HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,

SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

WEDNESDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2015

U.N. ENVOY: 2015 WILL DETERMINE WHETHER SOMALIA TO BECOME UNIFIED, PEACEFUL FEDERAL STATE

• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Nicholas Kay, briefed the Security Council earlier today in an open session. Presenting the Secretary-General’s latest report on Somalia, Mr. Kay said that 2015 should be a year of federalism and delivery – a year that it will determine whether and how Somalia can become a unified, peaceful federal state.
• He warned that the political and security challenges and risks continue to be significant. Mr. Kay stressed the need to build a sustainable and inclusive state, one that includes minorities and marginalized groups in the process.

HEAD OF U.N. MISSION SPEAKS OUT AGAINST KILLING OF CIVILIANS IN EASTERN D.R. CONGO

• The head of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Martin Kobler, strongly condemned new murders of civilians around Beni, in the eastern part of the country.
• He said that nothing would deter MONUSCO’s determination to neutralize armed groups in the region and reiterated UN support to the Congolese authorities against these groups.

SOUTH SUDAN FACES FOOD CRISIS UNLESS FIGHTING ENDS, U.N. CHILDREN’S FUND WARNS

• The UN Children Fund (UNICEF) says that South Sudan could face a growing food crisis by the end of the dry and lean season if the warring parties don’t reach a long-term settlement and fighting continues.
• UNICEF says the conflict is sharply reducing food supplies and slowing humanitarian access to those who need the most assistance. It reports seeing large numbers of people on the move in conflict areas because of food shortages.
• At least 229,000 children are estimated to be suffering from acute malnutrition in South Sudan – a number that has doubled since the start of the conflict just a year ago.
• UNICEF says it needs access to remote areas made inaccessible because of the fighting. It adds that, along with the World Food Programme (WFP), it continues to step up aid for malnourished children across the country.
• UNICEF and its partners have already provided therapeutic feeding for almost 100,000 severely malnourished in 2014 and are aiming to reach 137,000 children who are under the age of five and suffering from severe acute malnutrition in 2015.

MALAWI: WORLD FOOD PROGRAMMES STEPS UP HELP TO FLOOD-STRICKEN

• In Malawi, the World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up its assistance to those affected by massive floods in the country.
• WFP had reached nearly 210,000 people by the end of January with more than 1,500 metric tons of food assistance but is now working to bring food to an additional 160,000 people.
• It also stresses that additional contributions are urgently required to fill the funding gap for its operations in the country.

U.N.-BACKED MEETING WRAPS UP WITH RECOMMENDATIONS TO ENHANCE CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY

• Yesterday, the Second High-level Safety Conference on International Civil Aviation wrapped up in Montreal, which is where the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is headquartered.
• The Conference discussed emerging safety issues, including those related to the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines 370 last March, and the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines 17 in Ukraine in July last year.
• On the issue of global tracking of aircraft, member States recommended the adoption of a new 15-minute aircraft tracking standard.
• This standard would require commercial aircrafts to report their position every 15 minutes. ICAO will now send its recommendation to Member States for comments and anticipates the adoption of the new tracking standard this autumn.
• On the issue of risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones, ICAO said that Member Sates at the Conference expressed strong support for a proposal to develop a prototype online resource for global conflict zone risk assessments.

HUNGARY, KUWAT AND SLOVAKIA LATEST MEMBER STATES TO PAY U.N. DUES

• As of 3 February 2015, 29 Member States have paid their regular budget assessments in full. The UN is grateful to Hungary, Kuwait and Slovakia for their contributions.