United Nations Daily Highlights, 10-04-13

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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 MARTIN NESIRKY

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

AT NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT, SECRETARY-GENERAL LAYS OUT PRIORITIES IN DEALING WITH SAFETY OF NUCLEAR STOCKPILES

The Secretary-General is in Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit, where he will deliver remarks this afternoon laying out his priorities in dealing with the safety of nuclear stockpiles. Those priorities are: preventing nuclear terrorism; securing nuclear fissile materials; strengthening the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency; increasing the engagement of the Security Council; and achieving tandem progress on both nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.

As the Secretary-General

told reporters on Monday, he has repeatedly urged the Conference on Disarmament to immediately start negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. He will consider convening a meeting of the Conference on Disarmament at the Ministerial level during this years General Assembly session in September, to spur that effort.

On Monday, on the margins of the Summit, the Secretary-General met with President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea and with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Today, he met with the European Union President and the Acting President of Nigeria.

HAITI: DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL JOINS NIGHT PATROL IN CAMP, VISIT LEOGANE

Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has wrapped up a two-day visit to

Haiti and is expected back in New York in a just a few hours.

On Monday evening, she joined a night patrol at a camp for displaced Haitians, led by UN and Haitian police officers. During the patrol, she spoke with camp residents about nighttime conditions at the sprawling Port-au-Prince facility. She also spoke with women running informal businesses in the camp, who described their fears of being robbed or sexually assaulted. She witnessed how the overstretched UN and Haitian police were implementing strategies to provide the widest possible coverage of the camps.

Earlier Monday, the Deputy Secretary-General visited the town of Leogane, the epicenter of the 12 January earthquake, and delivered remarks three months after the tragedy. She later met with Haitian parliamentarians and discussed issues of governance and electoral planning in the aftermath of the earthquake. Before leaving Port-au-Prince for New York this morning, she held meetings with the heads of UN agencies and the Haitian minister for womens affairs.

Also in Haiti, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that in the past three months, over 3.5 million people have received food assistance; 1.3 million people are receiving daily water distributions; more than 1 million people have received emergency shelter; some 510,000 people have benefited from hygiene kits; and over 500,000 people had been vaccinated against common diseases.

To date, 90 per cent of the quake victims have received some form of emergency shelter materials. OCHA says that it is expected that the United Nations and its partners will reach their goal of providing 1.3 million people with shelter by 1 May, before the rainy season starts.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is

appealing for $12.5 million to help people living outside of formal camps in Haiti and those who had fled to the Dominican Republic. UNHCR has been supporting the established protection and camp management programmes, sending emergency team members specializing in protection, logistics, registration and profiling to assist the humanitarian effort, and has supplied 100,000 people with shelter materials.

Meanwhile, UNICEF released its Children of Haiti: Three months after the Earthquake report today. The report

looks at progress, gaps and plans in humanitarian action. It says that three months following the earthquake, the humanitarian response had been able to avoid the worse case scenario for children.

UNICEF says much remains to be done and is appealing for children to be included at the very heart of the reconstruction efforts for the country. UNICEF outlines three main areas of action: ensuring that all children can return to school, including the 55 per cent that had not attended school before the earthquake; preventing and curing chronic malnutrition; and ensuring child protection.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONCERNED OVER CONSTITUTIONAL STALEMATE IN KYRGYZSTAN

The Secretary-General is

following with concern the continuing constitutional stalemate in Kyrgyzstan and the threats to use force.

In order to avoid a further escalation and destabilization of the situation, the Secretary-General appeals to all parties concerned to resolve the issue peacefully and on the basis of the Constitution.

He has instructed his Special Envoy, Jan Kubis, to continue working in this direction with all parties.

Asked about a request that was made for a UN tribunal to look into the actions of the Bakiyev administration, the Spokesperson noted that Jan Kubis remains on the ground in Kyrgyzstan, meeting with the representatives of the different political groups. He will come to New York to brief the Secretary-General this Thursday.

UNITED NATIONS WELCOMES DECISION TO EXTEND THE VOTING PERIOD IN SUDAN

In response to a question on the elections in Sudan, the Spokesperson said that the United Nations welcomes the Sudanese National Election Commission's decision to extend the voting period. This should allow the Commission to overcome the various technical difficulties encountered in the first two days of the voting, he said.

The United Nations also hopes that this will enable more Sudanese voters to cast their vote, Nesirky said, especially in areas and constituencies where the technical errors caused delays to the voting process or where voters have been unable to determine which polling center they are registered in.

He added that the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) is providing technical assistance and logistical support to the National Election Commission, upon request from the Commission, and will continue to do so, within the missions capability. That is in order to assist the Commission in coping with the remaining technical problems and the logistical challenges those may generate.

In response to a question, the Spokesperson confirmed that four UN police officers are missing in Darfur. The UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is working very closely with the Sudanese authorities to enable their safe return.

D.R.CONGO ENVOY SAYS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN KIVUS REMAINS OF DEEP CONCERN

Alan Doss, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, briefed the

Security Council this morning on the work being done by the UN Mission in that country (MONUC) to protect civilians, assist in the disarmament and demobilization of armed groups and support Government efforts at security sector reform.

Doss said that the humanitarian situation in the Kivus and parts of Orientale Province remains of deep concern, with high levels of sexual violence and attacks on humanitarian workers. But security has gradually improved in several territories in the Kivus, he added.

He also discussed the effort to determine how to reconfigure and draw down the UN Mission. The Secretary-General recommends that a first stage of a drawdown should begin before 30 June, with protection of civilians under imminent threat of violence remaining a priority.

At 4:30 p.m. today, French Ambassador Gerard Araud will brief journalists on the upcoming Security Council trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

SOMALIA: U.N. DISMAYED OVER CONTINUING PLIGHT OF CIVILIANS IN CAPITAL

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden,

expressed dismay today over the continuing plight of Somali civilians in Mogadishu, who remain the principal victims of the fighting in the capital. He reiterated the call for all parties to the conflict to protect civilian populations against the indiscriminate use of arms, particularly in densely populated areas.

In the most recent round of fighting yesterday, at least 19 people were killed and some 55 wounded. In the month of March, more than 900 civilians were wounded as a direct result of the conflict. More than 100 of those injured were children under the age of five. Additionally, more than 30 civilians were killed.

The UN estimates that some 100,000 people have been displaced from and within Mogadishu since the beginning of the year.

TIMOR-LESTE: NATIONAL POLICE RESUME PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES IN NEW DISTRICT

In Timor-Leste today, a ceremony took place marking the resumption of primary responsibilities for police operations by Polícia Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL) in the District of Ainaro, in the central highlands.

Ainarao is the fifth district in which the PNTL has resumed primary policing responsibility since the resumption process started in May 2009, when primary policing responsibility was transferred from the United Nations Police to the PNTL.

The Government of Timor-Leste and United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) are jointly implementing the resumption process in a gradual manner district by district, unit by unit.

UN Police will maintain their presence in the districts where the PNTL have resumed responsibilities, in order to monitor, advise and support the PNTL, including in the area of human rights protection.

CHILEAN JOURNALISTS AWARD 2010 UNESCO WORLD PRESS FREEDOM PRIZE

The Chilean journalist, Mónica González Mujica has been named laureate of the 2010 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

UNESCO said that González Mujica had undergone years of hardship defending freedom of expression in her country. Throughout her professional life, Mónica González Mujica has shown courage in shining the light on the dark side of Chile, said the President of the jury, Joe Thloloe, Press Ombudsman of the Press Council of South Africa. She has embodied the very spirit of the Award. She has been jailed, tortured, hauled before the courts but has remained steadfast.