United Nations Daily Highlights, 08-07-25

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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

Friday, July 25, 2008

BAN KI-MOON PRAISES CYPRIOT LEADERS FOR AGREEING TO NEGOTIATE COMPREHENSIVE SETTLEMENT

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

warmly welcomes the agreement today by the Greek Cypriot leader, Mr. Demetris Christofias, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat, to launch full-fledged negotiations on 3 September 2008 aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.

The Secretary-General commends the Leaders for the progress made so far and takes this occasion to reiterate the full support of the United Nations for their efforts toward a mutually acceptable solution.

During his visit to the island next week, the Secretary-Generals Special Adviser on Cyprus, Mr. Alexander Downer, will discuss with the leaders how the United Nations can best assist the process.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Cyprus, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, delivered

a joint statement concerning the Cypriot leaders decision to start their full-fledged negotiations on 3 September, under the Secretary-Generals good offices mission.

The aim of the full-fledged negotiations is to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem, which will safeguard the fundamental and legitimate rights and interests of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. The agreed solution will be put to separate simultaneous referenda.

The Leaders, in their talks today in Nicosia, also approved sixteen measures, which were recently agreed upon in the relevant technical committees, on the environment, cultural heritage, crisis management, and crime and criminal matters. Those measures will now need to be implemented.

In addition, the Leaders agreed to establish a secure hotline to facilitate direct contact between themselves and instructed their Representatives to take up the issue of specific crossing points.

SERBIAN ACTIONS HINDER PERFORMANCE OF KOSOVO PEACEKEEPING MISSION

Lamberto Zannier, the Secretary-Generals new Special Representative for Kosovo, told the Security Council in its open debate today that the ability of the

UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to perform the vast majority of its tasks as an interim administration has been fundamentally challenged, owing to actions taken by the authorities in Pristina and the Kosovo Serbs.

Speaking to the Council for the first time, Zannier said that, while he and his staff continue to monitor the work of the Kosovo authorities and to mediate and facilitate in disputes between communities, his power to impose solutions throughout much of the territory has in practice disappeared.

He noted that UNMIK has been engaged in panning for a reconfiguration of its presence which takes account of the changed circumstances. An initial reconfiguration plan has been developed and forwarded to Headquarters, outlining a number of measures which will reduce the Missions capacity in areas where it can no longer function for example in civil administration and enhancing it in others, with particular attention to minorities.

Zannier said he remains optimistic that UNMIK can continue to have an important role in facilitating dialogue among different parties on matters affecting the lives of all Kosovos communities.

Yesterday, the Security Council received a briefing on humanitarian and political developments in Myanmar from the Secretary-Generals Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, who noted that he will visit that country next month upon invitation from the Government.

MYANMARS CYCLONE-AFFECTED CHILDREN NEED SUSTAINED AID

Twelve weeks in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, nearly 700,000 children under the age of 17 were still in need of longer term assistance,

according to the United Nations Childrens Fund.

Today, the aid and reconstruction programmes were moving forward and were allowing schools to be re-built. Schools had re-opened a few weeks ago, giving hope for a better future for 6,000 children.

UNICEF had distributed education supplies and recreational kits to children in the affected areas and had set up temporary learning spaces. In a recent appeal, UNICEF requested nearly $91 million for its humanitarian operation until April 2009.

This would help ensure that children continued to have access to primary schools, ensure the treatment and prevention of malnutrition among children and pregnant women, and provide support in the field of water, hygiene and sanitation.

The World Food Programme also

says hundreds of thousands of families still have a lengthy storm to weather and the situation in Myanmar remains dire as the vast majority of families simply don't have enough to eat.

The findings of a joint Government, ASEAN and

UN report, released earlier this week, substantiate WFP's concerns and earlier fears of a drastic reduction in household food stocks after the cyclone struck.

In response to the assessment's results, WFP recently scaled up its emergency feeding programmes for 924,000 beneficiaries, which will last until next April.

CASSAVA COULD HELP MEET FOOD AND ENERGY NEEDS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The

tropical root crop cassava could help provide food and also contribute to the energy security of poor countries now threatened by soaring food and oil prices, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said today.

At a global conference held in Gent, Belgium, cassava scientists called for a significant increase in research and development needed to boost farmers yields and explore promising industrial uses of cassava, including production of biofuels.

Cassava is the staple food of nearly a billion people in 105 countries, where the root provides as much as a third of daily calories. And it has enormous potential as average cassava yields are barely 20% of those obtained under optimum conditions.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL CONCLUDES SUBSTANTIVE SESSION: The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is wrapping up its 2008 substantive session today in New York. Sustainable development was the main theme of the Councils month-long session. During the session, the first biennial Development Cooperation Forum discussed technical aspects of development cooperation issues, with a view to contributing to discussions of future high-level development meetings in Accra, Ghana, in September and in Doha, Qatar, in late November and early December. Also, the Annual Ministerial Review featured presentations from four developing and four developed countries on lessons learned in development assistance.

SPORTS-THEMED CAMPAIGN IS TO RAISE AWARENESS OF COLOMBIAS DISPLACED POPULATION: The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and 10 other partners are

launching a nationwide campaign to help the victims of forced displacement in Colombia today in Bogotá. The campaign is called Corre por la Vida (Running for Life), and it compares forced displacement to a long-distance race, which started when people have no choice but to flee from conflict, violence or persecution. Corre por la Vida is being launched today in Bogotá and Medellin, the countrys second largest city, with a symbolic race by the campaigns organizers.

NO REPLACEMENT YET FOR DEPARTING LEGAL COUNSEL: Asked about a successor for UN Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel, the Spokeswoman said that a replacement will be named shortly. Currently, candidates are being interviewed for that post.