United Nations Daily Highlights, 07-04-11

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: [email protected]

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MARIE OKABE

DEPUTY

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

U.N.

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

BAN KI-MOON TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to travel early next week to Europe and the Middle East.

His first stop is Rome for an official visit to Italy during which he plans to meet with senior Italian leaders. He also expects to meet with the Pope in Vatican City.

He then travels to Bern for an official visit to Switzerland, where he will meet with leaders of the Swiss Government. While in Switzerland, he will attend a meeting of the Chief Executives Board, which brings together on a regular basis the heads of the organizations of the UN system, under the chairmanship of the Secretary-General.

The third leg of the trip takes him to Doha, Qatar to address a Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade.

His final scheduled stop is Damascus. During his official visit to Syria, the Secretary-General plans to meet with senior government officials including the president on a range of issues.

Asked what the Secretary-General would discuss in Damascus, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General hopes his visit will be useful and constructive in continuing his efforts to contribute to the ongoing peace efforts in the Middle East. She declined to give specifics on what would be discussed.

Asked whether Ban Ki-moon would visit Iran, Okabe said that she had no information on any such visit.

BAN KI-MOON CONDEMNS TERRORIST BOMBINGS IN ALGERIA

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the terrorist bombings that occurred today in Algeria, killing and wounding many innocent civilians in what has been reported as an attempt against the Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem. He extends his sincere condolences to the Government and people of Algeria, and in particular, to the families of the victims.

The Secretary-General believes this deplorable incident, the latest in a series of similar attacks in the Maghreb region as a whole, shows the need for concerted international action against terrorism which has the effect of undermining the normal functioning of societies and disrupting the lives of ordinary people.

SUDAN: HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITIES HAMPERED BY VIOLENCE

The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) continues to report a number of security incidents involving humanitarian activities in Darfur.

Among the incidents over the past few days being reported include an armed robbery on a medical clinic run by a non-governmental organization in North Darfur and a shooting of a vehicle being used for a vaccination campaign in South Darfur, as well as shooting between armed militias and police inside a camp housing internally displaced persons in West Darfur.

Tuesday evening, the UN Mission strongly condemned an unprovoked attack carried out earlier in the day by unidentified armed men on an African Union patrol team at a water point in North Darfur during which one member of the AMIS protection force was killed.

U.N. MISSION HELPS CONGOLESE SENATOR LEAVE KINSHASA

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) contributed to the departure of Senator Jean Pierre Bemba from Kinshasa today, following a request by the Congolese authorities and also by Senator Bemba himself.

Senator Bemba was granted permission by the President of the Provisional Office of the Senate to leave Kinshasa. Following that, MONUC provided security for the Senators transportation from the embassy of South Africa to the airport of Kinshasa, where he took a plane for Portugal, where Bemba is to receive medical treatment.

AID WORKERS FACING POLITICAL OBSTACLES IN SOMALIA

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian situation in Somalia is dramatically deteriorating and that aid workers are facing serious political obstructions as they work to help internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups.

As a result of the political obstacles, UN agencies and their partners have been unable to hand out food and basic supplies in areas hit by drought, floods and conflict.

Asked about how many people had been killed in recent fighting in Somalia, the Spokeswoman noted that in general, the United Nations works to protect the living, and gathers information on death tolls from local authorities. She mentioned the UNs work on the political front in Somalia, as well as its efforts to deal with the deteriorating humanitarian situation and to take care of the needs of refugees.

NEPAL: U.N. MISSION STARTS WEAPONS REGISTRATION

The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) today

began a three-day registration and storage of Nepalese Army weapons at the Chhauni Barracks in Kathmandu.

On the first day of the registration and storage process, the Nepalese Army presented some 850 weapons for registration and storage by UN teams. 14 UN registration teams, supported by UNDP, registered each weapon individually for storage.

UNMIN arms monitors are present throughout the registration process, and will maintain a 24-hour presence at the Barracks from today to monitor the weapons. Surveillance cameras have been installed at the site to ensure 24-hour electronic monitoring.

MOROCCO PRESENTS WESTERN SAHARA INITIATIVE TO BAN KI-MOON

Asked about a plan on Western Sahara submitted by Morocco, the Spokeswoman said that the Moroccan Permanent Representative to the UN this morning presented to the Secretary-General his Governments autonomy initiative for Western Sahara.

The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation as well as his hope that the parties would find a mutually acceptable solution, she said.

Okabe added that the Secretary-General also noted previous Security Council decisions on the Western Sahara issue.

Asked about the Frente POLISARIOs plan for Western Sahara, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations received that on Tuesday.

She expected that the plans would be submitted to the Security Council for its consideration.

BAN KI-MOON AND NEW YORK MAYOR TO DISCUSS HEADQUARTERS RENOVATION, CLIMATE CHANGE, PEACEKEEPING

In response to questions, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg this afternoon.

The Secretary-General, she said, hopes to discuss a range of issues of mutual interest to the city of New York and the United Nations. These include the city's continued support for the Capital Master Plan, ways to work together on climate change, and possible cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations.

Asked about cooperation on peacekeeping, Okabe said that New York has one of the most diverse police forces, and added that it was a priority for the United Nations to get police to join its peacekeeping operations.

Asked whether the United Nations may still want to build in nearby Robert Moses Park, the Spokeswoman said that the Capital Master Plan had been approved and that groundbreaking on the UN North Lawn should take place this summer.

NORTH POLE RACE CONTESTANTS TRYING TO RAISE MONEY FOR UNHCR

Six teams of adventurers are racing to the North Pole, and one team hopes to raise nearly half a million dollars for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the process. Jake Morland, a former UNHCR field officer, and longtime friend James Turner are among the 15 competitors who left the last inhabited outpost in northern Canada on Monday. The race to the Pole is expected to take at least four weeks.

Morland and Turner are hoping to raise 250,000 British pounds from sponsors. They want to earmark that money for a special trust fund to cover urgent medical evacuation for refugee children. So far they have raised more than 50,000 dollars.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEW EXPERTS APPOINTED TO AL-QAIDA/TALIBAN BODY: Available today is a letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council, informing the Council of his appointment of two experts Mubarak Mashhoor al-Shahrani of Saudi Arabia and Carlton Greene of the United States to fill vacancies on the Al-Qaida and Taliban Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team.

UNICEF AMBASSADOR CLAY AIKEN TOURS AFGHANISTAN: UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and singer Clay Aiken took part in a press conference at the UN Mission in Afghanistans headquarters in Kabul this morning. Aiken said that the people of Afghanistan were without question the countrys greatest natural resource. He especially highlighted the eagerness for learning among people of all ages. Aiken has been travelling around Afghanistan with his high school teacher and UNICEFs country representative for the past week.

LEBANON LETTER BEING STUDIED: Asked about a letter from Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to the Secretary-General, the Spokeswoman said that the letter has been received and is being studied.

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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