Noon Briefings

With over 358,000 Syrians registered as refugees across the region, in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says it is racing against time to ensure the refugees are protected from winter conditions, even though the revised regional response plan remains only one third funded.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the Joint Special Representative for Syria, held a frank and substantive meeting in Damascus yesterday with President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Brahimi said President Assad had reacted positively to his call for the Government to declare a military pause during the Eid al-Adha holiday. Mr. Brahimi hopes this appeal will be heeded by all concerned for the good of the Syrian people.

The Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the League of Arab States today appealed to all warring parties in Syria to heed the call for a ceasefire and a cessation of all violence during the period of Eid al-Adha so that the Syrian people are able to observe the important religious holiday in peace and security.

Today in New York, the Secretary-General spoke at the opening ceremony of the Four Freedoms Park, the memorial to American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He heralded the vision of the late President and said that no single person was more instrumental in the founding of the United Nations than President Roosevelt.

The Secretary-General spoke at the Security Council’s open debate on peace and justice this morning, saying that we now live in an age of accountability. He said that rulers and warlords who perpetrate atrocities can no longer trade their power for an amnesty and then slip away, unpunished, to some safe haven.

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.