Noon Briefings

The Secretary-General joined the President of Rwanda at the official commemoration ceremony of the Rwandan genocide. He and President Paul Kagame, joined by two young people born at the time of the genocide, lit the flame of mourning, which will remain lit for 100 days. He said many United Nations personnel and others showed remarkable bravery, but the United Nations could and should have done much more.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan strongly condemns the abhorrent attack on two international journalists today, which left one dead and the other wounded. The two journalists were shot in the Tani district of Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan. Ján Kubiš, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said that he was outraged by this attack on civilians.

The Security Council held a formal meeting on Darfur. Members adopted a resolution which took note of the proposed adjustment of the benchmarks. The Council requested the Secretary-General to further refine these benchmarks and indicators to reflect the revised strategic priorities of the Mission.

The Secretary-General attended a special high-level meeting on the Central African Republic in Brussels today, and he told the participants the world had a collective responsibility to respond to the grave security, humanitarian and human rights situation in the country. He stressed that reinforcements were needed for the current African Union and French forces on the ground and that the transitional Government needs help in restoring Government authority.

The Secretary-General arrived in Brussels for a three-day stay. He delivered a keynote address at the International Conference on the Prevention of Genocide, telling the participants about the Rights Up Front initiative, which aims to improve prevention through an intense and early focus on human rights violations.

The Secretary-General welcomes the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report on the impacts of climate change. It confirms that the effects of human-caused climate change are already widespread and consequential, affecting agriculture, human health, ecosystems on land and in the oceans, water supplies, and some industries.

This week has marked a year since rebels, known as the Séléka coalition, seized power in the Central African Republic. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, violence and displacement continue, with fighting continuing in the capital Bangui in the past week. The Central African Republic Red Cross reports that at least 18 people were killed.

The Secretary-General will travel to Kigali to participate in the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, which will be marked on 7 April. In addition to the ceremony and events marking this occasion, he will visit a project by genocide survivors, and meet with President Paul Kagame.

The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kyung-wha Kang, signed today an agreement with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa to strengthen humanitarian and disaster preparedness efforts in the region at IGAD’s Drought Resilience Summit in Kampala, Uganda.

During the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, the Secretary-General held several bilateral meetings, including with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte and Frans Timmermans; Queen Máxima of the Netherlands; and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron. Discussions centred on the situations in Ukraine and Syria, as well as on the Central African Republic.