Noon Briefings

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, has welcomed an agreement to end the recruitment and use of children in the national armed forces of Somalia. Mr. Mahiga, who signed on behalf of the United Nations, said it is critical for the professionalization of the security forces and will contribute positively to efforts to stabilize Somalia.

The swearing-in has taken place of the new Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jan Eliasson. Mr. Eliasson said he was deeply honoured and proud to be serving as Deputy Secretary-General and that he was committed to finding “good solutions” to the many issues that face the United Nations. The Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, was also sworn in.

The Secretary-General is leaving today to attend tomorrow’s Action Group for Syria meeting in Geneva, and we anticipate there will be a press conference by the Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, possibly at around 1 p.m. Geneva time, that is 7 a.m. New York time.

The UN refugee agency and more than 40 other humanitarian aid organizations appealed today for nearly $200 million to help meet the needs of the growing numbers of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. In the past three months, humanitarian agencies in neighbouring countries have been registering an average of more than 500 Syrian refugees a day.

The Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, announced today that the Action Group for Syria will convene at the ministerial level this Saturday, 30 June, in Geneva. Also, today, Deputy Joint Special Envoy Jean-Marie Guéhenno told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that, at the moment, all sides appear not to believe in the possibility of a political solution.

The Secretary-General told the General Assembly’s thematic debate on drugs and crime today that drugs and crime threatened one of our most important goals: to ensure sustainable development around the world. We have the Secretary-General’s speech in my Office and online.

The Secretary-General presented his latest report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict to the Security Council, in an open meeting this morning. He said that too many people are dying, in too many places. Sometimes they are caught in the crossfire; frequently they are targeted. He detailed attacks on civilians in places ranging from Afghanistan to Somalia.

This morning, the Secretary-General met with representatives of the People's Summit in Rio de Janeiro. He said that civil society has helped to promote greater corporate social responsibility, and added that the road doesn't end in Rio, but in many ways starts there.

This morning in Rio de Janeiro, the Secretary-General met with representatives of civil society and then attended a side event on energy, gender and economic growth. And at that event, he noted that women still suffer terrible exclusion in too many parts of the world, with energy poverty taking an especially heavy toll on women.

The Secretary-General opened the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro this morning. He said that Rio+20 represents not an end but a beginning. He added that progress on sustainable development since the Earth Summit 20 years ago, also held in Rio, has been too slow and that bold words and good intentions have not been enough.