The High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, said today that an increasingly complex international environment is making it harder to help the world’s more than 43 million refugees, internally displaced and stateless people.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
This morning the Security Council authorized the deployment mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to be extended until 31 October 2012. It requested the African Union to urgently increase its force strength to its mandated level of 12,000 uniformed personnel.
Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, briefed the Security Council this morning about the latest developments. He said that today’s meeting comes at a sad moment, following the killing of former President Berhanuddin Rabbani, but, he believed the resolve of the Afghan people for peace will not be deterred.
In a formal meeting this morning, the Security Council agreed to send the application received last Friday from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the Standing Committee on new admissions. The Standing Committee will hold its first meeting on the matter this Friday.
B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, briefed the Security Council on the Middle East this morning, telling Council members that the parties remain far apart. He added that the main obstacles to a Palestinian State are the continuing Israeli occupation and the Palestinian divide.
The Security Council heard a briefing today on Libya from the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, who said that the UN Support Mission in Libya is establishing a presence in Tripoli, which, he said, displays remarkable normality. A key task will be investigating human rights violations.
The United Nations human rights office is extremely alarmed at continued reports of the increasingly brutal crackdown against protestors by Syrian authorities. It cites reports of prominent human rights defenders being targeted, and is also concerned by reports of attacks against families and sympathizers of the protestors.
The Secretary-General spoke at the General Assembly meeting commemorating the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, where he noted that we have come a long way in the past decade, but that we must acknowledge that intolerance has increased in many parts of the world.
The Secretary-General has been chairing the High-level Meeting on Libya this morning, where he said that it was an historic day for Libya, as its new leadership is formally welcomed into the international community. The new Libyan flag flew for the first time at UN Headquarters this morning.
Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, informed the Secretary-General today of his intention to submit an application for membership in the United Nations. The Secretary-General reiterated his support for the two-State solution, and they discussed Quartet efforts for resuming negotiations.