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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday, May 19, 2008
BAN KI-MOON TO TRAVEL TO CYCLONE-HIT MYANMAR
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to travel to Thailand and
Myanmar tomorrow, May 20.
He is expected to arrive in Yangon on Thursday and will first go to the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis. He is also scheduled to meet with senior Government officials in Myanmar.
He will then head to Bangkok for a series of
bilateral meetings on Friday, May 23, before returning again to Yangon
on Sunday, May 25, for a pledging conference that will be co-sponsored
by the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
He is planning to return to New York on Monday.
His objective is to reinforce the ongoing aid
operation, see how the international relief and rehabilitation effort
can be scaled up, and work with the Myanmar authorities to
significantly increase the amount of aid flowing through Yangon to the
areas hardest hit by the disaster.
The objective is also to more effectively
coordinate and systematize the international community's emergency
relief and longer-term rehabilitation and reconstruction assistance.
MYANMAR PLEDGING CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR THIS SUNDAY
The following is a joint statement by
the Secretary-General and the Chair of the Association of Southeast
Nations (ASEAN):
In recognition of the outpouring of
international solidarity and support for alleviating the devastating
impact of Cyclone Nargis on Myanmar and the widespread suffering caused
to its people, the United Nations and ASEAN announce the convening of
an ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference.
This Conference will be held on Sunday 25 May
in Yangon, Myanmar, and will be co-chaired by the United Nations and
ASEAN. Member States of the United Nations are invited to
participate in the Conference at the Ministerial level.
The Conference will focus on the needs of
those affected by the cyclone, and seek international support and
financial assistance for the international humanitarian response to
meet the most urgent challenges, as well as longer term recovery
efforts.
The co-convenors call on the international community to rise to the occasion and translate their solidarity and sympathy into concrete commitments to help the people of Myanmar emerge from the tragedy and rebuild their lives.
MYANMAR:
HUMANITARIAN CHIEF TOURS HARD-HIT AREAS
AS FOOD SHORTAGES LEAD TO DISPLACEMENT
Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, who
arrived in Myanmar yesterday, today visited three cyclone-affected
areas, including the town of Labutta in the Delta, with full
cooperation from the Myanmar authorities.
Holmes also met with the humanitarian country
team and with the Myanmar Red Cross today; he plans to meet with
Government officials tomorrow.
As for the situation on the ground, several
agencies report that population displacements are continuing, driven by
food shortages in the hardest-hit villages.
Relief arriving on commercial flights is being
transported to cyclone-affected areas, but not in the quantity or
frequency required to meet people’s needs, the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says.
Heavy rain is preventing the movement of cargo
along some roads to the delta, while requests for the approval of
international staff to travel to that region are still pending.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has so far dispatched
enough food to feed more than 250,000 people, via 13 air cargo
shipments into Yangon.
WFP has purchased enough rice inside Myanmar
to feed over 1.5 million people for two weeks. More than 1,000
tons of beans have also been purchased, allowing WFP to move food
quickly and efficiently to those who need it most.
Agencies working in health have made available
more than 350 tons of medical supplies and equipment, including three
million water purification sachets, as well as water containers,
insecticide-treated mosquito nets, shelter equipment, emergency health
kits and essential medicines.
The World Health Organization has 17 surveillance teams currently distributing medical supplies in the delta region. A surveillance system for outbreaks has been established.
U.N. AGENCIES RUSH RELIEF SUPPLIES TO CHINA QUAKE SURVIVORS
Regarding the earthquake in China, the United
Nations is continuing its relief efforts, following the request of the
Government of China.
The World Food Programme has distributed
$100,000 worth of noodles, while the UN Development Programme is
supplying tents, quilts, clothing and emergency lights.
UNICEF has rushed half a
million dollars worth of emergency supplies to China. The first
consignments include a thousand tents and 15,000 blankets. Health
equipment, medicines and water and sanitation materials will soon
follow.
The UN Environment Programme will procure and
supply water purifying and testing equipment.
Asked if the United Nations was commemorating the days of mourning decreed by the Chinese authorities in memory of the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan, Montas recalled that UN staff in China had earlier today joined the Chinese people in three minutes of silence at the UN compound in Beijing.
FOOD DISTRIBUTED TO DISPLACED SUDANESE
UN agencies and non-governmental organizations
today started distributing food to thousands of people recently
displaced from Abyei as a result of last week’s fighting there.
A total of five food centres are being set up
covering some 18 villages, according to the Humanitarian Coordinator
for Southern Sudan.
Following on from the initial assessment, the
most pressing needs are food, shelter, water and health. Humanitarian
agencies are also beginning to verify and reunite separated children
with their families.
However, the rainy season is hampering access
to some areas in the east while insecurity is posing challenges to the
west.
The exact number of those displaced from the Abyei area is not yet determined but is in the range of 30,000 to 50,000 people.
HUMANITARIAN CONDITIONS ON DOWNWARD SPIRAL IN SOMALIA
The Food and Agriculture Organization says
that humanitarian conditions in Somalia are on a downward spiral due to
soaring food prices, a devalued Somali shilling and worsening drought.
This leaves more than 2.6 million people, or
35 percent of the total population, in need of assistance, the agency,
adding that this amounts to an increase of more than 40 percent since
January.
The increase in needs is due mainly to the
addition of 600 000 urban poor who fled violence in the capital
Mogadishu and are living in temporary shelter in the southern and
central regions of the country.
An estimated 1 million Somalis are internally displaced, FAO noted.
AFGHANISTAN: U.N. MISSION CONDEMNS ATTACK ON FOOD AID CONVOY
Eide is also scheduled to have meetings with
the Iranian Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Refugees, Interior and
Defence during his two-day visit to Iran.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA) reports that a convoy of 79 trucks carrying World Food
Programme (WFP) food was
attacked by anti-Government units using small arms fire and
rocket-propelled grenades over the weekend.
UNAMA condemned the unscrupulous attack on such life-saving food aid and demanded an immediate end to these attacks, which deny vital food to Afghanistan’s poorest communities and goes against all the Islamic and traditional values of the Afghan people.
UN ENVOY MEETS IRANIAN PRESIDENT TO DISCUSS AFGHANISTAN
The Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Kai Eide,
met with President Ahmadinejad of Iran today to build support for
the stability and reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Speaking after his meeting with the Iranian President, Eide said: “We had a very constructive discussion on the challenges facing Afghanistan and the importance of full co-operation with Afghanistan’s neighbours to help secure peace, stability and progress for all people in the region. We agreed that a stable Afghanistan will bring benefits for Iran and we also had a productive exchange of views on the forthcoming Paris Conference on Afghanistan as well as the current food security situation”.
IRAQ: U.N. ENVOY CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON IRANIAN DIPLOMATS
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative
for Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, has
condemned a recent attack in Iraq against Iranian diplomats.
Calling the attack outrageous, de Mistura says that attacking foreign diplomats in Iraq aims to discourage normal diplomatic relations between Iraq and the international community. Such attacks will not succeed, he stressed.
NEPAL MURDER A SERIOUS BREACH OF MONITORING AGREEMENT
The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) today
condemned the killing of businessman Ram Hari Shrestha. Commanders
of the Maoist army have acknowledged to UNMIN that the murder was
committed by members of the Maoist army.
According to UNMIN, this act is a serious
breach of the commitments made in the Agreement on Monitoring the
Management of Arms and Armies reached between the Communist Party of
Nepal (Maoist) and the then Government, as well as of fundamental human
rights.
UNMIN arms monitors have conducted a
preliminary inquiry, the results of which will be presented at the next
meeting of the Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee.
UNMIN calls on the Maoists to cooperate fully with the police to ensure that all those responsible for ordering or carrying out the abduction or killing are punished.
YEMEN LAUDED FOR PROTECTING PEOPLE CROSSING GULF OF ADEN
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
António Guterres today praised Yemen
for providing protection to people making the dangerous Gulf of Aden
crossing from Somalia. He added that the international community
should do more to help.
His agency and other international groups have
stepped up their efforts to assist Yemen and other countries in the
region, and are jointly calling for global action to better address the
challenges.
So far this year, more than 18,000 people have made the perilous Gulf of Aden crossing aboard smugglers' boats, double the number for the same period a year ago. More than 400 people have died trying to make the voyage this year.
$100 MILLION PUT ASIDE TO FIGHT EFFECTS OF FOOD PRICE HIKES
The
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, has decided to reserve
$100 million from current Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)
resources to respond to the most immediate life-saving activities in
sectors directly linked to the effects of the recent rise in global
food prices (food, agriculture, health, nutrition, and logistics).
Since
its inception in 2006, CERF has shown that it is a successful
humanitarian funding mechanism that ensures that aid is delivered in an
effective, fast and predictable way.
So
far this year, the Fund has already allocated almost $66 million to
food interventions by all UN agencies as compared to $37 million
allocated during the first four and a half months of 2007.
Overall, the Fund has disbursed almost $800 million in its short
history.
Given the likely extra demands on the Fund from food-related emergencies, and from multiple crises and disasters around the world, the need to replenish CERF in the near future is evident. The Secretary-General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator are therefore encouraging all donors and potential donors to make additional contributions to the Fund beyond the $425 million already pledged for 2008.
ECOSOC TO HOLD SPECIAL MEETING ON GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
Tomorrow afternoon, the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) is holding a special meeting on the global food crisis.
From 3 to 6 p.m. in the ECOSOC Chamber, members will hear briefings from the presidents of the General Assembly, Security Council and ECOSOC. The meeting will focus on ways to minimize the negative impacts of the current food crisis. It’s expected that the President of ECOSOC will, at the end of the meeting, propose a set of policy actions over the short, medium and long-term.
GLOBAL SECURITY THREATS COULD UNDERMINE HEALTH PROGRESS
The 61st session of the World
Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the World
Health Organization (WHO), started today in Geneva and will last all
week.
Among the topics for discussion this year are
flu preparedness, female genital mutilation, the harmful use of
alcohol, and links between climate change and health.
Addressing the Assembly this morning, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan warned that three international security threats – namely food security, climate change, and pandemic influenza – have the potential to undo much hard-won progress in public health.
U.N. BODY REVIEWS HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS OF 16 COUNTRIES
From Geneva, the Human Rights Council’s
Universal Periodic Review Working Group concluded its second session
this afternoon after having reviewed
the fulfilment of human rights obligations for 16 States.
Those 16 States were: Gabon, Ghana,
Peru, Guatemala, Benin, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Pakistan,
Zambia, Japan, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, France, Tonga, Romania and Mali.
During the two-week session, interactive
dialogues on a wide range of human rights issues were held -- between
the States under review; the Working Group, which is comprised of the
47 members of the Human Rights Council; and observers.
The Working Group’s next session will take place in early December.
BAN KI-MOON REAFFIRMS U.N.’S COMMITMENT TO SIERRA LEONE
Addressing the Peacebuilding Commission’s
high-level stakeholders’ consultation on Sierra Leone this morning, the
Secretary-General reaffirmed
the UN’s committment to the Sierra Leone Peacebuilding Cooperation
Framework, which was adopted last December.
He added that the Framework correctly
recognizes that the primary responsibility to address peacebuilding
challenges rests with the people and the Government of Sierra Leone. At
the same time, the Framework acknowledges that the international
community should remain engaged, and continue to support vital national
efforts.
The Secretary-General expressed his sincere hope that today’s high-level event will result in clear commitments to support the Framework.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MEETINGS HELD IN MALAYSIA: This morning, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang and International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré addressed the opening of the 2008 World Congress on Information Technology in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The UN Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technology and Development, which works to spread the benefits of information technology, held its third annual meeting, also in Kuala Lumpur. The Alliance, which is self-funded, discussed its ongoing initiatives, such as "Connect Africa", "Adopt-a-Village" and the "Cyber-Peace Corps", and charted its next steps.
SECURITY COUNCIL TAKES UP BOSNIA: The Security Council is holding an open meeting this morning on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the table is the latest report to the Secretary-General by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Asked if the Secretary-General was following developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and related discussions in the Security Council, the Spokeswoman noted that Ban Ki-moon was being updated on a regular basis on the subject. She added, in response to another question, that the Secretary-General had no immediate plans to travel to the region.
IRANIAN PROPOSALS ARE BEING STUDIED: The Spokesperson, in response to a question, said the Secretary-General was still studying the nuclear proposals submitted to him and other international authorities by Iran.
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