United Nations Daily Highlights, 08-07-23

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MICHELE

MONTAS

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

SUDANESE PRESIDENT ASSURES SECURITY FOR UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN DARFUR

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir met briefly today with the African Union-United Nations Joint Special Representative for Darfur, Rodolphe Adada, and other senior members of the UN missions leadership when he

visited the headquarters of the United Nations African Union Mission (UNAMID) in El Fasher.

According to UNAMID, the Sudanese President reassured the UNAMID leadership of the governments preparedness to provide security for UNAMID security and convoys.

Due to the Presidents visit and airport closure associated with it, the scheduled arrival of the Egyptian engineering contingent has been postponed. New dates are to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, the suspension of the temporary relocation of non-essential UN personnel has remained in place since Friday, July 18. Only about 300 people have been temporarily relocated from Darfur.

Meanwhile, the UN system in Sudan, consisting of 18 organizations and departments

signed an agreement with Sudan identifying UN support in four major areas of development, namely peacebuilding, governance and rule of law; livelihoods and productive sectors, and basic services.

GROUP OF FRIENDS ON MYANMAR HEARS FROM SPECIAL ADVISER

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today convened meeting of the Group of Friends on Myanmar. The meeting included a briefing by the Secretary-Generals Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, on his upcoming visit to the country planned for mid-August. This is the fourth meeting of the group, which was established last December.

Asked who participated in the meeting, the Spokeswoman said the participants were: Australia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, the European Community and the European Union.

SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS MANDATE OF U.N. MISSION IN NEPAL, THEN TAKES UP SOMALIA

This morning, the Security Council

voted to extend the mandate of the UN Mission in Nepal by six months.

Then, the Council heard in an open meeting from the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, who said that the priority in that country should be to stay the course and follow through on the implementation of the recent Djibouti Agreement.

He said that choices for bringing peace to Somalia could include re-hatting the African Union force currently on the ground, establishing an international stabilization force or having the Security Council establish a UN peacekeeping force. He said that, given the favourable political context following the Djibouti Agreement, it is time for the Security Council to take bold, decisive and fast action.

The Council has followed its open meeting on Somalia with consultations on that topic.

Asked whether the Department for Peacekeeping Operations believes that UN peacekeepers should go to Somalia, the Spokeswoman said that first, the Security Council has to decide on the matter. The United Nations would implement whatever the Security Council decides, she said.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO ON SECURITY COUNCIL AGENDA TODAY

At 3:00 this afternoon, the Security Council will hold consultations on the

UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ross Mountain, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been visiting the North Kivu province since yesterday. He is accompanied by the Congolese minister of planning. Both men will be meeting with local authorities and representatives of UN agencies to assess the implementation of the security and stabilization plan for eastern DRC, which is a programme reached between the government and various eastern armed groups.

Meanwhile, the UN Mission (MONUC) reports several violations by various armed groups of the ceasefire in the Ituri province. On Monday, two local armed groups exchanged fire in the town of Tchey. No casualties are reported, and the battle ended following the intervention of UN peacekeepers. In South Kivu, UN peacekeepers intervened three times this week to put an end to gun battles between local Congolese groups.

KOSOVO: U.N. ENVOY MEETS SERBIAN OFFICIALS IN BELGRADE

The Secretary-Generals

Special Representative for Kosovo, Lamberto Zannier, traveled to Belgrade today to meet with Serbias Foreign Minister, Vuk Jeremic, and Serbias Minister for Kosovo, Goran Bogdanovic.

He will travel this evening from Belgrade to New York, where he will present on Friday the Secretary-Generals regular

report on Kosovo to the Security Council.

The purpose of Zanniers introductory meeting in Belgrade today was to move forward with dialogue on the practical issues that the Secretary-General had highlighted in his last special report to the Security Council.

CYPRUS: UN SPECIAL ADVISER MEETS WITH SECRETARY-GENERAL

Alexander Downer, the recently appointed Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Cyprus, is currently in New York for briefings. He met with the Secretary-General earlier today.

Downer is expected to arrive on 27 July in Cyprus, and pay courtesy calls on 29 July to the Greek Cypriot leader and the Turkish Cypriot leader.

The Secretary-General met with both leaders during his trip to Europe earlier this month.

WTO HEAD CALLS FOR MORE INTENSIVE NEGOTIATIONS DURING TRADE TALKS

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy, in a speech to the Trade Organization Committee today,

said that the latest round of consultations were constructive, but he noted that progress so far has been modest and uneven. Yesterdays discussions touched on a wide range of subjects, involving both agricultural and non-agricultural goods, subsidies and market access.

Lamy said it was time to move into more intensive consultations, and he invited delegations to engage each other over the next several days with greater urgency and a stronger willingness to compromise.

In other news, WTO has also welcomed Cape Verde as its 153rd member.

NEW GLOBAL STANDARD HELPS IDENTIFY NEXT-OF-KIN IN EMERGENCIES

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is promoting a new global standard to help rescue workers identify and notify victims next-of-kin in emergencies.

Simply adding the Arabic numericals 01, 02, 03, and so on to a persons nominated contact in the mobile telephone directory, such as "01father", "02wife" or "03husband", will help emergency workers in any part of the world identify contacts in order of priority and notify them.

BAN KI-MOON WILL ATTEND AIDS CONFERENCE, AS PART OF FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT TO MEXICO

The Secretary-General will head to Mexico on 3 August for his first official visit to that country.

The fight against AIDS will be a major focus of the three-day trip. In Mexico City, the Secretary-General will open the

XVII International AIDS Conference, being held for the first time in Latin America, with Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa. At the Conference and during its side events, the Secretary-General is expected to meet with world leaders, people living with HIV and community groups. He will reaffirm that the AIDS epidemic is not over and that we need a long-term vision to respond.

While in Mexico, the Secretary-General will hold bilateral meetings with the countrys President and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa Cantellano. He also plans to address a joint session of the Mexican Senate and Chamber of Deputies; discuss climate change policies with Mexican officials, and reach out to the business community through the UN Global Compacts Mexico network.

And in connection with the AIDS Conference in Mexico, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that it will be launching a resource pack at that gathering to help with the fight against AIDS. The pack will provide technical guidance concerning HIV-related education.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

U.N. PEACEKEEPERS IN LEBANON HELP BATTLE FOREST FIRES: Yesterday evening, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) received a request from the Lebanese Government to help it put out fires some 25 kilometers southeast of Beirut. The fires broke out Monday evening. A UNIFIL helicopter was immediately dispatched to the area and assisted Lebanese firefighters in extinguishing the fire until late in the evening. UNIFIL resumed its fire-fighting effort this morning with a second helicopter.

BAN KI-MOON IS NOT DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN CAMBODIA-THAILAND DISPUTE: Asked about the Secretary-Generals response to the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General had no direct role in that matter. She noted that a recent meeting of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) had called for that dispute to be resolved bilaterally.

BAN KI-MOON HAS SENT LETTER TO SECURITY COUNCIL DETAILING RECENT COMMUNICATIONS FROM ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH: Asked about a letter sent to the Secretary-General from Hezbollah, the Spokeswoman confirmed that the Secretary-General had sent a letter to the Security Council, which described the recent communications received from Hezbollah and from the Government of Israel.