Activities of Secretary-General in Egypt, 13-14 April

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Cairo from Doha in the evening of Wednesday, 13 April.

The following day, he and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Amre Moussa, co-chaired a conference of international and regional organizations to discuss coordination on Libya.  He told officials from the League of Arab States, the African Union, the European Union and the Organization of the Islamic Conference that swift and decisive international action in Libya has saved thousands of lives.  But we have an immediate concern: the deteriorating humanitarian situation, he added.  (See Press Release SG/SM/13509)

He said that, in Misrata, Brega and Zintan, where the fighting has been particularly intense, access to basic services and commodities has been largely cut off, including food, water and health care.  The United Nations has completed an inter-agency humanitarian needs assessment in the east of Libya, he added, with similar work planned for the west.

The Secretary-General, in a press conference before he departed Cairo for Prague, said that today’s meeting was a concrete demonstration of the international community working together in common cause and with a common voice for the people of Libya.

Today’s meeting, he said, has been very important in outlining the next steps, including an agreement to adopt a unified approach to finding a lasting solution to the crisis in Libya.  The organizations offered their full support to the efforts of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Abdul Ilah al-Khatib.  Mr. Khatib would be returning to Libya soon to continue his engagement with both parties.

The Secretary-General attended a luncheon hosted by the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States in honour of the participants of the Cairo conference on Libya.

Mr. Ban departed Egypt for the Czech Republic on Thursday afternoon.