ɫ��TV

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

BAN KI-MOON RETURNS TO NEW YORK TODAY, LEAVES FOR SWITZERLAND NEXT WEEK

• The is on his way back to New York from Madrid.

• On Wednesday morning, he met with Jorge Sampaio, the High Representative for the , and then with the First Vice President and the Foreign Minister of Spain before leaving Madrid. He is expected to be back in New York later today.

• In addition to his other bilateral meetings yesterday, the Secretary-General also met yesterday evening with the Prime Minister of Algeria.

• The Secretary-General is scheduled to leave again next week for Geneva where he will on Tuesday visit the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as the UN is launching this year a series of events worldwide to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. In Geneva, he will address the Conference on Disarmament and launch the Consolidated Appeal for 2008. One highlight of his visit to Geneva will be a memorial service for the victims of the Algiers bombing.

• He will then leave for Davos to attend the World Economic Forum.

PANEL TO ADDRESS STRATEGIC ISSUES PERTAINING TO U.N. STAFF SECURITY

• Asked about reports that the Prime Minister of Algeria had criticized the Secretary- General's decision to establish an investigative panel into last month’s Algiers attack, the Spokeswoman noted that the independent panel is tasked with establishing all the facts concerning the Algiers attacks but its scope is much wider, as it will address strategic issues vital to staff security in UN operations around the world. The panel’s mandate will not be limited to Algiers, she stressed.

• Asked whether the Secretary-General had consulted with Algeria before announcing the panel’s establishment, the Spokeswoman said she was unaware of any specific discussion before the panel was announced, although the United Nations had been in regular contact with the Algerian authorities. She noted that the Secretary-General had taken the decision to set up the panel because staff security is of the utmost importance.

• She noted that the Secretary-General had met with the Algerian Prime Minister in Madrid and discussed the establishment of the panel, but she declined to comment on what the Prime Minister reportedly said.

• Asked how the panel can succeed in its work without Algeria’s cooperation, Montas said that the United Nations would seek maximum cooperation for the panel’s work.

U.N. OFFICIAL DEPLORES ACTS OF VIOLENCE IN GAZA & ISRAEL

• The UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East ɫ��TV Process, Robert Serry, made his first visit to Gaza yesterday in his present capacity.

• In remarks to the press, he said he had been informed that a major Israeli incursion into Gaza had left at least 14 people dead and over 40 injured, and that among the dead were civilians. The scale of the bloodshed was deeply alarming, he said. He added that he particularly deplored the killing and injuring of civilians.

• The Israel Defense Forces must ensure that they strictly comply with international humanitarian law and that their operations do not endanger civilians, he stressed.

• Serry also said he had been informed that a civilian, apparently an Ecuadorian national, had been killed by Palestinian sniper fire into Israel and that rockets had again been fired at the Israeli town of Sderot. He deplored both acts and said he failed to see what Gazans were going to win if the present situation continued.

• Expressing deep worry about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, Serry said that Gazans were paying a heavy price for the actions of a few. He also appealed to all parties to end the violence.

• Asked about the situation in Gaza, the Spokeswoman expressed the UN's concern, and she noted Serry’s recent comments.

SUDAN: ENVOYS MEET WITH DARFUR REBEL GROUP FOR FIRST TIME

• On the second day of their visit in Darfur, the United Nations and African Union Special Envoys for Darfur, Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim, met with the United Resistance Front (URF) in an undisclosed location in Northwest Darfur. The four-hour meeting was the first with the URF, which said it was now ready to present its political and military structure, as promised in Juba last November.

• The special envoys will continue their tour of the region tomorrow with a visit to the commanders of Abdul Wahid's faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).

• Meanwhile, Rodolphe Adada, the UN/AU Joint Special Representative for Darfur, today paid a courtesy call on the new Sudanese Foreign Minister, Deng Alor. The two agreed to maintain regular contacts to remove any difficulties that stand in the way of the smooth deployment of the UN/AU Hybrid Operation and to help with expediting the ongoing Darfur peace process at all levels.

POLITICAL IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN IRAQ

• In his latest report to the Security Council on Iraq, the Secretary-General says that the reduction in the overall number of attacks reported across Iraq is a welcome development.

• However, he adds that, in order to sustain recent security improvements, similar improvements in the political arena are needed, and, to date, the political process has not shown the degree of progress that many had hoped for.

• The Secretary-General says that his Special Representative, Staffan de Mistura, will continue to direct UN good offices towards encouraging genuine engagement by the leaders of Iraq on the core political disagreements. He is also closely reviewing every aspect of the work to see how progress can be made in implementing the expanded role it was given in resolution 1770.

PROGRESS MADE IN INTEGRATING GENDER ISSUES INTO PEACEKEEPING

• Gender advisers and focal points from all UN peacekeeping missions are taking part in an annual training and strategic planning workshop at UN Headquarters this week. Topics being discussed include best practices, gender mainstreaming, and other global priorities.

• Addressing the session yesterday, Under-Secretary-General for ɫ��TVkeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno noted the progress made in integrating gender issues more systematically in peacekeeping. These include: increasing the numbers of women elected to office; supporting the adoption of gender-sensitive laws on rape, domestic violence and inheritance rights; and supporting national police in recruiting more women to security services.

• There has also been modest progress in appointing women to senior roles in peacekeeping, as well as increased deployment of women by troop and police contributing countries, he noted.

• Nevertheless, challenges remain in translating the growing body of policies and guidelines into practice, as well as in confronting passive resistance to gender issues among peacekeeping personnel.

U.N. AGENCY APPEALS FOR FUNDS TO HELP CYCLONE SURVIVORS IN BANGLADESH

• The World Food Programme (WFP) has issued an urgent appeal for an additional $22 million so that it can continue providing emergency assistance to more than two million people affected by Cyclone Sidr.

• WFP has so far delivered 20,000 tons of emergency food since the November storm. But it needs at least another 30,000 metric tons of food for the poorest of the survivors, who are trying to rebuild their homes and replant their fields for the next harvest.

ARRESTING REMAINING FUGITIVES FROM FORMER YUGOSLAVIA A PRIORITY FOR NEW PROSECUTOR

• In a statement issued in The Hague earlier, Serge Brammertz, the new prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, thanked his predecessors for their leadership. He also pledged to continue their work by ensuring the successful conduct of all current and pending criminal proceedings.

• With 26 suspects on trial, nine in appeals proceedings and 11 others awaiting trial, Brammertz said that one of his top priorities is to obtain the arrest and transfer of the four remaining fugitives, particularly Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.

• Starting next week, Brammertz said he will be meeting with relevant authorities in the former Yugoslavia and representatives of other States and international bodies to discuss cooperation.

BAN KI-MOON CONDEMNS LEBANON ATTACK

• In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the attack earlier that day in Beirut, which reportedly killed at least three civilians and wounded at least twenty others, as well as having impact on a diplomatic vehicle from the US Embassy in Lebanon.

• The Secretary-General deplored this act of terror, adding that it is imperative that the Lebanese authorities find the perpetrators of this cowardly crime and bring them to justice.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRIVATE & GOVT. FUNDS NEEDED FOR FILM FUND: Asked whether the United Nations has provided money for a $100 million film fund announced by the Alliance of Civilizations, the Spokeswoman said it had not. She noted that private and government funding would be expected to pay for that project.

SECURITY COUNCIL TAKES UP KOSOVO: At 3:00 this afternoon, the Security Council will hold an open meeting to discuss the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. That meeting will then be followed by a private meeting, also on Kosovo. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, Joachim Rücker, will attend both meetings.

NEW REPORT ISSUED ON BEST PRACTICES IN PEACEKEEPING: In the Secretary-General’s latest report to the General Assembly on best practices in peacekeeping, he presents an overview of UN policy on identifying, among other things, how expertise and experience in best practices are being used. The Secretary-General also evaluates the methodology and tools used to manage best practices in peacekeeping operations since the introduction in 2005 of a new system for these activities.

NUCLEAR INSPECTORS VISIT SOUTH AFRICA: A team of International Atomic Energy Agency () experts is visiting South Africa at the invitation of the Government to exchange views on the lessons learned from an incident on 8 November, 2007, when armed men broke into the Pelindaba nuclear facility of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA). In issuing the invitation last November, South Africa said that the exchange could also benefit other IAEA members states in the "implementation of their nuclear security policies and the improvement of relevant guidelines".

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE WEEK OPENS TOMORROW: Holocaust Remembrance Week will kick off at UN Headquarters tomorrow with the opening of an art exhibit. The display, entitled “Memorial Drawings: Remembering the Holocaust Victims and their Liberators,” will open at 6:00 p.m. near the conference rooms.

NO RESPONSE TO PAKISTAN LETTER: Asked whether the Secretary-General has responded to a letter from the Pakistan People’s Party that asks for a UN investigation into former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the Spokeswoman said he has not. She noted that, in the case of the UN investigation regarding the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the relevant tribunal was created by the Security Council.

NO CONFIRMATION OF AFGHANISTAN ENVOY: The Spokeswoman, in response to a question, declined to confirm whether Paddy Ashdown would be named the next Special Representative for Afghanistan. Once consultations have ended on an appointment, she said, the Security Council would be informed of the Secretary General's intention to appoint someone.

*** The guest at noon was John Holmes, the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator. He briefed on humanitarian efforts in Kenya and launched a flash appeal for that country.