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, everyone.

**Security Council – Ebola

This morning the Security Council adopted a presidential statement on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  In the statement, the Council demands safe and unhindered access to humanitarian and medical personnel, highlights the need for a comprehensive and community-based approach and emphasizes the importance of strengthening international support and engagement.  The full statement is online.

**Security Council

And currently and for the rest of the day, the Security Council will be meeting in an open debate on children and armed conflict.  In her remarks, Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, highlighted that it’s been 20 years since the Council placed this issue on its agenda.  And in 10 years, resolution 1882 made killing and maiming and sexual violence against children triggers for the accountability of the tools devised by the Council. 

Gamba noted the improvements in the protection of children last year.  But, as she mentioned in this room earlier this week, the UN once again verified an increase in the number of children killed and maimed in conflict. 

The Special Representative called on the Security Council to support engagement to end and prevent violations against children and to ensure commitments taken by parties to conflict actually mean something. 

UNICEF’s Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, also pointed out in her remarks that half of last year’s verified violations involved the killing and maiming of children.  “We must do better,” she told Members of the Security Council. 

She also called for additional support for the reintegration of former child soldiers to meet mental health needs of children impacted by armed conflict.

**Mozambique

And we were asked earlier and I wanted to say in answer to questions about the situation in Mozambique that the Secretary-General takes note of the signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement by President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique and opposition leader of RENAMO Ossufo Momade.  This is a step towards a signing a definitive peace agreement next week.  The United Nations stands ready to support the people of Mozambique in the implementation of the agreement and in advancing peace, reconciliation and development.

**Ceasefire in Syria

On Syria, we can say that we welcome last night’s announcement of a ceasefire in the north-west of the country.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, no airstrikes have been reported since midnight, but there are reports of artillery shelling in northern Hama.

The pause comes after three months of intense hostilities that have resulted in close to 500 civilians killed and the displacement of more than 440,000 people.

The UN reminds all parties to the conflict, and those who have influence over them, of their obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and the principles of distinction and proportionality enshrined in international humanitarian law.

**Statement on Syria

You saw last night, yesterday morning rather, before the Secretary-General’s stakeout, we issued a statement on the establishment of the UN Board of Inquiry in north-west Syria.

**United Nations Personnel Appointments

And also yesterday afternoon we announced that the Secretary-General is appointing Melissa Fleming of the United States as the next Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications and we welcome her very much.

She succeeds Alison Smale of the United Kingdom, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organization.   

**UNRWA Appointment

And early in the day we also announced the appointment of Christian Saunders of the United Kingdom as Acting Deputy Commissioner-General for UNRWA.  Voila.  Yes sir.

**Questions and Answers  

Question:  Thank you Steph.  Is the SG considering, or will he consider, taking action or a stronger position to prevent that there is not a new arms race around the world, especially following the withdrawal of the US of the INF?

Spokesman:  You know I would refer you to what the Secretary-General talked about very explicitly yesterday, his great and deep concern about the passing of the INF Treaty, the risks of a new arms race and the walking back basically of commitments and engagements that had been taken.  And I do expect a more formal statement on the INF a bit later today.  James.

Question:  Thanks, Stéphane.  Happy Friday.

Spokesman:  You guys, there is no such thing as a bad Friday unless you work on Saturday.

Question:  Yesterday you guys announced the Board of Inquiry into Idlib, north-west Syria, at the hospitals and so on.  We had the SG talking about it yesterday.  He talked about the inquiry a little bit.  He said it was going to be objective, important.  And at the end of his comments he said something interesting, he said that the inquiry is, quote, not to prove anything but to simply say what the truth is.  And I'm not grinding into the detail here, but when he says not to prove anything, what did he mean?

Spokesman:  I think what the Secretary‑General underscored, he was answering the question related to statements having been made by some Member States criticizing his decision, and he was basically saying that the Board of Inquiry will do its work and in an impartial way and uncover the truth as best it can.

Question:  Do we know at this stage if it's going to be one of those reports that assigns blame?

Spokesman:  Right now, the process is about putting together the actual membership of the Board of Inquiry and putting together its terms of reference.  But you can see that we have done Board of Inquiries before and you can look back at different models.  Yes.  Majeed.

Question:  Stéphane, about reports of children in armed conflict, and the process in which the names of the parties put in the Index, which is a lot talked about in media, does the Secretary‑General or his office approves each one of… each one of these names to blame?  How is that?

Spokesman:  It's the Secretary‑General's report so he stands, obviously, by every word in the report.  It's his report.  It is done through the work of his Special Representative, Virginia Gamba, who works for him on this issue, but the report is his report.  And I think, you know, understandably there is a lot of interest in the list because it's very simple to grasp.  But I think I would encourage people to read the narrative of the report, which I think is in much greater depth and detail and perspective on this issue.  And, of course, you have what Ms. Gamba said earlier today in the Security Council.  One last question of the week.

Question:  Thank you.  Please, I just wanted to ask, North Korea launched its third test yesterday.  Does Secretary-General have anything extra to say on that and is he happy the Security Council met yesterday on this topic?

Spokesman:  We know Security Council met on this topic.  Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo briefed the Security Council members on his behalf, expressed his concern.  And for him it's clear that this kind of launch underscores the need for the swift resumption of talks on the denuclearization and other issues related to the Korean Peninsula.  Thank you.  Have a good weekend.