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.
**Budget
Yesterday, late in the evening, the Secretary-General thanked the General Assembly for adopting by consensus the programme budget for 2016-2017 biennium. He said that this budget reflects the difficult global financial reality, with funding continuing to shrink — while demands on the United Nations continue to grow.
The Secretary-General said that in 2015, we could be proud of major accomplishments, including the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for Financing for Development, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and of course the Paris Agreement on climate change. In 2016, we will act on our plans for a more healthy and peaceful planet, where all people live in dignity, the Secretary-General concluded, noting this was the last budget adopted during his tenure. His remarks were distributed last night.
**Central African Republic
From the Central African Republic, the UN Mission in that country (MINUSCA) reports that the Electoral National Authority (ANE) announced earlier today that the presidential and legislative elections will be held on 30 December instead of the 27th in order to address logistical issues and complete the training of electoral agents.
All presidential and legislative electoral ballots arrived in the country's capital, Bangui, yesterday and the Mission will proceed with a progressive delivery of the ballots to the provinces.
Meanwhile, the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process in the country continues. In Kaga Bandoro, 35 weapons and over 100 rounds of ammunition were voluntarily handed over by anti-Balaka and ex-Seleka. In Bambari, cash for work activities for 38 anti-Balaka fighters were launched. In Bouar, some 70 anti-Balaka handed over a number of weapons, marking the first time anti-Balaka have voluntarily handed over military equipment in that area.
**Syria
Lastly, the head of the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization of the United Nations (UNESCO) Irina Bokova today condemned the destruction of parts of the Ancient City of Bosra, a World Heritage Site, in fighting earlier this week. The Ancient City of Bosra is a major archaeological site, containing ruins from Roman, Byzantine and Muslim times. Ms. Bokova said that the destruction represents a further escalation in the horror of war and must be stopped at once to preserve the irreplaceable heritage of Bosra. More information online.
**Noon Briefings
And as a reminder, you can come in tomorrow but we will not be here as tomorrow is a holiday. We will resume the briefing on the first Monday of 2016, unless, of course, there is an emergency, and we will be ready, up and running. But the office will be staffed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of next week and we will take New Year’s Day off.
Michele?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Thank you, Stéph. Do you have any details on this UN‑brokered deal to allow Islamic State families and fighters to leave southern Damascus, the Yarmouk Camp, and head to Raqqa?
Spokesman: No, we saw those reports. We asked our colleagues in the field for some more details. We're waiting to receive something. Obviously, in the past, the UN has facilitated a number of local ceasefires, but we're still trying to extract a bit more information. Andre?
Question: How about the Central African Republic? Is the postponement a setback for the political process, or is it just a logistical glitch?
Spokesman: No, I would not characterise it as a setback. I think, obviously, given the very delicate security situation going on in the country, it was a... it's important that the elections take place in the best possible way. The peacekeeping mission will continue to assist with the distribution of ballots, and they will, of course, support the national Central African forces. But this was a decision taken by the Central African electoral commission... electoral authorities themselves. It is their process. It is their elections to run, and we are there to support them. Mr. Lee, then Mr. Klein, then Nizar.
Correspondent: All right. Sure. Some questions about the budget. But I wanted to ask you about Burundi first, whether you have any... first, any readout of Mr. Benomar's travels and attempts to speak with the Government in the region. I'm asking you... yesterday there was… you may have seen it; you may not have seen it… there was a protest outside the building by Burundians, and in speaking with them, they judge the performance of the Secretariat as weak.
And I wanted to know, just to get, I guess, your response to that, and if there's any update on the deployment of these two, Pierre Niyonzima and Jimmy Rusheshe, both of whom have been… I've seen the pictures… linked to the hospital killings in May…
Spokesman: On your second part, no, I have no update than what was given. I know there are discussions going on. I don't have an update to share with you. On your first part, I think we can all agree on the frustration of the Burundian people as they see the violence increase in their country. The Secretary‑General, through the work of his Special Envoy, is very much focused on finding ways to move the political dialogue forward and to obviously see an end to the current violence that we're seeing. He is currently in Kampala in Uganda meeting with local officials, and I believe there will be talks there early next week.
Question: Will your office be sending stuff out during this break?
Spokesman: Obviously, as I said, we'll be fully staffed. If there are updates to share, we will share them with you. Mr. Klein?
Question: Okay. Well, in the holiday spirit, I'm going to throw you a softball question.
Spokesman: Well, your softballs... they may start as softballs from you, but by the time they get to me, they may be hardballs.
Correspondent: There might be a slight curve there.
Spokesman: Let's give it a try.
Question: Anyway, for 2015, I'd like to know, at least in your opinion, what the Secretary‑General would deem to be the accomplishment that he's most proud of and, conversely, during 2015, which occurrence he has been involved in that he would he like to have a do‑over, that he's most ashamed of.
Spokesman: Well, I understand the framework of your question. I'm not sure it's about do‑overs and shame. I think there is a great level of frustration and sadness in this building at the continuing violence we've seen in Syria over the last year. Obviously, we end the year with a glimmer of hope in terms of the Security Council resolution that was passed, in terms of the Vienna agreements, and in terms of the talks that will be convening in January. It is clear… and the Secretary‑General has made it clear for the past… since this fight, really since the violence started, that we could have seen the political agreement we finally saw at the end of the year between the major powers and the regional powers come a lot earlier. And I think that is a point of great frustration to him, that the violence, the killings, and the suffering of the Syrian people have continued with the instability we've seen in the region and, obviously, the push of Syrians to try to risk life and limb to make it to safer shores in Europe.
In terms of… I think the accomplishments he's extremely proud of is, obviously, the climate agreement we saw in Paris reached on December 12th, very late on December 12th. This is the culmination of nine years of hard work for the Secretary‑General of pushing this agenda forward, of trying to motivate the political leadership that we finally saw in Paris. This is a success he shares with Member States, with civil society, with other players, with the business community, who have all, I think, come together in pushing and getting the Paris agreement, which is, obviously, really a starting point for where we want to go on climate change and managing and mitigating climate change. And the Paris agreement is really also part of a trifecta [with] over the summer in Addis Ababa [the agreement] on financing for development and obviously very clearly the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals in September. Nizar?
Question: Yeah, thank you, Stéphane. Yesterday and today, the Israeli media showed a video of settlers dancing, celebrating the incineration of the Dawabsha family, also parading videos showing how they [inaudible], brandishing weapons and threatening to do more. What does the United Nations feel about that, especially the…
Spokesman: I think we're obviously shocked by this kind of violent speech, this speech of incitement to hatred, which the Secretary‑General has condemned and will continue to condemn from wherever it comes from. And we've also taken note of the fact that the video that you've seen, the statements that you've seen, were roundly and, I think, quickly condemned by the Israeli government and the Israeli authorities. Yes, sir? And then Go. Sorry. Go ahead.
Question: Thanks, Stéph. Apologies if you addressed this already because I had to step out, but there are reports that in... from Syria that the UN has helped broker a deal that would allow families of Islamic state militants and some injured fighters to leave Yarmouk and go back to Raqqa. Can you confirm?
Spokesman: I did address it but you didn't miss much, because I said we were trying to get more information from the field.
Correspondent: Thank you.
Spokesman: Go and then Matthew.
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. The Japanese Foreign Minister is about to visit the Republic of Korea to try to reach an agreement on the issue of the comfort women, which has been long time an obstacle for the two countries' relationship. Can you comment on that?
Spokesman: I think the Secretary‑General has been very supportive and continues to be supportive of the dialogue between the Republic of Korea and Japan in order to settle a number of outstanding issues. Yes, go ahead, Matthew.
Question: Sure. I wanted to… to… I saw… I wanted to ask you a couple questions about the budget. One was, in his speech, the Secretary‑General said he'd consulted with federations, which made it sound like unions. And I wanted to know, as the year ends, what does he say about the continuing, I guess, lack of representation on the... at least in terms of the New York headquarters, on the staff side, and who did he consult with? And I also… I have to… I guess I just want to say this to you. There was no MALU here. Like, there was no way to cover the budget from the media booth. So, from the balcony, I'd like you to maybe respond to that. The one thing that I heard or one thing that I heard that jumped out at me that I'm finally lucky I could ask is… and I know you may say it was Member States, but there was an announcement of a discount to Saudi Arabia of 7.5 per cent, which, to many, seems strange given the wealth of the country. I mean, I understand there's an Article 19 for lower‑income countries. Can you explain what's that about in terms of a relatively affluent… fairly affluent country getting a discount on the UN…
Spokesman: On your last question, you are right in offering me an answer, which is a Member States issue. I think the Secretary‑General noted that there was consensus on the new scale of assessment including on the scale of assessment for peacekeeping. On your second to last question, if I… if you'll allow me to be slightly Talmudic and answer your question with another question, I'm wondering if you actually tried to reach anybody in MALU because I know they were there. Tal was… did you call Tal? Did you call MALU? That's my question to you, because I know they opened up... the booths were open for our colleagues at NHK. Our office was staffed until the Secretary‑General left. So…
Question: [inaudible] third floor…
Spokesman: Well, I'm just wondering if you… I mean, I think, as you know, it's organized by MALU. You have a lot of phone numbers. Our office was open.
Question: It's a GA meeting.
Spokesman: I understand, Matthew, but obviously, if you don't contact people that are needed to be contacted, I can't help you. Nizar. You got a... first question or was that it?
Question: Yeah, I guess… overall, what is the status of labour relations at UN headquarters if there's…?
Spokesman: Well, I think the Secretary‑General has consulted with a number of global federations which represent the whole of UN workers. As for the status of the… unfortunate status of the staff union which represents… should represent all of us in New York, I don't think that's been resolved.
Question: And I just… just on the thing… and I appreciate what you said. I guess I'd just say, for General Assembly meetings, especially about $5.4 billion, I'd suggest just like either leaving the door open or having somebody there, because once it starts…
Spokesman: I understand but Matthew, you can always… if there's a problem, you can always pick up a call before writing about it. Nizar?
Question: Yeah, going back to the Dawabsha family, has anybody been brought to justice? I mean, these people were brandishing...
Spokesman: No, we understand that the Israeli authorities are continuing their investigation. I think the Special Coordinator, Mr. Mladenov, has issued a number of statements on that very issue. Last question, and then we're going on vacation.
Question: One nitty‑gritty and then one on South Sudan. Just on nitty‑gritty, you may have... yesterday, at the end of the Libya meeting, it was said that Dabbashi of Libya took issue with a translation, I guess it's called, instead of interpretation, of a paragraph. And it was said… a number of Ambassadors said they're going to look into it, but I guess, since that's a Secretariat function, has there been any reaction to his… he said the preamble to Paragraph 8 was mistranslated into Arabic; it's not the first time…
Spokesman: I'll check.
Question: Okay. On South Sudan, I wanted to ask, given... it was said from this podium that the SPLA‑IO arrived. I'd heard, actually, that a citizen greeting party was blocked by authorities and also that there have been attacks south of Juba in a place called Wonduruba. And I wonder, do you have anything on that? What's happening... given there's going to be a lull in reporting from the UN, what's the status of the peace agreement in South Sudan?
Spokesman: Sorry. As I said, we'll obviously post the highlights. If there's any reporting to be done, it will be shared. There's not going to be a lull except there will not be a briefing. But the office will be staffed. The mission has not reported anything to us, so I don't have anything to share with you on that.
Correspondent: Lowlights as well.
Spokesman: What?
Correspondent: This is a request for lowlights as well, not just the good news.
Spokesman: Okay. Yes, sir?
Question: [inaudible]
Spokesman: As… may God bless all of you and keep you far away from me. [laughter] Enjoy.
Question: What about the Atheists in the crowd?
Spokesman: Yeah, yeah. That's from Fiddler on the Roof.
Correspondent: Happy Festivus.