United Nations Daily Highlights, 08-10-03

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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

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, October 3, 2008

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS & D.R. CONGO

The

Security Council held its first consultations of the month, and they agreed this morning to adopt a programme of work for October, under the leadership of the new Council President, Ambassador Zhang Yesui of China.

The Council heard a briefing by the Chair of the Sanctions Committee dealing with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Italian Ambassador Giulio Terzi de Sant-Agata.

Council members also heard a briefing on the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) from the head of that Mission, Alan Doss. He talked to them about the disengagement process in the Kivus in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

SOMALIA: U.N. AGENCIES HELP FAMILIES DISPLACED BY FIGHTING

Heavy fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last week

forced an estimated 15,000 people to flee to safer districts within the city, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Despite the challenging security situation, a World Food Programme-supported food kitchen project served 14 million meals in Mogadishu this week. UNICEF and its partners have distributed basic supplies to 8,000 newly displaced families. In addition, UNICEF continues to support immunization and other programmes for children and pregnant women, as well as supplementary feeding and therapeutic centres.

Some 3.2 million people, or 43 percent of Somalias population, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Relief agencies are short of $231 million of the $646 million required to cover the needs of those affected.

DARFUR: ARRIVAL OF POLICE ADVISORS BOLSTERS AFRICAN UNION-UNITED NATIONS OPERATION

A total of 189 individual Police Advisors from 12 countries, including 17 female officers, have

arrived in Darfur to join the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation (UNAMID).

UNAMID reports that these latest arrivals of police advisors from Malaysia, Malawi, Jordan, Yemen, Pakistan, Uganda, Nepal, Bangladesh, Turkey, Senegal, El Salvador and South Africa, bring the total number of UNAMID Police Advisors to 1,877. The mandated strength is 3,772.

UNAMID Police Advisors are involved in training Community Policing Volunteers in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs); capacity building for the Government of Sudan Police and other parties to the Darfur conflict, to enable them to operate according to internationally accepted standards of policing; monitoring investigations into gender-based violence cases; confidence-building patrols in IDP camps and support to the delivery of humanitarian assistance to IDPs in Darfur.

Asked whether Rwandan Gen. Karenzi Karake would be extended as Deputy Force Commander for UNAMID, the Spokeswoman said that the matter is still being discussed, and she noted that his post is a joint appointment made by the United Nations and the African Union. His current term, she said, expires later this month.

Okabe said, in response to a further question, that the Secretary-General had discussed General Karenzis appointment with Rwandan President Paul Kagame when the two met on the margins of the General Assembly session last week.

Asked about efforts to obtain helicopters for UNAMID, the Spokeswoman said that efforts continue to secure them as soon as possible, but she added that she had no new offers to announce.

U.N. HUMANITARIAN CONVOY REACHES DISPLACED SRI LANKANS

In Sri Lanka, the World Food Programme (WFP)

reports that the first convoy of food and other essential supplies dispatched by the United Nations has reached the 200,000 displaced people in the area controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

A convoy, delivering enough food to feed the population for one week, will be dispatched each week traveling from Vavunya through the Omantai crossing point to the conflict-affected areas.

The population has been cut off from humanitarian assistance for more than two weeks after fighting escalated in the region.

The WFP truck convoys are also ferrying humanitarian supplies on behalf of other relief agencies, as the UN and other international humanitarian aid offices withdrew from the Vanni Region on 16 September following a government-issued directive requiring staff to be relocated outside the LTTE-controlled area.

U.N. TO EXPLORE MODALITIES OF POSSIBLE PAKISTAN COMMISSION

Asked about the Pakistani Government's request for a commission of inquiry into the circumstances of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the Spokeswoman said that the subject had come up when the Secretary -General met with the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, on the margins of the General Assembly session.

Okabe said that the Secretary-General offered his condolences not only on the President's personal loss but also the loss of so many Pakistanis in the recent terrorist bombing in Islamabad. The Secretary-General also encouraged Pakistan to persist in its dialogue both with India and Afghanistan.

She added that it was agreed that the United Nations would see what it could do to support the request for an independent fact-finding commission and would explore further the precise modalities and brief of such a Commission.

KOSOVO: U.N. MISSION REOPENS NORTHERN COURTHOUSE

The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today

reopened a courthouse in north Mitrovica that was the scene of violence earlier this year. The building had been forcibly occupied by Kosovo Serb demonstrators on 14 March.

Starting today, the courthouse will be staffed by UNMIK international staff, including two judges, two prosecutors, legal officers and administrative assistants. In this initial phase of the reopening, the prosecutors and international judges will only handle urgent criminal cases. They will apply UNMIK law and procedure.

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Kosovo, Lamberto Zannier, called todays reopening a first step to ensure that rule of law is provided to everyone in Kosovo.

NUCLEAR WATCHDOG TO HELP PROTECT NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS FROM EARTHQUAKES

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today officially

inaugurated an international centre to coordinate efforts to protect nuclear installations against the effects of earthquakes.

The International Seismic Safety Centre (ISSC), which has been established within the IAEA's Department of Nuclear Safety and Security and will be based in Vienna, will serve as a focal point on seismic safety for nuclear installations worldwide. It will assist countries on the assessment of seismic hazards of nuclear facilities to mitigate the consequences of strong earthquakes.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

FUNDING FOR CONTRACEPTION STAGNATES DESPITE RISING DEMAND: The UN Population Fund

says donor funding for contraceptives and condoms for HIV prevention is stagnating, despite rising global demand. According to its latest analysis, contributions for these supplies totaled $223 million in 2007, or slightly less than in 2001. During that time, the worlds population has continued to grow, and more couples are using modern methods of contraception.

Without concerted efforts, millions will not be able to exercise their reproductive health choices, the analysis warns.

FUNDING INCREASES FOR ENERGY PROJECTS: The World Bank has

announced a funding increase for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in developing countries. Funding for these projects rose 87 per cent from the 2007 to 2008 fiscal year. Commitments for the 2008 fiscal year reached nearly $2.7 billion, with 95 projects in 51 countries.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Saturday, October 4

Today through 10 October is World Space Week.

Sunday, October 5

Today is World Teachers Day.

Monday, October 6

Today is the first day of substantive work for all of the General Assemblys main committees, except for the Fifth Committee, which began its substantive session on 3 October.

At 11.15 a.m. in Room S-226, Mark Richmond, UNESCOs Director of the Division for the Coordination of U.N. Priorities in Education, introduces the main findings of the Mid-Decade Review Report on the U.N. Literacy Decade and UNESCOs new report on the Global Literacy Challenge.

Today is World Habitat Day. From 1.15 to 2.30 p.m. in Conference Room D, there will be a briefing on Renewable energy in urban settings. From 2.30 to 6 p.m. in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, there will be a special event on Harmonious cities.

The International Atomic Energy Agencys Board of Governors meets today in Vienna.

All this week in Geneva, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Executive Committee holds its annual meeting. Today, there will be a ceremony to present the annual Nansen Refugee Award to Christopher Clark and the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Centre of South Lebanon.

From today through 17 October in Geneva, the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference holds its second substantive session.

All this week, the International Maritime Organizations Marine Environment Protection Committee meets in London.

From today through Thursday, the Second Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World, convened in part by UNESCOs Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency, takes place in Monaco.

Tuesday, October 7

At 11 a.m. in Room S-226, the Secretary-General holds the first of his regularly-scheduled monthly press conferences. There will no noon briefing by the Spokesperson today.

This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold a debate on the U.N. Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau.

At 2 p.m. in Room S-226, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes briefs ahead of the International Day for Disaster Reduction (8 October).

Today and tomorrow, the Secretary-Generals Personal Envoy for the talks between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Matthew Nimetz, meets with both sides in New York.

In Rome, the Food and Agriculture Organization releases its State of Food and Agriculture report, which examines the prospects, risks and opportunities of biofuels.

In Brussels, the U.N., the European Commission, and the European Parliament convene a high-level inter-institutional conference on 60 Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The Defenders Take the Floor.

Wednesday, October 8

This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold a private meeting with Troop Contributing Countries to the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), followed by an open briefing and consultations on MINUSTAH.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, the Peacebuilding Commissions Central African Republic configuration holds its second meeting.

Today is the International Day for Disaster Reduction.

Thursday, October 9

Today and tomorrow, the General Assembly plenary holds informal consultations on the draft Doha outcome document on reviewing the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.

This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold a private meeting with Troop Contributing Countries to the U.N. Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), followed by consultations on UNOMIG and on the Councils Somalia sanctions committee.

The guest at the noon briefing is Under-Secretary-General for Management Angela Kane, who will brief on management reform.

Today and tomorrow, the first ever UN Book Days take place in the General Assembly Visitors Lobby.

Today is World Post Day.

Friday, October 10

At 11 a.m., the Security Council is scheduled to hold a Coordinators Meeting.

The guest at the Spokesperson's noon briefing is Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, who will discuss the latest developments in negotiations on a new climate change agreement that needs to be finalized by December 2009 in Copenhagen.

Today is World Mental Health Day.

Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

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