Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon, we’ll make this a little bit short because we’ve got a 1 o’clock press conference.

** Central African Republic

Just to give you some highlights, we just released a statement on the Central African Republic:

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the recent attacks in the Central African Republic, including yesterday at the Church of Notre Dame de Fatima in Bangui in which an unknown number of people, including the priest and others were abducted.

The attack follows violence in the capital earlier in the week during which three Muslim youths were brutally killed by suspected anti-balaka elements on their way to an inter-communal reconciliation football match.

The Secretary-General encourages the Central African Republic’s Transitional Authority to do everything within its means to prevent further violence in the capital and throughout the country, and to take concrete measures to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.  He calls on the international forces present in the Central African Republic to take all necessary measures in support of these efforts.

The Secretary-General calls for an immediate end to the cycle of violence and retaliatory attacks.  He encourages the Central African Republic’s leaders and partners in the sub-region to work with MINUSCA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic) to facilitate progress towards meaningful national dialogue and reconciliation in order to chart a sustainable path to peace.  That statement is upstairs.

**Secretary-General’s Travels

The Secretary-General is on his way to Toronto, where he will speak tomorrow at the Global Summit in support of the “Every woman, every child” initiative on maternal, newborn and child health.  We’ll give you updates on this later today and tomorrow.

** Egypt Elections

A number of you asked about the elections in Egypt.  In response to those questions, we are aware of reports that official results will not be released until next week.  Whatever the official outcome, the Secretary-General considers it very important that the new President devotes early and full attention to bringing Egyptian society together in a spirit of dialogue and inclusion in his efforts to achieve stability and prosperity in Egypt.  The Secretary-General and the United Nations look forward to supporting all efforts in that direction.

**Maya Angelou

The Secretary-General wrote a letter of condolence today for Maya Angelou’s family and friends following her passing yesterday.  In the letter, he said that her moving works generated compassion and empowerment in her country and around the world.  And he recalled the poem that she wrote for the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, A Brave and Startling Truth, in which she said that all “have the power to fashion for this earth a climate where every man and every woman can live freely”.  And if you are interested, we have copies of that letter in my office.

**International Day of Peacekeepers

Today was the International Day of Peacekeepers and I won’t go into my detailed note.  It will be up on the highlights and I think we’ve heard quite a briefing on peacekeeping just now.

**Deputy Secretary-General on Social Innovation

The Deputy Secretary-General earlier this morning addressed the Social Innovation Summit in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.  In his remarks, he challenged the innovators and business people in the room to find a solution to the problems of sanitation, especially open defecation which a billion people around the world are forced to practice every day.  Mr. [Jan] Eliasson encouraged them to find sustainable solutions to tackle the world’s sanitation problems. “Gone are the days when you could use toilets that flush away litres of clean water,” he said.  “In a world of rapid urbanization, climate change and environmental degradation, we need solutions that will last and solutions that are community based.”  His full statement is in my office.

**Security Council

Today the Security Council passed three resolutions this morning extending the mandates of the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA), the UN integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).  The Council then held closed consultations on Syria, and which its members heard a briefing from Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kyung-wha Kang and she briefed on the Secretary-General humanitarian report on Syria 2139.

** Morocco — UNHCR

The High Commissioner for Human Rights wrapped her up first official visit to Morocco — the first by someone in her position for 13 years.  Speaking to reporters in the capital, Rabat, Navi Pillay said that Morocco is undergoing an important transition and is setting high standards through its Constitution and laws.

Through her meetings with the authorities, including His Majesty King Mohamed VI and various ministers, Ms. Pillay said that it was clear that there is the political will at the highest levels to continue efforts to set a firm human rights foundation for Moroccan society.  She noted, however, that old habits and harmful traditional practices can never justify violations of human rights and should not trump international law and the country’s constitution and laws.

On the issue of torture, the High Commissioner said that she was informed by the King that he will not tolerate torture, though he could not rule out that there are isolated cases.

She underscored the need for accountability, stressing that impunity is the most powerful fuel for human rights violations.  Her full remarks are available on her website.

**Press Conferences

In a few minutes, we will hear a press conference in this room on Sustainable Urbanization and the Climate Change Challenge.  And briefers will be Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme); Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris; and Jacqueline Moustache-Belle, the Mayor of Victoria in Seychelles.

Tomorrow, at 11 a.m., [there will be a] press conference here on a new partnership between the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the Barcelona Foundation for Ocean Sailing.

Also, at the noon briefing, I will be joined by John Ging the Operations Director for [the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs], who will have just returned from a visit to Turkey to discuss aid to Syria among other things.

[The Spokesman later clarified that Mr. Ging will not brief on Friday.  Instead, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos is expected to brief early next week.]

Questions?  Matthew?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Sure, I had other questions, but I’m going to ask you what I asked Mr. [Hervé] Ladsous.  I’d like to know:  what is the process for implementing the… this Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General’s stated human rights due diligence policy on the rapes in Minova and also with the police in South Sudan?  And how can the UN be soliciting drones for Mali without having obtained an approval from the Security Council?  I also wanted to ask you one follow-up on the UN Communications Group, I know you’d said that it’s internal… internal… totally internal.  I’ve now seen a summary of the meeting in which Gates Foundation, [inaudible], The New York Times, various non-UN parties were present.  So, how is that consistent with being internal?  Was that…?

Spokesman:  In reverse order, I see no inconsistency in terms of UN having an internal meeting and hearing from people on the outside.

Question:  Were they precluded from reporting on the meeting?

Spokesman:  They were guests.  They were… they were briefing, it was an internal meeting.  Just like any organization, we like to hear from people from the outside who are experts in the field that we practice.  On South Sudan, I’m told by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) that we’ve had no joint missions with the police in South Sudan for at least a few weeks, if not months since the start, in fact, of the latest incidents.  On MONUSCO (United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo], I will see what I can get for you.

Question:  And how is it acceptable for a [Under-Secretary-General] to refuse to answer these very questions about his own work?

Spokesman:  I think you know, you received an answer from Ms. [Ameerah] Haq.  Any other questions?  Excellent.  Have a great day.

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For information media • not an official record