HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARTIN NESIRKY,
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
FRIDAY,
8 APRIL 2011
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO CHAIR INTERNATIONAL
MEETING ON LIBYA NEXT WEEK
In an effort to coordinate the
international response on
, the Secretary-General
will chair a meeting of concerned
international and regional
organizations to be held at the
League of Arab States Headquarters
in Cairo on Thursday, 14 April 2011.
The Secretary-General thanked the
Secretary-General of the League of
Arab States, Mr. Amre Moussa, for
agreeing to provide the venue for
the meeting. Apart from Amre Moussa,
the leaders scheduled to participate
in the meeting include: Jean Ping,
Chairman of the Commission of the
African Union; Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu,
Secretary-General of the
Organization of Islamic Conference;
and Catherine Ashton, High
Representative of the European Union
for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy.
The objective of the meeting will be
to exchange views and enhance
coordination among the participating
organizations in addressing the
current crisis in Libya.
Also, next Tuesday in Doha, the
Under-Secretary-General for
, B. Lynn
Pascoe, and the Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy for Libya, Abdul Ilah
Al-Khatib, will represent the United
Nations at the first meeting of the
Libya Contact Group. The delegation
will also include representatives of
the UN Development Programme and
Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs.
The Libya Contact Group was
established at the London Conference
on Libya of 31 March 2011.
SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH ISRAELI
PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK; CONDEMNS ROCKET
FIRE FROM GAZA
The Secretary-General and Israeli
President Shimon Peres
the worrying impasse
in the Middle East peace process and
the urgent need for a way forward,
in a meeting this morning.
The Secretary-General repeated his
condemnation of militant rocket fire
from Gaza, and expressed his serious
concern about Palestinian civilian
casualties in Israeli military
operations. He called for maximum
restraint.
The Spokesperson’s Office on
Thursday night put out a
in which the
Secretary-General condemned the
recent rocket fire from Palestinian
militants, which hit a school bus
and injured two Israeli civilians
He calls for an immediate end to
rocket fire.
The Secretary-General is also
concerned at reports of civilian
casualties from Israeli operations
in Gaza and calls for maximum
restraint.
The Secretary-General and President
Peres also discussed the Goldstone
report and regional developments.
U.N. RIGHTS
INVESTIGATORS FIND MORE BODIES IN
WESTERN COTE D’IVOIRE
On
, the Office for
the High Commissioner on Human
Rights (OHCHR) says that the Human
Rights teams investigating reports
of killings and other human rights
violations in the west of the
country have found more than a
hundred bodies over the past 24
hours in three different towns.
In Duékoué, they
saw 15 bodies, in addition to the
229 already found and buried,
bringing the total number to 244
confirmed to have been killed during
the 28-29 March incident. The human
rights team also found around 40
corpses in Blolequin. In Guiglo, the
team found more than 60 corpses.
The Assistant
Secretary-General for Human Rights,
Ivan Šimonovic, met on Thursday with
President Alassane Ouattara and two
of his ministers and discussed at
length the issue of the killing of
civilians. Mr. Šimonovic also spoke
by phone with a senior aide of
Laurent Gbagbo.
Asked about
negotiations with Laurent Gbagbo,
the Spokesperson said that
discussions have been going on in
recent days. He added that he did
not have a recent update.
Asked about the
massacres in the country, Nesirky
noted that Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie
Amos had said that there were
differing accounts of who was
responsible.
UN human rights
teams are looking into the killings
to determine accountability and to
ensure that there is no impunity.
The Secretary-General and Mr.
Šimonovic have both raised the issue
with President Ouattara.
CONTINUED FIGHTING
IMPEDES HUMANITARIAN ACCESS IN LIBYA
The Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs ()
says that the sustained hostilities
in Libya continue to impede
intervention by the humanitarian
community to deliver life-saving aid
and evacuate stranded people. The
United Nations continues to call for
an immediate temporary cessation of
hostilities to allow access for
humanitarian assistance.
The
-chartered
vessel that was able to dock
yesterday at the port in Misrata has
unloaded supplies that will cover
urgent medical needs for 50,000
people for a month. More than 600
metric tons of food – enough to feed
more than 40,000 people for a month
– is also on board the ship and will
be distributed in the coming days.
Meanwhile,
reports indicate an urgent need for
medical supplies and personnel,
potable water, food and other
supplies for the people in Misrata,
Al-Brega, Az-Zantan and surrounding
areas.
IRAQ’S STABILITY
REMAINS UNDER PRESSURE
Ad Melkert, the
Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for
, told the
this morning
that while notable progress had been
made in Iraq in recent months, many
challenges remain.
While Iraq has
made strides in its democratic
transition in recent years, he said,
the people of Iraq are now demanding
the dividends that were promised by
their leaders. He noted the protests
in Iraq since 25 February, which
have brought people out onto the
streets demanding progress in
employment, basic services and
accountability. Mr. Melkert said
that Iraqi officials are taking
these issues seriously.
The Special
Representative added that Iraq’s
stability is still under pressure.
He noted the continued targeting of
various communities, as well as
terror attacks, and said that an
average of 25 security incidents a
day were reported over the past
month, although the average number
of incidents is declining.
BAN KI-MOON
ADDRESSES PLANNING SESSION FOR U.N.
HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON HIV/AIDS
This morning, the
Secretary-General
the role that civil
society can play to boost efforts to
fight HIV and AIDS.
Speaking at a
civil society hearing on the
disease, he pledged to take action
and continue to personally urge
government officials to bring us
closer to our ultimate goals: no new
infections; no stigma or
discrimination; and no AIDS-related
deaths.
Today’s hearing
is part of the preparatory process
for the High-Level
on HIV/AIDS, which will
be held this June.
SOMALIA: TENS OF
THOUSANDS HAVE FLED LATEST BOUT OF
VIOLENCE
The UN Refugee
Agency is
that fighting in south
and central Somalia has displaced
33,000 civilians since February,
about half of them from the capital
Mogadishu.
Many of the newly
displaced people are in desperate
need of assistance, with temporary
shelters in Mogadishu already
housing another 372,000 people.
UNHCR says it is
monitoring the situation in the
affected regions, where fighting
continues intermittently between
government forces and Al-Shabaab
militants. Meanwhile, the number of
Somalis fleeing into Kenya has also
gone up, with more than 31,000
registered new arrivals so far this
year.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
BAN KI-MOON SPOKE WITH YEMEN PRESIDENT
THIS WEEK:
Asked about
the situation in Yemen, the Spokesperson
noted that the Secretary-General had
with the President
of Yemen earlier this week and had,
among other things, called for maximum
restraint in dealing with demonstrations
there.
LEAKED WESTERN SAHARA
DOCUMENT NOT A FINAL REPORT:
In response to a question, the
Spokesperson reiterated that he was
aware that an internal working document
pertaining to the situation in
was leaked and
published electronically. This document
is not a final report, he said. It has
not been endorsed by the
Secretary-General and therefore has no
status.
NEW ZEALAND’S RUGBY WORLD CUP WINNING
TEAM TO VISIT U.N HEADQUARTERS:
On Monday, 11 April from 9:40 - 11:00
a.m., at the Main Gallery, Visitors’
Lobby, in the
Building, the
Permanent Mission of New Zealand - in
collaboration with the Department of
Public Information -- will have a
ceremony for the Rugby World Cup, also
the Webb Ellis Cup. To mark its trip to
the US, the cup will make stops at
various major New York City landmarks.
** The guest today at
the briefing was Edmond Mulet, Special
Representative of the Secretary-General
for Haiti and Head of the United Nations
Stabilization Mission in Haiti ().
THE WEEK AHEAD AT
THE UNITED NATIONS
9 – 15 APRIL 2011
Saturday, 9 April
There are no major events scheduled for
today.
Sunday, 10 April
Today, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of the right to freedom of
opinion and expression, Frank La Rue,
will begin his first visit to Algeria.
The visit will end on 17 April.
Monday, 11 April
At 10:00 a.m., the 44th
session of the Commission on Population
and Development will begin in Conference
Room 1 of the North Lawn Building (NLB).
It will run until 15 April.
This morning, the Security Council will
adopt a resolution on piracy in Somalia.
In the afternoon, it will be briefed by
the Department of Political Affairs
(DPA) in consultations.
Today, the 20th session of
the Commission on Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice of the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) begins
in Vienna. It runs until 15 April.
At 12:00 p.m., in the Dag Hammarskjöld
Library Auditorium, Ivan Simonovic,
Assistant Secretary-General of the
Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in
New York, will be the guest at the Noon
Briefing. He will brief reporters on the
human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire,
following his mission in the country.
At 1:15 p.m., there will be an event
entitled “Family Planning: Key to Saving
Lives” in Conference Room C of the NLB.
Participants will include Purnima Mane,
Deputy Executive Director of the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Tuesday, 12 April
This morning, the Security Council will
hold a meeting with troop-contributing
countries on the United Nations Mission
for the Referendum in Western Sahara
(MINURSO). It will also hold
consultations on women and peace and
security, and UN Women.
At 1:15 p.m., in Conference Room 1 of
the NLB, there will be an event entitled
“Putting Girls First.” Participants will
include Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA
Executive Director.
At 3:00 p.m., the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) will hold a
panel discussion on “South-South and
Triangular Cooperation.” It will be take
place in Conference Room 6 of NLB.
Wednesday, 13 April
This morning, the Security Council will
hear a briefing on the United Nations
Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI).
At 11:00 a.m., in Dag Hammarskjöld
Library Auditorium, there will be a
press conference with Henri Djombo,
Minister of Sustainable Development,
Forestry and Environment of the Republic
of the Congo, on the Summit of Heads of
States and Government of the Amazon,
Congo, and Borneo-Mekong Forest Basins
to be held in Brazzaville, Republic of
the Congo, from 31 May to 3rd June 2011.
At 1:15 p.m., there will be an event
entitled “No woman left behind in the
fight against NCDs: Towards health
services that address breast and
cervical cancer.” Participants will
include Purnima Mane, UNFPA Deputy
Executive Director.
Thursday, 14 April
This morning, the Security Council will
hold a meeting with troop-contributing
countries on the United Nations Mission
in Sudan (UNMIS). It will then be
briefed on and hold consultations on
sexual violence.
Friday, 15 April
This morning, the Security Council will
hold consultations on the United Nations
Mission for the Referendum in Western
Sahara (MINURSO).
Today, the United Nations Independent
Expert in the field of cultural rights,
Farida Saheed, will speak to reporters
in Vienna at the end of her 11-day visit
to Austria.
United Nations, SA-1B15
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
