Noon briefing of 14 April 2016

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,

SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

THURSDAY, 14 APRIL 2016

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO TRAVEL TO WASHINGTON D.C. AND HAGUE

• On 15 April, the Secretary-General will depart New York for Washington D.C. to attend the 2016 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG).
• On 15 April, he is expected to speak at high-level meetings on forced displacement and the New Financing Initiative to Support the Middle East and North Africa. He will deliver opening remarks at an event marking the partnership between the United Nations and the World Bank Group.
• On April 16, the Secretary-General will speak at the opening plenary of the Infrastructure Forum as well as the Development Committee Plenary, before leaving for New York.
• On 18 April, the Secretary-General will leave New York for The Hague, the Netherlands, where he will attend the official opening ceremony of the Permanent Premises of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as the 70^th anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
• He is scheduled to also meet with high-level Dutch officials, including Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, as well as the President of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and members of the Parliament.
• He is expected to speak to the media with the Foreign Minister on 19 April.
• The Secretary-General will be back in New York on 21 April.
• On 22 April, he will host the signing ceremony for the Paris Agreement for Climate Change in New York.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TO TRAVEL TO WASHINGTON D.C.

• On 15 April, the Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, will depart New York for Washington, D.C. to participate in the 2016 World Bank / IMF Spring Meetings Somalia Roundtable.
• On 16 April, the Deputy Secretary-General will deliver a keynote address at the Crop Trust Pledging Conference and will attend a celebration of the United Nations and World Bank Group partnership before returning to New York.

SECRETARY-GENERAL: HEAVY-HANDED COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGIES CAN BE COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE

• On 14 April, the Secretary-General spoke at Security Council meeting on countering terrorism, and he told Council members that we also need to engage earlier and address the drivers of violent extremism.
• He said that we know that violent extremism flourishes when groups are marginalized, political space shrinks, human rights are abused and people lack prospects and meaning in their lives.
• The Secretary-General said that it is important that approaches to prevent violent extremism and countering terrorism respect the shared values reflected in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights and humanitarian law. Too often, he said, this basic understanding has been broken or ignored.
• He added that we must also recognize that too often, government counter-terror strategies are so heavy-handed and discriminatory that they end up being counter-productive, generating further alienation among targeted communities and even more terrorists than there were beforehand.

U.N. POPULATION FUND HEAD CALLS FOR RETURN OF ABDUCTED TWO YEARS AGO NIGERIAN GIRLS

• 15 April 2016 marks the second anniversary of the abduction of more than 270 girls from the northern-eastern Nigerian town of Chibok.
• The Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Fatma Samoura, as well as the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, issued statements to call for their return.
• In north-eastern Nigeria, UNFPA has been providing medical and psycho-social support to more than 27,000 gender-based violence survivors and their family members to deal with the trauma of captivity.
• The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is also working with communities and families in Nigeria, in Chad, Cameroon and Niger to fight stigma against survivors of sexual violence and to build a protective environment for former abductees.
• Together with partners, UNICEF provides safe water and life-saving health services; helps to restore access to education by creating temporary learning spaces; and delivers therapeutic treatment to malnourished children.
• UNICEF also provides psychosocial support to children to help them cope with emotional distress.

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS ACTS OF VIOLENCE, CALLS FOR RESTRAINT

• The Secretary-General expressed deep concern about recent reports that security operations undertaken by the Government of the Republic of the Congo in the Pool region allegedly resulted in attacks against civilian targets and displacement of the population from the affected areas.
• He is also troubled about restrictions on access to the region, which hamper adequate information gathering, evaluation and reporting on the situation.
• The Secretary-General urged the Government of the Republic of the Congo to ensure that humanitarian and other relevant actors are granted access to the affected areas and population, and that security forces act in compliance with the country’s obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.
• The Secretary-General condemned all acts of violence. He called on all parties to show restraint and to engage in constructive and inclusive dialogue in the aftermath of the presidential election.
• He is dispatching his Special Representative for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa, Abdoulaye Bathily, to Brazzaville to consult with national authorities and other relevant stakeholders in order to defuse tensions.

SYRIA: U.N. ENVOY CALLS FOR IMPROVEMENT IN HUMANITARIAN ACCESS

• Staffan de Mistura, the Special Envoy for Syria, spoke to reporters in Geneva on 14 April following a meeting of the humanitarian task force dealing with Syria. He expressed frustration in obtaining access for humanitarian workers, at a time when we expect improvements in reaching besieged areas, and he called for further improvements in such access.
• On 13 April, he spoke after meeting with the High Negotiations Committee, saying that, during his recent travels, all the officials whom he met had indicated interest and support in the progress of a political discussion aiming at a political transition.
• Mr. de Mistura also expressed his concern on the deterioration in some places of the security situation but added that, in spite of several serious incidents, the cessation of hostilities is still holding.

U.N. REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS SAYS VIABILITY OF TWO-STATE SOLUTION IS IN DANGER

• The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) said in a report that the viability of a two-state solution is in danger due to the negative trends on the ground, including recent violence, ongoing settlement activity, demolitions, incitement, and the absence of Palestinian unity.
• The report will be presented to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) at the bi-annual meeting in Brussels on 19 April. Despite international efforts, the report stresses a number of factors that continued to prevent progress towards peace.
• On the Israeli side, the report highlights a worrying trend which points to an increase in settlement activities and a further consolidation of Israeli control over the West Bank.
• On the Palestinian side, despite continuing reconciliation discussions, the report says that Palestinian factions have been unable to reach consensus on achieving genuine Palestinian unity on the basis of non-violence, democracy and the PLO Principles.

IRAN: U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER APPEALS TO HALT EXECUTIONS FOR DRUG-RELATED OFFENCES

• On 14 April, the High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein appealed to Iran to halt executions for drug offences until Parliament debates a new law that would remove the mandatory death penalty for drug crimes.
• The Office for the High Commissioner (OHCHR) said that last year, at least 966 people were executed in Iran – the highest rate in more than two decades – the majority for drug offences. At least four of those executed in 2015 were juveniles.
• However, in December last year, 70 Members of Parliament presented a bill to amend the existing mandatory death penalty for drug offences. The bill was introduced in Parliament in January this year, provides for life imprisonment in such cases. It remains to be seen whether it will be taken forward in the new Parliament.
• Zeid said that it was unfortunate that executions for drug-related offences – crimes that clearly do not meet the threshold under international human rights law for application of the death penalty – continue to be carried out in the meantime.
• He called on Iran to take the important first step of instituting a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, given the broadening recognition in Iran that the death penalty does not deter drug crime and that anti-narcotics laws need to be reformed.

UNICEF REPORT TACKELS INEQUALITY AMONG CHILDREN IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

• A new United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report presents evidence on how inequality affects children in high-income countries.
• The report looks at bottom end inequality of income, educational achievement, self-reported health and life satisfaction, and ranks 41 EU and OECD countries.
• Denmark is the country at the top of the overall league table with the lowest inequality among children.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION RAMPS EFFORTS TO PREVENT SPREAD OF WHEAT RUSTS

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is warning about the spread of wheat rusts, a group of fungal plant diseases that stymy the production of the staple grain and other crops, in Central Asia and the Middle East.
• The FAO and its partners are ramping up efforts and international collaboration to study, detect and prevent the threat from advancing further.
• The plant plague is highly mobile, spreading rapidly over large distances by wind, and can wreak havoc on crops if not tackled properly when first detected.

U.N. READY TO ASSIST MYANMAR AFTER EARTHQUAKE

• On 13 April, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Sagaing region in north-western Myanmar. No deaths or major damage to infrastructure has been reported. And teams on the ground continue initial assessments.
• The United Nations and its humanitarian partners are working closely with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and others to monitor the situation and determine the impact of the earthquake.
  The UN stands ready to support the Government and the people of Myanmar in responding to the earthquake should support be requested.