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.
**Security Council
This morning, the Security Council met on enhancing African capacities in the areas of peace and security. The Secretary-General said that he firmly believes the international community needs to change the narrative about Africa and to establish a higher platform of cooperation that recognizes Africa’s enormous potential and promise. In the area of peace and security, he said the African Union and the UN have a shared interest in strengthening mechanisms to defuse conflicts before they escalate, and to manage them effectively when they occur.
The Secretary-General added that enhancing African capacities is essential both in the context of our collective response to international peace and security challenges as well as for the self-reliance of the African continent. Along with the African Union, he noted that our shared objective is to work closely on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and comparative advantage in all stages of the conflict cycle and in a systematic, predictable and strategic manner. His full remarks are online.
**Yemen
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today that it is deeply shocked and saddened at reports of the deaths and injuries of internally displaced people in an aerial attack on the embattled Mawza district of Yemen’s Taizz governorate. The number of civilian casualties is still being verified, but initial reports indicate that at least 20 people — including women and children — were killed. UNHCR says that this latest incident once again demonstrates the extreme dangers civilians face in Yemen, especially those people attempting to flee violence, since they disproportionately bear the brunt of conflict. The Office says it also illustrates the difficulties in providing humanitarian protection and assistance in Yemen. Despite the security and safety conditions, UNHCR’s assistance for the internally displaced has reached the Mawza area. You can read more on UNHCR’s website.
**Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, arrived in Kinshasa for a three-day mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tomorrow, he will fly to the eastern part of the country to inquire about the humanitarian situation in North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika Provinces, before visiting the Kasai region. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the under-reported crisis in the remote Kasaï region is the most alarming in the country. WFP is extremely concerned by the lack of resources for this crisis. Despite this, it is launching operations to respond to the urgent food and nutrition security needs.
**Somalia
Our colleagues from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have helped 316 Somali migrants return to Somalia over the past four days. Many of these migrants were rescued from a boat near Yemen in February, and had been waiting since then to return to their country. While the migrants were waiting to leave, IOM helped ensure that they received medical care, food and clothing, and that the most vulnerable women, children, and medical cases received temporary shelter. The agency also ensured that they travelled safely through Yemen and across the Arabian Sea.
**Korean Peninsula
We’ve been asked about recent developments on the Korean Peninsula, and what I can tell you is that the Secretary-General welcomes the proposal by the Republic of Korea to reopen inter-Korean communication channels and encourages the leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to respond positively. As the Secretary-General emphasised on 28 April at the ministerial-level Security Council meeting, the absence of communication channels with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea could be dangerous. Reopening and strengthening communication channels, particularly military to military ones, are needed to lower the risk of miscalculation or misunderstanding and reduce tensions in the region.
**Noon Briefing Guests
In a short while, I will be joined by Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, and Masud Bin Momen, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh and Chair of the Least Developed Countries Group. They will be here to brief you on the launch of the Office’s flagship report, entitled "Financing the Sustainable Development Goals and the Istanbul Programme of Action in the Least Developed Countries". That will be after I’m done. Before that, are there any questions for me? Yes, Mr. Abbadi?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Thank you, Farhan. On enhancing security and peace in the Continent of Africa, how does the Secretary‑General concretely propose to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and the AU [African Union]?
Deputy Spokesman: There are some proposals about the strengthening capacity in his full speech. We have that in our counter, and it's available online if you want, but have a look at that. Yes?
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask you about this… the… the Saudi‑led Coalition, the blocking of the plane with the journalists on it. There was a… particularly a… there's a quote in one of the stories quoting the… a Coalition source saying that “the UN must ensure that the journal… ensure the journalists' safety and make sure they do not carry out any other activity”. What's… what is the UN's role? Does… one, first, does the UN believe there should be increased international coverage of situations like that in Yemen? What does it do to bring that about? What is it trying to do to get journalists into Sana'a? And what does it think of this position that it's the UN's job to make sure what journalists do once they arrive?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, we do try to get access for journalists whenever we can do so, including into Yemen. It's not specifically the duty of our humanitarian flights to carry journalists, but there have been times when we've been willing to do that in order to increase access to this area. Regarding this specific situation, our humanitarian colleagues have informed us that the UN Humanitarian Air Service flight, which was cancelled by the Coalition yesterday due to three BBC journalists carrying Government visas being on board, was rescheduled for today. The flight took off from Djibouti and landed in Sana'a with 26 humanitarian workers on board, but not the three BBC journalists. As our colleagues have said, this partially explains why Yemen, which is one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, is not getting enough attention in international media. The lack of coverage is hindering humanitarian workers' effort to draw the attention of the international community and donors to the man‑made catastrophe that the country is experiencing.
Question: I guess, either relatedly or not, can you give a status of what the children and armed conflict report that normally may come out by this time… when's it going to come out and…?
Deputy Spokesman: It's being worked on. I believe it is expected to go to the Member States sometime in… probably in early September. We'll give you advanced notice before that happens. Yes, Sherwin and then Joe.
Question: Thanks. Thanks, Farhan. I'm sure you've seen that the appeals court in The Hague has ruled that the… the lower court reviewed the continued detention of President Laurent Gbagbo's trial continues over there. But, recently, a former mediator to the conflict, former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, made some controversial comments, to say the least, in South Africa that Gbagbo is central to… to the national reconciliation process in… in Côte d'Ivoire and that if he were to be convicted of… of the charges he faces in The Hague that there will be civil war in Côte d'Ivoire. Now, given that the UN has had a peacekeeping mission there for many years that you've just recently withdrawn, what's the UN's assessment about what this former mediator is saying about the role of Gbagbo's facing trial? And I guess it's a broader conversation about this notion of justice versus peace.
Deputy Spokesman: Well, ideally, the United Nations hopes that countries can achieve both peace and justice as they try to move beyond the problems of war and conflict. With regard to Côte d'Ivoire, as you know, there was a UN peacekeeping mission there, which wrapped up its work in the belief that the society was on its way to repairing relations among the various groups. We think that reconciliation has been moving ahead, and we hope that it will continue to do so regardless of developments on the ICC front. Regarding that, of course, we, as you know, respect the judicial independence of the ICC, the International Criminal Court, and we don't second‑guess their rulings, which are based on what they feel is needed for the strengthening of justice in Côte d'Ivoire, which we hope will go hand in hand with the reconciliation efforts.
Question: Is there any view on the role of Gbagbo and the future reconciliation in Côte d'Ivoire?
Deputy Spokesman: Obviously, we want all of the leaders of Côte d'Ivoire and the former leaders of Côte d'Ivoire, wherever they may be, to play a helpful role. And that, of course, is not contingent on where they are located. Yes, Joe?
Question: Yes. As you know, the ESCWA [Economic and Social Commission for West Asia] agency's so‑called Israel apartheid report was removed last March from the website as per the direction of the UN Secretary‑General, but the non-governmental organization UN Watch is reporting that that agency's official website and social media posts are replete with references to "apartheid", accusations against Israel. Gives a whole number of examples. So, I'm wondering, number one, you know, whether anyone in the Secretariat is responsible for monitoring as a follow‑up to the Secretary‑General's direction and… and whether, in fact, if this charge by UN Watch is true, the corrective action will be taken to further implement the Secretary‑General's direction to remove references to "apartheid" on an official UN website in relation to Israel. Thank you.
Deputy Spokesman: Well, just to remind you that that report that was issued earlier this year was not a report of the Economic and Social Commission on West Asia, but was by independent experts, and we don't have any relationship to them. Regarding the group itself, ESCWA, as you know, it is now under a new leadership, and we would trust that the new leadership of the Economic and Social Commission will be in charge of monitoring their communications to make sure that those are in line with UN policies.
Question: Well… follow‑up to that. First of all, I believe that report, as I recall, was issued under… at least allegedly, under the auspices of the UN, which is what apparently upset the Secretary‑General, that it wasn't run through his normal offices of review, and therefore, he directed it that it be removed from the… from the website bearing the name the United Nations. Well, the same problem, apparently, is being perpetrated by that agency and the UN official website using the term "apartheid" against Israel, just in a different form. And shouldn't there be some monitoring at the Secretariat to make sure that the overall direction of the Secretary‑General in relation to that charge of "apartheid" at his direction is followed?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, we do trust… like I said, there's new leadership in the Economic and Social Commission of… for West Asia, and we do trust that they will do the monitoring and any appropriate follow‑up that's necessary. Regarding that report, it did not follow the consultation process that the Secretary‑General would have expected. Mustafa?
Question: Farhan, just yesterday, you reaffirmed freedom of worship, but the same day, Israeli police shot and injured the Aqsa Mosque imam. Any reaction to this?
Deputy Spokesman: We're concerned about any steps taken in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Holy Sites that impede the freedom of worship by any of the groups or religions, and we hope that the status quo will be maintained in that area. Yes, Majeed?
Question: Thank you. I have… Farhan, I have two questions about Syria and one about Iraq. I want to start with Syria. Turkey and US‑backed Kurdish forces are on the brink of a war in Syria, and the US forces are right in the middle of them. Do you have any comments about these serious military developments in Syria?
Deputy Spokesman: We certainly hope that all of the parties dealing with the fight against Da’esh in Syria will coordinate their activities with each other and that there are no misunderstandings or problems between them.
Question: How about the political track, second question of… in Syria, France is now proposing a contact group and proposing that all major powers who were involved in the war in Syria to propose a solution to… and this seems to be a proposal for another process other than Astana, and now we have Geneva. Does the Secretary‑General feels that the UN‑led process is being side-lined with all these other efforts in the… in the… in the regional and international level?
Deputy Spokesman: No, no, our hope is that all the various efforts by different concerned countries will involve working together to strengthening the process, including the process that his own Special Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, has been chairing in the talks in Geneva. As you know, the Astana talks have helped to contribute to the Geneva process, and Mr. de Mistura's been very appreciative of the contributions made by the parties who have attended the Astana talks. And we are hopeful that any further processes will follow that approach. No, there's other people asking. I can come back to you. Yes?
Correspondent: Shirin from Al Jazeera Arabic. If you can just talk a bit more about the… the Yemen… the flight that was carrying aid to Yemen, if you can specifically talk about the fact that a plane carrying aid was stopped, in addition to the fact that there were journalists on board, I mean…
Deputy Spokesman: Well, as I mentioned just now, there was… the plane had been carrying humanitarian workers and aid as well as journalists, and it was stopped. So, it was our concern. Now, as of today, the humanitarian workers and the aid have travelled in, but not, unfortunately, the three journalists from BBC. We do want not just to be able to bring in aid, which is, of course, a crucial aspect of the work we do, but we also want the world to know what's going on, and so steps like this do not help because, again, this has been a large man‑made humanitarian problem. The world needs to know, and journalists need to have access. Yes?
Question: I want to ask you about the… about the Central African Republic. There's a long AP story about… talks about in Bangassou, and it puts a pretty high number on… on… on the number of people they say killed in fighting between the UN peacekeepers and militias there. And they also quote individual residents who say, you know, that… that… who blame the… the UN's aggressive approach for some of the things that have happened to them. So, I wanted to know, one, does the UN… one is quoted as saying the UN soldiers shot her in the hand, and she's clearly a civilian. How does the UN keep track of… of… of the people killed in the… when it's engaged in these firefights? Does it acknowledge that it has shot some civilians? And, if so, how many? And, then, what does it do in those cases?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, the UN tries to take steps to limit any civilian casualties. We certainly are not intentionally firing at civilians. There are certain complex war environments where civilians may be caught up in the crossfire among different warring parties, but the standing rules of engagement of UN peacekeeping troops are not to shoot in areas of civilian concentration.
Question: Sure. But, I guess in… like, for example, this article quotes a woman saying: "The UN shot me." Is that something that the UN has checked out? And if they do find that it did happen, intentionally or not, what do they then do?
Deputy Spokesman: If we believe that any civilians were harmed in any way by the actions of peacekeepers, we do follow up, but that's something we do across the board.
Question: So, is there some way to know in Bangassou if any… if the UN has acknowledged shooting, intentionally or not, any civilians?
Deputy Spokesman: I can check about the details of the incident. MINUSCA [United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic] does follow up whenever there's any particular problem in terms of incidents in large civilian zones. Yes?
Question: Hi. Farhan, I wanted to follow up about the reports of Amnesty International that more than 5,000 civilians have been killed by Iraqi and Coalition forces during the battle in Mosul. Has the Iraqis responded for your calls to further invest… investigate? Is there any update about that?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, that's really… a question about whether the Iraqis have responded is really a question for the Iraqi authorities. Of course, we're concerned about any reports of civilian casualties, and we hope that the Government will follow up on those. Yes?
Question: Farhan, does Secretary‑General [António] Guterres intend to take a vacation this summer? And would he be able to give a press conference before here?
Deputy Spokesman: We expect for him to give you… the next substantial press conference we expect to be prior to the start of the General Assembly, and we'll try to give you the dates on that. And, yes, sometime in August, we expect him to take a little bit of time off, and we'll try and get… give you details of that as that happens. Yes, Richard?
Question: Pardon me if this was announced, but do you know is… 18 September, the day before the start of the General Assembly, has that been designated as a special one‑day event like we've had, unfortunately, in other years?
Deputy Spokesman: I don't have any details on that for now, but let me see whether I can get something on that, on 18 September. [He later said there would be a high-level meeting on sexual exploitation and abuse on that date.] Yes, yes, please?
Question: Forgive me if you addressed this earlier, Farhan. Any statements about the crisis in Gaza over the electricity… any further statements from the Secretary‑General?
Deputy Spokesman: There haven't been any statements in the last couple of days, but you know what our concerns have been, both from the Secretary‑General's perspective and from those of officials on the ground like Nickolay Mladenov and his Humanitarian Coordinator, Robert Piper. We've been very concerned that the civilian population of Gaza is suffering because of the lack of electricity and the severe humanitarian and economic consequences of that. And so we're hopeful that the authorities on the ground, including the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government, will help work on alleviating the situation there.
Question: And just as a quick follow, what, if anything, is the UN going to do to help… to help this crisis end?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, to the extent that we've been able to provide some support to the authorities in Gaza so that there can be less of an impact, we've been doing that, including through trying to help with the basic facilities. But, ultimately, what's needed is in Gaza… for Gaza to have a regular supply of fuel. Regarding our humanitarian efforts on the ground, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and its partners, including the [United Nations] Relief and Works Agency [for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] (UNRWA) and UNICEF [United Nations Children’s Fund], have been working together on the purchase, distribution and delivery of 810,000 litres of emergency fuel earlier this month to be delivered through this month to 189 prioritized health and water centres. And also, the start of the month, [the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] launched an appeal for $25 million to address urgent needs in Gaza. Yeah?
Question: Yeah. I want to go back to my earlier question and try to ask in a different way. We talked in terms of process, who's responsible for monitoring that website, but let me get to the substance, if you can answer specifically what you believe the Secretary‑General's view, comment would… or comment would be on the use of the term "apartheid" in relation to Israel on any official UN website.
Deputy Spokesman: I think the Secretary‑General himself made his own views very clear on this in February when he denounced the report that had been put out without his oversight. Yes?
Question: Sure. I wanted to ask you, yesterday, at the… at the… at the stakeout and after, Espen Barth Eide, the… the "when actually employed" Special Adviser on Cyprus, indicated that… that he doesn't think that… that going… at least for the current… for the time being, he'll be working on the file until the sides decide to go forward. But, he also seemed to indicate he would have no problem know… you know, if it were publicly known when he's actually employed, i.e., when he's… you know, the hours that he puts in for any particular period of time and seemed to indicate that that might also actually show the parties whether the process was going well or not going well. So, I wanted to know, first… one, are you aware, is there any place for the other "when actually employed" Special Advisers and envoys whether it's possible to know how many hours they work, not as a matter of… of being a cheapskate, but to know, as he said, how much they're actually working on the file? Where's that information available? And should… will you make it available?
Deputy Spokesman: No, the… that information is shared with the UN as part of the process by which, in fact, they get paid. And then, as a result of that, the details about their payment are then shared with Member States as needed.
Question: Where… in what document? Are there secret budget documents that the public can't see?
Deputy Spokesman: No, no. These are things that are shared with Member States in terms of when they ask about the costs of different operations and different missions.
Question: Why isn't it put in, for example, the reports… the financial reports on… on the missions? I guess I'm just saying because he's a particular envoy. He has no problem with it being public and said it might even be of benefit to make it public…
Deputy Spokesman: The reports of the political missions, yes. Yes, those would be included in those for the Member States.
Question: But, I guess my… just, as a general matter, isn't it public spending? Is it unreasonable to say that the public has a right to know how much they're getting paid?
Deputy Spokesman: All of the spending that the UN does is shared with the Member States, which ultimately means that it is available to the public.
Question: So, can you… in what document is the payment to a "when actually employed" envoy made available to the Member States, but apparently not the public?
Deputy Spokesman: I mean, these are not employee by employee. They're done by offices. The costs of the offices are given to the Member States. And the Member States approve those costs.
Question: Do you see any benefit of… of knowing when… as he said, of knowing when a "when actually employed" Special Adviser is actually working and if some files are, in fact, dormant and dead?
Deputy Spokesman: The figures, like I said, are tallied basically by offices. It's not by individual. We don't give each individual's payment to the Member States. We give the payments that are given to offices. That's how we handle it.
Question: Okay. Can I ask you… I want to ask you something else about reform, about this Greentree…?
Deputy Spokesman: One more, then Mr. Abbadi, and then we go to the guest. Yes?
Question: Okay. I had something else, but I wanted to… because it's coming up, this retreat that the Secretary‑General is… has… is planning for 22 July, will you confirm that it's at Greentree? And number two, who is going… are all Member States invited, or are groups invited? And second… and… and, finally, some… some… some Member States have said there was a meeting with something called the Group of Friends of the Future of the United Nations. Is… did that meeting take place? Because I looked at his schedule, and I never saw it. Was such a meeting held? And was it about reform?
Deputy Spokesman: This meeting on 22 July is part of the effort to discuss the reforms of the United Nations. It is, in fact, with all Member States, and it's not at a location that I disclosed, but it's in the New York area. Yes?
Question: Thank you. To that point, I understand that, besides economic reforms that the Secretary‑General has already announced, he's working on political reforms. Is that correct? And when would they be announced?
Deputy Spokesman: He'll inform you of all of his reform processes in due course. They're going step by step. As you know, he mentioned and announced in public his development reforms last week. There'll be further details. Some of these things will be discussed in different formats. For example, he's doing a town hall with staff [on Friday] in addition to the Saturday retreat. And so there's more of an effort to discuss with the various different stakeholders the reforms he's undertaking, and he'll also discuss them in the public sphere. All right, let’s get to our guest now.