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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESPERSON’S NOON BRIEFING

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

FRIDAY, 29 JULY 2011 

MORE THAN 12 MILLION PEOPLE IN NEED OF HELP IN HORN OF AFRICA, SAYS U.N. RELIEF WING

 

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that 12.4 million people are now in need of immediate assistance in the Horn of Africa and that $1.4 billion is still required to help them.
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• The Office adds that without additional contributions, the famine could spread throughout Somalia and into neighboring countries within the next month or two.
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• On the ground, the World Food Programme (WFP) says that the second flight in the airlift to the capital, Mogadishu, arrived today, carrying more specialized nutritional food for malnourished children under the age of five.
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• And in Gedo, in Southern Somalia – the western region bordering Kenya and Ethiopia – the first airlift arrived today carrying five tons of high-energy biscuits, enough to feed 5,000 people for five days.
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• In Ethiopia, the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) is scaling up from two to four flights a week to Dolo Ado, near the border with Somalia, due to increasing numbers of requests from humanitarian workers.
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• In Kenya, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it has moved more than 3,000 Somali refugees from the outskirts of the Dadaab refugee complex into the Ifo Extension site. This relocation started on Monday. The site will provide tented accommodation for 90,000 refugees by the end of November. Work has also started on another site, known as Kambioos, which will accommodate another 90,000 people.

 

U.N. REFUTES ALLEGATIONS OF STOCKPILING IN SOMALIA

 

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are very concerned by the incorrect and damaging perception generated by inaccurate reports regarding food stocks in Mogadishu warehouses allegedly not being distributed.
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• The UN and partners are doing everything they can to scale up their response to the rising numbers of people in need. They are using all available routes and partners to bring in and deliver supplies as fast as possible. There would be no purpose in stockpiling in a situation like this.
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• Asked about the distribution of aid in Mogadishu, the Spokesperson emphasized the need to distribute food swiftly to those who need it.

 

INDICTEES’ IDENTITIES RELEASED BY LEBANON TRIBUNAL; BAN KI-MOON CALLS ON STATES TO SUPPORT JUDICIAL PROCESS

 

• The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has announced today the identities of four men accused of involvement in the attack of 14 February 2005 that killed the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others. An indictment against the four was confirmed on 28 June this year and presented to the Lebanese authorities with accompanying arrest warrants on 30 June.
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• The Secretary-General reiterates his strong support to the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. He calls on all States to support the independent judicial process, including by cooperating with the Special Tribunal in the execution of the indictment and arrest warrants.
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• The Secretary-General also reiterates his expectation that the new Government of Lebanon will uphold all of Lebanon's international obligations, including its obligations to support and cooperate with the Special Tribunal.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS NEW SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SUDAN, SOUTH SUDAN

 

• The Secretary-General has appointed Haile Menkerios of South Africa as his Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. Mr. Menkerios served as Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in Sudan since 1 March 2010, and will, in his new capacity, continue to assist the parties in reaching a negotiated settlement.
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• Asked where Mr. Menkerios will be based, the Spokesperson said that he will be based in New York but will travel and will be in contact with people on the ground.
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• He noted, in response to questions about South Kordofan, that the UN peacekeepers who had been there are being withdrawn and have no further mandate to patrol there.

 

RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS, REFORM TOP BAN KI-MOON’S CONVERSATION WITH MYANMAR FOREIGN MINISTER

 

• The Secretary-General spoke by telephone today on the phone with U Wunna Maung Lwin, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar.
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• The Secretary-General underlined that he had publicly welcomed the reform measures announced by the new Government. He said that he hoped that the government would now move toward concrete action and take the country forward towards peace, democracy and prosperity.
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• The Secretary-General emphasized that the release of the remaining political prisoners was the single most important step that the international community expected the Government to take. He called for early action in this regard. The Secretary-General expressed concern about the ongoing violence with some armed groups and the impact on the civilian population and urged the Government to resolve the situation peacefully.
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• The Secretary-General welcomed the recent meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Mr. Aung Kyi, the Minister for Social Welfare, and the fact that she was able to engage in public activities beyond Yangon.

 

U.N. STUDY: AFGHANISTAN STILL LARGEST SOURCE OF OPIUM, HEROIN

 

• Afghanistan remains the largest source of the global illicit trade in opium and heroin, according to a new study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
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• The report states that about 16.5 million people annually abuse opiates worldwide. Heroin consumption, for example, is the highest, with more than 12 million people consuming almost 400 tons each year.
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• UNODC says opiates abuse in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries has risen sharply in the past decade, and it is also spreading to East Asia, Africa and Europe.
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• Transnational organized crime groups have profited most from the $68 billion global opiates trade in 2009, according to UNODC, of which the Afghan Taliban earned around $150 million and Afghan farmers made an estimated $440 million.

 

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS SOMALIA, DARFUR: This afternoon, the Security Council has scheduled meetings on Somalia and on the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Those will be the last scheduled meetings for this month under the Council Presidency of Germany. India will assume the Council’s rotating Presidency for the month of August.

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL STANDS BY SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR LEBANON: On press reports about Michael Williams, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, being reprimanded, the Spokesperson said they are absolutely untrue. The Secretary-General continues to stand by his report and his Special Coordinator.

 

NEITHER KOSOVO NOR SERBIA REPRESENTATIVES ATTENDED SECURITY COUNCIL CONSULTATIONS: Asked about the visit by Kosovo representatives to the United Nations, the Spokesperson said that neither Kosovo nor Serbia was present at the Security Council consultations on Thursday afternoon, and the Kosovo representatives therefore had no ability to get into the building.

 

U.N.-BACKED TALKS ON CYPRUS CONTINUE: The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders continued their discussions on governance and power-sharing today. This was their second meeting in a series of intensive negotiations which will last until late October.

 

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

30 JULY – 5 AUGUST 2011

 

Saturday, 30 July

 

Today is the International Day of Friendship.

 

Sunday, 31 July

 

There are no major events scheduled for today.

 

Monday, 1 August

 

At 12:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos will brief reporters on the situation in the Horn of Africa as the guest at the Noon Briefing.   

 

Today, India assumes the monthly rotating Presidency of the Security Council.

 

Today, World Breastfeeding Week, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) begins.

 

Today, the 28th session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf begins. It ends on 9 September.

 

Today, the second working session of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons will begin in Conference Room 2 of the North Lawn Building (NLB). It ends on 4 August.

 

Tuesday, 2 August

 

At 12:30 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India and President of the Security Council for the month of August, will brief on the Council’s programme of work for the month.

 

Today, Part 3 of the Conference on Disarmament will begin in Geneva. It ends 16 September.

 

Wednesday, 3 August

 

There are no major events scheduled for today.

 

Thursday, 4 August

 

At 12:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy will be the guest at the Noon Briefing.

 

Friday, 5 August

 

There are no major events scheduled for today.

 

 

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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