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.
**Ebola
Dr. David Nabarro, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Ebola, and Anthony Banbury, Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, gave a press conference a few hours ago in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to mark the first 60 days of the Mission, known by its acronym, UNMEER. Anthony Banbury said that the worst-case scenario seemed to have been avoided. The UN had set some targets for 1 December of 70 per cent of burials being done safely and 70 per cent of new cases being placed in treatment facilities. Mr. Banbury said the target has been exceeded in all three countries on safe burials, while the second target on isolating patients had been reached in Liberia and Guinea, but only in some parts of Sierra Leone. He said the strategy implemented against Ebola seemed to work but that, going forward, zero new cases was the only criteria for success. He said the Mission would apply a district by district approach for the next 60 days to hunt down all cases.
Dr. Nabarro also said that we are starting to see results against Ebola but that the response must be constantly adapted to needs, as the intensity of transmission is still uneven. The situation can worsen unexpectedly, he warned. He said all of us must remain engaged and vigilant until the last case has been treated and beyond.
I also want to flag a press release issued today by our colleagues at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on their work in ensuring the payment of Ebola workers. In Sierra Leone, UNDP technical advisers already assisted the Government with two nationwide payments in November of more than 12,000 Ebola response workers; while in Guinea and Liberia, efforts are under way to check lists of workers and reinforce existing payment systems. The Head of UNDP, Helen Clark, stressed that the success in the response, down to the district level, depends on these women and men who are risking their lives every day to fight the disease and that paying them in a timely fashion was crucial. More on the issue is available on the UNDP website.
**Secretary-General’s Travels
The Secretary-General will leave for Cambridge, Massachusetts, tomorrow. While in Cambridge, he will be honoured by the Harvard Foundation with the 2014 Humanitarian of the Year award for his initiatives to address human rights, human trafficking, climate change and Ebola, among other global issues. During his visit, the Secretary-General is also expected to meet with the President of Harvard University, faculty members, as well as students.
**AIDS
Today, as you know, is 1 December, which is World AIDS Day. In his message, the Secretary-General called on world leaders to work together to end AIDS by 2030. He also highlighted the progress made so far in people’s access to HIV treatment, reduction in new HIV infections and prevention of infections among new-borns. Today, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) released a report on HIV in cities, outlining the important role that urban areas will play in ending the epidemic. Some 200 cities around the world account for more than a quarter of the 35 million people living with HIV. Also today, mayors from around the world came together in Paris to sign the 2014 Paris Declaration to end AIDS in their cities by 2030. They committed to putting their cities on the Fast-Track, an initiative which focuses on accelerating HIV prevention and treatment. Simon Bland, the Director of the New York Office of UNAIDS, will be my guest today and will be able to provide more information.
**Climate Change
On climate change, as you know, the UN Climate Change Conference, which aims to lay the foundation for an effective new, universal climate change agreement in Paris next year, kicked off today in Lima, Peru. The event also seeks to raise immediate ambition to act on climate change in advance of the agreement coming into effect in 2020.
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Convention, said that never before have the risks of climate change been so obvious and the impacts so visible. She added that never before have we seen such a desire at all levels of society to take climate action and that never before has society had all the smart policy and technology resources to curb greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience. All of this means, Ms. Figueres said, that we can be confident that we will have a productive meeting in Lima, which will lead to an effective outcome in Paris next year. More information is available online. As an additional note, on Friday, Spain announced its commitments to the Green Climate Fund, bringing the total pledged to nearly $9.75 billion.
**Syria
Speaking of money, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it has been forced to suspend a critical programme providing food vouchers to more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees living in neighbouring countries, due to a funding crisis. The World Food Programme says it requires $64 million immediately to support Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries just for the month of December. Under the programme, refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt have used vouchers to buy food in local shops. Without the vouchers, many families will go hungry. The Head of WFP said that a suspension of the agency’s food assistance will endanger the health and safety of the Syrian refugees and will potentially cause further tensions, instability and insecurity in the neighbouring host countries. So we do hope that funders do come forward.
**Iraq
From Iraq, the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMI) issued its casualty figures for last month. It said that at least 1,232 Iraqis were killed and another 2,434 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in November. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said that nearly 12,000 people have been killed and nearly 22,000 wounded since the beginning of 2014. He once more encouraged Iraqi political, religious and social leaders to act decisively to rise above their differences in order to resolve the pending political, social and economic problems in order to restore confidence among Iraq’s communities. In making its calculations, the UN Mission reiterated that it has been hindered in effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas. The figures it reports have to be considered as the absolute minimum number of casualties in Iraq.
**Hunger
Today, 13 countries won recognition from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for outstanding progress in fighting hunger, an achievement which includes reaching international targets ahead of the end-of-2015 deadline. Brazil, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Iran, Kiribati, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Philippines and Uruguay are the latest in a growing list of countries to make great strides in combating undernourishment. This includes the early achievement of the Millennium Development Goal 1 hunger target, to halve the proportion of hungry people by 2015, or the more stringent 1996 World Food Summit (WFS) target of halving the absolute number of hungry people by 2015. To date, 63 developing countries have reached the MDG target. Six more are on track to reach it by 2015. More information is available from the FAO.
**South Sudan
A couple of answers to questions we have been asked over the weekend. On South Sudan and rumours as reported in South Sudanese and other regional media alleging that the United Nations has a plan to place the Republic of South Sudan under a "protectorate": I can tell you that these reports are completely false and not true. The Secretary-General wishes to make it categorically clear that neither he nor the UN Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, is aware of any plans or discussions within the United Nations to take such course of action. The UN has supported the cause of self-determination for South Sudan from the time of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement through to the 2011 referendum and independence. None of this would have been possible without the help of the United Nations.
**Peace Operations Panel
Also, we have been asked a number of times and received questions concerning the composition of the Secretary-General’s High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, that we announced on the last day of October, and the expressions of concern regarding the lack of sufficient gender representation within the Panel’s membership. The Secretary-General has listened to these concerns and has appointed three additional women to the Panel: Dr. Marie-Louise Baricako from Burundi, Dr. Rima Salah from Jordan and Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy from Sri Lanka, who will be joining the Panel as a full member to ensure synergy with the Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), as called for by the Panel’s Terms of Reference. In addition, Ameerah Haq, the current Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support and an original member of the Panel, will serve as Vice-Chair following her retirement from the UN on 1 February 2015.
The Secretary-General is confident that the addition of three eminent women and the role Ms. Haq will play as Vice-Chair will not only bring gender balance to the Panel, but also enrich its work, particularly on issues relating to women, peace and security.
**Appointment
Finally, an appointment to announce: The Secretary-General is announcing the appointment of Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Special Coordinator for Lebanon. She will succeed Derek Plumbly of the United Kingdom. The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Plumbly’s service to the United Nations. Since January 2012, he has led the work of the UN in Lebanon with outstanding diplomatic experience and skill during a critical time for the country and the region. Ms. Kaag is a Special Adviser to the Secretary-General and, as you will recall, previously served as the Special Coordinator of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Mission to eliminate the chemical weapons programme from Syria. She brings with her a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs alongside her diplomatic service, including in the Middle East. We welcome Ms. Kaag. A full bio is available in my office.
**Press Conferences
Press conference tomorrow: the President of the Security Council for the month of December, the Permanent Representative of Chad, Mahamat Zene Cherif of Chad, will be here to brief you on the Council’s programme of work for the month of December. Sylviane?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. When do you expect Ms. Kaag will be going to Lebanon, when she starts her work there?
Spokesman: That is a good question. And I assume she will start shortly, but I'll get you an exact date.
Question: What is the next assignment of Mr. Plumbly?
Spokesman: I do not have any information concerning what is next for Mr. Plumbly.
Correspondent: Thank you.
Spokesman: Mr. Lee?
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask you about the allegations of rape in Thabit in Darfur. One, whether now after all these many days, if UNAMID [African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur] has made any progress in re-examining or investigating the case; and also what the response is to the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, saying he wants a clear plan for UNAMID to leave the country.
Question: I have nothing new on Thabit. As far as I know, rather, the UN, joint UN-African Union Mission, is still trying to get the necessary permission. That has not come about, as far as I've been told. On the comments made by the President and others in Sudan recently — you know, the answer from our end is that, for quite some time now, we have been working on a strategic review, as requested by the Security Council in resolution 2173 (2014), and that includes… the resolution calls for the UN also to talk to… outline an exit strategy, and that will be presented to the Council in February. And the Council will then have to make its decision.
Question: With all the time that has now gone by, these rapes allegedly occurred in late October, is there some, does the UN recognize… at what point do you recognize that the initial, you know, kind of clearing of the Government and then re-request becomes it's not going to be credible, no matter what you do? What is the plan to come to some UN conclusions on the allegation of 200 rapes?
Spokesman: I think what we have to do is we have to get in there and conduct a credible… have credible discussions and interview the people in the camp to come to some conclusion. Yes, sir?
Question: Thank you. What is the Secretary-General's reaction on the [Hosni] Mubarak trial in Egypt and does he think that justice is served by this decision, Court decision?
Spokesman: I think we have obviously taken note of the decision by the Egyptian High Court to drop the criminal charges against Mubarak. And I think, while respecting the independence of their judiciary, the Secretary-General notes the sensitivity of this particular case to the Egyptian society. And the UN… and also to keep and to underscore the issue of the importance of the issue of accountability. And we will continue to monitor these developments very closely. Yes, ma'am?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. I wanted to ask about Afghanistan. This past Saturday, it has been reported that Taliban forces attacked Afghani forces and several people were killed in this tragic incident. And they specifically targeted a guest house where residents were from Christian organization; and they say that over this incident the Chief of the Police, General Zahir Zahir, asked for resignation. Do we have any further information on this? And what is UN doing to further contain the forces of Taliban and to prevent such things from happening in the future?
Spokesman: No. I don't have any information on the resignation in the police force. Obviously, the UN presence is there to work with the Government, to support the Government, to address the longer-term development issues and security issues that we see. But the role of security in Afghanistan is not the role of the United Nations. You have the international forces that are there and obviously the primary responsibility lies with the Afghan Government. Abdelhamid?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. I'm sorry I arrived late, so if I ask about something you already mentioned, I apologize for that. First about Egypt, on Friday, five civilians were killed during peaceful demonstrations and the demonstrators were raising the Koran and not any other weapons, so was there any statement?
Spokesman: I'm sorry, they were raising…?
Question: Five Egyptian civilians were killed on Friday. And they were raising the copies of the Koran, so is there anything?
Spokesman: I think, as we have said in different settings, it is very important that people have the right to demonstrate peacefully and that the security forces in any setting respect that right and protect the demonstrators who are demonstrating peacefully.
Correspondent: And now my other question. I hope you tolerate my question. I want to go back to…
Spokesman: If it's a question I always tolerate it. If it's a statement, it's a different issue.
Question: No, it's a question. On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the activities on that day were not announced on Friday, 21 [November]; not on Monday. When I asked you about Monday, you said we will talk about it post facto, after it is done. On Tuesday, you quoted the Secretary-General in his statement at the General Assembly, but two major activities happened that day, especially the photo exhibit, which was opened by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] and many people around… and many dignitaries under the title of “A Long Journey”, which is still on display and the concert in the evening. So, these activities had gone by without being announced, neither Friday nor the same day nor the post facto, so is there any explanation?
Spokesman: I think, you know, we receive information from the relevant departments or units in the Organization who ask us to make announcements. What we focus on is obviously the Secretary-General's activities. If we did not receive specific information about the concert or other activities, we should have. If we received it and we failed to announce it, then it's our mistake. But, there is a lot of things going on in the UN all the time. We try to flag as many things as possible.
Correspondent: And the [Secretary-General] spoke at the photo exhibit. He was there and he opened the exhibit.
Spokesman: No, I hear you. I mean, if you feel we didn't announce enough events, I apologize and we will try to do better next time. Yes, sir?
Question: On the same issue, Dr. Rima Khalaf issued a statement apologizing from the Palestinian people. Was she representing the Secretary-General in that statement? Thank you.
Spokesman: I haven't seen her statement, but I will take a look at it. Linda?
Question: Thanks, Stéphane. I have a question regarding ISIS or ISIL [Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham/Levant], as it's also called. Do you have any information on the latest developments regarding ISIS in Iraq and Syria, also including the conflict with the Kurds?
Spokesman: No. I think I would encourage you to look at the latest UNAMI report on casualties, which has some information about it. Otherwise, I'll see what else I can get in terms of an update for what is going on in that sense.
Question: Just following up on that, is there any further information about the UN's humanitarian role, in terms of helping people fighting the process?
Spokesman: There will be, as I understand it, the launch of an appeal for 2015; that will happen, I believe, within a week, humanitarian appeal for the region, which will give us a lot of updated figures in terms of what is happening on the ground and the kind of funds that are needed. Yes, sir?
Question: On the elections of Bahrain, have there been any observers there to monitor the turnout?
Spokesman: Not from the UN end.
Question: Do you have any comment regarding the results?
Spokesman: Not more than what I've already said. Yes, sir?
Question: I asked several times a question about the Japanese correspondent in Seoul, who was indicted by defamation court; and his law case started last Thursday, and after debating in the Court and when his car was trying to leave the Court, his car was attacked by, you know, some eggs and even one man came into his car and he lied down on the car like that. And the police just saw him doing that and was not stopping him. What is the Secretary-General's comments on this, that that is happening in his country?
Spokesman: I haven't seen… I have not seen those reports that you are talking about. I really have nothing to add to what I've already said in the case and the need to respect the freedom of the press. And Mr. Lee? And we have a question in the back and then we will go to the guest.
Question: I wanted to ask you, I'm sure you have some coverage with Valerie Amos stepping down and the position of the Under-Secretary-General for [the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] becoming open, in the [United Kingdom] a number of publications have said that Mr. Andrew Lansley has been nominated by Prime Minister David Cameron to Ban Ki-moon in Brisbane, and that the Defence Secretary-General asked for two other [United Kingdom] names. I just wanted you to sort of… is this, in fact, open to all regions? Will it be published in a newspaper like The Economist? What is the status of it?
Spokesman: We will be sending out a call to all Member States to put forward qualified candidates.
Question: You will?
Spokesman: Yeah.
Question: And is it… can you confirm or deny that the [United Kingdom] Prime Minister nominated Mr. Lansley to Ban Ki-moon?
Spokesman: No. I'm not going to get into what or may or may not have been private diplomatic conversations. Yes, sir?
Question: Thanks. I understand that UNHCR [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] is going to be holding an urgent resettlement meeting in Geneva, I think next week. I was wondering if you had any update about Syrian refugees, and wondering if you had any information about that?
Spokesman: I do not; but we can put you in touch with UNHCR office here. Alright. I'll go get our guests, who are hopefully behind.