changes they need to make, including for achieving their targets in the Millennium Development Goals, and called for the meeting to devise new ways of approaching and redressing such issues.

Later Friday, the Secretary-General will address the ASEAN-UN ministerial meeting and a joint statement is expected from that gathering.

In a statement issued earlier Friday, the Secretary-General notes the certification by his Special Representative in Côte d’Ivoire of the final voters list established by the Independent Electoral Commission. He congratulates the Ivorian political leaders and the Facilitator on this important achievement.

The Secretary-General calls on all Ivorian political actors to build on this consensus in order to maintain a peaceful environment before, during and after the elections, with a view to bringing a peaceful and expeditious conclusion to this process.

He commends the Ivorian people for their patience and hopes this crucial step forward will lead to the holding of open, free, fair and transparent presidential and parliamentary elections. He reiterates the United Nations willingness to assist in accordance with its mandate and resources.

The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo published today the preliminary results of an investigation into mass rapes and other human rights violations in the Walikale region at the end of July and beginning of August. The 15-page report confirmed that at least 303 civilians had been raped.

The preliminary report comes in the wake of a public briefing to the Security Council by the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Atul Khare, after his mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to look into this terrible situation.

He identified a number of areas in which the measures taken by the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had proven inadequate and had failed to prevent these attacks or protect the civilians.

During his briefing at that time, Mr. Khare said that a human rights investigation team was deployed from 25 August to 2 September, and interviewed victims and witnesses in each of the 13 villages in the area. He also said the report would be finalized and made public. The report published today is the one he was referring to.

In response to a question on the activities of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative dealing with Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, the Spokesperson later said that Ms. Wallström will visit the DRC on Tuesday.

In response to a question about reports of former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and his party being prevented from entering the UN premises by UN Security, the Spokesperson said that Mr. Obasanjo and a small party did come to the entry gate at 46th Street and 1st Avenue.

He explained further that the former president was wearing a pass for an event at UN Headquarters’ North Lawn Building while his aides held similar passes. However, none of them had UN-issued identification. “In order to gain access to the UN Headquarters a valid UN ground pass or other special access pass must be presented or visitors must be escorted onto the premises by the event organizer,” Nesirky said.

He added that UN Security Officers must carefully review over 12,000 people with various badges and event passes accessing UN Headquarters daily in the course of the General Assembly’s plenary session. In the case of Mr. Obasanjo and his aides, no event organizer was there to meet them. Even so, UN Security Officers personally escorted Mr. Obasanjo and his aides with valid passes to their destination.

In response to a question on remarks by the Iranian President questioning the UN9;s impartiality in the Iran nuclear issue, the Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General had repeatedly stressed that Iran must comply with all relevant Security Council

resolutions on this matter.

Nesirky also said, in response to a question, that the Secretary-General strongly condemned the comments made yesterday by the Iranian President in his speech to the General Assembly, in which he called into question the cause of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Nesirky said the Secretary-General believed it was unacceptable for the platform of the General Assembly to be misused in this way.

U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY CONCERNED OVER DISPLACED PEOPLE IN YEMEN: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that it is closely following developments in south-east Yemen where fighting between government forces and militants has forced some 4,000 civilians to flee. UNHCR is concerned that the number of displaced is on the rise. It also hopes that the warring parties have been taking measures to avoid civilian casualties and it is working with Yemini authorities and UN partner aid groups to provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced civilians.

RWANDAN PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS ON PEACEKEEPING WELCOMED: In response to a question asked on Thursday about Rwanda’s peacekeeping contribution to the United Nations, the Spokesperson said that the United Nations deeply appreciates Rwanda’s contribution to UN peacekeeping as well as the performance of Rwanda’s troops under UN command, as the Secretary-General personally mentioned to President Kagame during his recent visit to Kigali. The Secretary-General welcomes President Kagame9;s comments and looks forward to a continued collaboration so that Rwanda9;s peacekeepers carry on the excellent work performed in critical peacekeeping operations such as in Darfur.

PEACEKEEPERS SERVING IN SOMALIA PART OF AFRICAN UNION OPERATION: In response to a question on why peacekeepers in Somalia were being paid less than their counterparts in UN missions, the Spokesperson explained that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is not a UN operation. He added, however, that the European Union, among others, have pledged increased funding for AMISOM. The Secretary-General, meanwhile, has repeatedly stated that AMISOM needs appropriate support to execute its mandate. "He has been extremely supportive of the countries that contribute to the mission," Nesirky said, adding that the Secretary-General held a meeting with former AMISOM peacekeepers from Burundi during a recent visit to that country.

ALBUM LAUNCH TO TAKE PLACE IN COMMERCIAL SPACE: In response to a question asked on Thursday about the singer Taylor Swift, the Spokesperson said that Ms. Swift9;s album launch has been booked at the Delegates Dining Room as an external event. There is no UN office involved in this event. The Delegates Dining Room is a commercial space managed by Aramark and available for bookings..

Saturday, 25 September

At 9:30 a.m., the Secretary-General will participate in the Ministerial event entitled “Security Council Resolution 1325- A Call to Action” in Conference Room 3 (NLB).

Sunday, 26 September

Today is World Heart Day.

Monday, 27 September

At 10 a.m., the Secretary-general will participate in the Security Council meeting on counter-terrorism.

At 11 a.m., in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium, Bernard Kouchner, Foreign Minister of France will hold a press conference.

At 1:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji, Prime Minister of Malaysia, will brief the press.

At 2:00 p.m., the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference will hold a press conference.

From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., in Conference Room 4 (NLB) France, UNICEF and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will hold a forum that will welcome the endorsement of new countries that have signed on to the Paris Commitments and Principles on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups. Bernard Kouchner, French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and Ms. Constance Thomas, Director of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour of the ILO will be among the speakers.

At 3:15 p.m., the Foreign Minister of Israel will speak to the press at the NLB stakeout position.

Today is World Tourism Day.

Tuesday, 28 September

This morning, the Security Council will hear a briefing and then hold consultations on the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL).

Wednesday, 29 September

Today, the Security Council will hold a debate on Afghanistan. It is also expect to adopt a resolution on the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL).

The guest at the Noon briefing will be Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning, Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) and Nicholas Haysom, Director (EOSG), to brief on the 65th session of the General Assembly.

Thursday, 30 September

Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning, Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) and Nicholas Haysom, Director (EOSG), will be featured speakers at The Brookings Institution event, "Are global leaders leading? Outcomes from the September summits at the UN" at 3:30 p.m. in Washington, DC.

Friday, 1 October

Uganda will assume the rotating monthly Presidency of the Security Council for October.