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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, May 9, 2008

UNITED NATIONS LAUNCHES APPEAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AID
 TO MYANMAR CYCLONE VICTIMS

• Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes today launched a flash appeal for victims of Cyclone “Nargis” in Myanmar.
   

• Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is calling the situation on the ground “very serious”. 
   

• At least 1.5 million people have been seriously affected by the cyclone, and aid workers have still not reached some areas.
   

• The United Nations is continuing its efforts to dispatch assistance and teams to Myanmar.
   

•  Two members of a disaster assessment and coordination team arrived yesterday, and it is hoped that others will be able to join them. The United Nations has personnel on the ground, but their capacity is “stretched to the limit”.  OCHA plans to send a chartered plane to Yangon, from Brindisi, Italy, with rolls of plastic sheeting, mosquito nets and tents and, hopefully, a small team of experts. 
   

• The World Food Programme, meanwhile, is sending in two relief flights as planned tomorrow, while discussions continue with the Government on the distribution of high-energy biscuits for 95,000  people.  The biscuits arrived on two flights today and were not released to WFP.  Yesterday, WFP airlifted enough biscuits for 21,000 people; most of them were delivered over the last 24 hours to the hardest-hit areas.
   

• UNICEF has brought in three million water purification tablets, enough to provide 200,000 people with clean water for a week.  Fifteen thousand hygiene kits have been distributed, with another 20,000 on the way.  UNICEF is also building 70 portable toilets in 30 camps. 
   

• The UN Refugee Agency hopes to start airlifting 57 tons of emergency shelter materials from its major stockpiles in Dubai over the weekend.  UNHCR is also emptying its stockpiles in northwestern Thailand, to deliver some five thousand plastic sheets and 200 tents by road.

WARNING OF CATASTROPHE,
BAN KI-MOON URGES MYANMAR LEADERS TO EASE ACCESS

• At a press encounter in Atlanta, Georgia, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about Myanmar, calling on the authorities to allow aid and humanitarian workers into the country without any hindrance. "I appeal to them strongly to do all they can to facilitate this aid."
   

• He warned that inaction would be deadly. "If early action is not taken and relief measures put in place, the medium-term effect of this tragedy could be truly catastrophic," he said, calling for an end to political differences to address the tremendous challenges ahead. "The sheer survival of the affected people is at stake."
   

• Yesterday, he spoke to the press at the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, after meeting with Governor Sonny Perdue, and said about Myanmar that he had been urging the authorities of Myanmar to be flexible in providing access so that all aid workers can enter into Myanmar.
   

• Today the Secretary-General is convening a major meeting on global health at the Carter Center. Participants include senior UN officials, the Elders, and leading global health experts from civil society, academia, foundations and the private sector, from all around the world.
   

• In the press conference opening remarks, the Secretary-General said that we stand at the halfway point on the path towards the Millennium Development Goals. But we are far behind on the critical health Goals. He said we must join forces and work together to ensure that resources are translated into lives saved – the ultimate measurement of the effectiveness of health systems and health delivery.
   

• Asked whether the Secretary-General has contacted the senior leadership in Myanmar, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General has been trying since Thursday to speak to Senior General Than Shwe but has so far been unable to reach him. She added that the United Nations had been informed that phone lines were down.
   

• Asked about the Secretary-General’s views on Myanmar, Okabe noted that he has written a letter to Than Shwe, the contents of which have been echoed, and has issued a statement on Thursday and spoken repeatedly about the need for the authorities to allow aid and humanitarian workers into the country without hindrance.

UNITED NATIONS APPEALS FOR RESTRAINT IN LEBANON

• In response to questions about the recent developments in Lebanon, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General expresses his deep concern at the violence and continuing tensions in Lebanon and calls on all parties to exercise restraint.  He extends his condolences to the families of the victims of this violence and to the Government of Lebanon. 
   

• Everything should be done at this time to keep this situation from deteriorating, she added. The parties should address their political differences through peaceful means and dialogue.
   

• The Secretary-General, Okabe said, is aware of the continuing mediation role of the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amre Moussa, and continues to offer his full support.

• The Security Council concluded its consultations on Lebanon yesterday afternoon with a press statement, read by the Council President, Ambassador John Sawers of the United Kingdom.
   

• He said that Council members are deeply concerned by the recent clashes in Lebanon and stressed the need to uphold the stability and sovereignty of Lebanon. They urged all sides to exercise calm and restraint and urged the immediate re-opening of all roads.
   

• Council members also stressed the vital importance that all sides work to resolve Lebanon’s problems through peaceful dialogue. They urged all parties to work together to elect a new President in accordance with the Arab League plan.
   

• Asked whether the Secretary-General has contacted any officials about Lebanon, she noted that he has made recent calls to different leaders and discussed Myanmar and Lebanon with them; that included a call with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

 PEACE ENVOYS ALARMED AT MILITARY ESCALATION IN DARFUR

• The African Union and the United Nations Special Envoys, Salim Ahmed Salim and Jan Eliasson say they are alarmed and deeply troubled by the recent military escalation between Sudanese government forces and the Justice and Equality Movement.
   

• All parties to the conflict have agreed that there is no military solution and they must act accordingly, they say.  This escalation can only cause more suffering for the people and more damage and destruction for Darfur.  It is necessary for the parties to exercise maximum restraint and to abstain from further military action.
   

• The parties have a serious responsibility to ensure the protection of innocent civilians who have suffered far too long.  The deteriorating situation in Darfur and the region bring further urgency for the need to engage in dialogue on security issues, to lay the basis for a serious peace process for Darfur.

 FOOD AGENCY MOURNS COLLEAGUE SLAIN IN NORTHERN KENYA

• The World Food Programme is saddened by the shooting death of its representative in the northwestern Kenyan town of Lokichoggio, a major hub for the agency’s work in southern Sudan.
   

• Zimbabwean national Silence Chirara, who was coordinator of WFP’s logistics operations in the region, was shot dead on Wednesday evening by gunmen who ambushed him near the local UN camp. The gunmen escaped unidentified and the reasons behind the attack remain unclear.

 SPECIAL ENVOY TO ATTEND DJIBOUTI TALKS
BETWEEN SOMALI GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION

• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, will be attending this weekend’s inter-Somali consultations in Djibouti.
   

• Ould-Abdallah yesterday expressed optimism that the meeting between the Transitional Federal Government and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia would lend new dynamism to the reconciliation process in the war-torn country.  “This is a clear indication that Somalis are willing to respect their commitments,” he said.
   

• Also in Djibouti, the UN Population Fund and UNICEF yesterday launched a joint programme and trust fund to help end the practice of female genital mutilation. The agencies say that 9 out of 10 Djibouti women have undergone the controversial and life-threatening procedure.

 REFUGEE AGENCY IN URGENT NEED OF CASH TO ASSIST IRAQIS

• The UN Refugee Agency warned today that it could soon be forced to reduce and in some cases to halt a number of assistance programmes for hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees unless donor governments provide additional support.
   

• Agency officials told a donor meeting in Geneva that they lack $127 million required for assistance programmes for uprooted people in and around Iraq through the end of the year.
   

• “We will not be able to help hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable Iraqi refugees and internally displaced if we do not receive funding for the remainder of 2008,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.

PLANNING COMMITTEE ADOPTS REPORT AHEAD
 OF 2010 NON-PROLIFERATION REVIEW CONFERENCE

• The Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) today successfully concluded its second session in Geneva with the adoption of a report.
   

• The Committee held constructive discussions on substantive issues including nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and international security, nuclear-weapon-free zones and safeguards; and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

 BAN KI-MOON CONGRATULATES ISRAEL ON 60^TH ANNIVERSARY

• Israel is marking its sixtieth anniversary. In a recent phone call, the Secretary-General spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and congratulated him on the country's 60th anniversary.
   

• During that call, the Secretary-General informed the Prime Minister that the President of the General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim, and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, would represent the United Nations at the commemorative events in Israel.

 BAN KI-MOON TO CHAIR FIRST FOOD TASK FORCE MEETING ON MONDAY

• On Monday, the Secretary-General is chairing the first meeting of the UN Task Force on the Global Food Crisis.  It will bring together representatives from across the UN system to discuss a global response to rising food prices.
   

• That meeting is taking place from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Secretary-General’s conference room.
   

• In the meantime, the Secretary-General has sent out urgent letters of invitation to all Heads of State of UN Member States to join him in next month’s meeting organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome to discuss short-term and long-term strategies to address the global food crisis.

 THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Saturday, May 10

In Djibouti, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, attends consultations between Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.

World Migratory Bird Day is marked today and tomorrow with events around the world.

The General Assembly President is in Egypt for official meetings and to address the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs.

At 10 a.m., the Secretary-General chairs the first meeting of the U.N. Task Force on the Global Food Crisis. The event, which takes place in the Secretary-General’s conference room, is closed to the media, but an update will be provided after the meeting wraps up.

This morning, the Security Council holds consultations on Somalia. In the afternoon, it receives a briefing and holds consultations on security sector reform.

At 11 a.m. in Room S-226, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights; Lex Grandia, Chairman of International Disability Alliance CRPD Forum, and representatives from Mexico and Jordan, brief on the new Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

From 1.15 to 3.15 p.m. in the General Assembly Hall, there will be a special event to mark the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hear a briefing on the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), followed by consultations on UNAMID and the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

At 11 a.m. in Room S-226, Kathleen Abdalla and Aslam Chaudhry from the Division for Sustainable Development and water expert Roberto Lenton brief on issues relating to water and sanitation.

From 1.15 to 2.45 p.m. in Conference Room C, there will be a UNITAR/Yale University round table on "Environmental governance and democracy –– Institutions, public participation and environmental sustainability: Bridging research and capacity development".

At 2.30 p.m. in Room S-226, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), briefs on UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign.

The General Assembly President begins an official visit to Israel.

In Cairo, the International Telecommunications Union holds a special session on "Connect Africa Summit follow-up: From Kigali to Tomorrow."

At 11 a.m. in Room S-226, there will be a press conference on saving water by Pasquale Steduto from the Food and Agriculture Organization; David Molden from the International Water Management Institute; and Anders Berntell and Jan Lundqvist from the Stockholm International Water Institute.

From today through Friday in Conference Room 4, the Commission for Sustainable Development holds its high-level segment.

Today is the International Day of Families. This year’s theme is "Fathers and Families: Responsibilities and Challenges".

At 11 a.m. in Room S-226, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Rob Vos, Director of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Development Policy and Analysis Division, launch the mid-year update of the World Economic Situation and Prospects.

From 1.15 to 2.30 p.m. in Conference Room 7, there will be a briefing on the outcome of the twelfth session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development last month in Ghana.

**The guest at the noon briefing was Bettina Luescher, the World Food Programme’s spokesperson in New York, who briefed on the situation in Myanmar.

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