Noon briefing of 17 November 2016

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
THURSDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 2016

SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES CIVIL SOCIETY FOR SPEAKING OUT ON CLIMATE CHANGE

• The Secretary-General is in Paris now, where this evening he is to be made “Grand Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur” by President Francois Hollande. He and President Hollande will also have a bilateral meeting.
• He arrived in Paris from Marrakesh, Morocco, where earlier today, the Secretary-General met with leaders of the civil society organizations who had wanted to thank him for his determined commitment to fighting climate change. The Secretary-General saluted the courage of civil society leaders who had consistently raised their voices on climate change. He added that in too many countries, civil society was being unfairly attacked and harassed. He said that after 1 January, when he is no longer Secretary-General, he would join his voice to theirs, noting that they had a greater latitude to speak out than political leaders.
• The Secretary-General also attended the High-Level Event on Accelerating Climate Action, which aims to foster voluntary efforts, initiatives and coalitions on climate. Over the last two years, the Secretary-General said at the High-Level Event, this initiative has demonstrated the power of partnerships to undertake transformational climate action.
• Just before leaving Marrakech, the Secretary-General met with Salaheddine Mezouar, Morocco’s Foreign Minister and President of COP22. The Secretary-General thanked him for hosting and organizing a very successful conference.

• The Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, participated in the donors’ conference for the Central African Republic today in Brussels. The Central African Government and the international community signed a Framework of Mutual Accountability. Mr. Eliasson said that the Central African Republic is at a crossroads and that we need to do all we can to support and unite the forces of good in the country. He stressed that peace and security, recovery, development, stabilisation and human rights must go hand in hand and noted the need for progress on the political front and for dialogue. But without the rule of law, he said, stabilisation efforts will be futile.
• Noting that the Central African Republic has suffered in the past from a lack of international attention, he stressed that, more than ever, its people need engagement and long-term support. Mr. Eliasson said the UN would do its part and reaffirmed its commitment to support the Central African people. Stressing that our collective success is within reach, he called on the international community to provide the necessary political and financial support to the country.

• Today marks one month of intensified military operations to retake the city of Mosul in Iraq. With tens of thousands of families in newly retaken areas urgently requiring life-saving assistance, the humanitarian community in Iraq faces massive needs, and these latest developments further exacerbate a humanitarian crisis in a country where 10 million people already were in need of aid.
• Nearly 59,000 people have been displaced, about 26,000 of them children. In support of the Government of Iraq, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have begun to provide assistance to displaced and resident families in newly retaken areas. More than 40,000 displaced people have found shelter in formal camps in three governorates prepared and managed by the Government, the United Nations and NGOs.
• The United Nations and NGOs are grateful for the support they have received from donors but urgently need additional resources to support the tens of thousands of families who need help. With winter approaching, and temperatures dramatically dropping at night, families, many who fled their homes with virtually nothing, need heaters, blankets and other winter items.
• The humanitarian community calls on all parties to the conflict to do their utmost to protect the rights and lives of civilians and uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law.

• The members of the Humanitarian Task Force (HTF) met today in Geneva to review progress on humanitarian access to besieged and hard-to-reach areas of Syria, notably in relation to the UN's inter-agency convoy plan for November.
• The meeting, chaired by the Deputy Special Envoy, Ramzy Ezzeldine Ramzy, took note of the humanitarian impact of the intensified violence in various parts of northern Syria over the past week, such as in Aleppo, Raqqa and Idlib governorates, among others. It was regretted that no UN inter-agency cross-line convoys were able to proceed so far in November.
• Task Force members reiterated their commitment to enabling the UN and partners to reach all those in need with humanitarian assistance in a safe, sustained, unconditional and unimpeded manner, including in besieged eastern Aleppo city.
• Meanwhile, we are extremely concerned about reports that aerial bombardment has intensified on eastern Aleppo and the western Aleppo countryside over the past 48 hours. These attacks have reportedly cost dozens of lives and damaged civilian infrastructure, including health facilities and schools, with two medical facilities reportedly damaged this morning. More than anything, what we urgently need is for the parties to the conflict to immediately work towards a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire in order to alleviate the huge levels of civilian suffering, not only in Aleppo but across the country.

• In a statement issued yesterday, the Secretary-General welcomed the announcement yesterday by the Government of Canada that it was resuming support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) by donating CDN $25 million for the essential health, education, relief and social services and humanitarian programmes that the Agency undertakes for the benefit of 5.3 million Palestine refugees.
• The Secretary-General stated that, at a time of great instability in the Middle East, Canada's generous donation will assist UNRWA in its efforts to ensure that vital human development and humanitarian services continue to be delivered to vulnerable Palestine refugees.
• The Secretary-General takes this occasion to underline once again that UNRWA should receive sufficient funding from the international community to carry out its activities effectively and in a predictable manner until a just and lasting solution is found to the underlying conflict.

• The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, Sandra Honoré, and the members of the “Core Group” called on all Haitians to exercise their constitutional right to vote on 20 November.
• The SRSG, the Ambassadors of Brazil, Canada, France, the United States, the European Union and the Special Representative of the Organization of American States form the Core Group.
• They acknowledge the measures taken by the national authorities to facilitate the holding of peaceful, inclusive and transparent elections, despite the challenges following Hurricane Matthew.
• They stress that Sunday’s vote will mark a critical step towards the return to full constitutional order in Haiti and hope that all actors will continue to make constructive contributions to ensure a serene climate that allows all citizens to freely choose their political representatives.

• The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, addressed the body’s Board of Governors today in Vienna.
• On Iran, he said that the IAEA continues to verify and monitor the country’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
• He also expressed serious concern over the nuclear programme of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which has conducted two more nuclear tests this year. Mr. Amano again called on the country to comply fully with its obligations under Security Council resolutions and to cooperate promptly with the IAEA.