SECRETARY-GENERAL TO TAKE PART
IN WREATH-LAYING CEREMONY MARKING ONE-YEAR
ANNIVERSARY OF HAITI EARTHQUAKE

• The
  Secretary-General will address a wreath-laying
  ceremony this afternoon at UN Headquarters to
  mark the first anniversary of the
  
  Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010.  After
  a symbolic silence of 47 seconds – the duration
  of the quake – the Secretary-General will
  express solidarity with the people of Haiti as
  well as the families of 102 United Nations
  colleagues who lost their lives.  He will
  reaffirm the UN system's commitment to assisting
  the people of Haiti to rebuild.
   

• In a
  parallel ceremony in Port-au-Prince,
  Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
  Operations Alain Le Roy will deliver a message
  from the Secretary-General that echoes these
  sentiments.  It also pays particular tribute to
  the dedication of
  
  United Nations staff in Haiti who survived
  the earthquake and worked to save lives in the
  following hours and days, and the hundreds of
  other UN staff from duty stations around the
  world who responded immediately to the call for
  volunteers.
   

• In a
  statement issued on Tuesday evening, the
  Secretary-General
  
  called on the international community to
  continue its support for the people of Haiti. He
  said that the UN and international response was
  one of the largest of its kind ever mounted and
  continues to this day to help survivors of this
  tragedy.  These efforts must be redoubled and
  renewed.
   

• Also
  issuing a statement on the occasion of the
  anniversary was the Secretary-General’s Special
  Representative in Haiti, Edmond Mulet.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR CALM, DIALOGUE IN
LEBANON

• The Secretary-General is
  monitoring closely developments in Lebanon,
  where the situation is fast evolving.  He
  emphasizes the importance that calm be
  preserved. 
   

• The Secretary-General
  further calls for continuing dialogue among all
  parties and respect for the Constitution and the
  laws of Lebanon.  He reiterates his full support
  for the independent work of the Special Tribunal
  for Lebanon.

  

 

CÔTE D’IVOIRE: U.N. MISSION
DEPLORES AMBUSH AGAINST BLUE HELMETS BY LAURENT
GBAGBO’S FORCES

• The UN
  Mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI)
  deplores the ambush against its peacekeepers by
  the armed forces of Laurent Gbagbo in the Abobo
  neighborhood of Abidjan on Tuesday night.
   

• A mixed
  team of police and military personnel was coming
  back from patrol when shots were fired at it. In
  response, the team fired back. Three members of
  UNOCI’s force were slightly injured during the
  incident.
   

• The
  Mission notes that this ambush occurred one day
  after the forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo blocked
  and looted a UNOCI convoy on its way to
  re-supply the Golf Hotel.
   

• The
  Mission also says that on Tuesday, several
  hundred men in black uniforms reportedly began
  shooting and evacuating houses in Abobo. As soon
  as the Mission was made aware, it made contact
  at the political level with Mr. Gbagbo's team
  and sent two patrols that were blocked by those
  people manning the checkpoints.
   

• In
  response to questions, the Spokesperson said
  that the movements of UN patrols continue to be
  hindered, but added that UN peacekeepers are
  doing their best to monitor and respond to
  events on the ground. He said that the Mission
  operates under a Security Council mandate and is
  working to carry out that mandate.
   

• Asked
  about actions by the Ivorian security forces,
  the Spokesperson noted the responsibility of
  security forces to protect civilians.
   

• Asked
  about a hotline used to report human rights
  violations in Côte d’Ivoire, Nesirky said that
  the hotline had worked effectively during the
  electoral period and afterward so that UN human
  rights officers could follow up to allegations
  of violations.
   

• Asked
  about an incident in which four drivers in a UN
  convoy had been detained, the Spokesperson said
  that he understands that the four people have
  been released, and that some of the goods on
  their trucks have now been recovered.

 

U.N. REPORTS VOTING IN SUDAN
REFERENDUM PROGRESSING SMOOTHLY

• Voting
  in the self-determination referendum is
  progressing smoothly with continued large
  turnout of voters in Southern
  
  Sudan.
   

• 
  In Southern Sudan
  now, the percentage of people who cast their
  ballots during the first two days is reckoned to
  be at 46 percent.
  The Southern Sudan Referendum Commission
  (SSRC) on Tuesday reported 25 percent turnout in
  the north and out of country voting.
   

• The
  Southern Sudan Referendum Commission has
  released the estimated time-line for the
  aggregation and declaration of the results of
  the referendum. The preliminary results are
  expected to be announced by 2 February and,
  depending on whether appeals will be submitted
  to courts or not, the final result will be
  declared on 7 or 14 February.
   

• Asked
  about the helicopter transport provided to a
  Sudanese official indicted by the International
  Criminal Court (ICC),
  the Spokesperson said that Governor Ahmed Haroun
  was critical to bringing the Missiriya leaders
  in Southern Kordofan to a peace meeting in Abyei
  to stop further clashes and killings.
   

• The
  
  UN Mission in Sudan is mandated to provide
  good offices to the Comprehensive Peace
  Agreement parties in their efforts to resolve
  their differences through dialogue and
  negotiations. Transporting Governor Haroun was a
  necessity to help bring parties together and
  avoid further violence, Nesirky said.

 

SUDAN: SECRETARY-GENERAL’S
PANEL ON REFERENDA CONTINUES MONITORING ACTIVITIES

• The
  Secretary-General’s Panel on the Referenda in
  the
  
  Sudan today continued its monitoring of the
  Southern Sudan referendum as a fourth day of
  voting concluded. The Panel members visited
  polling centres and met with referendum
  authorities and voters in the states of Upper
  Nile and Northern Bahr el-Ghazal.
   

• On
  Thursday, the Panel members will travel to other
  states across Sudan as they continue to monitor
  the referendum process.
   

• The
  Panel's Chairman, former Tanzanian President
  Benjamin Mkapa, told UN-backed Radio Miraya in
  an interview today that at the current pace of
  voting since polling began on Sunday 9 January,
  “there should be no cause for extension” beyond
  15 January – the scheduled final day of polling.

 

NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN NEED OF
FOOD AID IN SOUTHERN SUDAN HAS DROPPED, NEW U.N.
REPORT SAYS

• The
  number of people in need of food assistance in
  southern Sudan has decreased markedly – though
  prospects for food security largely depend on
  the post-referendum period and the number of
  people returning to the South, according to a
  new United Nations
  
  report.
   

• An
  assessment by the Food and Agricultural
  Organization (FAO)
  and World Food Programme (WFP)
  warned that recent gains in food security,
  especially in states bordering on northern
  Sudan, such as Upper Nile and Unity, could be
  reversed by increasing food prices and any
  escalation of localized conflict.

 

D.R. CONGO: U.N. MISSION AND CONGOLESE OFFICIALS
WRAP UP JOINT PROBE INTO SEXUAL VIOLENCE ALLEGATIONS

• 
  
  Human rights officers from the UN Mission in the
  Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)
  and Congolese law enforcement officials on
  Tuesday completed a joint mission to Fizi, in
  the South Kivu province. They were there to
  probe allegations of sexual violence against
  local women, which reportedly took place earlier
  this month.
   

• 
  
  Their provisional report says that 13 women were
  raped. Nineteen others suffered various other
  abuses. The assailants also looted 14 shops.
   

• 
  
  The Mission says that 10 suspects, all members
  of the Government army and including a ranking
  officer, are being held in connection with these
  crimes.

 

U.N. RIGHTS CHIEF URGES
TUNISIA TO ENSURE ITS SECURITY FORCES HALT USE OF
EXCESSIVE FORCE AGAINST DEMONSTRATORS

• The UN
  High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay,
  
  urged the Government of Tunisia today to
  ensure that its security forces cease using
  excessive force against demonstrators. She also
  called on the Government to launch transparent
  and credible investigations into the deaths that
  have taken place during recent protests.
   

• Pillay
  said that she is extremely concerned about the
  very high number of people killed in Tunisia in
  recent weeks. She noted reports that suggest
  that the majority of protests have been peaceful
  in nature, and that security forces reacted with
  excessive force in breach of international
  standards.
   

• Pillay
  also expressed concern about reports of
  widespread arrests, including of human rights
  defenders and bloggers advocating fundamental
  human rights principles such as freedom of
  expression, as well as reports of the torture
  and ill-treatment of detainees in Tunisia.

 

U.N. FORCE COMMANDER MEETS
WITH SENIOR LEBANESE, ISRAELI MILITARY OFFICIALS

• The
  Force Commander of the United Nations Interim
  Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),
  Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas, met with
  senior officials from the Lebanese Armed Forces
  and the Israel Defense Forces today at the UN
  Position at the border crossing at Ras Al
  Naqoura.
   

• They
  discussed the implementation of
  
  resolution 1701, the issue of the village of
  Ghajar and other matters related to the
  situation along the Blue Line.

 

TURKISH CYPRIOT AND GREEK
CYPRIOT LEADERS MEET

• 
  Governance and power-sharing were the focus of
  talks today between the leaders of the Greek
  Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in
  Nicosia.
   

• 
  Alexander Downer, the Secretary-General’s
  Special Adviser, voiced hope that this will be a
  good year in terms of dealing with the Cyprus
  question.
   

• The
  leaders will hold talks once more before their
  meeting in Geneva with the Secretary-General on
  26 January.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

W.H.O.
CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION TO HALT SPREAD OF PARASITES
RESISTANT TO MALARIA:
Unless quick steps are taken to prevent the
development and spread of drug-resistant parasites,
the world risks losing its most potent treatment for
malaria,

warns the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
A new five-step action plan released jointly
with the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partnership
outlines the actions that need to be taken to
contain and prevent resistance to artemisinins,
which help to treat falciparum malaria, the
deadliest form of the disease.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL EMPHASIZES NEED FOR GREATER
EFFICIENCY:
Asked about
reforms, the Spokesperson said that the
Secretary-General has repeatedly emphasized the need
for greater efficiency and the ability for the
United Nations to do more with its existing
capabilities.