ARCHIVES
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY EDUARDO DEL BUEY, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN
KI-MOON
WEDNESDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2011
SCALING
BACK ON AID WOULD HURT WORLD’S MOST VULNERABLE, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS FORUM
- On Wednesday, the Secretary-General
spoke at the formal opening session of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid
Effectiveness, in Busan in the Republic
of Korea.
- He said the forum
was being held at a critical time with aid under pressure everywhere. He
said cutting aid would not balance budgets. But it would hurt the most
vulnerable people in the world.
- The Secretary-General urged new and
emerging donors to contribute more, and he asked aid recipients to set
clear priorities and strategies.
- The Secretary-General later spoke at
a private-sector forum, urging business leaders to further expand
partnerships with donor agencies to help make aid more effective.
- While in Busan, the Secretary-General
held a range of bilateral meetings with leaders from both the public and
private sectors.
- The Secretary-General and Mrs. Ban
also visited the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea to pay tribute to those
who lost their lives fighting for the United Nations during the Korean
War.
- The Secretary-General noted that he
was the first Secretary-General to visit the cemetery, where 2,300
soldiers from 11 countries are buried in ornate and carefully manicured
gardens. He said he left the cemetery all the more determined to carry
forward the cause of peace for which those soldiers gave their lives six
decades ago. The Secretary-General met several South Koreans who fought in
the war, and representatives from troop-contributing countries.
IRAN: BAN
KI-MOON OUTRAGED BY INCIDENT INVOLVING U.K. EMBASSY
- During his meeting with Andrew
Mitchell, the Secretary of State for International Development for the United Kingdom, on Wednesday in Busan in
the Republic of Korea, the Secretary-General said that he
was shocked and outraged to hear of the incident in Tehran in which demonstrators entered
the British embassy, briefly abducted embassy staff and damaged property.
- He said he welcomed the Security
Council's swift statement condemning the incident and shared its views.
- He said the Iranian authorities should
investigate how such an incident could have happened and take measures to
avoid any repeat there or at any other diplomatic missions.
- Asked about the repercussions of
attacks against embassies, the Deputy Spokesperson said that the
Secretary-General expects Member States to fulfill their obligations to
protect diplomatic presences in their capitals. They must respect the
inviolability of diplomatic presences and persons, the Deputy Spokesperson
added.
TOP U.N.
PEACEKEEPING OFFICIAL CONCLUDES AFGHANISTAN
VISIT
- Under-Secretary-General for Peackeeping Operations Hervé
Ladsous wrapped up a visit to Afghanistan today, his first
to the country.
- He held talks with the Foreign
Minister, the National Security Advisor, the Speakers of the Upper and
Lower Houses and other senior Afghan officials, as well as with
representatives of civil society, media, the diplomatic corps and the
military.
- Mr. Ladsous also visited
Mazar-i-Sharif, where he met with the Provincial Governor and staff of the
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
STEPPED UP
ACCESS TO HIV SERVICES HAS LEAD TO DROP IN INFECTIONS – NEW U.N. REPORT
- Increased access to HIV services has
led to a 15 per cent reduction in new infections in the past decade as
well as to a 22 per cent drop in AIDS-related deaths in the last five
years, according to a new United Nations report.
- Advances in HIV innovations in the
past year add hope for future progress, says the publication by the World
Health Organization (WHO), the UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the
Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
- Global progress in both preventing
and treating HIV underscores the benefits of sustaining long-term
investment in HIV/AIDS.
U.N.
OFFICIAL VISITS HEADQUARTERS OF AFRICAN UNION-U.N. MISSION
IN DARFUR
- Under-Secretary-General for Field
Support Susana Malcorra visited the headquarters of the African
Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
in El Fasher, North Darfur, to meet with
the mission’s leaders and assess the situation on the ground.
- Addressing UNAMID staff, Ms. Malcorra
said
that as the situation in Darfur shifts towards peace and development,
there will be a need for a readjustment in the way the Mission’s personnel
deliver their mandate, making sure they are closer to where they are
needed most.
- Ms. Malcorra expressed her concern
for any possible impunity for those who attacked UNAMID peacekeepers and
urged the Government to bring the perpetrators to justice.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES WORKING METHODS: On
Wednesday morning, the Security Council
met in open debate on working methods.
SECRETARY-GENERAL SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL
COURT: Asked about the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo by the International Criminal
Court (ICC), the Deputy Spokesperson said
that the Secretary-General supports the Court and its activities. He added that
the ICC has taken the decision to bring him to justice and that the United
Nations does not condone impunity. On the potential impact of this arrest on
the upcoming elections in Côte
d’Ivoire, the Deputy Spokesperson said that
the Secretary-General calls on all parties to refrain from violence and seek
legal means to address any protests or disputes they may have.
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
SERVER NOT COMPRIMISED: On reports of hacking of United Nations websites,
the Deputy Spokesperson said that current server of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) has not been
compromised. The hackers compromised an
old server that goes back to 2007. There are no active passwords listed for
those accounts. UNDP found the
compromised server and took it offline.
U.N. RIGHTS CHIEF TO BRIEF PRESS: The High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, will hold a press conference in Geneva on Thursday at 3 p.m. (9 a.m. in New York) regarding the social media
campaign to promote Human
Rights Day on 10 December.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, SA-1B15
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
