Noon Briefings

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, briefed the Security Council this morning on the latest developments in the country. He said Somalia was forming the first post-transition Government, that the security situation had vastly improved and that the fall of Kismayo — the last stronghold of Al-Shabaab — marked a decisive turning point in the conflict.

During a visit to Tehran, Lakhdar Brahimi, United Nations-League of Arab States Joint Special Representative for Syria, stressed the urgent need to stop the bloodshed in Syria, and appealed to Iranian authorities to assist in achieving a ceasefire in that country during Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest holidays celebrated by Muslims around the world.

The Secretary-General, on behalf of the entire United Nations family, has extended sincere congratulations to the European Union on its receipt of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. Today, an indispensable partner to the United Nations has been given a richly deserved recognition of its importance in Europe and around the world, he said.

This is the first International Day of the Girl Child, and the Secretary-General will mark the occasion by speaking at a high-level panel on child marriage this afternoon. He will say that child marriage can disrupt girls’ education, increase their exposure to abuse, jeopardize their health and result in early and unwanted pregnancies — an often life-threatening risk.

Leila Zerrougui, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, has condemned in the harshest terms the targeted attack by Taliban gunmen on Pakistani schoolgirls in the Swat Valley, north-west of Islamabad. She said Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which claimed responsibility, must respect the right to education of all children, including girls, to go to school.

The Secretary-General has appointed Mr. Romano Prodi of Italy as his Special Envoy for the Sahel, and he looks forward to Mr. Prodi’s leadership in shaping and mobilizing an effective United Nations and international response to the complex crisis plaguing the countries and people of this region.

The Secretary-General delivered the keynote address at the Council of Europe’s World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg, in France, today, and said the situation in Syria is posing serious risks to the stability of neighbours and the entire region. He expressed concern about the continued flow of arms to both sides, and urged those countries providing them to stop doing so.

The Secretary-General is alarmed by escalating tensions along the Syrian-Turkish border. As the situation inside Syria deteriorates yet further, the risks of regional conflict and the threat to international peace and security are also increasing. The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to abandon the use of violence, exercise maximum restraint and move towards a political solution.

The Secretary-General is appalled and deeply saddened by the latest attack on peacekeepers in Darfur, which occurred during the evening of 2 October when unidentified armed assailants ambushed a UNAMID patrol in El Geneina, West Darfur. Four Nigerian peacekeepers were killed and eight were wounded.

Meeting today with the Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister, the Secretary-General raised in the strongest terms the killings, massive destruction, human rights abuses and aerial and artillery attacks by the Government. They discussed the growing humanitarian crisis and its alarming spillover to neighbouring States.