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. We are going to be joined in just a few minutes by President of the Republic of Costa Rica and the Executive Director of UN-Women, who will brief you on the outcomes of the first report of the High-Level Panel for Women’s Economic Empowerment to the Secretary-General.
**Secretary-General
The Secretary-General continued his bilateral meetings today. He also delivered remarks at a number of events this morning, including a meeting [with] the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Advocacy Group; a high-level event on “Beyond the World Humanitarian Summit”; a ministerial meeting between ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the UN; a GA event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development; a panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment; and a high-level meeting on the humanitarian situation in South Sudan. Those remarks have been distributed and we will obviously continue to put out the readouts of his bilaterals as they come.
**Syria
Turning to Syria, today, an inter-agency, cross-line convoy has entered the besieged Syrian town of Moadamiyeh in rural Damascus, bringing assistance for 35,000 people. Today's convoy included food, medical supplies, education, water and sanitation and other supplies. We have resumed aid deliveries based on the humanitarian imperative to stay and deliver aid even in the most difficult situation — but, of course, we need assurances of safe passage first. The resumed convoys will be undertaken on a case-by-case basis depending on conditions on the ground. This pertains to Aleppo, as well.
**Central African Republic
From the Central African Republic, the UN [Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization] Mission in that country (MINUSCA) reports that the security situation in Kaga Bandoro and Ndomété has improved since last weekend’s violence. A UN team led by the Deputy Force Commander visited the area yesterday to investigate the recent ex-Séléka and anti-Balaka confrontations in both towns. The UN Mission has sent military reinforcements to Kaga Bandoro to strengthen its protection of civilians efforts and to enforce the existing weapons-free zone in the area.
**Democratic Republic of the Congo
Our colleagues at the Human Rights Office said today they are deeply worried at the latest round of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to their team on the ground, at least two more people lost their lives and three more were injured last night, and riots have erupted this morning. The Human Rights Office has received reports of excessive use of force by some elements of the security forces, as well as reports that some demonstrators resorted to violence. They call on all sides to show restraint and urge the authorities to ensure that existing national and international standards on the appropriate use of force are fully respected by all security personnel. This latest round of violence highlights the urgent need for a meaningful and inclusive dialogue on the electoral process.
**Press Briefings
A couple of things to flag this afternoon: at 3:30 p.m., there will be a press briefing by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Hungary. At 4 p.m., there will be a joint press conference with the Minister for the Environment of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Minister for the Environment of Rwanda and the Minister for the Environment of Norway on the Paris Agreements and the Montreal Protocol — special announcement on energy efficiency fund.
At 6 p.m., there will be a press briefing by His Excellency Miguel Vargas Maldonado, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, Ambassador Ana Castellanos, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) National Coordinator for the Dominican Republic, Laurato Pozo, CELAC National Coordinator for Ecuador, and Horacio Avila, Ambassador of Ecuador.
And tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., there will be a briefing on the 3rd Floor of the GA [General Assembly] building stakeout by Hervé Ladsous, the Head of the Peacekeeping Department. He will be joined by the Foreign Minister of Algeria, Ramtane Lamamra, and His Excellency Abdoulaye Diop, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Mali. This is will be following the meeting on Mali. At 11:20 a.m., in this room, there will be a briefing by His Excellency Faustin-Archange Touadéra, the President of the Central African Republic. And he will be joined by the Head of the UN peacekeeping mission in that country, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga.
**Honour Roll
We always like GA time because it is GA time, but we like GA time because a number of delegations have brought checks. We have been told by the Controller’s office that Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Zimbabwe have now paid their full regular budget dues in full. The result is a grand total of 122 Member States. And the GA is not yet over. So, I will take some questions and then we will go to our guests. Mr. Lee?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Sure. I wanted to know, recently… yesterday, the experts that were assigned by the Human Rights Council to look into Burundi came back with a very damning report that said: risk of genocide in the country. And so I'm wondering… I think I'd asked you this in writing, but has the Secretary‑General or DPA [Department of Political Affairs] set up any meetings during this General Assembly on this country that the UN itself says stands at risk of genocide?
Spokesman: Yes, the Secretary‑General will have a bilateral meeting with the Foreign Minister of Burundi either tomorrow or Saturday.
Question: Right. But I guess what I'm saying is that there have been… on other crises in the world, there have been these meetings… actually, I'll… just to save time, I'll jump forward. I understand that Stephen O'Brien went to a meeting on Yemen in Conference Room 12 yesterday. And I didn't see any readout of it. And I'm wondering just sort of, what is the… was this a… what was his speech there? Can it be made public?
Spokesman: I don't… that's a question you should ask our colleagues in Mr. O'Brien's office. I don't have Mr. O'Brien's schedule.
Question: And the question that I'd asked you in writing about Yemen, which was that people in Yemen say that the delegation coming back from the talks was much delayed, and they basically are saying that the envoy told them that they had to fly through Saudi Arabia, or there was some signing of a waiver that, even if they flew on a UN plane, they would hold the UN harmless if there were a problem with the plane. Are you aware of these allegations in Yemen that the envoy tried to use the flight back as a…?
Spokesman: No, I don't know what… you're asking me the granular details that I don't have here. What I do know is that, as a matter, of course, non‑UN staff that take UN planes do have to sign a waiver, whether they're delegations, whether they're journalists or whether they're NGO [non-governmental organization] workers. So, if that… if there was some signature of a waiver, that is absolutely standard procedure.
Question: What about flying through Saudi Arabia? Is that standard?
Spokesman: I don't know… as I said, I don't have any details on that. Mr. Klein?
Question: Yes. Does the Secretary‑General have any comment or response to the criticism leveled by the Israeli ambassador regarding the references in the Secretary‑General's General Assembly speech to Israel's settlements policy and what the Israeli ambassador called an obsession with the settlements issue and a one‑sided treatment of the problem…?
Spokesman: We are not going to comment from here on every… on the speeches that are made by the Member States during the General Assembly. And we're not going to comment on the reactions that some may have to what the Secretary‑General has said. That being said, I think the Secretary‑General's position on the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict was made clear in his speech. It reflects his thinking, and I have no doubt some of that will be raised in the bilateral between the Prime Minister of Israel and the Secretary‑General later today, from which there will be a readout for you to read. Mr. Lee?
Question: Sure. Western Sahara and then this… the issue of the book. On Western Sahara, just now, earlier this morning, the Foreign Minister of Morocco said flatly that full functionality has been restored. And so, I wanted to know, from the Secretariat side, have all 83 been returned? What is the number? Just factually.
Spokesman: I have no… I mean, I heard what the Foreign Minister said. I'm not going to comment on what he said. I will get you an update of what the staffing level is on MINURSO [United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara] as soon as I can get one.
Question: Sure. And I wanted… I mean, thank you. Earlier today, you sent me an answer about this… the book that the Secretary‑General has been signing and giving to Heads of State. What I wanted know… I mean, I'd asked you in writing how much it cost and to see a copy of the content, because it seems to be called Highlights of the Tenure of… I've seen the cover. And then you've said that it's sort of an open review, including… does it have self‑criticism or…?
Spokesman: The book… you know, you will be able to see the book when it hits the UN Bookstore shortly. I don't have a copy on my desk, unfortunately. As I said, it's an open exercise reflecting on what went well, what went wrong during the last 10 years. I think any time in this organization where we can take the time to stop, pause and look back is very useful. It's something that we don't do often enough. Obviously, the Secretary‑General will give his successor direct personal advice. There will be handovers of… kind of handover briefs of papers that will be internal. But, I think an open and transparent look back on the tenure, as I said, with what went well and what went wrong will be… I think is useful to all, is useful to the next Secretary‑General and his team, is useful to Member States. As I said, the book should be available soon, and it will be… it's the same version that the Secretary‑General is giving visiting heads of delegation as a gift.
Question: How many were printed? You said that there will be 1,000… 500 paperback and 1,000 hard cover… have they already been printed?
Spokesman: They're in the process of being printed and some advanced copies…
Question: Okay. Just… people that have seen this answer have asked me this, so I wanted to ask you this. Do you see a contradiction… if the people writing the book are, in fact, UN staff whose job is dependant on the UN, how open a review is it? I mean… Are there anonymous chapters?
Spokesman: I think, before… I would encourage you to review the book once you've read the book. And I would encourage everybody to do that. Thank you. Mr. Klein and then we'll go to our guests.
Correspondent: Okay. Well, sort of related to that question…
Spokesman: I'm happy to take related or unrelated.
Question: …or quasi follow‑up. Quasi follow‑up. During his speech to the General Assembly, the Secretary‑General made virtually no reference to any of the mistakes that have been attributed to his administration, the sex abuse scandal involving the peacekeepers, the alleged corruption, pay‑for‑play and so forth, procurement scandals, et cetera. There was no self‑reflection and no concrete suggestions to avoid those mistakes for the next Secretary‑General. Why… why… if he did lay this out… this self‑criticism out in this book, why wasn't that reflected more in his speech to the Heads of State?
Spokesman: I think the… maybe… you and I don't have the same reading of the speech he gave. I think he did speak about the issue of sexual abuse. He did speak about Haiti and cholera in ways that he's not spoken before. He talked about the… I mean, I think he talked about those two issues in depth. You know, obviously, he's not going to be able to talk about everything in a speech. It's not also the last time he will be addressing… I mean, it's the last time he's addressing the General Assembly and the general debate. It is not the last time he will be addressing Member States. And I think he gave a pretty… he… I think, if you look at what the Secretary‑General said, it is also a reflection of his feelings and what he has learned over the last 10 years at the helm of the Secretariat.
Question: Do you have anything on the son‑in‑law panel?
Spokesman: On the what?
Question: On the panel that selected the son‑in‑law as…?
Spokesman: No, I don't have anything on that today. All right. I will get our guests. Thank you.