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. Let me start off with some elements on Yemen.
**Yemen
Stephen O’Brien, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, said today in a statement that we are issuing right now — and I quote, “I am even more deeply concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen. Millions of women, children and men are facing terrifying violence, extreme hunger and little medical assistance as the fighting, shelling and bombing by all parties show no sign of abating.”
Mr. O’Brien said that it is extremely disappointing that the humanitarian pause did not take hold over the weekend. He called again on all parties to the conflict to agree an immediate and unconditional humanitarian pause across the country.
Mr. O’Brien urges the parties to abide by their obligations under international law to protect civilians and facilitate rapid, safe and predictable access for humanitarian organizations to reach all people who need assistance, wherever they are in Yemen.
Despite the continued fighting, the UN’s humanitarian colleagues and their partners on the ground have been able to distribute some vital aid for the families in desperate need. However, it is not nearly enough and we need access and funds to rapidly scale up critical humanitarian supplies and services, said the Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Mr. O’Brien ended his statement by saying, “A political solution to this conflict is what the people of Yemen need and I hope that the international community will do all it can for the Yemeni families who are counting on this.”
As you know, the hostilities in Aden have escalated dramatically recently. The humanitarian situation in that city is of great concern, with the water supply in the Khormaksar neighbourhood badly damaged and hospitals across the city receiving casualties. Many houses have also been damaged and residents need emergency shelter. The World Food Programme (WFP) has been able to enter the city with food for over 100,000 displaced people, but is struggling to reach people in need due to insecurity.
A statement issued today by the humanitarian community in Yemen, including the UN, says that Yemenis continue to suffer immensely as violence escalates unabated. This week has seen some of the deadliest days recorded since the conflict escalated in March. Although more than 4.4 million people have received humanitarian aid since March, 21 million people require humanitarian assistance — a staggering 80 per cent of the Yemeni population. To scale up, the humanitarian community urgently requires funding. Yemen’s humanitarian appeal has received only 15 per cent of the requested $1.6 billion — and that’s the money we just need only until the end of 2015.
And the statement from Mr. O’Brien and the humanitarian community in Yemen are both available in my office — they have been e-mailed, tweeted and otherwise posted.
**Secretary-General’s Travels
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General is on his way back to New York from Addis Ababa, where he had attended the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.
Before his departure, he told reporters that the Conference has the potential to shape the international cooperation for years to come. He emphasized that a successful outcome is crucial for building trust and momentum towards the adoption of an ambitious post-2015 development agenda in New York in September and a universal agreement on climate change in Paris in December of this year.
The Secretary-General said that Member States are in the final stages of their negotiations, with an agreement in sight. He said that he was encouraged by the strong momentum and ownership among all partners.
He urged the negotiators to keep in mind, as they finish their work, the goal of a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development that should leave no one behind.
A full transcript, including Q&A, has been emailed and shared with you.
**Libya
And meanwhile back here, as you know, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya and head of the UN mission in that country, Bernardino León, briefed the Security Council on the situation in Libya this morning.
Stressing that Libya is now at a critical stage, Mr. León urged all parties in Libya to continue to engage constructively in the dialogue process. He added that spoilers should be held accountable, as they bear the responsibility of hindering the political agreement.
On 11 July, in Morocco, a number of Libyan parties initialled a political agreement — bringing the country one step closer to ending the conflict and paving the way for further talks. A peaceful transition will only succeed in Libya through a significant and coordinated effort in supporting a future Government of National Accord, said Mr. León. He added that sufficient security in Tripoli and throughout the country must be achieved to ensure that key functions of the public administration can resume.
And Mr. León is expected to go to the stakeout. I’m keeping an eye on it and my office
**Afghanistan
And last night, we issued a statement on Afghanistan, in which the Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms the recent attacks in the country that killed and injured more than 100 civilians, including women and children.
The Secretary-General expressed his solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and called for the persons responsible for these attacks to be brought to justice.
**Ukraine
And the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that according to the Government of Ukraine and the UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR), the number of people fleeing their homes continue to rise, with close to 1.4 million people now internally displaced, and some 922,000 people, that’s almost a million, having fled to neighbouring countries.
Aid organizations have been concerned about the freedom of movement for civilians in the past two weeks in eastern Ukraine. Long lines of people are reported at checkpoints for crossing to non-government controlled areas.
According to humanitarian partners, people are lining for up to 48 hours at these checkpoints. Our humanitarian partners are also concerned about the potential impact of regulations put in place last month by the authorities which prevent commercial flows of food and medicine to non-government controlled areas.
**Youth Skills
And today marks the first-ever commemoration of World Youth Skills Day. In his message for the day, the Secretary-General called for investing politically and financially in developing the skills of young people so they can help build a more just and sustainable future for all.
He stressed that while overall more young people have greater educational opportunities than in the past, there are still some 75 million adolescents who are out of school, denied the quality education they deserve and unable to acquire the skills they need.
**Questions and Answers
Khalas. Yes, sir? Microphone, Masood.
Question: In view of this recent appeal by the humanitarian agencies for Yemen, it looks like that Saudi Arabia has not come up with the $100 million that it promised — that it first gave in April. Now this is July. And the agencies still need money.
Spokesman: I'm aware of the situation. The discussions between the Saudi authorities, the King Salman Foundation, and the relevant UN agencies are ongoing, and we do hope that a Memorandum of Understanding with the different agencies can be signed soon. But, obviously, it's an important… it's a very important part of the money, but I think, as I've just said, there is a yawning gap in the funding for our humanitarian operations in Yemen.
Question: A yawning gap, obviously, is because some of the monies promised have not come in.
Spokesman: Well, obviously, we wish the money was… the cash was already in hand, but even when that money is in hand, there will continue to be a huge need of… to fund the humanitarian appeal.
Nizar, then Matthew, then Evelyn?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. You mentioned the destruction to Khormaksar in Aden. In the past 24 hours or 48 hours, there have been intensive bombardment to the area… aerial bombardment. To what extent did that aerial bombardment contribute to the severing of the water supplies from the area?
Also, there were reports that some United Arab Emirates (UAE) intelligence officers were seized by the Yemeni army. Many of the vehicles which landed in Aden turned out to be United Arab Emirates, and they were brandishing al‑Qaida flags, of all. How…
Spokesman: I haven't seen those reports regarding al‑Qaida. I think as we've said in the past and even if, you know, you look at the statement that Mr. León made on Libya, any countries that suffers from the kind of violence strife that we're seeing creates the conditions that are ripe for extremist groups to grow. This, I think, should only underscore the urgent need for a political solution to what is going on in Yemen.
As to why the… what exactly… what type of ordnance was responsible for the water… destruction of the water facilities, I'm not able to say from this podium. But it's clear that the fighting, the shelling, the aerial bombardment that we have seen, that we continue to see, is causing great, great damage to the infrastructure in Yemen and obviously to the people of Yemen.
Evelyn, then Matthew?
Question: Thank you. Do you know what the state is of the ships carrying humanitarian aid? Are they able to unload or are they still being inspected?
[cross talk]
Spokesman: We're able to get some humanitarian aid in, as we have been throughout the conflict, but it is a drop in the bucket in terms of what we need and nearly not what we had expected to be able to bring in had the humanitarian pause taken effect.
Question: But are the ships still being inspected who carry aid? Are they being held up or…
Spokesman: The exact policy of monitoring of the ships, I will check. I know this was an issue that we had discussed with the coalition in order to facilitate the process.
Mr. Lee?
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask you, on Burundi, President [Yoweri] Museveni has left the country, has… his proposal was not accepted. He's left his defence minister there. Is the UN… one, did the UN stand behind those proposals? Did they have any idea what proposals he was going to make? Are they now working with the defence minister? It's okay. I have another one on this, but it's up to you.
Spokesman: As I said, the UN supported the mediation process put forward by the East Africa Community, which is being led by Museveni. I don't have any more details from what is actually…
[cross talk]
Question: How did the UN support it?
Spokesman: We're supporting… we're supportive of the facilitation effort.
Question: Okay. There are also reports there that the authorities are declining to give death certificates to people killed by either police or militia. And I wanted to know… you'd said that the human rights mechanism of the UN that's there is there… is recording and routinely reports. So where are the reports?
Spokesman: I will check when they're next scheduled to report.
Question: Thank you.
Spokesman: Abdel Hamid. Then we'll let Linda slide in.
Question: Stéphane, Khader Adnan, the Palestinian who was on hunger strike for 54 days, and the Secretary‑General issued a statement expressing his concern about his health condition. He was released after 54 days, but two days after his release, he was rearrested, probably for the tenth time now. Why such thing, which is very important, it's a breach of agreement, doesn't show on the radar of the Secretary‑General again?
Spokesman: Well, we had been following his case. I think our human rights colleagues in Geneva had welcomed his release from administrative detention. Let me look into the latest development.
Question: He was rearrested.
Spokesman: Yeah. I will look into the latest developments.
Question: Thank you.
Spokesman: Ms. Fasulo?
Question: Thank you, Steph. This is regarding Ukraine. We know that the UN recently called for the pause in Yemen to get food in, food and medicine. You mentioned that there's now UN concern about food and medicine going over the border into the eastern part of Ukraine. I was wondering, first, what is the UN's role? Are those UN trucks or efforts to get the humanitarian aid across the border? And do you think… is there any pressure building to have a new pause there, as well?
Spokesman: Well, on Ukraine, our position has been that the parties should abide and fulfil the commitments made to the Minsk package on the political side. Some of our UN humanitarian agencies, UNHCR, UNICEF and others, I believe, are operating directly on the ground. A lot of the work is being done through partners. Let me, after the briefing, get you a little bit more detail about exactly who is where. What is clear, what the underlying principle is, is that humanitarian aid needs to be able to flow through front lines, through borders, obviously under… you know, under existing regulations, but it needs to be able to flow to the people that need it, and that is not currently the case.
Yes, sir?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. After the first round of talks between Afghan officials and Taliban, doubts were expressed whether the Taliban delegates actually represented the leadership of Taliban. Today you have seen… probably have seen Mullah Omar's statement declaring his support to these talks. Does the Secretary‑General feel that these talks now have the potential to end the war?
Spokesman: Well, you know, I think it is… obviously, we've seen the press quotes. It's obviously a positive development that there would be public support from the head of the Taliban. I think there's a lot… obviously, a lot of work to be done ahead, but any dialogue, I think, that is in the framework that we've seen it is clearly positive.
Question: [inaudible]
Spokesman: But I'm not… you know, I'm not going to… I'm not going to try to predict if these particular talks have the potential to end the war. I think, as we've seen, even the last two days, you know, or three days, more than 100 civilians have been killed through violent action. So I think that underscores the urgent need to end this war and to bring the warring parties along the… to bring the warring parties around the table. Some of these talks are going on, and the UN fully, fully supports them.
Question: Yes. Thank you, Stéphane. I have two questions. First about Libya; as you know, the agreement was not approved by the Tripoli and the opposition in Libya. How… how the UN make this work? Especially they are the main party in the long civil war over there. I mean, is there any plan by the UN to change the current nature of the agree… the Libyan agreement?
Spokesman: No, I think… I would refer you back to what Mr. León just said publicly in the Security Council a short while ago. He noted that the GNC (General National Congress) had not initialled the agreement. He said the door was very much left open to it. He's very pleased that so many others have initialled the agreement, which is an important milestone, and obviously it is a Libyan‑drafted document, and we hope that all the parties that have not signed in will come into it. But he will continue his contacts.
Question: But will the agreement… is the door open also to change the terms of the…
Spokesman: I… if you look at Mr. León's statement, that is not the plan. But he will be at the stakeout shortly. I'm sure he can answer your questions in greater detail.
Question: My second question is about Turkey, and yesterday you said you were going to look into it, which is PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), the Kurdish armed group in Turkey, ended a three‑year ceasefire, and they started… already, there are reports of some military activity in Turkey.
Spokesman: No, I wish I had some language on that for you. But as soon as I have, I will share it with you.
Stefano?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. I have two questions. And one is about Greece, and today the United Nation Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, he warns against new austerity measures for Greece. And this comes just after the IMF (International Monetary Fund) say publicly he's not going to participate unless the… that Greece debt is cut. So does the Secretary‑General have a statement or opinion on this discussion that's going on if… and what things about the agreement that was…
Spokesman: You know, I'm not going to interject… we're not going to interject ourselves into discussions that are going on. I think the… unless I'm wrong, I think the IMF reports that we all saw today in the press were part of leaked reports or anonymous quotes. I think what is important, as we've said here on behalf of the Secretary‑General, that he hopes that the agreement that was reached will help Greece… help them undertake the important and complex task of rebuilding its economy following the agreement. But I think the underlying principles for the Secretary‑General are also those of social justice and ensuring that no one is left behind as that rebuilding goes on.
Question: And the second question was about the agreement announced yesterday on the nuclear… on Iran and the nuclear initiative. We read a statement by the Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor that he… well, he say that the position of Israel is that the world is going to pay a price for this decision. Now, we know the Secretary‑General… the way he reacted to the agreement, but does he has an answer to that? I mean, what he thinks about this, at least, some Israel and maybe important politician here in this country believe that this is a really dangerous…
Spokesman: Well, people are obviously reacting in the way they feel to the agreement. Different Member States have different reactions. I'm not going to get into the political process here in this country, if you don't mind. The Secretary‑General is very supportive of the accord. I think he hopes it's… will help… it will help move the process forward, in the region and elsewhere. I think it clearly lays out Iran's responsibilities vis‑à‑vis the international community vis‑à‑vis the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). He very much welcomes the accord and, I think, again, congratulates all those who participated in its elaboration.
Yes?
Question: Does the Secretary‑General has plan to assist to the developing of Cuba and United States embassy in Havana or in Washington? Thank you.
Spokesman: Not directly. I think the Secretary‑General had very much welcomed the initial announcement a few months ago of the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States. I think every step that we see is a step in the right direction in terms of bringing the two nations closer, of enlarging the dialogue, and the United Nations stands ready in any way it can to assist the process.
Yes, behind you.
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. There are some reports United States has circulated a resolution… draft resolution and regarding Iran agreement. Do you have any comment on that?
Spokesman: No.
Question: Or do you confirm that?
Spokesman: I cannot confirm. That's something you should address to the Security Council presidency or to some of the countries that may be the sponsors of this resolution. It doesn't come through us. But we're very much aware that the next step comes through New York and comes through the Security Council in New York.
Yeah?
Question: Do you have any estimate when is it going to be?
Spokesman: No. Again, I think you should talk to the Council members. I think the text that we'd seen of the agreement is that this will be done quickly.
Round two. Masood?
Question: Thank you, sir. One, on this continued incarceration of, like, over 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, now, in the past Secretary‑General had a record of that as to the talks and everything else. Is there any… any talks going on? Because there are children and women are involved in that.
Spokesman: The Secretary‑General and his representatives have repeatedly and continued to call for the release of people who are under administrative detention to be either released or to go through a judicial process. And that continues to be the message delivered.
Evelyn, then Abdel Hamid?
Question: Thank you, Steph. You know, practically every day, a humanitarian appeal is short some funds or another, and within OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), which is supposed to coordinate, people have specific agencies they want to give it to. Has anyone thought about restructuring this so it's not all in silos? One will never equal a humanitarian appeal, the way it's set up across so many countries.
Spokesman: Well, I think… you know, donors have different ways to fund. They can give to a general fund. As we saw during the Ebola outbreak, there were ways for donors to give to specific agencies. And there were ways for donors to give to the Secretary‑General's Trust Fund, in which he could allocate. It's not for us to dictate how the donors work. We provide them various options on how they can give the money. What is clear is that, at this moment in time, we are seeing a record need of monies for humanitarian appeals, from places like the Sahel that we don't talk about enough, to Yemen, to Syria, to Central African Republic. The need is astounding, and it's at historical highs. So we very much appreciate the monies that we are given, but we clearly need more to fulfil our humanitarian operations.
Question: Has anyone thought of restructuring these type of appeals? You'll never get the money, the way it's done in silos.
[cross talk]
Spokesman: Well, I think part of the… part of what was restructured a few years back, if you remember, was the creation of the Central Emergency [Response] Fund, which has already done a great help in giving the Secretariat the authority to release monies very quickly and to address… to address breaking crises. So, obviously, we're looking at more flexible operations, but our donors have many options, and we hope they give often and generously.
Mr. León will be at the stakeout very soon.
Abdel Hamid?
Question: Yeah. I have two short questions. First, is the Security Council expected to issue a statement welcoming the agreement between 5+1 and Iran?
Spokesman: I think you have… let's… we're getting ahead of ourselves. My understanding, and I understand probably slightly less than you do, is that a resolution will be forthcoming. Let's read the draft and see what it calls for.
Question: Thank you. But my other question, Stéphane, the Secretary‑General issued a statement on 2 July, condemning the shooting of four Israeli soldiers in the south of Nablus, which is an occupied territory. I think this is a precedent, because, normally, the Secretary‑General never issued a statement condemning shooting at soldiers who are protecting occupation. I think it's a precedent, the first time in the…
Spokesman: I'm not… I hear…
Question: Could you verify that?
Spokesman: I hear your statement. I'm not sure it's a precedent. But we can look into it.
Question: Yeah. I want to know if that is a precedent or not. I think it is.
Spokesman: Okay.
Question: I went through it. I didn't find any other statement equivalent to this kind of statement. Thank you.
Spokesman: Okay. Linda?
Question: Thank you. Following up on Evelyn's question about appeals, mine is a general question. Does the UN put pressure on countries that are not poor? Like, for example, Iraq. Is there pressure put directly on Iraq to attempt to provide the funds for their own citizens and residents, rather than going broadly to the…
Spokesman: No, of course… I mean, we very much hope that those countries in which the crises are taking place also give, and they very often do, and they give critically, in the sense that it's the national humanitarian workers that are doing the brunt of the work, that are on the front lines. We see it in Syria with the amazing work done by the Syrian [Arab] Red Crescent Society. So in a sense, that is their… the contribution. Whether enough… those countries, whether it's Iraq and others have the means and the cash to do so is another question. But we do… we do want… we often work closely with the national authorities, and they do contribute.
Mr. Lee, then Nizar, and we'll end with Nizar.
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask on South Sudan, first, if you have any report from the mission there about violence on the Independence Day? Supposedly, the armed… right around Juba, in fact, quite near the UN camp, there were people killed…
Spokesman: I don't have an update. No.
Question: And if you could ask… put this question in. It's said by people in South Sudan that the son of Peter Gadet, who is one of the opposition leaders and has now been sanctioned, was killed inside the UN's protection of civilians site in Bor. I don't know if it's true or not. But obviously, it would be important if it is.
Spokesman: Okay. We'll check.
Question: On Guyana, do you have anything on… they've now said publicly they don't want a good offices representative of the UN but something about an emissary. What is the UN's plan on this issue?
Spokesman: What I can say is that, as you know, this month, the Secretary‑General spoke to both the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela regarding the border controversy between those two countries. He has offered that the UN Secretariat send missions to both countries in efforts to jointly craft a way forward. Both countries have restated their commitments to the peaceful resolution of the border controversy.
Question: I have two questions. One about the hundreds of thousands of Yemenis stranded at the Saudi borders.
Spokesman: I have nothing… okay.
Question: Nothing yet about that?
Spokesman: No.
Question: I don't know why the United Nations… I mean… hasn’t approached the Saudis about this.
Spokesman: I understand your frustration, but if I had something, I would share it with you.
Question: Another thing. Thousands of Syrians are filtering through the borders from Turkey into Bulgaria, [former Yugoslav Republic of] Macedonia, and Serbia. Is there anyone attending to these… there are more clips coming from that area showing people walking in very difficult circumstances…
Spokesman: We've seen a massive flow of Syrian refugees leave what I would call their first stop in the region, the border countries, and make their way… try to make their way to Europe. Some of that has taken them through North Africa and… where they are victimized by people smugglers, human smugglers, and try to make the deadly crossing through the Mediterranean. We've seen what's happened to that in the last few months. Some of them have been making land routes through Greece and, as you say, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Eastern Europe. Our colleagues, I know, at UNHCR are working with national authorities in most of these countries to try to bring some sort of support. What is clear and what is important is that those countries that are seeing this influx treat these refugees and these migrants with the dignity they are entitled to and within the respect of international law.
Thank you.