Noon briefing of 18 March 2016

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC, SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

FRIDAY, 18 MARCH 2016

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO VISIT LEBANON, JORDAN, TUNISIA

• In the build-up to the High-level meeting on Global Responsibility Sharing for Syrian Refugees on 30 March in Geneva, the Secretary-General will leave New York on Wednesday, 23 March, for a joint visit to Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia, alongside the President of the World Bank Group, Dr. Jim Yong Kim.
• The Secretary-General and the President of the World Bank Group will start their visit in Lebanon on Thursday, 24 March.
• Accompanied by Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani, President of the Islamic Development Bank, they will meet with the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon, Tammam Salam, as well as with several other senior officials.
• They will also visit communities hosting Syrian and Palestinian refugees to reiterate their long-term support to the country and discuss new approaches to building resilience and assisting national systems.
• On Sunday, 27 March, the Secretary-General and Dr. Kim will travel to Jordan. They will meet with His Majesty King Abdullah II, as well as other members of the Government, and visit the Zaatari refugee camp. They will also participate jointly in an open discussion with Jordanian youth.
• On Monday, 28 March, the Secretary-General and Dr. Kim will leave Jordan for Tunisia, where they will meet with President Béji Caïd Essebsi and other senior officials, and pay respect to the victims of terrorism. The Secretary-General will also attend a national conference on employment, hosted by the President.
• Lastly, on Wednesday, 30 March, the Secretary-General will be in Geneva to open the High-level meeting on Global Responsibility Sharing for Syrian Refugees.
• He is expected to be back in New York in the evening on 30 March.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS HEAD CONDEMNS COALITION FORCES’ FAILURES IN YEMEN

• The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, today condemned the repeated failure of the Coalition forces in Yemen to take effective actions to prevent the recurrence of incidents of civilian casualties and to publish transparent, independent investigations into those that have already occurred.
• A recent attack on Al Khamees market in Hajja killed a reported 106 people, including 24 children. UN staff have recorded the names of 96 of the victims, although a further 10 bodies were burned beyond recognition.
• Since last March, the UN Human Rights Office has recorded a total of just under 9,000 casualties, including 3,218 civilians killed and a further 5,778 injured.
• High Commissioner Zeid said that the distinction between legitimate military targets and civilian ones -- which are protected under international law -- is at best woefully inadequate. He said that there is an obligation to distinguish at all times between military targets and civilians.

U.N. IRAQ ENVOY WELCOMES U.S. RESOLUTION ON DA’ESH CRIMES

• Ján Kubiš, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, welcomed the resolution adopted by the United States Congress and the statement made by US Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the crimes committed by Da’esh and acknowledging that these crimes may include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
• Mr. Kubiš said that such recognition is an important step for ensuring the accountability of members of Da’esh for the atrocious crimes they have perpetrated against the people of Iraq, particularly against Iraq’s diverse ethnic and religious communities, including the Yezidi, Christians, Turkmen, Shabak, Shi’a and others.
• The challenge now, he said, is for other members of the international community to recognise the grave nature of Da’esh’s crimes, and to take concrete action to ensure that they are fully investigated and documented and that the perpetrators are held accountable.
• He also repeated his request to the Government of Iraq to consider becoming a Party to the Statute of the International Criminal Court or to refer the current conflict to the jurisdiction of the Court.

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES D.P.R.K. TO HALT INFLAMMATORY ACTIONS

• In response to questions regarding the missile launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) the Spokesman of the Secretary-General said that the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including the latest ballistic missile launches, is deeply troubling.
• The Secretary-General urged the DPRK to comply with its international obligations, including relevant Security Council resolutions, and halt these inflammatory and escalatory actions.

SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH SENIOR MANAGERS ON COMPACTS

• The Secretary-General met with the senior managers of the UN, who signed compacts on their goals for the coming months, which are to be monitored as the year progresses.
• In remarks, the Secretary-General said that this will be the last set of Management Compacts he signs as Secretary-General. He noted that, in the case of the Compacts as with the Sustainable Development Goals, setting goals works. Understanding what is expected of us focuses the mind, and helps us to determine what is important and what is not, what is possible and what is not, he said.

UNHCR: REFUGEES AT IDOMENI CAMP “DESPERATE”

• The situation with the refugees at the Greece-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border remains tense.
• Babar Baloch, UN Refugee Agency spokesman at the Idomeni refugee camp in Greece described it as “desperate”. He said that women and children constitute 62 percent of the almost 9000 refugees sheltered in the camp and of those up to 40 percent are children.
• Mr. Baloch said that entire refugee families sleep in multi coloured tents that are only suitable for short hiking trips and that pouring rain for the last few days has soaked them in water. People are exhausted and the long wait is already taking a psychological toll on them.
• The border has been closed for 10 days now and there are no indications that it will be open any time soon.
• UNHCR personnel is assisting refugees to fill out their refugee or asylum applications and is also serving as a liaison with the Greek authorities, Mr. Baloch said.

UNICEF PROJECTS IN EASTERN UKRAINE TO BE FUNDED BY GERMANY

• The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that Germany will finance two large projects in the conflict-affected areas of Eastern Ukraine to support access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene supplies, child protection as well as Internally Displaced People’ (IDP) integration, social cohesion and resilience building.
• The projects will be implemented in the cities of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia, and in the government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• According to UNICEF, the overall funding provided by Germany will be US$30 million (27 million euros).
• Special attention will be paid to facilities and programs assisting children affected by the conflict and IDP’s.
• So far people in other parts of the country have shown a remarkable solidarity, hosting and supporting those displaced by the conflict.
• According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than three million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the conflict in the eastern parts of the country.

WHO: EBOLA FLARE-UPS TO BE EXPECTED

• The World Health Organization (WHO) dispatched a team of specialists to the southern prefecture of Nzérékoré in Guinea after two new cases of Ebola were detected and confirmed in a rural village.
• Response teams will work to investigate the origin of the new infections and to identify, isolate and monitor all contacts of the new cases and those who died.
• The new infections in Guinea were confirmed the same day that WHO declared the end of the latest Ebola flare-up in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
• The Organization stressed that recurrences of the disease should be anticipated and that the three Ebola-impacted countries must maintain strong capacity to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks.

OCHA: CIVILIANS BEAR THE BRUNT OF THE CONFLICT IN AFGANISTAN

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that civilians in Afghanistan continue to bear the brunt of a conflict that is growing in intensity and geographic scope and affecting the lives of some 6.3 million people.
• The 2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview indicates that some 8.1 million people need humanitarian assistance, but this figure is expected to increase to at least 8.3 million people due to the intensification of the conflict.
• Aid agencies are concerned by the increasing number of attacks, in particular on health workers and health facilities. In 2015, attacks against health facilities and personnel increased by 50 per cent.
• Meanwhile, more than 11,000 civilian casualties were documented last year and some 335,000 people were newly displaced, a 78 per cent increase compared to 2014.

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS SENIOR PERSONNEL

• The Secretary-General announced the appointment of Nicholas Haysom of South Africa as his Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. He will succeed Haile Menkerios of South Africa, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedication and commitment.
• Mr. Haysom is a lawyer with a long international career focused on democratic governance, constitutional and electoral reforms. He will remain for a few more weeks as the Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) where he serves since 2014 as Head and Deputy from 2012 to 2014.
• Replacing M. Haysom, whom we all know as Fink, as Special Representative in Afghanistan will be Tadamichi Yamamoto of Japan. Mr. Yamamoto has served as Deputy Special Representative in Afghanistan since 2014. Prior to working with the United Nations, Mr. Yamamoto has held several positions in the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
• In turn, the new Deputy Special Representative in Afghanistan will be Pernille Dahler Kardel of Denmark. Ms. Kardel brings twenty-five years of experience in diplomacy, political affairs, international cooperation and economic development, spanning several continents. Most recently she served as Ambassador of Denmark to the Republic of Egypt.

U.N. ENCOURAGES YOUNG PEOPLE TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUES

• The United Nations in partnership with the Angry Birds - the globally renowned mobile game characters - announced a campaign to encourage young people to address climate change and ensure a sustainable and happier future for all. The campaign was launched in commemoration of the International Day of Happiness, 20 March.
• The aim of the campaign is to make a direct link between tackling climate change and people’s happiness and well-being.

WHO ISSUES ALERT FOR EUROPE ON ZIKA VIRUS

• World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (Who/Europe) released alert today about potential risk for spread of the Zika virus in the European Region.
• The agency noted that the risk for the disease’ transmission is low during the winter months since mosquitoes are inactive but can increase in the late spring and summer. Insects able to transmit Zika virus are present in 20 European countries.
• The WHO says that Europe needs to be well prepared to protect its population from the spread of Zika virus disease and its potential neurological complications, including microcephaly.