United Nations Daily Highlights, 07-09-26

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MARIE OKABE

DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BANK KI-MOON

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

MYANMAR: BAN KI-MOON DISPATCHES ENVOY

In response to

deteriorating situation in Myanmar, the Secretary-General is urgently

dispatching his

Special Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, to the region. He calls on the senior

leadership of the country to cooperate fully with this mission in order to

take advantage of the willingness of the United Nations to assist in the

process of national reconciliation through dialogue.

Noting reports of the use

of force and of arrests and beatings, the Secretary-General calls again on

authorities to exercise utmost restraint toward the peaceful demonstrations

taking place, as such action can only undermine the prospects for peace,

prosperity and stability in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, High

Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today

urged the Myanmar authorities to allow the peaceful expression of dissent

in the country and to abide by international human rights law in their

response to the current widespread peaceful street protests.

Arbour said she was

gravely concerned about the well-being and safety of the demonstrators. She

also expressed her continuing concern for those who have been detained during

recent weeks, and for the welfare of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asked whether the

Government of Myanmar had accepted Gambaris arrival yet, the Spokeswoman said

it had not.

She said that Gambari,

after briefing the Security Council this afternoon, would leave for the region

later today. As soon as his arrival in Myanmar is accepted, he would visit the

country.

Asked about the purpose

of his visit, she reiterated the Secretary-General's calls on the senior

leadership of Myanmar to cooperate fully with this mission in order to take

advantage of the willingness of the United Nations to assist in the process of

national reconciliation through dialogue.

In response to a

question, she confirmed that the

Secretary-General would meet the Foreign Minister of Myanmar this afternoon.

Asked whether the United

Nations could confirm the deaths of protestors in Myanmar, Okabe said she had

no firsthand information to make any such confirmation.

The United Nations, she

said, has a resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, as well as an

office that includes staff performing humanitarian work on the ground.

SECURITY

COUNCIL TO BE BRIEFED ON MYANMAR BY U.N. ENVOY

The

Security Council has scheduled

consultations this afternoon at 3:00. During those consultations, the

Secretary-Generals Special Envoy dealing with Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, is

expected to brief the Council on the latest developments in that country.

The Secretary-General

yesterday afternoon

spoke at the summit-level Security Council meeting on challenges in

Africa, saying that, although many African countries are confronted with

daunting peace and security challenges, encouraging signs are emerging.

He said that African

peacemakers, alone, cannot tackle the continent's conflicts. That is why the

UN is working to strengthen its partnerships with regional organizations, such

as the African Union. And he noted the hybrid operation for Darfur as an

unprecedented partnership between the UN and the AU that is an expression of

our collective commitment to end the tragedy of Darfur.

INTOLERANCE

AND CROSS-CULTURAL TENSIONS ON THE RISE

The Group of Friends for

the Alliance of Civilizations, the

initiative first sponsored by Spain and Turkey, met at the ministerial level

this morning, and the Secretary-General

addressed that

meeting.

He told the Group of

Friends that intolerance and cross-cultural tensions are on the rise, with new

instances of the harmful impact of cultural misunderstandings and religious

prejudices on relations between communities appearing every day.

Facing these challenges

is the need of the hour, the Secretary-General said. It demands a collective

and broad-based approach that is at the very heart of the Alliance of

Civilizations.

U.N.

ENVOY TRAVELS TO EBOLA-STRICKEN REGION IN D.R. CONGO

William Lacy Swing, the

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of

the Congo (DRC), was in the town of Kananga in the western Kasai Occidental

province to assess

the political and security conditions and seek solutions to the problems

caused to UN staff by the Ebola epidemic in the region.

Speaking to local

officials, Swing said that although most of the Missions work was now focused

on the eastern part of the country, the Kasai region remains just as important

to the United Nations. Swing also presented the local governor with 367

mattresses to be distributed to various hospitals in the province, through the

Missions Quick Impact Projects programme.

Meanwhile, Ross Mountain,

the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General for the DRC, was in

Bunia in the northeastern region in an effort to solve the impasse in the

third phase of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reinsertion programme in

the Ituri province. The Mission says that some 4,600 combatants have signed up

to disarm, but fewer than 1,400, including some 260 women, have surrendered

their weapons so far.

AFGHANISTAN:

INCREASED OPIUM PRODUCTION A GRAVE THREAT

The Secretary-Generals

latest report

to the General Assembly and Security Council on

Afghanistan is available today, and it

says that the most urgent priority in the country must be an effective,

integrated civilian-military strategy and security plan.

A coordinated military

response is still needed to defeat insurgent and terrorist groups, but success

in the medium term requires the engagement of communities and the provision of

lasting security in which development can take place.

The report notes that the

continued increase in opium production poses an increasingly grave threat to

reconstruction and nation-building in Afghanistan, and says that the

Government must put a priority on interdiction and bring drug traffickers to

justice.

Today, President Hamid

Karzai and UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis are launching the Afghanistan

National Human Development Report 2007, which says that the Afghan justice

system must be rebuilt in a way that bridges modern and traditional justice

institutions, protects rights and strengthens rule of law.

UNITED

NATIONS PROVIDES AID TO VIOLENCE-DISPLACED PEOPLE IN NEPAL

The World Food Programme

(WFP) and UNICEF in Nepal will

provide

urgently needed humanitarian food aid and basic supplies to 5,000 people

displaced by recent communal violence across two districts in western Nepal.

WFP has mobilized more

than 70 metric tons of food aid following a request by the Nepalese Government

to provide emergency humanitarian food assistance to the displaced populations

gathering in two districts, while UNICEF will provide necessities including

tarpaulins, water purification equipment, and hygiene kits.

COUNTRIES

SIGN UP TO GLOBAL TREATIES AT U.N. EVENT

The Office of Legal

Affairs says that on the first day of this years

Treaty Event, 11 Member States yesterday undertook 20 treaty actions,

consisting of 17 signatures and 3 ratifications.

This morning, five more

Member States participated in the event. And so far, the 2006 Convention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has attracted the most interest with

nine signatures.

BAN

KI-MOON TO PROPOSES WAYS TO STRENGTHEN CONFLICT PREVENTION

Asked about comments by

the Secretary-General on Tuesday that he would strengthen the Department for

Political Affairs (DPA), the

Spokeswoman said that this is a second stage of Secretary-Generals efforts to

strengthen the Secretariat in the area of peace and security, following the

changes made already to peacekeeping.

The purpose of the changes

to be proposed by the Secretary-General is to make the United Nations better

able to detect and respond to potential crises before they erupt through the

use of preventive diplomacy and the Secretary-Generals good offices, backed

by a stronger political affairs department, she said. Conflict prevention is a

core function of the United Nations, but the infrastructure to do it needs to

be made stronger.

This is a long overdue

change, Okabe added. The need to strengthen DPA has been documented in

numerous assessments and evaluations. Although the proposals are still being

developed, the core of it will be to strengthen the regional affairs desks of

the Department and to help make DPA more mobile and field-oriented.

The plans will be

submitted to Member States in the near future, the Spokeswoman added. Informal

consultations are already underway.

PERMANENT

SOLUTION NEEDED FOR GREECE/FYROM NAME ISSUE

Asked about comments made

on Tuesday by the General Assembly President concerning The former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the Secretary-Generals Personal Envoy for the

Greece-FYROM talks, Matthew Nimetz, has said that what happened in the General

Assembly yesterday demonstrates why a permanent solution is needed. He is

continuing his work with the parties on this issue.

For his part, Okabe said,

the Secretary-General urges both parties to redouble their efforts to resolve

their difference through the established mediation efforts.

Within the United Nations,

the Secretary-General and the Secretariat observe the practice of using the

name The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as referred to in Security

Council resolutions, the Spokeswoman said.

Asked how the General

Assembly Presidents remarks could affect negotiations, the Spokeswoman

declined to discuss hypothetical situations, emphasizing that the important

thing is that Matthew Nimetz is continuing his work.

U.N.

OFFICIAL IN KOSOVO BRIEFS ON ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIMSELF

Asked about allegations

made against the Secretary-Generals Deputy Special Representative in Kosovo,

Steven Schook, the Spokeswoman noted that Schook

spoke to the media in Pristina this morning to address allegations that

have been raised against him. His remarks were made in his personal capacity.

Okabe said that there

would be no comment on Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS)

investigations or even confirmation on whether such investigations are

underway -- until they are completed and given to the Member States. At that

point, the OIOS findings would go to Member States, upon their request.

U.N.

RENOVATION PLAN WORKING TO STAY WITHIN BUDGET & ON SCHEDULE

Asked about the

Secretary-Generals recent comments on making the Capital Master Plan (CMP)

more efficient, the Spokeswoman recalled that, when Assistant

Secretary-General Michael Adlerstein briefed the press on the Plan in July,

there was discussion about the estimate of time slippage and a budget overrun

in the Report of the UN Board of Auditors on the CMP, which had been published

in June.

Adlerstein stated then

that the CMP Office was exploring ways to keep the project within budget and

on schedule.

The Plan, Okabe said, will

be on the agenda of the General Assemblys Fifth Committee in several weeks.

At that time the Secretary-General will present his annual progress report on

the Plan for the consideration of the Member States. The CMP Office is

preparing recommendations to keep the CMP within budget and on schedule, in

line with the Secretary-General's remarks.

After discussion with the

Member States, the Spokeswoman said, there will be a detailed briefing about

these recommendations.

OTHER

ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNICEF REACHES OUT TO

FLOOD-HIT UGANDANS: UNICEF and its

partners have provided

more than 2 million vaccinations for measles and polio as well as emergency

and basic drug kits to treat up to 20,000 people for three months. In total,

almost ten metric tonnes of food and supplies have been transported to all

flood-hit regions via the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS).

HEALTH AGENCY EXPANDS

TRAINING PROGRAM: The World Health

Organization is

expanding its programme to train health care staff in low- and middle-income

countries in essential emergency, basic surgery and anaesthesia skills. The

programme, which already exists in 22 countries, will boost the capacity of

rural hospitals to deal with simple but essential surgery in a growing number of

developing regions.

UNAIDS CALLS FOR MORE

FUNDING TO FIGHT AIDS: In a new

report on estimated financial resources required for the response to AIDS,

UNAIDS is calling for a rapid scaling up of resources, in order to reach the

goal of universal access to treatment by 2010 and maintain those levels into the

next decade. UNAIDS notes that countries such as Brazil and Botswana have made

good progress towards universal access, particularly to antiretroviral

treatment, but the $10 billion available in 2007 represents a serious shortfall

in funding and is hampering many countries efforts.

REPORTERS CONCERNS ON

PRESS CONFERENCES ADDRESSED: The

Spokeswoman noted complaints by the UN Correspondents Association concerning two

press conferences that took place on Tuesday. Regarding a press conference with

the French President, she noted that the French Mission had used the briefing

room to brief its national press, in line with other briefings to national press

corps. The French Mission had apologized that the briefing was put on the public

schedule of the Spokespersons Office. She noted that the French President did

appear at the Security Council stakeout to speak to the international press.

Office of the Spokesperson for the

Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

to the Spokesperson's Page

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