Noon Briefings

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, welcomed the report of the independent UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which was published in Geneva yesterday. She said that its findings need to be treated with the greatest urgency, as they suggest that crimes against humanity of an unimaginable scale continue to be committed in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its deep alarm today at reports of a major military build-up and the increased threat to the population in the town of Yabroud, an opposition-held area in the Qalamoun Mountains of Syria. Estimates suggest there are some 40,000 to 50,000 people in that area, with thousands fleeing over the last few days.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, has allocated an additional $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support the most critical life-saving aid operations in the Central African Republic. She says the country has

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, wrapped up a visit to the Central African Republic and said he had witnessed a humanitarian catastrophe of unspeakable proportions; massive ethno-religious cleansing was continuing and shocking barbarity, brutality and inhumanity have characterized the violence in the country.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that, in the past four days, more than 1,130 people were evacuated from the Old City of Homs, including 457 people yesterday, and food supplies were delivered for 2,500 people. The Emergency Relief Coordinator has said that all those who are wounded and sick, whether civilian or combatant, have the right to medical assistance.

Valerie Amos, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, welcomed the news that the parties to the Syrian conflict have agreed to extend the humanitarian pause in Old Homs City for a further three days. At the same time, she said the deliberate targeting of aid workers of the UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent was unacceptable.

The Secretary-General is attending the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games, along with President Vladimir Putin and the President of the International Olympic Committee. Earlier in the day, he met separately with the Presidents of China and Ukraine, and the President of the International Paralympic Committee.

The Secretary-General strongly condemned the recent attacks in Iraq, including against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. He appealed to all Iraqis to unite in confronting terrorism and pledged United Nations support in that endeavour.

The Secretary-General arrived in Sochi today to attend the opening of the Winter Olympics. Tomorrow, he will deliver a speech to the International Olympic Committee session, the first Secretary-General to do so. He will also speak to reporters, along with the President of the International Olympic Committee.

United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners have launched a revised appeal for South Sudan, calling for $1.27 billion to help 3.2 million people. Nearly 60 per cent of the funding will go to pre-positioning vital aid supplies before the rainy season starts in June making roads and bridges impassable.