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

WEDNESDAY, 09 MARCH 2016

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SECRETARY-GENERAL AND FOREIGN MINISTER OF GERMANY ASSESS EFFORTS TO FORGE COLLECTIVE RESPONSE TO REFUGEE CRISIS

• The Secretary-General is on his way back to New York, having left Bonn earlier today. Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, with whom he exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, underlining the need for further progress on implementation of the Minsk Agreement.
• The Secretary-General briefed the Foreign Minister about ongoing UN efforts aimed at resolving the political crisis in Burundi. They also talked about the situations in Syria and Yemen, agreeing on the urgency to reinvigorate political processes to solve both crises as well as to enhance humanitarian access immediately.
• The Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister assessed efforts to forge a collective response to the large movements of refugees and migrants towards Europe.

SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSIONS EXPECTED TO START ON 14 MARCH, SAYS U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA

• The UN Special Envoy for , Staffan de Mistura, to reporters in Geneva to mark the beginning of the next round of Syria talks there. He said that people have begun to arrive in Geneva for the talks and that he would hold proximity talks over the coming days as more of the parties arrive.
• The Special Envoy added that he expects to start substantive discussions on 14 March, in a round that he expects to end by 24 March.
• Mr. de Mistura asserted that much has been achieved over the past days, with a cessation of hostilities largely holding on the ground while more than 238,000 people have been reached with humanitarian aid. He acknowledged that there have been incidents by different spoilers on the ground but added that, by and large, there has been quite a sustained reduction of violence.

U.N. SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR MIDDLE EAST CONDEMNS RECENT MULTIPLE ATTACKS

• The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East ¹ú²úAV Process (), Nickolay Mladenov, has the recent multiple attacks in Tel Aviv/Jaffa, Petah Tiqva and Jerusalem in which at least one person was killed and some 14 others injured.
• He said that there is and can never be any justification for terror, and that it is deplorable that some choose to glorify such acts that undermine the future of both Palestinians and Israelis.
• Mr. Mladenov said that political, religious and community leaders on all sides must live up to their responsibility to stand firmly against violence and incitement. They must urgently take the necessary steps to rebuild hope and show that a political horizon for a negotiated two-state solution is still possible.

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS NEW HEAD OF U.N. MISSION IN COLOMBIA

• The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Jean Arnault of France as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in .
• Mr. Arnault has until now served as the Delegate of the Secretary-General to the Sub-Commission on End of Conflict Issues within the Colombia peace process.Ìý
• In this position, he has been working closely with the negotiating teams of the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) in the context of the peace talks that take place in Havana. Mr. Arnault has also been leading the UN Secretariat preparations for the future deployment of the United Nations Mission in Colombia, established by the Security Council in January 2016.
• Previously, Mr. Arnault was appointed by the Secretary-General as a member of the High-Level Independent Panel on ¹ú²úAV Operations.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CONVENES EMERGENCY COMMITTEE MEETING ON ZIKA VIRUS

• The Director-General of the World Health Organization (), Dr. Margaret Chan, yesterday the second meeting of the Emergency Committee regarding clusters of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders in some areas affected by Zika virus.
• Based on the advice of the Committee, the Director-General declared the continuation of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

OVER 30 COUNTRIES NEED FOOD AID DUE TO DROUGHT, FLOODING AND CIVIL CONFLICTS, WARNS FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION

• Thirty-four countries, including 27 in Africa, are currently in need of external assistance for food due to drought, flooding and civil conflicts, to a new edition of the Food and Agriculture Organization's () Crop Prospects and Food Situation report released today.
• Drought associated with El Nino has sharply reduced 2016 crop production prospects in Southern Africa, while expectations for the harvest in Morocco and Algeria have been lowered due to dry conditions.
• Also in areas of Central America and the Caribbean, ongoing dry conditions linked to El Nino may affect sowings of the main season crops for the third consecutive year.
• The report also warns that last year's reduced production would negatively impact the food security situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
• Elsewhere, the outlook for the 2016 crops already in the ground is generally favourable. Early forecasts indicate large 2016 wheat crops in most countries of Asia.
• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs () is expected to release a new global analysis of the humanitarian impacts of the El Niño phenomenon.Ìý
• While the 2015-2016 El Niño has now passed its peak, according to the World Meteorological Organization (), it will continue to have very serious impacts on vulnerable people for months, including through droughts, flooding and an increased chance of tropical cyclones.
• The four regions most in need of humanitarian support are East Africa, Southern Africa, the Pacific Islands and Central America. Countries across each of these regions have declared states of emergency.Ìý