����AV

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

MONDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2015

��

AT PARIS U.N. CLIMATE TALKS, SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR DURABLE AND FAIR AGREEMENT

• This morning the Secretary-General opened the High-Level session of the 21^st Conference of the Parties () just outside of Paris.
• He the ministers and negotiators representing 196 parties that their task was to translate this historic call for action into a durable, dynamic, credible and fair climate agreement. He noted the building public pressure, from local leaders to religious organizations, as well as the business community and civil society, saying that we all have a moral and political duty to heed those voices.
• A short while later, the Secretary-General that he felt there was strong momentum at the climate change talks and that he was encouraged at the progress reached so far, and added that he had full confidence in COP21 President Laurent Fabius and the 14 co-facilitators.�� However, he said, there were less than four days of negotiations left with some tough issues remaining�� He warned that a political moment like this may not come again and urged all those gathered in Paris not to squander it.
• Later in the day, the Secretary-General attended a gathering in Paris of business leaders organized by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. He commended leaders from the business community, who are adopting forward-looking strategies and calling for ambitious policies that will help achieve a low-emissions, climate-resilient future.
• Yesterday, the Secretary-General visited the Bataclan, the site of the main terrorist attack in Paris on the evening of 13 November. Joined by Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, the Secretary-General laid a wreath in front of the theatre and observed a moment of silence.
• He and the Mayor then travelled a short distance to the “Bonne Bière” Café, one of the four restaurants attacked on 13 November, and that he too was a Parisian. He added that life had to return to normal but that Paris now stands as a symbol of resistance to terror.

U.N. HUMANITARIAN CHIEF LAUNCHES $20 BILLION APPEAL TO HELP 90 MILLION PEOPLE IN 2016

• Today in Geneva, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator launched a record $20.1 billion humanitarian appeal to help nearly 90 million of the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized people in 2016.
• The amount called for by Stephen O’Brien for the is five times the amount appealed for a decade ago.
• He that human suffering has reached levels not seen since the Second World War, with more than 125 million people needing humanitarian assistance to survive in 2016.
• Mr. O’Brien urged the international community to respond generously again to the call for funding.
• Conflicts in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen will remain among the greatest drivers of prolonged humanitarian needs in 2016, fueling new displacement within countries and across borders.

U.N. YEMEN ENVOY TO CONVENE FACE-TO-FACE CONSULTATIONS, CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE

• Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen, a series of face-to-face consultations among the Yemenis in Switzerland on 15 December. These consultations seek to establish a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and secure improvements to the humanitarian situation and a return to a peaceful and orderly political transition.
• The Government of Yemen, the Houthis and other relevant parties have agreed to participate in the talks, which will be chaired by the Special Envoy and attended by eight negotiators and four advisors for each delegation. The aim is to develop a plan for the implementation of relevant Security Council Resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 2216, which will bring the country back to a peaceful and orderly transition based on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative and the outcomes of the national dialogue.
• Speaking in Geneva, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that only a political solution will end the crisis in Yemen. He called upon the parties to engage in good faith in search of a durable political solution for Yemen which meets the legitimate aspirations of Yemeni people for peace, stability, and prosperity.
• He also urged all parties to respect a full cessation of hostilities, effective 15 December, in order to create a conducive environment for the talks and give Yemenis respite from the violence of recent months.

U.N. DEPUTY HUMANITARIAN CHIEF CALLS FOR GREATER PROTECTION, ASSISTANCE FOR SYRIANS

• The Assistant Secretary-General for , Kyung-wha Kang, today called for greater protection and assistance for Syrians caught up in the country’s four-year conflict, following a five-day visit to Jordan and Turkey. During her visit, the Assistant Secretary-General talked with Syrian refugee families in Jordan and Turkey.
• Ms. Kang expressed appreciation for the generosity and hospitality of the Turkish and Jordanian authorities and their people, while urging them to keep the borders open for families fleeing the conflict.
• She expressed concern over the fate of refugees stranded at the border between Jordan and Syria, but conveyed the hope that a swift solution can be found as winter approaches, through the close collaboration forged between the Jordanian Government and the United Nations.
• In Turkey, Ms. Kang spoke with aid organizations that had temporarily suspended operations due to airstrikes along routes where relief operations are ongoing.
• Airstrikes are taking place where civilian infrastructure has already been severely damaged. In particular, health facilities have been routinely hit by aerial bombing. We have a press release with more details.

LIBYA: ROME CONFERENCE TO DEMONSTRATE INTERNATIONAL DETERMINATION TO END CONFLICT

• Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, emphasized in over the weekend that the Libyan Political Agreement is the basis to end the conflict in the country. He said that it has been negotiated for over a year and facilitated by the United Nations. It enjoys the support of the majorities of both House of Representatives and the General National Congress.
• Mr. Kobler urges all Libyans to support this agreement, adding that it opens the way to unite the country, fight the scourge of terrorism and address the deteriorating economic situation in Libya.
• The UN Mission in Libya, , has added that the forthcoming Rome conference co-chaired by Italy, the United States and the United Nations is an opportunity to demonstrate the determination of the international community on the way forward on the basis of the Libyan Political Agreement.

UKRAINE: RESILIENCE OF FARMING FAMILIES AFFECTED BY CONFLICT

• A by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has found that the conflict in eastern Ukraine is forcing some 230,000 farming families to skip meals, migrate to find work, borrow to pay for necessities, kill livestock for lack of feed and plan less due to lack of seeds and fertilizer.
• The conflict has sparked skyrocketing prices for food, fuel, transport, seed, fertilizer, feed and other supplies for small-scale, family-run farms in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
• FAO has distributed seeds and feed to some farm households, and now aims to scale up operations to reach more families and allow them to continue production.

***The guest at the Noon Briefing today was Ivan Šimonovic, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, who briefed ahead of Human Rights Day, on 10 December.