United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-05-09

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

(The following substitutes for the noon briefing;

Middle East Quartet press conference expected at 5 p.m. New York time)

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

ANNAN MEETS WITH THE MIDDLE EAST QUARTET

Secretary-General Kofi Annan met this morning with the other principal members of the

Middle East Quartet, as well as with the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Besides the Secretary-General, the Quartet principals in attendance were U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, European Union High Representative for a Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero Waldner.

Prior to the Quartet meeting with the Middle East foreign ministers, the Secretary-General also had a brief téte-a-téte meeting with Secretary of State Rice.

Also this morning, the Secretary-General had a separate meeting with the Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi Foreign Ministers.

The Quartet principals and visiting foreign ministers will also have a working luncheon.

Then, at 3:00 p.m., the Secretary-General and the other Quartet principals will hold another meeting.

After that, from 5:00 to 5:30, the Quartet principals are expected to give a press conference.

ELECTIONS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ARE UNDERWAY

Results of the first round of balloting for the new

Human Rights Council are expected to be announced by the General Assembly President at 12:45 pm in the General Assembly Hall.

Additional rounds to begin this afternoon as needed.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO HOLD MEETING ON SUDAN AT 1:45 P.M.

The Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting on

Sudan, to be chaired by the Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo.

The Secretary-General will attend the meeting and make a statement.

U.N. ENVOY TO MEET WITH TRIBAL LEADERS IN DARFUR

AS PART OF EFFORT TO SECURE COMPREHENSIVE PEACE

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Sudan, Jan Pronk, will meet on Wednesday with tribal leaders in the Sudanese state of North Darfur as part of his continuous efforts to secure comprehensive peace in the troubled western area of Sudan.

Pronk will then attend a meeting of a United Nations-African Union liaison group in Al-Fasher, as the two organizations continue to cooperate closely to provide protection and humanitarian assistance for civilians in Darfur and to push the peace process forward.

Later in the day, Pronk is to meet with the Wali (governor) of North Darfur and the next morning he will fly to South Darfur for meetings with the Wali and tribal leaders for the same purpose.

Pronk recently signed the historic Darfur Peace Agreement in Abuja, Nigeria, on behalf of the world organization and was now launching this new drive to prompt the various Darfurian actors to endorse the peace deal.

U.N. CHIEF URGES REPEAL OF ANTI-N.G.O LAW IN SUDAN

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland is planning to leave Khartoum Wednesday and fly to Chad where he is scheduled to visit camps for internally displaced persons and hold talks with senior government officials.

While in Chad, Egeland will visit the Djabal refugee camp, in Goz Beida, and meet with the Governor of Ouaddai.

On the eve of his one-day visit to Chad, the second and final leg in his African tour, Egeland today met Sudanese Government officials in Khartoum and urged them to facilitate the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Darfur. He also called for the repeal of a law considered to be hampering operations of such groups.

Egeland also called for the reinforcement of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), whose more than 7000 troops are deployed in Darfur to provide protection for civilians and to make it possible for international humanitarian organizations to operate.

Also in Sudan today, Egeland announced that an initial allocation of approximately $20 million could be made available to UN agencies working in Sudan. The World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC), UNICEF, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and World Health Organization (WHO) have now presented the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) with project proposals for life-saving activities in the areas of food, logistics, nutrition, agriculture, health and other assistance for refugees. OCHA is currently working to arrange the grants for each of the proposed projects.

FOOD AIRDROPS COMPLETED INTO D.R. CONGOS KATANGA PROVINCE

The

World Food Programme (WFP) said today that its airdrops into Katanga Province, in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, have provided enough food aid for some 34,700 displaced people. However, a severe lack of funds is preventing many more needy people from being reached.

Although expensive, WFP chose to airdrop because the rainy season, rising overland transport costs and insecurity have made it difficult to use roads. Food trucks were taking up to eight weeks to reach distribution sites from the provincial capital of Lubumbashi.

CONGOLESE REFUGEES WILL BE REPATRIATED FROM SUDAN

The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is today

scheduled to start the repatriation of approximately 850 Congolese refugees from Juba in South Sudan to Kisangani in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Despite the fact that UNHCR does not consider the conditions in the specific areas of return as favourable and conducive to sustainable return and it is not in position to provide any reintegration assistance, it has agreed to facilitate the return of a very specific group of Congolese refugees. The group fled from the post-independence turmoil and the coup that brought Mobutu Sese Seko to power in 1965 in the country he renamed Zaire (now DRC).

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TO TAKE PART IN PEACEBUILDING CONFERENCE

Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown will be travelling to Copenhagen this evening to participate in a Conference on Peace Building, Development and Africa at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Malloch Brown will be part of a panel jointly with Alpha Oumar Konaré, Chairman of the Commission of the African Union, Luísa Dias Diogo, Prime Minister of Mozambique, and Asha-Rose M. Migiro, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of Tanzania.

He will also have bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Denmark as well as Ms. Ulla Tørnæs, Minister for Development Cooperation.

He will be back in New York on Friday 12 May.

U.N. CALLS FOR "JUMP START" OF PEACE PROCESS IN COTE DIVOIRE:

Pierre Schori, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Côte dIvoire yesterday held talks with President Laurent Gbagbo on the current political situation.

After the meeting, Schori urged Ivorians to kick-start the peace process by launching the dismantling of militias.

He said the international community, the Ivorian people and the president had had enough of the "no peace - no war" situation in Côte d'Ivoire.

U.N. CHILDRENS AND FOOD AGENCY CHIEFS ON MISSION TO PANAMA

The Executive Directors of the World Food Programme and UNICEF are in Panamatoday to meet with the heads of their Latin American and Caribbeancountry offices.

The directors, James T. Morris of the WFP and Ann M. Veneman of UNICEF said their mission will be aimed at intensifying common efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in the region.

The focus of the inter-agency meetings will be on combating child malnutrition and HIV/AIDS, preparing for the upcoming hurricane season and strengthening UN Reform initiatives across Latin America and the Caribbean, the agencies said.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

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