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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
NEPAL: BAN KI-MOON WELCOMES HISTORIC FIRST
MEETING
OF CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
BAN KI-MOON TO ATTEND IRAQ COMPACT MEETING TOMORROW
The Secretary-General this afternoon embarks
on a two-day trip to Sweden, to attend the Iraq Compact
Annual Review Conference to take place Thursday in Uppsala.
This is the first annual review of progress
made under the framework of the International Compact for Iraq, which
includes commitments of Iraq on economic, political and security
reforms and commitments of the international community to provide
financial and other support.
The meeting will review the Annual Review
Report prepared by the Iraqi Government with assistance from the United
Nations, which provides a comprehensive assessment of the progress so
far and the challenges ahead.
As Co-Chair of the event, the
Secretary-General reiterates in his remarks that the United Nations,
for its part, remains committed to doing all it can to support the
people and Government of Iraq under Security Council
Resolution 1770.
The conference is expected to close with the
adoption of the Stockholm Declaration.
The Secretary-General is expected to hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event, including that with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom., US Secretary of State, Foreign Minister of Italy and Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. He is also scheduled to meet with the King of Sweden.
MYANMAR: MORE THAN 40 PERCENT OF CYCLONE SURVIVORS RECEIVE AID
The Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports
that, if both pledges and contributions are counted, the UN’s Flash
Appeal is now 60% funded. But more is still needed.
With access improving and Government
restrictions easing, OCHA urges donors to turn pledges into
contributions and commit funds to the Appeal without further delay.
On the question on visas, OCHA reports that
today, the Government of Myanmar approved all remaining visa requests
for various UN agencies. There had been 45 of those requests pending.
To date, OCHA estimates that more than 40% of
the 2.4 million cyclone survivors have received some type of assistance
from local, national or international actors. The majority of UN and
NGO aid has gone to those in the Yangon Division, since they are more
easily reached.
But OCHA remains deeply concerned that major
unmet needs remain in more than half of the 15 hardest-hit townships.
OCHA adds that relief efforts will likely last for at least another six months.
TOP
HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL EXPRESSES PROFOUND DISAPPOINTMENT
OVER DETENTION OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Yesterday, when the Secretary-General spoke to
reporters, he said he regretted the decision of the Government of
Myanmar to extend for a sixth consecutive year the detention under
house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the General Secretary of the
National League for Democracy (NLD).
Today, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour also expressed her profound disappointment at the extension on 27 May of the detention under house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
DEPUTY
SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES CONFERENCE
ON AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro
today addressed
the plenary of the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s
Development (TICAD)
in Yokohama, Japan.
She said, 'The need for higher investments in
agriculture has been highlighted by the vulnerability of many net-food
importing countries to the steep rise in food prices over the past
year, which threatens to drive millions of Africans further into
poverty."
"It is time for intensified support by the
international community and African governments to build productive,
resilient and sustainable agricultural sectors," she said. "Climate
change and its expected impact on agriculture in Africa makes this task
all the more urgent.
UNICEF today called for large-scale, focused investments in improved health systems for sub-Saharan Africa, to capitalize on recent achievements and help children who have inadequate access to health care. The call came as the children’s agency launched its first State of Africa’s Children 2008 report at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) in Japan.
ROME CONFERENCE A HISTORIC CHANCE TO BOOST FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER
The upcoming High-Level Conference on World
Food Security, to take place next week in Rome (3-5 June), offers
a historic chance to re-launch the fight against hunger and poverty
and boost agricultural production in developing countries, says the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
In a key policy document prepared for the
Summit, FAO said that the international community should take urgent
and concrete actions to address the issues of hunger and malnutrition
in the face of soaring food prices, scarce land and water resources,
climate change, increased energy needs and population growth.
The report lists 22 countries that are
particularly vulnerable due to a combination of high levels of chronic
hunger and being net importers of both food and fuel. Countries such as
Eritrea, Niger, Comoros, Haiti and Liberia are particularly affected.
The report said that increases in domestic prices even by moderate rates can have immediate negative impacts on poor households that spend a large part of their income on food staples. FAO’s estimate of the number of hungry people in 2002-04 stands at 862 million, with 830 million in developing countries.
SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES MIDDLE EAST
The Security Council is meeting on the Middle
East today.
In an open
meeting this morning, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle
East Peace Process, Robert Serry, said that, even by the standards of
the region, it has been an event-filled month.
Serry said Egyptian efforts to achieve a
calming of violence in and around Gaza are extremely important, and the
UN strongly supports these efforts. He also said that the reopening of
crossings for humanitarian relief and commercial flows, with the
presence of the Palestinian Authority, will also be crucial if any calm
is to be sustained.
A calming and easing of the situation in and
around Gaza is essential for genuine progress in both the
Israel-Palestinian negotiations and in reuniting the West Bank and Gaza
within the framework of the legitimate Palestinian Authority, he added.
Serry also stressed that progress must be
intensified on the Annapolis track, both in the political negotiations
and in action on the ground.
After that the Council held consultations on
the Middle East.
Yesterday in the Security Council, a presidential statement on the protection of civilians in armed conflict was adopted. In that statement, the Council expressed its deepest concern that civilians continue to suffer the brunt of the violence during armed conflicts. The Council also condemned all violations of international law that threaten non-combatants and reaffirmed the responsibility of States and other parties of conflicts to protect them.
ZIMBABWE: KILLING OF OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS STRONGLY CONDEMNED
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise
Arbour, said
today that she is shocked at the reported discovery of several more
bodies of murdered political activists in Zimbabwe.
She strongly condemned the killings and the
continuing harassment of NGO workers, human rights defenders and other
members of civil society.
Among the dead, Arbour noted, are a provincial
treasurer and an activist for the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, both of whom were last seen being driven away from their homes
by armed men.
The High Commissioner urged the Zimbabwean
authorities to prosecute those responsible for the murders and other
unlawful acts, and to protect all Zimbabweans from further attacks.
Arbour also said that the news of more killings in Zimbabwe gives even sharper edge to the large-scale violence directed against migrants and refugees in neighbouring South Africa.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO BEGIN MISSION TO AFRICA ON SATURDAY
A Security Council delegation is leaving New
York this Saturday for a 10-day visit to Africa.
The delegation will begin work on the 2nd of
June in Djibouti where talks are being held between the Somali
government and opposition.
It will then travel to Khartoum on June 3rd,
4th and 5th for meetings with the Government and a visit to El Fasher
in Darfur.
From there the delegation will stop in Chad’s
capital, N’Djamena, for a two-day visit that includes a tour of refugee
and IDP camps near Goz Baide, on the border with Darfur.
Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, will be the next stop on June 7th and the delegation plans to
meet the Congolese leadership, civil society and the UN Mission in that
country. Delegates will also visit Goma, the main town in North Kivu,
on June 8th.
Abidjan, in Cote d’Ivoire, will be the last stop of the trip on June 9th. There, the delegation will hold meetings with the key actors in the implementation of the Ouagadougou peace agreement, including the country’s leadership and the UN Mission.
BAN KI-MOON APPOINTS NIGERIAN AND NEPALESE
GENERALS
TO PEACEKEEPING POSTS
The Secretary-General announced today the
appointment of Lieutenant General Chikadibia Obiakor of Nigeria as
Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations.
Lieutenant General
Obiakor, currently the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in
Liberia (UNMIL), has had a long and distinguished career with the
Nigerian Army, beginning in 1973.
The
Secretary-General also announced today the appointment of Major General
Paban Jung Thapa of Nepal as Force Commander of the United Nations
Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). General Thapa is expected to arrive in Sudan
in late May 2008.
General Thapa has previously served on several United Nations Peacekeeping operations including a tour as a Battalion Commander in UNPROFOR in the former-Yugoslavia and as a Platoon Commander and Staff Officer with UNIFIL in Lebanon.
UNITED
NATIONS TO HONOR “BLUE HELMETS”
KILLED ON THE JOB ON PEACEKEEPERS’ DAY
The United Nations will mark the 60th
anniversary of UN Peacekeeping tomorrow, May 29th, the International
Day of UN Peacekeepers, with a series of events at Headquarters and in
field missions around the world.
Here in New York, Jean-Marie Guehenno, the
Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations will lead a
wreath-laying ceremony to honour the more than 2,400 peacekeepers who
have given their lives in the cause of peace over the past 60 years,
including 90 in 2007 alone.
Also taking place here will be a multimedia
exhibition chronicling UN peacekeeping efforts. The exhibition, titled
“Looking Back, Moving Forward” will also be shown in many other
countries tomorrow.
And both Jean-Marie Guehenno and the new head of the Department of Field Support, Susana Malcorra, will be the guests at the noon briefing tomorrow.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY IS ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS: The Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, today delivered a message on behalf of the Secretary-General to the Ninth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is taking place in Bonn, Germany. According to the Secretary-General’s message, the loss of biodiversity is an environmental crisis with profound economic and human dimensions. Our ability to clear cut whole forests or drain freshwater systems at a pace and scale unimaginable to our forefathers is now triggering impacts at the global level. From the overexploitation of fisheries to spreading land degradation, we are already at the limits -- if not pushing past them.
** The guests at the noon briefing today was Shamil Idriss, Acting Director of the Alliance of Civilizations, who briefed on Silatech, a $100 million initiative established by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development to create jobs for young people in the Arab world. **
Office
of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
