Noon Briefings

The Secretary-General addressed the Security Council’s formal meeting on Somalia this morning, and told the Council that the situation in Somalia remains fragile, but there remain glimmers of hope.

The Secretary-General met with Catherine Ashton, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union. They discussed the importance of the cooperation between the United Nations and the European Union on a broad range of areas, including the Middle East and Lebanon, the situation in Sudan, Somalia, Iran, Pakistan and Kosovo.

In Strasbourg today, the Secretary-General spoke to the Council of Europe, to join with the Council in celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. He said that one of the cardinal missions of the United Nations is to shine the light of human rights everywhere, including the darkest corners of the world.

This weekend in Morocco, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the opening of the World Policy Conference in Marrakesh. He highlighted three main themes: the need to pull together for the poor and vulnerable; the need to pool our energy and resources to stave off the climate catastrophe; and the need to work together on a host of new-generation challenges.

Roger Meece, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, briefed the Security Council this morning on recent developments there, including the rapes and other recent violence in the east. He said the attacks in North Kivu clearly show the importance of civilian protection and compelled the United Nations Mission, MONUSCO, to review its procedures and take additional steps to protect people.

The Secretary-General spoke by telephone this morning with President Sebastian Piñera of Chile, to offer his warmest wishes following the safe rescue of 33 miners in Chile. In a statement we issued last night, the Secretary-General joined with the people of Chile and the families of the heroic miners to celebrate what he called the “extraordinary triumph of human ingenuity and the strength of the human spirit”.

Addressing the Security Council’s meeting on peacebuilding today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that while progress was being made — in Burundi, Haiti, Nepal, Sierra Leone and elsewhere - for people who have suffered through conflict, progress can’t come fast enough. He emphasized four areas for improvement: to get the right people in the right place at the right time; to have predictable financing; to forge more effective partnerships; and to put women at the heart of peacebuilding.

The General Assembly voted today on the five incoming members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning in January 2011. The incoming members will replace Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda, whose two-year terms expire at the end of this year. The new elected members are Colombia, Germany, India, Portugal and South Africa.

The Security Council is just back from its mission to Sudan where ambassadors visited Juba, El Fasher and Khartoum last week. Speaking from Khartoum on Saturday, United Kingdom Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant affirmed that the Council remains concerned about conflict in Sudan and the continuing risks to peace and security there.

The Security Council delegation to Uganda and Sudan began its day in El Fasher, meeting with the Wali of North Darfur. At the start of the meeting, the Council's leader for this part of the mission, United Kingdom Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, expressed the Security Council's concern over increased levels of violence, the protection of civilians, sexual violence and the illegal flow of weapons.