Effective immediately, the United Nations is taking additional steps to reduce risks to its national and international staff serving in Afghanistan. This is in light of the 28 October attack against UN staff in Kabul, as well as further ongoing threats.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
In Athens, the Secretary-General today warned that conditions in which many migrants move and live remain treacherous. He spelled out three major challenges facing migrants worldwide: first, on the economic front, the global recession; second, climate change; and third, human trafficking.
The Secretary-General this morning had a working breakfast in London with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and afterwards he told reporters that they had discussed, among other things, Afghanistan, climate change, the Millennium Development Goals and Myanmar.
The Secretary-General made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul today, following the attack on a Kabul guesthouse last week, in which five UN staff members were killed and others were injured.
The Secretary-General paid tribute in a town hall meeting to the United Nations staff members who were killed in an attack on a guest house in Afghanistan on Wednesday.
The Secretary-General will brief the Security Council on Afghanistan in closed consultations at 3:30 this afternoon.
The Security Council began its work this morning with consultations to discuss the Secretary-General’s most recent report concerning Lebanon and the implementation of resolution 1559 (2004). The report, which is out as a document today, calls the June elections another milestone in Lebanon’s transition.
In the Security Council this morning, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy, was joined by the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support, Susana Malcorra, to brief members on practical ways to strengthen the capacity of the African Union to build and maintain peace, as well as to reinforce the relationship between the United Nations and the African Union.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights today reiterated its belief that something similar to Justice Richard Goldstone’s Gaza Fact Finding Mission is also needed for Sri Lanka ‑‑ given the widespread concerns about the conduct of the recent war there. The Office said it is still deeply concerned that some 250,000 displaced people are living in what are basically internment camps.
Peacekeepers from the African Union–United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) have intervened in a deadly ethnic clash in North Darfur between two tribes. At least two people died and six people from both sides sustained injuries during the fighting. The immediate cause of the clash is believed to be access to water sources.