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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESPERSON’S NOON BRIEFING

BY MARTIN NESIRKY, SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 12 JULY 2011

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL DISCUSSES QUARTET TALKS IN WASHINGTON, SITUATION IN HORN OF AFRICA

 

• The Secretary-General spoke to reporters outside the Security Council today, and among other things said that he had traveled to Washington on Monday to participate in a meeting of the Quartet Principals.
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• He said it was a detailed and very useful discussion, in which the Quartet discussed the urgent need to bring the parties into resumed negotiations in the aftermath of President Obama's speech of May 19, which all Members of the Quartet supported.
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• Asked about the lack of a statement by the Quartet on Monday evening, the Spokesperson noted that the Secretary-General said that the Quartet envoys are continuing their discussions today.
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• The Secretary-General said that he is extremely worried by the situation in the Horn of Africa, where more than 11 million people need urgent assistance to stay alive, as they face their worst drought in decades.
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• This morning, the Secretary-General called an emergency meeting with the heads of UN agencies. They agreed to do everything they can to prevent this crisis from deepening. The Secretary-General urged Member States to fully support the $1.6 billion appeal to pay for essential life-saving programmes in the region. So far, the UN has received only half that amount.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING MONITORING OF ATTACKS ON SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS

 

• The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution in its open meeting today on children and armed conflict, which emphasizes that schools and hospitals should be zones of peace respected by all parties to conflict.
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• The Secretary-General, in remarks to the Council, welcomed this advance, saying that places of learning and places of healing should never be places of war.
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• The Council also heard from Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
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• Asked about complaints from some Member States regarding the UN mandate on children and armed conflict, the Spokesperson noted that Radhika Coomaraswamy has the full support of the Secretary-General for the work that she does, including raising the profile of issues concerning children and armed conflict.
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• Asked about complaints about which Member States are listed in the relevant reports, Nesirky said the expectation is that the same standards will be applied to all States.

 

HEAVY BOMBARDMENTS CONTINUE IN SOUTH KORDOFAN, U.N. HUMANITARIAN OFFICE WARNS

 

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the situation in South Kordofan remains unpredictable and that heavy bombardments continues in and around Kadugli and in Delami, a town 100 kilometres north-east from Kadugli.
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• The Office adds the preliminary results of an assessment undertaken in Kadugli town indicate that the most urgent humanitarian needs continue to be food, water, medical services and shelter for the displaced. Humanitarian actors also reported that key access roads and bridges need immediate repair and mines need to be cleared.
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• Asked about the activities of the peacekeepers working for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), the Spokesperson said they do not have a mandate to patrol.
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• He noted that Resolution 1997 “requests the Secretary-General to consult with the parties, the African Union High-level Implementation Panel, and other partners, and present to the Security Council options for UN support to new security arrangements in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan States in line with the June 28 Framework Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (North) on Political and Security Arrangements in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan States, and expresses its readiness to continue current UN operations in these states, with the consent of the parties, until those new security arrangements have been implemented.”

 

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES KEY TO PEACE IN CENTRAL ASIA: U.N. REPORT

 

• A new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report says boosting cooperation between countries sharing the waters of the Amu Darya River holds the key to future peace and security in Central Asia.
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• Large hydropower projects, growing populations and climate change are some of the major challenges for the main nations affected, including Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
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• The report, titled “Environment and Security in the Amu Darya”, adds that water levels in the southern part of the river have dropped by 26 metres and the shoreline has receded by several hundred kilometres.

 

MALAYSIA: U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS BODY CONCERNED ABOUT USE OF FORCE ON PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATORS

 

• Asked about allegations of rights violations in Malaysia, the Spokesperson said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is very concerned by the recent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators by the Government in Malaysia, and particularly disappointed to see the apparent use of excessive force by the police against so many peaceful demonstrators in an established democracy like Malaysia.
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• Nesirky added that, while the police have said that all the 1,600 or more detained demonstrators have been released, the Office of the High Commissioner remains concerned about retaliation against these individuals, as well as against those who were arrested in the lead up to the demonstration, some of whom are apparently still in detention.  These individuals should not be punished for exercising their fundamental human rights.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL: EMBASSY ATTACKS IN SYRIA UNACCEPTABLE: Asked about attacks on embassies in Damascus, Syria, the Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General considers the attacks involving the French and US Missions to be totally unacceptable. He believes that the Syrian authorities need to live up to their responsibilities under international conventions concerning host countries’ protection of diplomatic premises on their territory.

 

SECURITY COUNCIL: SYRIA MUST PROTECT DIPLOMATIC STAFF, PROPERTY: The Security Council in a statement today strongly condemned attacks against embassies in Damascus. Referring to the obligations of host Governments under international law, the Security Council asked the Syrian authorities to protect diplomatic property and personnel.

 

SPECIAL ENVOY IS COORDINATING EFFORTS TO RESOLVE LIBYAN CRISIS: Asked about Libya, the Spokesperson noted the efforts by different countries and different groups of countries to help resolve the situation and bring an end to the fighting. The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, has an important role to play in coordinating the various approaches, he added.

 

AFGHAN ASSASINATION HIGHLIGHTS FRAGILE SITUATION: Asked about the assassination of the Chairman of the Kandahar Provincial Council and half-brother of President Hamid Karzai, Abdul Wali Karzai, in Afghanistan, the Spokesperson said that the killing underscored the fragility of the situation in the country.

 

  

Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
United Nations, SA-1B15
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
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