Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good afternoon.
**Secretary-General’s Travels
The Secretary-General is in Laos today, where he participated in the ASEAN-UN Summit. In his remarks, he stressed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ vital and growing role in ensuring peace and stability in the region and beyond, and praised the progress made in building strong ties between the two organizations over the past ten years. He said that the ASEAN-UN Plan of Action will advance the two major agreements reached last year: Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on climate change. He strongly encouraged ASEAN members to establish a coordinating mechanism to ensure the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and urged them to ratify the Paris Agreement. Laos deposited its instrument of ratification with him today, and the Secretary-General commended the country for being the first ASEAN community member to do so.
The Secretary-General also commended ASEAN members for addressing regional tensions through peaceful dialogue and said he looked forward to the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea.
Before the Summit, the Secretary-General visited the Training Centre of the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme and participated in the launch of SDG 18 for Lao, which is a national SDG goal aimed at removing unexploded ordnances that impact millions of people across the country. On top of these activities, he launched the Lao-UN Partnership Framework, and met with the President and Prime Minister of the countries. His remarks and readouts of his meetings have already been shared.
**Western Sahara
And an update from Western Sahara: The situation in the Guerguerat area of Western Sahara, inside the Buffer Strip, remains tense, with road construction activity initiated by Morocco in the area south of the Berm being opposed by Frente Polisario. Despite the ongoing efforts of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, otherwise known as MINURSO, to de-escalate the situation with the parties, security elements from both Morocco and the Frente Polisario have maintained their positions on the road, approximately 120 metres apart from each other. The UN Mission has deployed unarmed military observers into a position between the parties in an effort to maintain calm.
In parallel, we have been actively engaging at senior levels with the parties and key Member States to urge restraint and identify options for an acceptable solution to the current crisis. Any resumption of hostilities, with the potential to have wider regional implications, remains of significant concern.
**Syria
And our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) are concerned with the new displacement of some 100,000 people in Syria’s Hama governorate, due to fighting between Government forces and non-State armed groups.
The mass displacement took place between 28 August and 5 September from northern rural Hama and the north-western countryside of Hama towards neighbouring villages and Hama City itself.
The UN and its humanitarian partners have delivered food, nutritional supplies, water and sanitation and other items for about 15,000 people on an inter-agency convoy that went to Hama on 4 September. Distribution of aid is being done in collaboration with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The UN has also conducted a field visit to visit two distribution centres to better understand the situation on the ground and continue planning humanitarian response.
**Afghanistan
And in Kabul today, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, called on the international community to urgently scale up support to over 1 million people who are expected to be displaced internally and across borders by the end of the year.
More than 1.1 million people have been displaced from their homes by the conflict in Afghanistan, including more than 245,000 people since the beginning of 2016. More than 5,000 displaced Afghans are returning from Pakistan every day.
The humanitarian community in Afghanistan will launch a Flash Appeal requesting some $150 million to meet the needs of people on the move, including Afghan returnees.
Mr. O’Brien said that the international community must remain steadfast in support of the people of Afghanistan and to prevent more than 126,000 children from dying every year.
**UNICEF
And on the subject of children, a new UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) report finds that 28 million children — a third of whom are refugees — have been driven from their homes by violence and conflict within borders.
Children represent a growing proportion of those seeking refuge outside of their countries of birth. Last year, nearly half of all child refugees under UNHCR’s protection came from Syria and Afghanistan.
Anthony Lake, the Head of UNICEF, said indelible images of individual children — Aylan Kurdi’s small body washed up on a beach or Omran Daqneesh’s stunned and bloody face as he sat in an ambulance after his home was destroyed — have shocked the world.
But he added that each picture, each girl or boy, represents many millions of children in danger — and this demands that our compassion for the individual children will be matched with action for all children.
The report also found that Turkey hosts the largest total number of recent refugees and very likely the largest number of child refugees in the world.
Relative to its population, Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees by an overwhelming margin, with roughly one in five people in Lebanon being a refugee.
**Peacekeeping
And I wanted to flag that a UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial event will be taking place tomorrow in London, hosted by the United Kingdom. This is a follow-up to the Leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping hosted by the Secretary-General and US President [Barack] Obama last year during the General Assembly.
During the event, Defence Ministers will review progress on the implementation of last year’s pledges and announce new commitments. They will also focus on operationalizing pledges through better training, force generation, pre-deployment processes, doctrine, equipment, leadership, performance, lessons learned mechanisms and rapid response capabilities. The meeting will develop a shared plan on how peacekeeping can help implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda and discuss how to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse allegations. The UN will be represented by three Under-Secretaries-General, Hervé Ladsous, the Head of the Peacekeeping Department, Atul Khare, the Head of the Department of Field Support, and Jane Holl Lute, who as you know is the Special Adviser for the Secretary-General on SEA (sexual exploitation and abuse).
In addition, this evening, the first UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award will be presented in London to Major Aichatou Ousmane Issaka from Niger. Nine peacekeeping missions nominated peacekeepers to be considered for the Award and they were assessed on how they integrated the principles of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security into military functional areas.
**Anti-Semitism
And I wanted to flag that earlier today, or even as we speak, there is a High-Level Forum on Anti-Semitism. In a video message to the event, the Secretary-General said that it is the world’s oldest, most pervasive and deadliest form of hatred.
He noted that despite the lessons of history and the horror of Holocaust, Jews continue to be targeted for murder and abuse solely because they are Jews. The Secretary-General stressed that violence against people because of their religion identity or beliefs is an assault on the core values of the United Nations.
He added that alongside a global rise in anti-Semitism, we are also seeing many other alarming forms of discrimination — in particular, hatred and stereotyping directed at today’s refugees and migrants.
The Secretary-General says he is appalled by those who fan the flames of religious bigotry for political aims.
**UN Chamber Music Society
And I wanted to flag, on a more cultural note, that there will be a concert by the UN Chamber Music Society of the UN Staff Recreation Council in remembrance of the victims of 9/11; and that will take place Sunday evening, on 11 September, at 7 p.m. at the All Saints Episcopal Church in New York. I encourage you to go listen to some of our colleagues play a number of beautiful pieces.
**Honour Roll
And on a more practical level, I want to thank Chad, Niger and Uruguay for paying their dues. The honour roll has now reached? Ah. One of you gets to ask a question. Since you won yesterday, Sherwin, you can't… it's like the lottery. You can't win two days in a row.
Correspondent: I have to thank Sherwin for the tip. [laughter]
**Questions and Answers
Question: Steph, there is an internal Congolese army report which says that MONUSCO (United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) has helped trans… or has transferred hundreds of South Sudanese opp… South Sudanese fighters who crossed the border into DRC with the opposition leader, Riek Machar, and they've transferred them from… to Goma. And, apparently, the Congolese are not very happy about this. They say MONUSCO didn't make them aware that this was happening. Have you got any details? Is this true?
Spokesman: Sure. I can confirm that following recent events in South Sudan, some armed elements of the SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) in Opposition have crossed into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The UN is engaging with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan with a view of finding solutions for these combatants in line with the respective mandates. MONUSCO has evacuated some elements from the SPLA in Opposition on humanitarian grounds so they can receive urgent medical assistance, pending their voluntary disarmament. And I can assure you that we have been in touch with all the relevant authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And I would stress, again, that those members of the SPLA in Opposition who were evacuated to hospitals, those acts were done purely on humanitarian grounds. Their conditions, a number of them, was truly critical and it was an issue of life and death, and I think we had… on humanitarian grounds, I think we had no choice.
Question: And do you have a figure for how many of these fighters were evacuated by MONUSCO?
Spokesman: I don't have an exact figure, but we are talking above 100. Sherwin?
Question: I mean, this kind of goes back to my question yesterday about the future of Riek Machar. There are now hundreds of fighters that are being assisted by the UN. What is the future of Riek Machar and these fighters in relation to the implementation of the peace deal? I mean, it seems very unclear from the UN's perspective what role he will play, moving forward.
Spokesman: Well, you know, I think there… though they may be somewhat related, I think they're not completely linked. Here we're talking about a relatively small… in the bigger picture of things, small number of fighters. They had crossed into the DRC. They were found to be in the DRC in the Garamba… in the area around Garamba in extremely bad shape. Again, they were evacuated to health facilities on medical grounds. The criticality of the political process, of the peace process, in South Sudan remains. What Riek Machar's individual role is, what his health situation is, it's not something I can answer, but clearly, whether it's him personally or those he represents, politically or on other grounds, all have a role to play, including with the Government, in trying to put the country back together, for lack of a better expression.
Question: Does the UN have a clearer understanding as to why those troops, including Riek Machar, fled across the border into the DRC in the first place?
Spokesman: I would venture that they did it… that Mr. Machar did it for his own safety, but I'm speculating, which is something I shouldn't do. What I know is that they were found to be in this area in critical… in a critical situation, and the troops were… the armed elements were evacuated, though I would stress that all their weapons were taken… they surrendered their weapons before boarding any UN helicopters. And a number of them are now getting medical following. Yes?
Question: Just another follow‑up. Was the… were the injuries that they suffered… did that happen in South Sudan, or did it happen after they crossed the border into DRC?
Spokesman: I'm really… I'm not a lot of things, but I'm definitely not a medical expert. What I can tell you is that they were suffering from various conditions that have to do with the terrain, with not access to food, with walking. I can't… it doesn't appear as if they had… I mean, I don't know, is the bottom line so… Mr. Lee
Question: Sure. I guess also on South Sudan, I wanted to know, after this Secur… Security Council trip and the sort of the joint communiqué that was issued, what is DPKO's (Department of Peacekeeping Operations) understanding on what countries can… will be allowed by the Government of South Sudan to contribute troops to this 4,000? And also, the commitment that was made to humanitarian access, some people are saying that there've already been aid convoys blocked around Wau since the visit. And so that's kind of an OCHA matter. What is… what's…
Spokesman: The humanitarian access continues to be very challenging for us in South Sudan. We're not getting the access that we need. As far as the protection force, I think, you know, that process is under way. We saw the joint statement from the Security Council and the Government. We also saw some of the clarifications that were given by the Government afterwards. What we know is that the situation in South Sudan is critical. We do need to see progress on the political front, and we would like to see all the Security Council resolutions implemented.
Question: But who is actually going to speak to potential TCCs (troop-contributing countries)? Is it DPKO or is it the US? I guess I…
Spokesman: Well, I think it is… you know, it is… It is, from what I gather, an IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority for Development)-led process. They will be placed under the overall command of the peacekeeping mission. I'm sure we will have a role, but this is not a traditional peacekeeping force… a UN peacekeeping force, in a sense.
Question: And just one last thing on this? I just wanted to… before too much time goes by. At the time that Riek Machar crossed into DRC, some people are saying that the Government… the Salva Kiir Government communicated to the UN that it would shoot helicopters if MONUSCO helicopters came in to save them, and I wanted to ask you just to clarify…
Spokesman: I'm not aware of those threats. The UN operations were done within the DRC. Masood and then Edie?
Question: Yes, thank you, Stéphane. On these impending talks between the United States and Russia on Syria, do you have any idea as to what are the parameters of these talks and whether these talks which are being held, has the United Nations been taken into confidence as to what this is all about?
Spokesman: What the parameters of the talks… I think that's a question for my colleagues at the State Department and at the Russian Foreign Ministry to answer. We know and we have stressed over and over again the critical leadership role of both the Russian Federation and the United States in co‑chairing the International Support Group on Syria (ISSG). Their leadership is critical. The fact that they need to agree is also critical for the future of the political process in Syria, so we can finally… the people of Syria can receive the well‑deserved peace and support that they need. Edie?
Question: Thank you, Steph. On Western Sahara, is the UN Mission anywhere near back to full strength? There were, I believe, 25 civilians who had come back, which is far below the number that left.
Spokesman: We are not yet at full strength. I was trying… I was asking this question a little earlier. I'm trying to get some numbers or at least percentages for you in terms of where we are, but we are not back at full operational capacity.
Question: Are… is the UN above… are there more than 25 who came…?
Spokesman: I will resist my efforts to speculate. Mr. Klein?
Question: When is the Secretary‑General due back in New York? And is there now a firm date set for a full‑blown press conference?
Spokesman: Joe, you know, I love to entertain your questions but… [laughter] … and I hope that during your vacation you don't watch the briefing, but we have announced on a number of occasions that the press conference will be on 14 September.
Correspondent: Okay.
Spokesman: It is confirmed.
Correspondent: Thank you.
Spokesman: In this very room.
Correspondent: Thank you.
Spokesman: And he will be back in the office on Friday. And then Ali.
Question: With regard to pilgrims this year to Mecca, the Saudi authorities banned more than 60,000 Iranian Hajjis from going there. Also, Yemenis were deprived of going to Mecca this year. Then they introduced a practice, which is tagging the pilgrims, all of them, by electronic devices. That's the first time in history pilgrims going to Mecca are tagged. How does the United Nations view such practises?
Spokesman: I don't… I haven't seen those particular reports, so I can't really comment on them. We do very much hope that this year's Hajj goes by peacefully, without… and without any incidents. And we obviously convey our best wishes to those who will be participating in the pilgrimage.
Question: Regarding Syria, I asked yesterday about those who came out from Darayya. Have you got any statistics? And where…
Spokesman: No, I wish I did, but I don't unfortunately.
Question: The people of Kefraya and Foah complain that there's no aid coming to them for many months now.
Spokesman: Well, we clearly have been echoing those complaints. I think we can't even begin to imagine the suffering they have endured. Whether it's the Secretary‑General, whether it's Mr. O'Brien or Jan Egeland or Staffan de Mistura, I think we've all been saying loud and clearly that, especially in August, we have not received the humanitarian access that we need — that, in fact, the results of the humanitarian deliveries have been going backwards from where we were in July. So we have echoed those calls. Ali?
Question: Yes. Thank you, Stéphane. Last week in a letter to the Secretary‑General, the Pakistani Prime Minister proposed a fact‑finding mission to be sent to Indian‑controlled Kashmir where 80 people have now been killed, more than 100 blinded by pellet guns and thousands more injured. Does the Secretary‑General have a response to the proposal?
Spokesman: I haven't seen the letter, but let me chase up on it and see what the response was. Michelle?
Question: Just back to South Sudan for a moment. On those clarifications given by the South Sudanese information minister the other day, was there anything among them that is out of the ordinary for the discussions the UN has with the… with a country before deploying peacekeepers? And these… this force is under UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan) command, so therefore, they're UN peacekeepers, no?
Spokesman: You know, what is within the ordinary, what is out of the ordinary, I will let you make those judgments. Obviously, I think it's always better if those discussions are had face to face rather than through the services of the media. As I said, the Security Council adopted a resolution. We hope it's implemented fully. Mr. Lee and then Sherwin.
Question: Sure. First, I wanted to check, did… on this question of Burundian military figure Mr. Mayuyu that I'd asked you about that you… first you'd said it wasn't on any roster. Then it was said that he had been repatriated. Now some are saying he hasn't been…
Spokesman: No, I didn't… I didn't… I think… I didn't say he had been repatriated.
Question: So what was the meaning of that?
Spokesman: I said we are repatriating him. The discussions are ongoing with the Government of Burundi. As soon as we have a date, I will let you know.
Question: Has he joined the military observing…
Spokesman: I'm not aware of what his specific role is.
Question: I wanted to… I guess… I know you've been asked about Gabon. I wanted to ask you, there was a protest in front of the UN yesterday, of Gabonese very much calling for a recount, etc. So I wanted to know, on the question of now… now Ali Bongo has said everything's up to the Constitutional Court. Seems like there are definitely some international bodies saying that there should be a recount in the home province of Ali Bongo. What does the Secretary‑General believe?
Spokesman: Just to update you on Mr.… on our position, what Mr. [Abdoulaye] Bathily is doing, first, that he will be part of the African Union mission that will be going to Libreville. Obviously, he's already there, but he will be joining the mission, starting 9 September. He is continuing to encourage the opposition to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court. The deadline to submit is now set for 8 September at 4 p.m. local time. In this regard, Mr. Bathily met with John Ping on 6 September to encourage him once again to use the existing legal means to channel his dispute. Mr. Bathily will remain in direct contact with President Ali Bongo Ondimba as well. Sherwin, then Richard.
Question: Back to South Sudan, the protection force, are you clearer on when this force is expected to deploy? And will it be before 15 December, when the mandate is expected to expire?
Spokesman: We would hope that the protection force be deployed as quickly as possible. I think, as you know, as we all know, the mobilization of a peacekeeping force takes some time in the best of circumstances. The situation in South Sudan is clearly not the best of circumstances. Discussions are being had with potential troop contributors. We hope that it is formed and dispatched as quickly as possible. Mr. Roth?
Question: Did you say what time the Secretary‑General briefing, press conference, first in nine months, is? I haven't looked at my DVR noon briefing collections, but then I have an actual question after. But do you have a time? Is it 11 a.m.?
Spokesman: It should be about noon. It would replace… in lieu of the noon briefing, as we would say.
Question: The noon briefing is irreplaceable in many ways. The other internal matter of briefing is there's a… the best tradition on September… the best show not televised is UNDPI (Department of Public Information), I forgot to ask the Tal, and security briefing the press on UNGA (United Nations General Assembly). Is there a day scheduled for that where the shouting and yelling will begin?
Spokesman: I look forward to it, because I can hear it from across the wall in my office. I don't know. We'll ask our DPI colleagues in the back. Maybe you can find out a time and let us know. Thank you. Masood?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. Last week, Israeli general… retired Israeli general said that Israel has… what do you call… perfected the art of occupation of the territories under it. Does the Secretary‑General agree with this description of the Israeli general calling Israel perfecting the art of occupation?
Spokesman: I will not insert myself into the ever-lively political debate that goes on in Israel. I think the Secretary‑General's position on the occupation and what's going on in the occupied Palestinian territory is clear. Sir?
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask you, the… the… I'd sent you last week, when there was no briefing, in lieu of a briefing, a flyer for a purported fund‑raiser to be held in the UN, October 2nd. Were you able to find out, is that going forward…
Spokesman: We're looking… it is… it does raise some interesting questions, so we're looking into it.
Question: Okay. And I wanted to ask again about the promotion of the Secretary‑General's son‑in‑law, and here's why. I finally did find a contact at this… you sent me to UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). They said you have to ask something called DOCO (Development Operations Coordination Office). DOCO has an Internet form on their website. So the question has gone in, but as a former UNDP spokesperson yourself, I guess I'm asking you, how do you suggest there to be transparency in how the Secretary‑General's son‑in‑law was selected for the top job in Kenya?
Spokesman: I think we've… I've addressed… I feel I've addressed this question rather exhaustively. We went through a process. I would hope we can find the list of all the agencies and entities that are represented on the inter‑agency task force through which candidates for the resident coordinator system go through. Again, the Secretary‑General stayed well away from this particular process, and, again, I think, by all account, Mr. [Siddarth] Chatterjee is more than qualified to occupy this post after a long career within the UN system. International NGOs…
Question: I'm asking because, since I last asked you, I've become aware, I've been informed, that, in a previous series of reportings on questions about potential nepotism, but potential, that have been raised at various stages by [Staffan] de Mistura, in UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services), that Mr. Chatterjee purported to offer jobs in the Secretariat to people that would not report on this, and so I wanted to know, this creates…
Spokesman: I think that's a ridiculous accusation. Thank you very much.