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.
**Saudi Arabia
The Secretary-General is just back in New York, and will be in the office shortly. Before he left Riyadh very early this morning, he met with King Salman, whom he congratulated on the successful hosting of the Fourth Summit of Arab and South American countries.
Among other topics, the Secretary-General and His Majesty discussed the situations in Syria and Yemen and agreed on the need for an end to these conflicts. The Secretary-General expressed the hope that the next meeting in Vienna on Syria would devise a clear set of next steps in the political process. On Yemen, he hoped that all sides to the conflict would take extreme care not to cause civilian casualties and that inter-Yemeni talks would take place this month. The Secretary-General also encouraged Saudi Arabia to further work closely with his Special Representatives [Envoys] on both Syria and Yemen.
**Turkey
Another travel to announce: the Secretary-General will leave New York on Friday, 13 November, to participate in the G-20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey. While in Turkey, the Secretary-General will attend working sessions with the world leaders gathered for the Summit, including on Development and Climate Change, Growth Strategies and Employment, as well as Terrorism and the Refugee Crisis. He will also hold bilateral meetings with other leaders attending the G-20 Summit, including President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan of Turkey. The Secretary-General will be back on the evening of Monday, 16 November.
**Syria
Meanwhile, turning back to Syria, the Secretary-General’s Special [Envoy] for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, as you know, briefed the Security Council late yesterday afternoon to update them on the developments following the meetings in Vienna. After the consultations, Mr. de Mistura left for Vienna, where he has arrived, to attend the next talks, [which] he told reporters would be important in maintaining the momentum following last month’s discussions. He stressed the need to show results for the Syrian people, including a reduction of the violence on the ground. Mr. de Mistura added that his job is to make sure that big countries like the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and Iran come to the table and support the political process.
**Iraq
Meanwhile, back here, Jan Kubiš, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, briefed the Security Council this morning on the work of the UN Mission in that country. He said that, while Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi continues to actively lead efforts to fulfil the Government’s programme and his reform agenda, he faces immense challenges to implement his planned reforms, primarily due to disagreements and political polarization among political forces.
The Special Representative also talked about the residents of Camp Hurriya, which was hit by a rocket attack on 30 October that claimed the lives of 24 residents and wounded many others. He said that the only solution guaranteeing the security of the residents is their speedy relocation to third countries. His remarks are available in my office.
**Central African Republic
You will have seen that we issued a statement, also from the Secretary-General, condemning the killing yesterday of a peacekeeper from the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) that took place in Batangafo, located 400 kilometres north of Bangui. Following an outbreak of violence between armed anti-Balaka and ex-Séléka fighters at an internally displaced persons camp in the town, ex-Séléka fighters confronted MINUSCA troops at a nearby MINUSCA checkpoint. During the incident, one peacekeeper went missing and was subsequently found dead.
The Secretary-General deplores, in the strongest terms, any attacks against UN peacekeepers, and calls for swift action to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice. The Secretary-General strongly condemns the ongoing fighting in the Central African Republic and reiterates his call for all armed groups to immediately lay down their weapons and refrain from violence. He underscores the importance of creating an environment conducive to the holding of elections in line with the calendar announced by the National Electoral Authority to complete the country’s transition and bring sustainable peace and stability to the country. The full statement is online.
**Afghanistan
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has condemned the murder of seven civilians, including two women and three children, in the southern province of Zabul. The seven civilians were abducted last month and executed between 6 and 8 November in Arghandab district, where armed clashes between two rival anti-Government groups have been reported. The head of the mission, Nicholas Haysom, described the killing as senseless murders that may amount to war crimes, and stressed that the perpetrators must be held accountable. More information is available on the Mission’s website.
**Abyei
The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) today conducted its first round of a weapons destruction exercise, which was witnessed by a cross section of the Abyei community. UN agencies and national monitors from Sudan and South Sudan participated in the effort, as the Mission continues its work towards a weapons-free Abyei.
**Yemen
Our humanitarian colleagues say that 26 people are now estimated to have died as a result of cyclones in Yemen, 18 of them on Socotra Island, according to local authorities. On the mainland, the World Food Programme (WFP) and its implementing partners are distributing high energy biscuits for about 25,000 people, and UNHCR and its partner NGO [non-governmental organization] distributed household kits and tents to some 2,700 people in Shabwa governorate yesterday, some of whom are sheltering in collective centres or staying out in the open. In addition, household kits were distributed to about 2,500 people in Hadramaut Governorate.
Meanwhile, the UN and its health partners are carrying out disease surveillance and monitoring potential outbreaks. Fuel imports remain drastically below Yemen’s needs and wheat prices remain high, despite increased imports. Given the high dependency of Yemen on fuel and food imports, humanitarian efforts can only meet a fraction of the needs.
**Locusts
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today warned that unusually heavy and widespread rains that fell recently in northwest Africa, the Horn of Africa and Yemen could favour Desert Locust breeding. Close monitoring is needed over the next six months to prevent the insects from forming destructive swarms. After becoming airborne, swarms of tens of millions of locusts can fly up to 150 kilometres a day with the wind, and a very small swarm can eat the same amount of food in one day as about 35,000 people. I didn’t know that, it’s quite incredible. More details on the FAO’s website.
**Development Aid
I do have a statement which Farhan [Haq] just brought in to me on proposed reductions in development aid: with the world facing the largest crisis of forced displacement since the Second World War, the Secretary-General calls on the international community to meet this immense challenge without lessening its commitment to vitally needed official development assistance. The Secretary-General recognizes the financial demands faced by host communities and partner governments as they seek to support the international response. He expresses sincere gratitude to governments and their citizens for their generosity.
The Secretary-General underscores the importance of fully funding both efforts to care for refugees and asylum seekers in host countries as well as longer-term development efforts. Resources for one area should not come at the expense of another. Redirecting critical funding away from development aid at this pivotal time could perpetuate challenges that the global community has committed to address. Reducing development assistance to finance the cost of refugee flows is counter-productive and will cause a vicious circle detrimental to health, education and opportunities for a better life at home for millions of vulnerable people in every corner of the world.
As we strive to meet the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Secretary-General encourages all governments to enhance international development assistance. Helping people in need should not be a zero-sum game. That should now be available online.
**Noon Briefing Guests
Tomorrow I will be joined by Police Advisers Stefan Feller and Dee Rodriguez, from the UN presence in Guinea-Bissau, along with Police Commissioner Awale Abdounasir, from the UN Mission in Mali. They will be here to brief you on the tenth meeting of the Heads of UN Police Components, which is taking place at UN Headquarters as part of UN week. Joe, then Carole.
**Questions and Answers
Correspondent: Yes, I just want to follow up on a question I asked a couple days ago, and I appreciate the clarification you gave about the positioning of the South‑South Cooperation office in relation to UNDP [United Nations Development Programme]. But my question relates to UN procurement, and I had asked whether, as a matter of course, companies that are debarred or blacklisted by international organisations like the World Bank are also treated in a similar fashion…
Spokesman: Indeed. There is…
Correspondent: …by… by… but… because I’m going to give you a particular example. And then you can tell me what the procedure is. There’s a company… Chinese company called Zhonghao Overseas Construction Company, which was blacklisted by the World Bank in 2012. It appeared to remain on the UN’s approved vendor list. Certainly, it’s on the most current list and appears to have played a role in South Sudan. The blacklisting from the World Bank of this company occurred because of alleged fraud, including forged documents in Sudan. So I just want to find out to what extent these kind of cross‑checks are made. Thank you.
Spokesman: My understanding is that there is a Global Marketplace which brings together all of the UN agencies. If a company is blacklisted, that information is shared. I will look into the particular case, and I will also look just to make sure that the World Bank is, indeed, part of the Global Marketplace. If you can just send me an email with the name of the company, I’ll check. Carole?
Question: Stéphane, I was wondering if you have information on the subgroups for Syria that Staffan de Mistura announced yesterday. They’re apparently meeting in Vienna today. Who’s taking part of these groups? What are they talking about?
Spokesman: I don’t have… I know Mr. de Mistura’s participating in these discussions. I don’t have any details. Hopefully, by the time the meetings end, we can have some details we can share with you, but we’ll ask. Mr. Lee, then Olga, then…
Question: Some country questions, but since we’re on this UNDP, I wanted to ask you this. First, to praise them, after 12 days, I did receive an answer to one question from them, which was, how many people flew to Macau on the dime of David Ng’s Sun Kian Ip foundation? And the number is 39. And so I wanted to know… I mean, I under… I guess I want to know, in terms of the UN system, is it… now that they’ve confirmed in writing that 39 people’s travel and hotel was covered by the now‑indicted David Ng, is it UN practice… is that normal to accept that amount of flight and hotel from a private business interest?
Spokesman: What sometimes happens is that organisers of an event would pay for travel. Obviously, we would expect all of that to be properly vetted and, obviously, more importantly, properly declared.
Correspondent: But how was… in the case of David Ng, it’s public record that he was involved in a campaign contribution scandal, was described as…
Spokesman: I think you’ve uncovered what obviously were issues relating to the Office of UN South‑South Cooperation. As I said, they’re launching an audit. The UN is as well. And we hope to get more clarity on that.
Question: Okay. I wanted to also… I’d ask you… one thing they still haven’t answered is about this $100,000 solicitation where it’s now published a second one as to a meeting in Samoa. The same UN… it’s on UN letter… you know, UN-type letterhead, says if you pay $100,000, you can sit next to a Head of State or UN official. So, again, I wanted to ask you… they didn’t answer on this. I wanted to know, is this acceptable? You said as to another… I see it as similar solicitation… you’d said, as long as it’s transparent, it’s fine. What are the rules applicable to charging money to be in proximity to UN officials?
Spokesman: As I said, I think it’s important that everything be done in a transparent manner, in a manner that doesn’t harm the reputation of this organization.
Question: So was this transparent enough?
Spokesman: I haven’t seen that document. Olga?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. Also the question about the meeting on Saturday on Syria in Vienna, does the UN have confirmation from all the 19 countries who will take part?
Spokesman: No, we do not. This is not a meeting that is led by the United Nations. Obviously, the participation of Staffan de Mistura is critical to the meeting, but this is not a meeting that is organized by the UN. It is obviously very important to us that the same countries that participated in the first round come back for the second round in Vienna. Yeah?
Correspondent: Thank you, Stéphane. I have two questions.
Spokesman: I’ll come back to you, sorry.
Question: The first is, what Secretary‑General thinks about Russian proposal? Yesterday they distributed it about the new constitution and referendum. And the second one is, he is going to my hometown this Friday, Antalya. And what he suggests to G-20 leaders about refugee crisis, Syrian refugee crisis? Does he… he would do, suggest them to accept more refugees?
Spokesman: Obviously, the Secretary‑General’s message to the G-20 leaders will be along the same lines of what he’s been saying for quite a long time, is that there is a global responsibility to take care of refugees, both moral and legal. There is a responsibility for all countries to deal with migrants in ways that respects the human rights and their dignity, that we need to find not only more resources to deal with the refugee… the increased refugee flow that we’ve seen but also deal with the root causes of the cur… the specific flow that we’re seeing from Syria and Iraq and other places where fighting is ongoing, which is to find a solution to the fighting. And referring back to the statement I just made, it’s also very important that countries do not take resources away from development aid to fix the refugee crisis. It’s not a zero‑sum game. The development investment that we will need over the coming years to meet the Sustainable Development Goals are meant to deal with the root causes of conflict and poverty and movement of people. Taking away money from the development aid at this critical time is somewhat short‑sighted. So that will be one of the issues that he will be… messages he will be delivering. Go ahead, and then we’ll go to you, Edie.
Correspondent: [Inaudible].
Spokesman: I’m not going to comment on something that’s been leaked. Yes, go ahead?
Correspondent: I was going to ask you about the Russian proposal, whether you’ve seen it, whether this is seen as a proposal or an idea or a working…
Spokesman: You know, I think, as you might expect, a lot of these issues we discussed in Vienna, we look forward to actively participating in those discussions, but what we’ve seen of the particular proposals is really through news wires, and we’re not going to comment on it beyond what Staffan de Mistura has already said, which is that we need to see some concrete action on a reduction of the violence and that the Syrian people need to have a voice in their future.
Question: So you’re saying that you did not receive this proposal. You just… The UN did not receive the proposal?
Spokesman: As far as I know, we have not received it, but it does not mean that maybe others within the system have seen it. What we have seen are the press reports to it. Edie?
Question: Stéphane, on the… this issue of overseas development assistance, did the Secretary‑General put out this appeal because there has actually been a decrease in overseas development assistance, with money going to a lot of the emergency appeals? And if so, by how much?
Spokesman: You know, I think this is a process that’s underway. We’re seeing many countries go through their budgetary process now. Some of them have informed some of our development agency partners of a reduction in contributions, and we can try to get you some numbers. But it is an issue that we’ve been detecting over the past few weeks and one that is, in fact, rather worrying for the reasons I’ve elab… the Secretary‑General elaborated in the statement. Go ahead.
Question: Thanks, Stéphane. There are some reports Saudi Arabia is pushing the UN General Assembly Human Right Committee to condemn Iranian and Russian intervention in Syria. Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabia is, you know, bombarding the Yemenis on the other side, in favour of [President Abd Rabbuh] Mansur Hadi. Do you have any comment on that?
Spokesman: What the Human Rights Council decides to do as a legislative body, it’s its own domain, and they’re the masters of that domain. Obviously, the Secretary‑General has been very vocal on the tremendous suffering of the Yemeni people from the ongoing fighting, from the coalition‑led airstrikes and the humanitarian impact that has been a result of it. His focus is on calling on all those countries involved and the parties themselves to recommit themselves to the political process. To that end, the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, is… arrived in Riyadh, where he will be meeting with Saudi officials today and tomorrow.
Correspondent: I have another question. Do you see the Iranian and Russian… do you see as intervention because it’s been request from Syrian Government to be involved in Syria. Do you see it… this as beneficial for…
Spokesman: What would be beneficial in Syria is for everyone to recommit themselves to the political process, to the talks that are going on in Vienna. The Secretary‑General has repeatedly said there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria. We’re seeing… in its fifth year now, we’re seeing the suffering of millions and millions of people and it needs to come to an end. Carole, then Matthew.
Question: Stéphane, Western Sahara, apparently, the Moroccans have said clearly that Christopher Ross is not welcome on their territory. I’m wondering if they’ve told you that and if there are any… were there any plans for him to visit?
Spokesman: No, we’ve seen… I think we talked about this here not too long ago. You know, we’ve seen the statements made by the Moroccan foreign minister not too long ago. What is clear is that Mr. Ross’ activities are set solely by the Security Council and the Secretary‑General. While he has no immediate plans to go to Western Sahara, he clearly has a right to do so under his mandate, and we would hope that he would face no impediment to his movements. Mr. Lee?
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask… I mean, I heard what you just said on Yemen, and you had this word “airstrikes” in it. Then I was reading the readout of the Secretary‑General’s meeting with the King, and it seemed to say that the Secretary‑General hopes that all sides of the conflict would take extreme care not to cause civilian casualties. Did he ask the Saudi King to stop airstrikes?
Spokesman: I think the readout is very clear. It speaks for itself. I think the Secretary‑General, either directly or through myself, has also been very clear on the issue of the Saudi‑led coalition airstrikes.
Question: And I wanted… sorry, but I wanted to ask again about this issue of the contractors. One of whom is, you know, deceased. You’d said earlier… I’d asked you what company they worked for. And you started to say something and you stopped. It seems like it’s a company called AC4S. The reason I’m asking you is the website of this company says, “We work with Homeland Security.” It’s a very mil… I’m not saying that it’s an intelligence company, but is it wise… I guess I want to ask you, is it wise for the US… for the UN, impartial international agency, to be flying in people and to be employing them in the compound whose company is closely aligned with the US military? And, secondarily, are the people staying in the former Sheraton Hotel compound, now the UN compound, with the UN flag, are they all UN people or are there non‑UN people? Because this has turned out to be a matter of some controversy in some [inaudible]…
Spokesman: The UN is operating in what is arguably a very dangerous situation in Yemen. We have found accommodations that meet our security needs. They are run by an outside company, and the contractors were working for that company. I’m not able to… I can’t confirm that… the name of the company you gave me, because I don’t have that information.
Question: But is it… this question… I mean, the question that’s arisen is a question… actually among other things is UN staff safety. Is it safe… is it wise to place UN personnel in the same location as people seemingly aligned with the US Government, at a time that they’re being air‑struck by…
Spokesman: The safety and security of UN staff is incredibly important, obviously. When we make a decision to continue to operate in what is arguably a war zone, with a small “W,” we have to make the necessary arrangements. There are no perfect arrangements. We make what… the best possible arrangements to allow our staff to continue to deliver essential humanitarian aid in the best possible conditions in a very, very difficult place to operate.
Question: And just one more. This is something that I’ve heard so I wanted to ask you. Maybe you’ll shoot it down now or later today, that a car bearing a UN flag was stopped in Sana’a and is said by those who stopped it to have contained weapons, plural, not just DSS [Department of Safety and Security] or otherwise…
Spokesman: I don’t… you’d have to give me a bit more details, and I can check.
Question: Has a UN driver, a driver of a UN vehicle been detained?
Spokesman: I don’t know. Mr. Klein?
Question: Thank you. Secretary of State [John] Kerry is listed as an attendee at an event this evening sponsored by the Israeli Mission, along with the Secretary‑General. Are there any plans for the Secretary of State and the Secretary‑General to have any bilateral discussions during the day and, if so, would Syria be on that agenda?
Spokesman: No, there are no plans that I’m aware of. I do understand that Mr. Kerry will be there, and the Secretary‑General will also attend the event, which is sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Israel. Matthew, last question.
Question: One follow‑up on that. Just relatedly, why is that event not on his public schedule? Just in order to understand…
Spokesman: It’s on the media alert, and I think it should have been on the public schedule. It was a mistake.
Question: Okay. All right. I wanted to ask you a Sri Lanka question, while this grouping is still there. There’s a UN working group on enforced disappearances that’s visiting Sri Lanka, including northern Sri Lanka. But I wanted to… maybe this is not true, but the “Colombo Gazette” relate… says that families whose people have been disappeared, who met with UN working group, including the widow of Prageeth [Eknaligoda], the cartoonist, were told, quote, by the UN not to speak to the media about their discussions with the working group. It says “the UN.” So it’s…
Spokesman: I don’t…
Correspondent: Is there…
Spokesman: You can ask our colleagues in Geneva, who kind of help back up these independent working groups, but it’s not something I can answer from here. Thank you.