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.
**Secretary-General — Columbia
The Secretary-General this morning spoke at the Columbia University’s Commencement Ceremony. He urged students to use their passion and compassion to help build a world in which all people enjoy dignity and peace. Despite the dangers we face, you must remember that you are graduating into an era of wondrous opportunity, he added. Encouraging them to meet the climate test, he asked them not to vote for politicians who deny the problem. Later today, the Secretary-General is expected to attend at the Korea Society Annual [Gala] Dinner, where he will deliver remarks. And tomorrow, at 5 p.m., he will visit the Marymount Manhattan College, where he will receive the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. And we will share those remarks, as well.
**Syria
And, Staffan de Mistura, in a joint press encounter in Vienna today with the Austrian Foreign Minister, said that after the strong declaration yesterday by the International Support Group for Syria (ISSG), the next step is to test that decision by reinforcing the cessation of hostilities and relaunching humanitarian aid. At present, he said, the cessation of hostilities is holding at about 50 per cent, but it needs to be brought up to 80 or 90 per cent. Meanwhile, he added, humanitarian aid has recently reached close to 250,000, which is not enough but it is a step forward.
Depending on the progress on humanitarian issues and the cessation of hostilities, Mr. de Mistura said he was looking forward to dates for the next round of talks, bearing in mind that the holy month of Ramadan is approaching. His transcript is online. And meanwhile, we were just told that a humanitarian convoy is on its way to Eastern Harasta in Rural Damascus. This will be the first time we’ve reached that area since March 2013.
**Syria — UNESCO
And also on Syria, the Director-General of UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization], Irina Bokova, has deplored severe damages at the historic Byzantine Church of Saint-Simeon, part of the UNESCO’s World Heritage site of the Ancient Villages of northern Syria. The damages were possibly caused by an airstrike on 12 May. UNESCO received several reports and photographs showing extensive damage to the church, including the remains of the pillar of Saint Simeon Stylites. The site of the church provides remarkable testimony to rural life in late Antiquity and during the Byzantine period — more information on UNESCO’s website.
**Yemen
Regarding the Yemeni talks, the Emir of Kuwait [Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah] met today with the Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and the two delegations to the Yemen peace talks and urged the participants to continue their efforts to reach a political agreement that will ensure the safety and stability of Yemen and its people. In addition, the UN Special Envoy convened a number of bilateral meetings with the delegations and meetings with diplomats. He said that he was continuously working with the parties towards achieving a comprehensive peaceful agreement.
And he added that the international community is ready to support Yemen and the participants in the talks must work constructively during the different meetings and working groups in order to achieve progress on political, security, and prisoner and detainee issues. He also said that flexibility is needed to reach a political agreement, to spare Yemen more deaths and financial ruin, and to lessen the burden of its people. The parties must adhere to their responsibilities.
**Refugees
The UNHCR [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] launched today a new global campaign, called “Nobody Left Outside,” aimed at facing a half-billion-dollar deficit in funds to provide adequate shelter for refugees living under its care. This huge shortfall is severely undermining the efforts to tackle one of the largest global displacement crises since the Second World War, according to the UNHCR.
Without a major increase in funding and global support, millions of people fleeing war and persecution face homelessness or inadequate housing in countries such as Lebanon, Mexico and Tanzania. “Nobody Left Outside” calls on the private sector to contribute funds for shelter solutions for 2 million refugees. The campaign is aimed at individuals, companies, foundations and philanthropists worldwide — more information on UNHCR’s website.
**Secretary-General — Kenya
Earlier today, the Secretary-General spoke to President [Uhuru] Kenyatta of Kenya following the Kenyan Government’s decision of 6 May to close the Dadaab refugee camps. The Secretary-General expressed his deep appreciation to President Kenyatta and the people of Kenya for decades of generous hospitality to significant populations of asylum seekers and refugees. The Secretary-General assured President Kenyatta that he appreciated the enormous task and responsibility involving in hosting large numbers of refugees, amidst daunting security challenges.
The Secretary-General urged President Kenyatta to continue to use the Tripartite Agreement, signed in November 2013 with the federal Government of Somalia and UNHCR, as a basis for the voluntary return of Somali refugees in safety and dignity. He expressed the UN support to Kenya, including the proposal by the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, that a high-level bilateral review on the refugee situation in Kenya be conducted by the Government of Kenya and UNHCR.
The Secretary-General mentioned that the Deputy Secretary-General [Jan Eliasson] and Mr. Grandi would visit Kenya at the end of May. They look forward to discussing this issue forward with the Government of Kenya, and will underline the readiness of the UN to garner the support of the international community in addressing Kenya’s refugee challenges, with consideration for the host communities in Kenya as well as the sub-regional security concerns. That readout should be online.
**Sri Lanka
Today the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that heavy rains, floods and landslides in several parts of Sri Lanka have affected over 350,000 people as of today. The UN continues to monitor the situation and is standing by should support be requested.
**Zika
A new report released by WHO [World Health Organization] assesses the risk of a Zika virus disease outbreak occurring during late spring and summer in the Europe. While the overall risk is low to moderate, countries where Aedes mosquitoes are present are more likely to experience a Zika virus outbreak. The report contains a series of actions that recommends countries follow according to their likelihood of Zika transmission — more information on the WHO website.
**World Cities Report
Our colleagues at UN-Habitat [[UN Human Settlements Program] released today the new World Cities Report. According to the report, two thirds of the global population is expected to live in cities by 2030 and produce as much as 80 per cent of the global GDP [gross development product]. Thus, the report, says, urbanization provides a great opportunity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. However, when unplanned and unmanaged, urbanization can lead to increased inequality, the growth of slums and disastrous impacts on climate, the report warns — more information on UN-Habitat website.
**Event
A couple of things to flag for later today: high-level event on “Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants: Critical Challenges for Sustainable Urbanization” [is taking place] from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the ECOSOC [Economic and Social Council] Chamber.
**Press Conferences
At 2 p.m. here today in this room, a press briefing here by UNCTAD [UN Conference on Trade and Development] on the World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (18-19 May), which starts today. Tomorrow, at 11:15 a.m., there will be a press briefing on the recommendations of the fifteenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
**Peacekeepers
And lastly, but very important, we will observe the International Day of UN Peacekeepers at headquarters tomorrow, and the Secretary-General will lay a wreath to honour all fallen peacekeepers. He will preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal will be awarded posthumously to 128 military, police and civilian personnel who lost their lives while serving in peacekeeping operations in 2015. The Secretary-General will also lead the first-ever ceremony for the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage. That medal is named after the peacekeeper who saved hundreds of lives in Rwanda in 1994 before suffering a fatal injury while on duty. [There is] a press release available with more information. Khalas. Abdelhamid and then Matthew.
**Questions and Answers
Question: About a month ago, the Israeli wanted to put an exhibit of posters. Three posters were rejected by the United Nations, one about Jerusalem, one about the… Zionism and one about Israeli Arabs. To my surprise, these three posters are hanged in the exhibit between the bookstore and the Vienna cafe. So, I want to know who approved these three poster when the UN rejected them? First, they are incorrect, and they carry wrong facts. And second, that's not the UN position. The UN does not approve that Jerusalem is the spiritual and physical capital of Israel. So, who approved this poster, which goes against the United Nations? And just as a footnote, when there was a… an exhibit by UNESCO and they put Hisham's Palace, Jericho, Palestine, the Israeli ambassador went to the Secretary‑General… it was Kofi Annan… and he force him to take the word "Palestine". So, why now these poster which the UN rejected first, they are hanging there?
Spokesman: The exhibits put up by Member States, the content is the responsibility of Member States, and they express their position. There is a procedure in place, which is a consultation with the Secretariat. But, the UN is not in the business of censoring what Member States want to put up. It's a discussion that happens, but the responsibility of the exhibit is that of the Member State. So, I think, if you have issues with what is said, I would encourage you to contact the Mission of Israel. I can't refer back to what happened a… in… in… I can't refer back to what happened in 19… whenever this other… this other issue came up, but since then, there are procedures, which are public, on how Member States go about putting up exhibits.
Question: The Israeli Mission sent a strong letter to the Secretary‑General to protest that when these three posters were rejected. They were rejected. What happened? I want to know…
Spokesman: I can tell you that there were discussions as there are between any Member State and the Secretariat when an exhibit is put up, and the end… the end result of the discussion is the exhibit that is up, and once again, the responsibility for the content of the exhibit is with the Permanent Mission. Masood.
Question: Yes, sir. Thank you, Stéphane. In the same spirit, there is this news report from New Delhi, India, which has now been deemed as the Indian Government has said there will be fines… they're legislating fines against anybody who is found distributing any… what do you call… maps of India which is… which shows that Kashmir is a disputed territory, which is according to the United Nations resolution of 1948. So, now Indian Government has legislated that, and Pakistan's Foreign Secretary has protested this… this issue. And that… Kashmir continues to be a disputed territory. Where does the Secretary‑General stand on this?
Spokesman: It's not… I haven't seen reports of this particular legislation. I…
Correspondent: It's being report all over.
Spokesman: I'm not debating that. I'm just saying I personally have not… have not seen it. And so I'm not going to… I'm not going to comment on it. Matthew.
Question: On this… on this… I was just going to say, on this which is being termed as cartography… what do you call it…?
Spokesman: As I said, I'm not going to comment on it because I haven't seen the reports for myself. Matthew.
Correspondents: Sure. Just on exhibits, I do know that there was a Rwanda exhibit in the… in the lobby that was actually delayed so that material could be removed at the direction of the Secretariat. So, I don't know…
Spokesman: As I said, there are discussions. And there's an agreement between the Member State and the Secretariat about what can be put up, but the content is to… is the responsibility of the Member State.
Question: Okay. What I wanted to ask… and I am going to ask you because I couldn't ask Mr. O'Brien… is, what is the UN Secretariat, particularly humanitarian or otherwise, position on whether the UN system should be supporting or providing monetary support to the multinational joint task force, which is actually fighting Boko Haram? Everything that he described seemed to be impact of this ongoing armed struggle there. Most of the countries involved have asked and I know that they've met with various people in the Secretariat. What's the status of those discussions, and do you… does the Secretariat believe that these countries, which are themselves not that developed, need international support for this fight?
Spokesman: It is clear that there is a need for international support for the fight against extremism and against Boko Haram. However, that is only one part of the fight against extremism and Boko Haram. There needs to be… other issues need to be addressed in the region. And the military and security operations, which are conducted by the governments and by the multinational forces, have to be within the full respect of human rights, of international law, and cannot be… the result of these operations cannot create more problems than they are solving. This is something… an issue that the Secretariat has raised on a number of times.
Question: And I wanted to ask you, there's been… there's a letter today filed in the southern district by the new counsel for former PGA [President of the General Assembly] John Ashe describing that his desire to continue and hopefully conclude ongoing plea discussions, so I want… one, I wanted to know… all right. I'm sure you're going to say, well, that's up to John Ashe doing it, but the reason I'm asking you this is I've been informed that… that Mr. Francis Lorenzo, who has pleaded guilty, has been back inside the UN building. And I wanted to know… you'd said earlier… or I think it was Farhan [Haq] who said, well, if a Member State wants to give an accreditation, we have nothing to do with it. I wanted to know, in this case… the John Ashe, Ng Lap Seng, Frank Lorenzo case… is there any UN policy that people that plead guilty to having been involved in bribery inside the UN are not simply reaccredited whether under an NGO or a Member State?
Spokesman: I have no… no particular knowledge of Mr. Lorenzo of whether or not he's been back… back in the building. I don't believe we have any way of conducting criminal background checks on people who request accreditation, but we would ensure that anyone who requests accreditation on behalf of someone is somebody of the highest ethical standard.
Correspondent: Yeah, but when you say… when you say… because the audit says… calls on all UN departments to conduct due diligence. This seems like pretty basic. Its seven individuals charged. Some…
Spokesman: I hear you. I just don't have anything more to say. Oleg.
Question: Thanks, Stéphane. I'm sure you saw there were calls from the Ukrainian authorities for the international community, UN among other international organizations, to recognize the deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea in 1944 as an act of genocide. If you could please explain, what is the process, the due process in the UN, of such cases? How do you recognize something as a genocide? And has some process like that started right now? You know it's popular topic.
Spokesman: No, I… I understand the topic. I'm not… you know, the labelling of an event as "genocide" is one for the UN itself that needs to be done by a relevant judicial authority. As for looking at the Tatars and what happened to them, I'm not aware of where that may be standing within the UN system. We can check with the human rights machinery in Geneva, but I'm not aware of anything here. Nizar.
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. Going back to Abdelhamid's question, suppose the Palestinian mission here exhibits a map showing Palestine proper before the creation of Israel; would that be acceptable by the United Nations?
Spokesman: I think every exhibit goes through a review and a discussion with the Member State.
Question: I have another question regarding Syria. In Ghouta, there's a mini war going on for many weeks now where supporters of Saudi Arabia and supporters of Qatar are battling. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured, destruction of all area. Economy is stagnating there as a result of this conflict. Is there anything the United Nations doing to put an end to that conflict?
Spokesman: Well, I mean, I think the United Nations as a whole, as you heard from Mr. de Mistura both today and yesterday, is calling on all the parties involved to respect the cessation of hostilities, which we've seen about 50 per cent respected, to bring it to a higher number, and for those who have influence over the parties involved to use that influence in a positive manner, and that involves every pocket of conflict that we see in Syria.
Question: How is that helping or hampering the delivery of aid to the… to Ghouta?
Spokesman: Well, obviously, if you have fighting, it's hampering the delivery of aid. Abdelhamid.
Question: Again, I'm sorry, Stéphane. Sorry you have to bear with us. I want to know if there is a policy to approve posters or not to approve, to approve pictures or not to approve.
Spokesman: I just said to you there is a policy. It's a public document, and I'm happy to share it with you.
Correspondent: Yeah. Now there were three posters that the UN rejected, yet we see them hanging. I want to… explanation that makes sense. I can give you many examples. I have institutional memory of this place. There were… Kofi Annan was visiting Jerusalem. He met with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu. DPI [Department of Public Information] put a picture downstairs says Kofi Annan, Netanyahu, Jerusalem, Israel. Immediately, that girl from…
Spokesman: Abdelhamid, I know you worked for the UN for a long time. I don't question your institutional memory. What I'm saying to you and I can… my memory is rather short. So, what I can tell you is that every Member State that wants to put up an exhibit has a discussion with… with the Secretariat. A decision is made. Things can be appealed. Things can be argued. That's what we do here. The exhibit that is up and is put up by the Israeli mission has been approved by the Secretariat. Okay? So, they're not doing anything that is illegal or untoward. It has… it has… it has been… it has been approved.
Question: How?
Spokesman: And it's up.
Question: Why when it goes against resolution…?
Spokesman: That is your opinion. We went through the process. And it has been approved.
Correspondent: No. It's not an opinion… Stéphane. Jerusalem is not…
Spokesman: I'm… I'm not going to go into the…
Correspondent: …as the capital of Israel.
Spokesman: James.
Question: I'm going to follow up on that. Approved on appeal?
Spokesman: No, I just said there are discussions and people…
Question: You say can be appealed. Was an appeal…?
Spokesman: There are discussions that are always ongoing, and what… the end result is what has been approved.
Question: Approved by DPI or Department of Management?
Spokesman: If it's a non‑public exhibit, it goes through the Department of Management and other relevant departments.
Question: Can we get the mechanism of approval?
Spokesman: I'll be happy to share that information with you. Masood.
Question: Stéphane, yesterday, Mr. John Ging gave a press conference on Yemen, and he said that the Yemen appeal of $1.8 billion of relief has been… is grossly underfunded. The Saudis who are responsible for the situation in Yemen have not come up with any contribution towards that. Is the Secretary‑General asked them… going to ask them for…?
Spokesman: I think we are asking anyone who can contribute to contribute. And I would encourage you to look at Mr. Ging's press conference, because he addressed those issues. Matthew.
Question: Something on Western Sahara and then on Burundi. I just wanted to… I've… I wanted to know if you have any update not only of the talks between the Secretariat and Morocco but also of just the current status of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). I've heard that Kim Bolduc essentially has no staff at all, that there's a person who's an air traffic controller who is doubling as her kind of factotum. Is that… how would you characterize the current staff levels and what Ms. Bolduc actually does day to day.
Spokesman: She is there as a Special Representative of the Secretary‑General and continues to work and lead the mission. Obviously, the civilian staffing continue… has not changed, and the mission is not able to fulfil its mandate as it was designed. The… the work continues, and we will report back to the Security Council as mandated by the last resolution.
Question: Okay. And I want… thanks. The… I know that you… yesterday you'd said it's an African Union question but you'd somehow check what the procedures are for vetting UN support for AMISOM [African Union Mission to Somalia]. I wanted to ask you this because there's an increasing uproar mostly because this General [Audace] Nduwumunsi was named in the leaked cable that gave rise to the controversy before even the third‑term election. So, it seems like does the UN… I'd heard that this… this sort of Human Rights Due Diligence Policy did apply to the UN support to AMISOM. And if it does, how does it apply in this case where the individual is named in the…?
Spokesman: I'll be honest with you. I failed to get… I failed… I probably asked and I didn't have the answer. So, I will try to get you something tomorrow. We will close with you, Nizar.
Question: Yeah, on Mukalla, I asked a few weeks ago about the number of Al‑Qaida members who were killed there and I did… never got an answer about that. Now the situation, as reports coming from Mukalla, speak about a [inaudible] conflict between United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. By proxy, they have a proxy war and bombings all at time. The city is much less stable than it used to be even under Al‑Qaida. So, what's the update from there? Also what's the update about commercial trade into Yemen?
Spokesman: Again, I wish you'd been there yesterday, because on the commercial trade on Yemen, Mr. Ging addressed… said basically the verification mechanism is working and is under way. On your other question, obviously, all the violence that you mentioned, the killings, the bombings, are, I think, what motivates the UN envoy and his team to continue to push the parties to come to an agreement on a cessation… on respecting a cessation of hostilities on the exchange of detainees and on political progress.
Correspondent: We're not talking about… we are not talking about the party which is contribut-…
Spokesman: I think what we're talking about… what we're talking about is the creation of an environment that allows extremist groups to flourish.
Question: Where those…?
Spokesman: Go ahead.
Question: Did you establish the number of Al‑Qaida…?Spokesman: I do not have that information.
Question: Or if they were transferred to somewhere else?
Spokesman: I don't have that information.
Correspondent: I have a question on Western Sahara, so sorry. Just to change…
Spokesman: Just to change the subject. Why not? Why should we? Go ahead.
Question: There is a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Morocco and MINURSO, and on the website it says "confidential". And normally, these Memorandum of Understanding are not confidential. Can… can we know what has been signed in this Memorandum of Understanding about the… that rules that govern the relation between MINURSO and the Government of Morocco?
Spokesman: Let me look into it. I hadn't heard it. Okay. Thank you.