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 Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Secretary-General Travels
The Secretary-General arrived in Washington this morning to attend the annual Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Just a short while ago, the Secretary-General participated in an event on the development challenges of forced displacement. He told the audience that he had been deeply moved by the refugees and internally displaced people whom he had met during his recent visit to the Middle East with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
He also underscored that today’s internal displacement and refugee crises are signs of deeper challenges that must be resolved — from Syria to Afghanistan to South Sudan. To that end, he will be convening the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul to provide a platform to put a focus on root causes and prevention, to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development assistance, and to improve our global response to forced displacement.
In a short while, the Secretary-General will speak at the inaugural meeting of the Inaugural Assembly Meeting of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, which brings together multilateral organizations, governments and the private sector. The Secretary-General will make the point that it is essential that multilateral financial institutions and the private sector provide the policy instruments and resources needed to support the transformation to a low-carbon, climate resilient economy.
Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General will speak at a ministerial pledging session of the International Conference for the New Financing Initiative to Support the Middle East and North Africa Region. The Secretary-General will end the day by attending a celebration of the partnership between the World Bank and the United Nations.
**Central African Republic
This morning at the Security Council, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, briefed on the situation in the Central African Republic. He said that the swearing in two weeks ago of the new President, Faustin Archange Touadéra, formally ended the country’s transition, and that the promulgation of the new constitution by the outgoing Head of State of the Transition on the day of the inauguration symbolized a return to constitutional order.
Mr. Ladsous also noted that President Touadéra had also moved quickly on the formation of a new Government and had vowed publicly to respect the newly promulgated Constitution and to work towards national unity. Mr. Ladsous also said that, while he was in Bangui for the presidential inauguration, he witnessed the important progress made towards national healing in the Boeing neighbourhood where Muslim and Christian communities are now engaged in exemplary local reconciliation processes, supported by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). He said that these important efforts provide the foundation for long-lasting peace.
Mr. Ladsous however noted that the positive developments in the country had again been overshadowed by allegations of misconduct and sexual exploitation and abuse by MINUSCA and international forces. We stand firmly behind the victims that showed courage in coming forward and continue to work to ensure that they receive the assistance and justice they deserve, he said. He also stressed that we count on and expect that troop- and police-contributing countries will also re-double their efforts to address this unacceptable conduct. Mr. Ladsous said he was committed to continue addressing the issue at all levels.
**Yemen
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the Special Envoy for Yemen, will brief the Security Council this afternoon at 3 p.m. in an open meeting followed by closed consultations. As you are aware, this briefing comes in advance of the expected start of talks on Yemen in Kuwait on 18 April. Once the consultations have ended, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed intends to talk to reporters at the Security Council stakeout.
**Syria
In a short while in Geneva, Staffan de Mistura, the Special Envoy for Syria, is expected to talk to the press following his meeting with the Syrian Government delegation. The World Food Programme (WFP) has this week carried out three airdrops over the besieged eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzour, dropping urgently needed food assistance — rice, chickpeas and beans — to meet the immediate needs of more than 25,000 people.
The food was dropped from a high altitude on pallets with parachutes and it was collected on the ground by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, which is organizing food distributions. All three airdrops had contained 26 pallets of food. The third airdrop of 26 pallets was completed yesterday, with a 100 per cent success rate — as was the one that took place on Tuesday, as you will recall. On Sunday, 22 out of 26 pallets landed safely for distribution, while WFP is working to determine what happened to the other four pallets.
**Maldives
Tamrat Samuel, Senior Adviser in the Department of Political Affairs, will visit the Maldives from 16 to 24 April. Mr. Samuel’s visit, which comes as a follow-up to Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca’s mission in February this year, is aimed at laying the ground for substantive political party dialogue in the interest of attaining long-term political stability and rule of law in the Maldives. Mr. Samuel will meet with Government leaders, political parties, civil society and members of the international community.
**Japan
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Japan near the city of Kumamoto in south-west part of the country yesterday. Nine people have died and up to 1,000 people have been injured, according to local sources. In Kumamoto Prefecture, some 7,600 people are reported to be staying in temporary evacuation centres. While power has been restored to most of the affected areas, water supply remains cut for 32,000 households. The United Nations continues to monitor the situation closely.
**Mozambique-Malawi
The UN refugee agency announced today that a major relocation operation aimed at improving living conditions for nearly 10,000 Mozambican asylum seekers began in southern Malawi. Last month, the Government of Malawi authorised UNHCR [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] to relocate the Mozambican asylum seekers to a former camp at Luwani that has been re-opened for this purpose. The majority of the Mozambican asylum seekers, nearly 10,000, have so far been living in overcrowded conditions in an area about 100 kilometres south of the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe. More on this operation is available in the briefing notes from Geneva.
**Polio
Next week marks the beginning of the largest and fastest globally coordinated rollout of a vaccine into routine immunization programs in history. Between 17 April and 1 May, 155 countries and territories around the world will stop using the trivalent oral polio vaccine, which protects against all three strains of wild poliovirus, and replace it with bivalent oral polio vaccine, which protects against the remaining two wild polio strains, types 1 and 3. This transition, referred to as the global vaccine “switch”, is possible because type 2 wild polio has been eradicated. WHO and UNICEF consider that the world is closer than ever to ending polio worldwide. More details are available online.
**Climate
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) kick-started today a joint project with the European Union to help mitigate the harmful effects of climate change. The project envisions the creation of five Maritime Technology Cooperation Centers, one in each of five target regions — Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific — to form a global network. More can be found on the IMO website.
**Drugs
Ahead of the UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem, which as you know will take place from 19 to 21 April in New York, UNAIDS [Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS] has released a new report entitled “Do no harm: health, human rights and people who use drugs”. You will recall that Professor Michel Kazatchkine briefed you on that just yesterday.
The report shows that the failure of many countries to adopt health- and rights-based approaches resulted in no reduction in the global number of new HIV infections among people who inject drugs between 2010 and 2014. Strategies based on criminalization and aggressive law enforcement have created barriers to harm reduction while having little or no impact on the number of people who use drugs, the report adds. You can find it online.
**Press Conferences
Following this Briefing, at 12:30 p.m., there will be a press conference by the Office of the President of the General Assembly on the world drug problem. That’s in advance of next week’s Special Session. And on Monday at 11 a.m., there will be a press briefing by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs entitled “Civil society expectations for the Financing for Development Forum”.
On Monday, the guest at the Noon Briefing will be Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education. Following Monday's Noon Briefing, at 1 p.m., there will be a press briefing by the President of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft. He will brief on forthcoming activities for the high-level week of 18 to 22 April and the High-Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals on 21 April. Yes, Michelle.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Thanks, Farhan. Does the Secretary‑General have any comment on the attempt by North Korea to fire another ballistic missile overnight?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, we certainly are aware of the recent reports of activity by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is alarming. We, once again, call on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for restraint, and that is as much as I have to say on that. And by the way, I am aware that as I've been speaking, some students from Rutgers University have been filing into the back. Welcome to the noon briefing. Glad to see you all. Yes, Masood.
Question: [Inaudible]?
Deputy Spokesman: Use the microphone, please.
Question: Yeah. Human Rights Watch today issued a damning report that Israeli Defense Forces are mistreating and maltreating and abusing children detained by them. Do you have any comments on that?
Deputy Spokesman: I don't have a comment on the latest report. You'll have seen the concerns that we've raised in the past on the human rights situation including the situation of detainees. And we continue to share those concerns with the Israeli authorities, and we hope that such conditions will improve.
Question: This abuse of children is becoming so pervasive in the Israeli camps, and that is absolutely outrageous what is happening.
Deputy Spokesman: Well, we'll certainly study this latest report and see what it contains and see what follow up action is needed. Nabil.
Question: Thank you Farhan. Any updates on the report on Western Sahara?
Deputy Spokesman: That report is being finalized basically as we speak. I don't know whether we'll be ready to go to the Council today or in the next day or so. But, it is being finalized.
Question: [inaudible]?
Deputy Spokesman: Okay. You and then Matthew. Yes?
Question: Okay. How do you describe the engagement of both parties in the preparations of this report? Because Polisario Front representative here said that he's not engaged or he refused to read a copy of the report.
Deputy Spokesman: It's not the reading copies of the report. The report is not done yet. We have been in contact with the parties in advance of the finalization of the report. So, we consult with them as the report is being prepared. But, the report is being finalized. No one sees the final report until it's done. What they're talking about is the discussions prior to that. Yes, Matthew.
Question: Yeah, sure. On Western Sahara. Yesterday, Stéphane used the same language you did about consulting with the parties. And today, at the stakeout, Omar Hilale, the Permanent Representative of Morocco, basically denied that they'd been shown a copy or that they're being consulted. Can you describe more clearly? Because the representative of Polisario said very clearly they rejected seeing anything in advance, they think that's improper, that they were told by the envoy, Christopher Ross, that Morocco had been provided with a complete copy, not yet finalized, but the actual text of the document. So it's important. Obviously, people want to know that both sides are being treated fairly or how they're prepared. So, can you please describe what happened?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, both sides are being treated fairly. We wouldn't do something for one side that we don't do for the other. What we're trying to do is have consultations with each side to get their views in advance of the report. Yes, it's true that neither side gets to see the report. The report, like I said, is still not out. It hasn't gone to the Council. It is being finalized pretty much while we're talking right now. But, the relevant officials in the system have talked to people on either side basically to get their views on the situation so that we have a complete picture from them prior to putting out the report.
Question: Also on Western Sahara. I asked Stéphane yesterday about Kim Bolduc's memos. There's at least two. There may be more of them. About the misuse and overcharging of the UN in the Western Sahara mission. And I've also seen a memo that was provided to Morocco, basically an accounting of particular hotels in Laayoune, that they said… you know, asked UN staff to leave identification, the Sahara Line Hotel of Laayoune, Hotel Picador al Massira. So, what I wanted to know is he said… Omar Hilale said they deny everything. They've never received a written notice from the UN. And I've seen a written notice. So, what I wanted to know is now that it had time to see the document, what is the UN’s explanation of this fraud and how they pursued it with Morocco?
Deputy Spokesman: Yes. The information I just got, even just in the last few minutes, is simply this: that the UN Headquarters has been made aware of the situation by the Special Representative Kim Bolduc and in close collaboration with the Mission and the local authorities has taken the necessary steps to redress the situation. The case is currently with the Office of Internal Oversight Services, OIOS.
Question: This document goes back to 2015. I guess my question is you were saying, like, you just got this information that Headquarters was just told, but there was a memo from Kim Bolduc to Atul Khare and Hervé Ladsous in 2015 describing exactly this. So, what was done at that time? Were they just made aware, according to you, now in 2016, or have they sat on it since 2015?
Deputy Spokesman: No. Other people were clearly aware of this and dealing with this when this came out. We, ourselves, just asked about this yesterday in response to your question. And so this is the information we've gotten. Yes.
Question: Farhan, on Western Sahara, the Secretary‑General received a letter from the leader of the Polisario Front. Can you confirm the receipt of the letter and what is his reaction? Because the letter was calling on him to encourage the Security Council to keep pressure on Morocco to restore MINURSO [United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara] to a position where it's able to fulfil its mandate and for the Secretary‑General himself to also keep up pressure on Morocco.
Deputy Spokesman: Well, first of all, I’ll check to confirm whether we have formally received the letter. We certainly are aware of it. Regarding the larger issue, it's not a question of pressuring one side or another. What we are trying to do is bring the sides together. Ultimately, this is one of many long‑running problems that we have tried to resolve, and we believe it needs to be resolved through dialogue. This is what the Secretary‑General has been working on. This is what Christopher Ross has been working on for many years now. And he will continue with that effort. And of course, regarding the Security Council's actions, we don't speak for the Council. You'd have to ask the Members themselves. Yes, Carole.
Question: Farhan, what's the latest on how MINURSO is doing? It's been almost a month now since it was amputated. So how are things going on the ground?
Deputy Spokesman: We are doing the best work that we can with the staff we have available. As you know, that is a very reduced staff. Some people have had to work extremely hard through long hours with limited facilities in order to keep up as many of the mandated tasks as we can possibly fulfil. Given the problems with staffing that we've encountered in recent weeks, we cannot possibly fulfil all aspects of our mandate the way this is… that this is happening which is why we need, ultimately, to have everyone back who has been working there. Yes? Oh. And one new bit of item for you. Just to let you know that the list of countries that have indicated that they will participate in the Paris climate agreement signing ceremony next Friday is available in our office. It's just been handed to me. It will be very shortly posted online at www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climatechange. And looking through this list that I have right now, the number of countries that have indicated their intention to attend and sign the Paris agreement on 22 April is now up to 155. So you can get that in our office. Yes, Edie?
Question: Thank you, Farhan. As a follow-up on Carole's question on how MINURSO is doing, we have been told that it could be a matter of weeks after the withdrawal of the other members of the civilian staff that MINURSO was not going to be able to function. Does that assessment still hold? Is it still a matter of weeks?
Deputy Spokesman: I wouldn't want to put a calculation on how long we can stretch this. The sort of practices that people use to stretch things out, the way our staff have been basically giving it their all, doing much more with much less both in terms of their own personnel, but also in terms of the facilities they have at their disposal has been impressive. But, at the same time, yes, there's a limit to how much we can possibly do with this. That's why we've asked for the restoration of the staff to their previous levels. Otherwise, it could very well be weeks. But we will have to see. We are going to try to do as much as we can for as long as we can. However long that may be.
Question: Farhan, thanks. I was looking at the DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] site on sexual exploitation and abuse, you know, the tabulation that they've got. None of the cases from as far back as January 2015 are substantiated. And is there any progress report on what has happened to those that are accused? Even when the case has been substantiated? Are you keeping tabs on investigations, have any progress of any report? What happens after something is substantiated?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, when things are substantiated, we certainly look towards the relevant troop-contributing and police-contributing countries to do the necessary follow up actions. We do monitor to see how the follow up is pursued. And it has been worrying, as we've pointed out in recent weeks, the problems in being sure that you actually have adequate follow-up. This is why we continue to call on the troop contributors and police contributors to do their part. As the Secretary‑General, again, said just minutes ago in Washington. But, yes, we continue to monitor. There have been some cases, but very few ones, where you will have seen that there has been follow up pursued at the ground level by the relevant countries. And we mention them as we get them. But much more of that needs to happen.
Question: There's a graph on there, and one column that is missing is penalties or prosecutions. Why isn't that included on that website?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, of course penalties vary from country to country because of the different jurisdictions. It's… ultimately, those are in the hands of the jurisdictions that are involved with this, whichever the relevant troop-contributing and police-contributing countries are that do this. But, certainly, if that sort of information is needed to come out on a UN website, we'll see whether we can add that. Yes.
Question: Thank you. I have to apologize. I missed it. If there's any update on the status of Syrian talks in Geneva? And my second question is about the report released by Mr. Mladenov yesterday. And he said the chance for a two‑State solution is becoming a little bit more slim now. He gave five reasons for that. And he started with saying the recent wave of violence and second settlement activities. So, he put the recent wave of violence first, then settlement activities, as if it's more important, as if the way to a two‑State solution was the recent wave of violence first. And then he put… and then he said the division among Palestinians and the bulldozing of houses. But, to start with this recent wave of violence ahead of settlement activity is far from true.
Deputy Spokesman: That's not really a question. I welcome your views. But, certainly we stand by Mr. Mladenov. And I would just draw your attention to the content of the work that he's done. Not simply the ordering of subjects.
Question: What about Syria?
Deputy Spokesman: On Syria, Staffan de Mistura is appearing before the press probably in the next few minutes in Geneva. And that would be available on the webcast, and we'll put out the transcript as we get it. But, he will give an update on the talks after he has met with the delegation headed by the ambassador. Oleg.
Question: Thank you, Farhan. On the trust fund established for the victims of sexual exploitation, how much money was donated until now, and what's the status of it? And also you may have seen the decision of the Czech authorities to register a new name, official name of the country. It's now not only Czech Republic, but also Czechia. It’s also said that they will send a formal note to the UN. Have you registered this name and have you received anything like that?
Deputy Spokesman: Not so far, but we'll await their note. As you know, sometimes if a country goes through a process of changing its name officially, there's a formal step that's followed, and we would observe those as they come. Your first question was on the trust fund. Yes, I don't have the figures. It's a voluntary trust fund. So, of course, the money is only just starting to be pledged and come in. I don't know whether anything has officially come in even yet or whether it's in the form of pledges. But, we will try to get that updated figure as we get the numbers.
Question: So there are pledges?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, we've been trying… we've been seeking pledges. I don't honestly know what the numbers are at this stage. It's early days yet. But, we're trying to get as much money as we can to get this up and running. Yes?
Question: I want to ask a couple of questions about South Sudan, and I've got some other ones on this. On South Sudan, I wanted to know whether.. what the UN's response is to people that are in the protection of civilians camp in Malakal saying that their homes, the homes that they've left in Malakal are being taken over by other people. They've made a request. This is in Radio Tamazuj. They've asked the authorities to check who's taking over their homes because it ends up smacking of ethnic cleansing. Basically, they left in fear, and others are moving into their homes. So, I'm wondering, since the UN is supposedly now very focused on Malakal in terms of investigating and providing protection, is anything being done about peoples' homes being taken away while they've left them in fear?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, we would certainly try to make sure that all the communities that are in the protection of civilians site in Malakal feel safe and secure in their surroundings, and that's what the mission is going to focus on. I'd need to check with the mission about details in terms of what they've done with specific housing arrangements, however whatever.
Question: I wanted to know whether… also on South Sudan, whether UNMISS [United Nations Mission in South Sudan] is aware of Riek Machar saying he's supposed to return on 18 April, but now he's said that until it's certified that Juba is demilitarized. And he's using this figure of 3,420 Government troops. No more. That everyone else should be more than 25 kilometres outside of the city as he's emphasizing that he won't come back unless that's the case. What is UNMISS' role in trying to ensure this return and what does it think of this? Is this, in fact, the actual legal condition for him to return, or is this a new stumbling block?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, I wouldn't react to the latest remarks made by Riek Machar. That's really for his side to explain. However, regarding his return to Juba, the return and swearing in of Riek Machar upon his return to Juba will be significant progress in the implementation of the agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan. In line with the agreement, the next important step will be the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity followed by the establishment of other institutions of transition through which the peace agreement has to be implemented. Another issue that needs to be addressed as a matter of priority is the full implementation of the security arrangements, including the formation of the Joint Operations Centre, the Joint Integrated Police, and withdrawal of all additional armed forces from Juba whose presence is contrary to the provisions of the peace agreement. Yes?
Question: Farhan, in South Korea, I know that you don’t announce trips in advance, but is still the Secretary‑General maintaining in his agenda the idea of visiting Pyongyang before the end of his mandate?
Deputy Spokesman: He has made clear his intentions to do that whenever he can get a good arrangement. If that can happen soon or not, it's hard to say. Okay. Yes. Last one, and then we'll go to the next briefing.
Question: Okay. There are two interconnected questions. One has to do with the audit. And there's a whole section on… obviously, there's a section on this event which was allowed to take place in the Visitor's Lobby. But, there's another paragraph, paragraph 20b, where it talks about there's no evidence of due diligence check by DPI [Department of Public Information] and Global Sustainability Foundation sponsoring the event, “Unveiling of the Ark of Return Permanent Memorial”, 25 March 2015. The thing that's out when you come into the GA. Strangely, there's no kind of cost on that. They don't say… they focus on $60,000 that they gave for a [inaudible] for the Ark of Return. But, if they were the sponsors of the event, why is that money not put into the audit? And why… basically the $60,000 the audit says was spent according to plan to fundraise for the Ark of Return. But, what is sponsorship of the outdoor ceremony that the Secretary‑General and his spouse attended? If they sponsored it, how much did they pay, and why is that not in the audit?
Deputy Spokesman: The audit speaks for itself. I don't have any details on how the audit is written and how it is prepared, but we stand by the professionalism of those who prepared it.
Question: Right. But, it seems that's a fair question. If you have numbers… if you give numbers for one event that you're saying is on the level, there's obviously a number to this other event. What's the number?
Deputy Spokesman: The details in the audit, like I said, speak for themselves. And we're following up on what the recommendations are.
Question: And the Secretary‑General's presence in the South‑South Awards programme book of September 2015. I've already asked why it's not in the audit, but I wanted to know from you: what was the arrangement? How does an outside group like South‑South Awards get this… get the ability and the permission to put this in their book?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, photographs of the Secretary‑General are in the public domain. I wouldn't be able to speak to how any different publication uses his image or his likeness in their publications.
Question: Given that he sent Cristina Gallach to speak for him at the event… maybe you don't know it off-hand… what was the arrangement between the Secretariat, the Executive Office of the Secretariat, and the South‑South Awards for the event, the speech, being in the book? I don't think they used it without consent given that he sent Ms. Gallach to speak for him at the event. That wasn't random. I don’t assume that you would know necessarily right away but can you find that out? I'm asking that.
Deputy Spokesman: We can check.
Question: And you said before… this is a related question. You had said you would check whether Mr. Mulet, for the Secretary‑General, had received this 5 April letter from the Government Accountability Project saying that the eviction of my office is a retaliation for corruption reporting. You said you would check. It was on 6 April when you allowed Reuters for UNCA to say UNCA is not corrupt. And you said: "I will check to see if this letter is received." So has it been received?
Deputy Spokesman: We're aware of the letter. I don't know whether it was formally received or not. Have a good weekend, everyone.