United Nations Daily Highlights, 07-08-28

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN

KI-MOON'S

PRESS CONFERENCE

U.N.

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

[The noon briefing will resume Wednesday, August 29, 2007]

BAN KI-MOON'S OPENING REMARKS AT PRESS CONFERENCE

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the press. Its a great pleasure to meet you again.

As you all know, the UN Security Council last month approved a resolution dispatching 26,000 multinational peacekeepers to Sudan, jointly commanded by the United Nations and the African Union. It came after many months of difficult diplomacy. Now we have an historic opportunity. We must seize it.

That is why I will travel next week to Sudan, Chad and Libya. I want to go and see for myself the very difficult conditions under which our forces will operate. I want to know, first hand, the plight of those they seek to help.

But more, I want to create the foundations of a lasting peace and security. My goal is to lock in the progress we have made so far. To build on it so that this terrible trauma may one day cease.

Meanwhile, I am deeply concerned about the recent escalation in violence in Darfur that has caused the death of hundreds of people in the last few weeks alone. Attacks such as the one on the Adilla police on August 1, the repeated bombardments of villages in Southern Darfur that followed, including just three days ago, and the attack on Kilkil Abu Salam in Northern Darfur on August 18 are simply unacceptable. I appeal to the Government of Sudan and to all parties to refrain from military action and choose, at this critical juncture marked by the adoption of Security Council resolution 1769, the path of peace and political dialogue.

So, we must lose no more time.

I have a three-point action plan moving forward.

Let us begin with peace-keeping. Getting peace-keepers on the ground, speedily and effectively, requires a massive logistics effortcommunications, water, food, supplies and infrastructure. This is one of the largest and most complex field operations the United Nations has ever undertaken, together with the African Union, and the work is well underway. But it cannot succeed without the cooperation of the government of Sudan, and I will seek its full support when I meet with President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum.

Peacekeeping, alone, is not enough. It must be accompanied by a political solution. That is part two of my plan: to push the peace process.

Here, too, we are well on track. The Sudanese government is ready to come to the table. Earlier this month, opposition leaders from Darfur met in Tanzania to coordinate their negotiating positions for these talks. My aim is to keep up the momentum, to push the pace among the parties with a view toward issuing invitations to a full-fledged peace conference by the end of summer.

I will also visit Juba. While the international community must help find a solution to the crisis in Darfur, we must also continue to do our utmost to push the broader peace process, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement previously negotiated between south and north Sudan. Ultimately, this will require a more equitable sharing of power and resources among the central government and the countrys regions, so that fully representative national elections can go forward as planned in 2009. Beyond Darfur, this remains an essentialand fragilecornerstone of peace in Sudan.

The third element in my action plan for Darfur involves humanitarian aid and development. Any peace in Darfur must be built on solutions that go to the root causes of the conflict. We can hope for the return of more than 2 million refugees. We can safeguard villages and help rebuild homes. Ultimately, however, any real solution to Darfurs troubles involves something moresustained economic development.

Precisely what shape that might take is unclear. But we must begin thinking about it, now. There must be money for new roads and communications, as well as health, education, sanitation and social reconstruction programs. The international community needs to help organize these efforts, working with the government of Sudan as well as the host of international aid agencies and NGOs working so heroically on the ground.

Water is the first requirement. Earlier this summer, scientists presented evidence of a vast underground lake beneath south-western Sudans arid plains, not unlike similar geologic features discovered elsewhere in the region. That can only be determined by exploratory drilling. A team of UN engineers is on the ground; more will follow in what we hope will be a global effort. If there is indeed water there, we will leave no stone unturned to help find it.

We live, as you all know, in a world of global problems, requiring collective responses. Darfur is no exception. Regional players have already contributed enormously to our diplomatic efforts, among them Libyas Muammar Gaddafi, who helped bring parties that have not yet signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement into this coming round of negotiations. That is the reason why I will end my trip with a visit to Tripoli next week.

Meanwhile, the UN is working with the European Union to deploy a multi-dimensional presence in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic. As you know, the Security Council yesterday indicated its willingness to authorize such a mission.

The purpose: to protect refugees, IDPs and other civilians affected by the spill over of the conflict in Darfur and to ensure the continued flow of humanitarian aid.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a few other announcements, as well.

Not long after my return from Africa, on September 21, we will hold an Enlarged Contact Group meeting on Darfur. This meeting a follow-up to the Paris meeting in June will be co-chaired by me and AU chairperson Mr. Alpha Oumar Konare.

On September 14, we will host the first meeting of our MDG Africa Steering groupa key initiative to focus on what is needed to achieve our Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in Africa.

And we will also hold high-level meetings on Iraq and Afghanistan around the time of the General Assembly, as well as a Quartet meeting on the Middle East.

Thank you very much. I will be pleased to answer your questions."

(A full transcript of the press conference will follow)

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE U.N. SYSTEM

SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATE ON AFRICA: With Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in attendance, members of the Security Council today held a formal debate on conflict prevention and resolution in Africa. In his address to the Security Council, the Secretary-General stressed that the resolution of Africas most difficult conflicts is a top priority of his administration, We must devote more resources to conflict prevention, he sad. We must also strengthen our capacity for mediation. It is only through political settlements that conflicts can be resolved.

SECURITY COUNCIL INDICATES READINESS TO SET UP UN PRESENCE IN CHAD, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: The Security Council, in a Presidential Statement, gave the United Nations and the European Union the green light to prepare for a military and police deployment to help protect civilians in Chad and the Central African Republican caught in the spillover of the Darfur conflict. In the statement, the Security Council members expressed its readiness to authorize an international operation for a year to protect refugees, internally displaced persons and civilians at risk in eastern Chad and the northeastern CAR, and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

SECURITY APPEAL FOR CALM IN RUN-OFF POLLS IN SIERRA LEONE: Yesterday afternoon, the Council held closed-door consultations on Sierra Leone and heard a briefing on the subject by Dimitri Titov, the incoming Department of Peacekeeping Operations Assistant Secretary-General for the Rule of Law. The Security Council adopted a press statement, in which Council members commended the work of the Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission and the security arrangements provided by the authorities. They appealed for calm as the country prepares for the run-off presidential elections due to take place early September.

IAEA RELEASES IRANS WORK PLAN TO RESOLVE OUTSTANDING ISSUES: The Islamic Republic of Iran today requested the IAEA Secretariat to release the text of a work plan agreed between Iran and the IAEA titled, "Understandings of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the IAEA on the Modalities of Resolution of the Outstanding Issues."

NEARLY $37 MILLION NEEDED FOR PERU QUAKE VICTIMS: The United Nations and its humanitarian partners are launching today an appeal of almost $37 million to assist the more than 200,000 people in need of medical assistance, water, food, tents and blankets after a powerful earthquake hit Peru on August 15. This Flash Appeal is based on the latest assessments from United Nations interagency missions deployed to the affected areas. An allocation of 9.6 million from the Central Emergency response Fund (CERF) has already been approved for immediate assistance. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the death toll stands at 514 while the number of injured is 1,090. Preliminary assessments also indicate that over 37,000 houses and four hospitals were destroyed.

UNITED NATIONS LAUNCHES $20 MILLION APPEAL FOR FLOOD VICTIMS IN SUDAN: The United Nations are also launching a $20.2 million Flash Appeal today to support continued humanitarian aid to over three million beneficiaries affected by the floods in Sudan. These funds will enable us to save lives, to assist families who lost everything in gradually restoring their livelihoods, to prevent epidemics, and to help children get back to school, said John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

U.N. APPEAL REQUESTS $14 MILLION TO AID D.P.R.K FLOOD VICTIMS: Yesterday, the United Nations also launched an Appeal of $14 million to assist almost one million people in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea affected by widespread flooding, landslides and mudslides. The flooding killed more than 450 people and left 170,00 homeless. Margareta Wahlström, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, urged the international community to respond swiftly and generously to this Appeal, which will focus of the urgent provision of essential medicines, clean water and food.

IRAQ: RATE OF DISPLACEMENT RISING: The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that the humanitarian situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate with an increase in the number of displaced Iraqis, both inside and outside the country. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited Iraq and Syria today and yesterday to see first-hand the plight of thousands of Iraqi families and draw attention to this humanitarian situation. An estimated 4.2 million Iraqis have now been uprooted from their homes, with the monthly rate of displacement climbing over 60,000 people compared to 50,000 previously. According to the agency, Iraqis are finding it harder to get access to social services inside the country and are also choosing to leave ethnically mixed areas before they are forced to. UNHCR appeals for more support from the international community and encourage donors to provide direct bilateral support to refugee hosting countries whose schools, hospitals, public services and infrastructure are seriously overstretched by the presence of the millions of Iraqis they have welcomed.

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