Noon Briefings

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Nicholas Kay, condemned an attack on the headquarters of the Somali Government in Mogadishu today. He said the Somali people were tired of shootings, bombings and killings. He added that it was time for a new chapter in Somalia’s history and that we could not allow a slide back at this critical time.

Valerie Amos, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, concluded her visit to the Central African Republic today. After returning from Bossangoa, she told reporters in Bangui that she had been shocked by what she saw, including burned homes and people so scared by violence that they sleep in the bush at night.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called on all parties in Ukraine to exercise maximum restraint after more than 20 people were killed during violent clashes in Kyiv between riot police and protesters on Tuesday. She strongly condemned the killings and urged the Government and protesters to act to defuse tensions and to take swift action to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

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.