The operations centre of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in Mazar-i-Sharif has been attacked today following a demonstration, with several staff killed. Briefed on the incident, the Secretary-General called it “outrageous and cowardly” and condemned it in the strongest terms.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General is in Nairobi on the first full day of his visit to Kenya. This morning, he launched his report on HIV/AIDS ahead of the high-level meeting on the topic at the General Assembly in June.
The Secretary-General will open the fifth meeting of the Global Colloquium of University Presidents next Monday, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The meeting is dedicated to the theme of “Empowering Women to Change the World: What Universities and the UN Can Do”.
The Secretary-General addressed the international conference on Libya today in London, saying that, although decisive and swift action by the international community saved thousands of lives, air operations, alone, will not resolve the crisis, nor will it bring about a political solution that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people.
The Secretary-General will speak to the General Assembly this afternoon in an informal plenary of to discuss, among other things, his recent travels to Egypt and Tunisia, and his diplomatic efforts concerning Libya. He will say that Libya has not taken any steps to fulfil their obligations under resolutions 1970 (2011) and 1973 (2011).
The Secretary-General convened a high-level meeting this morning of senior officials of UN agencies, funds and programmes to take stock of the international response to the latest developments resulting from the situation at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which has given rise to calls to reassess the international emergency response framework and the nuclear safety regime. The Secretary-General supports these calls.
The Secretary-General will be delivering his mandated seven-day report on the implementation of resolution 1973 (2011) regarding Libya to the Security Council this afternoon at 3 p.m. And that will be an open meeting, to be followed by consultations at approximately 4:40 p.m. He will go to the Security Council stakeout to brief correspondents on the meeting and on his recent trip to the Middle East and North Africa.
The Secretary-General strongly condemns today’s bomb attack near a bus stop in West Jerusalem, which has reportedly killed one woman and injured over 30 Israeli civilians, some of them seriously. Such attacks are unacceptable. He calls for an immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism and violence against civilians.
The Secretary-General is in Tunis where he is expected to tell civil society groups that he has come to show solidarity at this historic time, to listen to the concerns of the people and to offer United Nations help. Earlier today, he heard from the leadership about Tunisia’s map for its democratic transition.
The Security Council will hold consultations on Libya at 3 p.m. today. As of 19 March, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimate that at least 320,000 people have fled Libya, while nearly 9,000 remain stranded at the borders with Tunisia and Egypt.