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.

Afghanistan

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today welcomed the inauguration of Dr. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani as the new President of Afghanistan and reaffirmed its commitment to cooperate with the government of national unity.

The mission also welcomed pledges made by President Ghani and the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, to work together to serve all Afghans through the national unity government and looks forward to the speedy formation of a new government.

More information is available on UNAMA’s website.

Secretary-General Travel

The Secretary-General tomorrow will be travelling to Geneva, where he will have a programme on Wednesday and Thursday.

On his arrival, he will attend a public forum entitled “Why Trade Matters to Everyone” at the Headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO).  The forum is an annual event organized by WTO which attracts over 700 participants — delegates, media, academics, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.

The Secretary-General will then address a special session of the Executive Committee of the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR — and that Executive Committee meets once a year.

Later he will visit the Strategic Health Operations Centre (SHOC) at the Headquarters of the World Health Organization and he will be briefed by the Ebola outbreak response operations team.

On Thursday, the Secretary-General will visit the Economic Commission for Europe and swear in its new Executive Secretary, Christian Friis Bach.

And later, he will also visit the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, before making his way back to New York.

Ebola

On Ebola, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, known as UNMEER, is continuing to deploy in West Africa.

The Head of UNMEER, Anthony Banbury, landed in Accra, Ghana, just a few hours ago for the official opening of the Headquarters of the Mission, which as you know will be based in Accra.

Over the week, he will travel on to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to open all three regional offices for the Mission.

Libya

And from Libya, the political dialogue in Libya, facilitated by the UN, opened today in the town of Ghedames. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Bernardino Leon, said that it was a historic day for Libya as the parties have shown commitment to engage in a political process to overcome their differences peacefully and through dialogue.

Yesterday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General continued his efforts to pave the way for the talks.  He travelled to Tobruk for a meeting with the first Deputy Parliament President, as well as to Tripoli for discussions with some of the parliamentarians who had boycotted the parliament sessions in Tobruk.

Ukraine

Regarding Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that nearly 300,000 people have been displaced in Ukraine, with more than 5 million people living in conflict-affected areas.

Humanitarian needs in areas under the control of armed groups are reportedly significant, with local organizations and Red Cross teams having nearly exhausted their supplies and with only limited amounts of aid having been delivered due to insecurity.

Items such as winter clothing, shoes, medicine, and food are also in short supply.

Some areas in the east have only limited or no access to drinking water and diesel generators are needed to power water pumps and treatment units.

Also, I had been asked about the next report on Ukraine by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and that report is scheduled to be released in Geneva early Friday morning and it will cover the period from 18 August to 16 September.

UNHCR

Also from Geneva, the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned today the international community about the risks of overlooking humanitarian crises in Africa.

Speaking at the opening session of the a high-level meeting on refugees in Africa at the start of the annual session of UNHCR’s Executive Committee, António Guterres called for a renewed commitment to preventing conflict and ending protracted displacement in the continent.

He says that there are more than 3 million refugees, 12.5 million internally displaced and some 700,000 stateless people in Africa.  Mr. Guterres added that a spate of new conflicts in the Central African Republic, northern Nigeria, Libya and South Sudan had displaced more than 2.5 million people during the first six months of 2014 alone.

UNEP

Lastly, mangroves are being destroyed three to five times faster than the average rate of forest loss, resulting in emissions which cost billions of dollars annually.

This is according to a new report launched today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Mangroves are also threatened by climate change, which could result in a further loss of 10 to 15 per cent of mangroves by the year 2100.  More information on UNEP’s website.  Yes, sir, Erol.

Questions and Answers

Question:  Thank you, Stéphane.  Just for clarification, what is the mandate of any commission and in particular the commission for the United Nations Commission for Europe?  Is it two or four years?  And what is the regular practice for Secretary-General to swear in the Commissioner?

Spokesman:  Yes, the Secretary-General swears in all of his senior officials.  Sometimes it is done in New York; sometimes it is done for other reasons at the location where that senior official is stationed.  As for the term of the new Executive Secretary, I can look into it.  It must have been specified when we announced it a few weeks ago, but I can check for you.

Question:  Another one?

Spokesman:  You may.

Question:  On Myanmar, did I understood well the Secretary-General meeting with the partnership, with the Myanmar friends and partnership group that was held over the weekend in New York before the weekend, that he asked the Myanmar authorities for full inclusion of Rohingya Muslims there in their citizenship process or so?

Spokesman:  I would refer you back to what he actually said.  We can go over it together if you still have any questions.  Yes, Matthew?

Question:  I wanted to ask you something about that.  It’s been reported that the Government of Myanmar is building camps for those Rohingya who don’t accept reclassification as Bengalis.  The camps are under construction and the proposed offer to Rohingyas has been reported on.  So given that seems to be happening, what is the response of Mr. Nambiar or the Secretary-General?

Spokesman:  Let me look at those reports and get back to you.

Question:  I had a couple DKPO questions.  But this one is kinda more fundamental.  I wanted to know what the position of UN is on an Under-Secretary-General basically blocking a camera that’s filming from an entirely legal stakeout position which seems to be within the definition of kinda censorship.  Why didn’t Mr. Ladsous in fact hold the stakeout on Mali on Saturday?

Spokesman:  I can look into it.  I think there was a couple of scheduling issues.  I can look into it.

Question:  On tape he came up and put a file folder in front of a camera to stop it from filming.

Spokesman:  I’ll look into it.  I’m not aware of the incident.  Yes, Mr. Carpenter?

Question:  Hi.  Over the weekend, the Spokesperson’s Office sent out a note saying that the letter from DPRK was only a thank you note and did not reference anything regarding an invitation to visit — for the Secretary-General to visit DPRK.  My question is:  Was there anything, even something that was not specifically stated, but it was hinted at that?  What I’m trying to say is:  There was no specific invitation in the letter, but something, some reference that a possibility that hinted that?

Spokesman:  No.  I think it was reported in some media, it was speculated in some media because the letter was handed over, that there was a letter of invitation.  It was not a letter of invitation.  It was just a thank you letter for a thank you letter if I can say that.  Yes, sir.

Question:  I’m working for [inaudible] Media Group, which has one of the leading newspapers in South Korea has told the public many times that he has strong willingness to visit North Korea to play his own role as the Secretary-General for the peace and reunification of Korean peninsula.  I’m wondering if he still has the strong willingness?  Some people begin to doubt if his words are just diplomatic rhetoric.

Spokesman:  No.  I think his position is unchanged. Yes, Matthew?

Question:  Maybe you’ll have the answer or can get one — on Mali.  Because this is what I wanted to ask.  And I do think the Under-Secretary-General spoke to some media to the side of the stakeout or something because I saw reports quoting him.  But there was no stakeout.  So my question is as follows:  The Chadian defence ministry has complained — I understand there have been these incidents where their peacekeepers have been killed, but they’ve said since their deployment, Chadian forces have remained stationed in the north without being relieved.  The Government cannot accept the Chadian contingent to serve as a shield for other contingents positioned further back.  It seems like a pretty serious question being raised about the fairness of the deployment.  I want to know what the response of DPKO is that they are being used, I don’t want to say as cannon fodder, but left in the front?

Spokesman:  Yes, I think this was a statement made before the General Assembly, if I’m not mistaken.  My understanding is that the Mission has taken some steps to help with the rotation of the Chadian soldiers who have suffered heavy losses.  I mean, we’ve seen the numbers of peacekeepers that have been killed.  And it’s something we have condemned and we’ve repeatedly sent our condolences to the families of the peacekeepers, as well as to the Chadian Government.

Question:  If I could, I wanted to ask about Uganda is also complaining that they had three military helicopters that were going to be deployed to AMISOM in Somalia, where the UN pays for that mission or has an UNSOA support mission.  So these helicopters crashed in 2012 and they have been seeking reimbursement since.  In the last few days, a story has come out in Uganda saying the UN is refusing to pay for the helicopters, saying that no harm that happens on the way to a deployment is reimbursable.  Is that the policy?

Spokesman:  I don’t know.  We can look into it, what the arrangements are and what the insurance arrangements are.

Question:  One more?

Spokesman:  Why not.

Question:  On Saturday the photo op or meeting that was done between the Secretary-General and Hadi Al-Bahra and other members of the Syrian opposition coalition.  First it was listed as a photo op so I was ready to go.  Then they said only UN Photo.  I wanted to ask both why independent media wasn’t allowed to go? And given that was the case, can you list the other people that attended besides Mr. Al-Bahra?

Spokesman:  I think you would have to ask that delegation to see who they brought up.  The usual practice during the General Assembly, if it is not a representative of a Member State of the UN, it’s only a photo op with official UN photographer — and a readout was processed.

Question:  Did the Secretary-General meet with any, I guess rebel would be the right word, opposition, non-governmental opposition group in any other country during this general debate other than the Syrian opposition coalition?  There are many rebels all over the world.

Spokesman:  I’m fully aware of that.  Not that I’m aware.  But he does meet sometimes with representatives of non-State Members.  He met with the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, though I’m in no way inferring any comparison between the two, but just to show you that he sometimes does meet with people who represent — who are not Member States.

Question:  On what pass do they enter the UN, the Syrian coalition?

Spokesman:  I don’t know.

Question:  As the UN.

Spokesman:  I don’t know.  If we can find out, we can find out.  Yes, sir.  If it’s red, it’s go.  There you go.

Question:  A letter from Ambassador [Vitaly] Churkin was published today by DPI [Department of Public Information].

Spokesman:  By sorry?

Question:  The letter to the Security Council was published today.  It is about recommendations for the investigation of the Malaysian aircraft catastrophe.  What is the position of the Secretary-General?  Can these recommendations be useful and helpful?

Spokesman:  Let me take a look at the letter and we’ll get back to you.  Thank you all.

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For information media • not an official record