BAN KI-MOON, HEADS OF REGIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS APPEAL FOR HUMANITARIAN
ACCESS TO LIBYA

• The
  Secretary-General
  
  convened a video and telephone
  conference call this morning with
  regional organizations and UN
  agencies to discuss the humanitarian
  situation in Libya and on its
  borders. This was the first meeting
  of its kind, involving not only the
  UN agencies but also other regional
  and international organizations to
  reflect the urgency of the situation
  and the shared desire to act with
  unity of purpose.
   

• All the
  participating organizations joined
  in urgently appealing to the Libyan
  authorities to allow immediate and
  unimpeded access into Libya to
  determine humanitarian needs and
  provide assistance inside the
  country should it be required,
  including in the west.
   

• They
  agreed to further strengthen their
  coordination to deal with the
  developing humanitarian situation in
  Libya.
   

• They
  noted assistance had been scaled up
  significantly in the past 24 hours.
  But they agreed a high priority was
  assisting people to move away from
  the border areas and helping people
  return to their countries of origin.
  In addition, there is a strong need
  for urgent relief – food, water,
  sanitation and shelter to the
  thousands on both sides of the
  Tunisian and Egyptian borders due to
  significant population movements,
  mainly of migrant workers. It is
  also necessary to prepare for a
  further possible escalation of
  humanitarian needs should conditions
  deteriorate inside Libya.
   

• Those on
  the call expressed their sincere
  thanks for the strong support
  provided by the Tunisian and
  Egyptian authorities, and their
  people, to those leaving Libya and
  to the organizations working to
  assist them.
   

• The
  Secretary-General made clear he
  intends to name a special envoy
  shortly.
   

• He also
  emphasized that political change
  must be locally owned and locally
  led. He stressed the need to monitor
  the situation as it evolves.
   

• Asked about the
  concept of a “no-fly” zone for
  Libya, Nesirky said that is a matter
  for the members of the Security
  Council to consider.
   

• Asked about
  reports of aerial bombardment, he
  said that the Secretary-General has
  emphasized that it is unacceptable
  for civilians to be targeted.
   

• He noted that
  all the organizations participating
  in the conference call today were
  united in appealing on the Libyan
  authorities for humanitarian access
  to be granted.
   

• Asked whether
  resolution 1970 allows for military
  action in order to stop the
  violence, the Spokesperson clarified
  that is a matter for the Security
  Council to determine. The
  Secretary-General, he said, had told
  Col. Muammar al-Qadhafi during their
  recent phone call that violence
  against civilians must stop.
   

• It was in the
  context of his humanitarian concerns
  that the Secretary-General initiated
  today’s conference call.
   

• Asked about
  investigations into the violence,
  Nesirky recalled that the
  
  Human Rights Council has adopted
  a resolution initiating an
  investigation.
   

• Asked whether
  the Secretariat has received a
  letter from Libya asking for
  credentials to be withdrawn from the
  Permanent Representative of Libya
  and his Deputy, the Spokesperson
  confirmed that the letter has been
  received and is being studied.
   

• Asked about the
  scale of humanitarian assistance,
  the Spokesperson reiterated that
  there has been an increase in the
  amount of assistance provided by
  Egypt and Tunisia, but added that
  more aid is needed and that the
  United Nations is trying to
  determine how much is needed.

 

UNITED NATIONS ALLOCATES $5 MILLION
FOR EMERGENCY AID TO PEOPLE FLEEING
LIBYA

• The
  Under-Secretary-General for
  Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos,
  has
  
  allocated $5 million from the
  Central Emergency Response Fund to
  kick-start emergency efforts to help
  people fleeing violence in Libya.
   

• The funds will
  primarily be used to scale up relief
  operations along the Libyan-Tunisian
  border.
   

• According to
  the Office for the Coordination of
  Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
  up to 147,000 people have escaped
  fighting in Libya. The vast majority
  of those leaving the country are
  immigrant workers.
   

• The United
  Nations and its partners are working
  closely with authorities in Egypt,
  Tunisia and Niger to meet the basic
  needs of the large numbers of people
  who have fled from Libya. But as the
  situation escalates, it is evident
  that a much larger response is
  required, OCHA stresses.
   

• 
  UNICEF is
  
  mobilizing its staff and relief
  supplies to Libya’s western and
  eastern borders. Two of its charter
  flights loaded with more than 160
  metric tonnes of supplies are
  expected to reach the area shortly.
   

• The numbers of
  families crossing the border into
  Tunisia are reported as being
  relatively low to date, and UNICEF
  is concerned that women and children
  have been severely affected by the
  unrest within Libya.

 

SECURITY COUNCIL IS BRIEFED ON COTE
D’IVOIRE, SUDAN

• 
  The Under-Secretary-General for
  Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le
  Roy, briefed the
  
  Security Council this morning in
  closed consultations on Côte
  d’Ivoire. Mr. Le Roy discussed the
  mounting tensions in
  
  Côte d’Ivoire, with an increased
  number of clashes, escalating
  violence and further incidents of
  the harassment of peacekeepers.
   

• 
  The Security Council also expects to
  receive a briefing in consultations
  this afternoon on the situation in
  
  Sudan, where fighting has been
  reported in Abyei in recent days.
   

• 
  Earlier, the Security Council
  unanimously adopted a resolution
  concerning the UN Mission in
  Liberia’s support for the
  
  Special Court for Sierra Leone.

 

U.N. MISSION: FIFTY CIVILIANS KILLED
IN PAST WEEK IN COTE D’IVOIRE

• The UN Mission
  in Côte d’Ivoire,
  
  UNOCI,
  
  says that 50 people have died
  during the last week in violent
  clashes between the Forces de
  défense et de sécurité (FDS) and the
  Forces Nouvelles or other groups
  across the country. Twenty-six
  people died in the Abobo district
  alone and 200,000 people have fled
  the neighborhood, according to the
  Mission.
   

• UNOCI adds that
  it is working with other partners to
  open a humanitarian corridor in
  Abobo and is planning on requesting
  a halt in fighting to provide water
  and food to the population there.
  
   

• Meanwhile, the
  Mission confirms it has received two
  of the three helicopters from the UN
  Mission in Liberia and that the
  third one should arrive in the
  coming days.

 

INFORMAL WESTERN SAHARA TALKS DUE
NEXT WEEK IN MALTA

• As agreed by
  the parties during their last round
  of informal talks in January,
  delegations of the parties to the
  
  Western Sahara conflict, Morocco
  and the Frente Polisario, and the
  neighbouring states, Algeria and
  Mauritania, will gather in Malta for
  informal meetings from 7 to 9 March
  2011.
   

• This meeting
  will take place at the invitation of
  the Personal Envoy of the
  Secretary-General for Western
  Sahara, Mr. Christopher Ross, within
  the mandate given by the UN Security
  Council for UN-led negotiations.
   

• At their last
  talks, the parties continued their
  discussion on innovative approaches
  and subjects for discussion in order
  to create an environment that could
  be more propitious for progress to
  be made.  In preparation for the
  coming meeting, the parties have
  been asked to work on these
  approaches and subjects to find
  common ground on which to build at
  future sessions.

 

D.R. CONGO: VICTIMS OF SEXUAL
VIOLENCE LACK ADEQUATE REMEDIAL
RESOURCES

• Resources
  needed to meet the needs of hundreds
  of thousand of victims of sexual
  violence in the Democratic Republic
  of the Congo are at best inadequate,
  and at worst non-existent. That’s
  according to a new
  
  report by a special high-level
  panel appointed by the High
  Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi
  Pillay.
   

• The report says
  that medical and psychological
  treatment, justice and
  accountability for perpetrators, and
  other forms of remedies and
  reparations, are not routinely
  available to victims of sexual
  violence. Congolese victims of
  sexual violence are extremely
  concerned that whatever they are
  given now to restore their lives
  could be destroyed again if there is
  no peace in the region.
   

• The report was
  released today in Geneva. It is the
  result of a 17-day field trip by the
  special panel, whose members visited
  seven locations in three different
  provinces and the capital, Kinshasa.

 

PEACEKEEPERS BEEF UP PRESENCE IN
RESTIVE ABYEI REGION OF SUDAN

• The Department
  of Peacekeeping Operations says
  that, in reaction to the recent
  clashes north of Abyei town and to
  prevent an escalation in violence,
  the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)
  has started to enhance its presence
  in this location by reinforcing its
  current capacity of four companies
  with an additional company.
   

• The
  strengthened deployment will
  intensify the frequency of both
  patrols throughout the Abyei
  Administered Area to provide a
  continuous rolling presence, as well
  as foot patrols within Abyei town
  itself, to increase visibility of
  UNMIS troops while carrying out the
  Mission’s mandated duties.

 

KENYANS
ARE DISPLACED AS FIGHTING RAGES IN
SOMALI BORDER TOWN

• The
  Office for the Coordination of
  Humanitarian Affairs
  
  says more than 5,500 Kenyans
  have been temporarily displaced from
  Mandera, which is just across the
  border from the Somali town of Beled
  Hawo, where fighting continues
  between Somali forces and Al-
  Shabaab militants.
   

• OCHA says
  some 6,000 Somalis have sought
  asylum in Kenya, with unconfirmed
  reports saying that a number of
  would-be asylum seekers are stranded
  in a no-man’s land between the two
  countries.
   

• The newly
  registered Somali asylum-seekers,
  meanwhile, are in need of shelter
  support, but increased security
  risks are hampering humanitarian
  efforts.

 

GLOBAL FOOD PRICES INCREASE FOR
EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE MONTH

• Global food
  prices have increased for the eight
  consecutive month,
  
  according to the United Nations
  Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
  Except for sugar, prices of all
  commodity groups rose again in
  February.
   

• The cereal
  price index – which includes the
  prices of main food staples such as
  wheat, rice and maize – climbed by
  nearly 4 per cent, reaching the
  highest level since July 2008.
   

• FAO cautions
  that unexpected spikes in oil prices
  could further exacerbate an already
  precarious situation in food
  markets.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

HAITI CHOLERA
PANEL TO COMPLETE WORK SOON: Asked
when the report of the panel looking
into cholera in Haiti would come out,
the Spokesperson noted that the panel
appreciated the need to complete its
work quickly. He expected to be able to
say more on the panel’s work in the
coming days.

 

FLOTILLA PANEL
RECENTLY RECEIVED KEY INFORMATION:
Asked about the work of the panel
looking into the 31 May 2010 flotilla
incident, the Spokesperson noted that
the panel received some of the
information that it needed for its work
only recently.