United Nations Daily Highlights, 09-12-22

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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 MARTIN

NESIRKY

SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

BAN KI-MOON TO MAKE 2010 YEAR OF MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Yesterday, we issued a

statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the September 2010 General Assembly high-level plenary meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

In it, the Secretary-General welcomed the General Assemblys new resolution on next years planned MDG Summit.

Coming amid mixed progress toward the Goals and new crises that threaten the global effort to halve extreme poverty, the Summit will be a crucially important opportunity to redouble our efforts to meet the Goals by the agreed deadline of 2015.

The Secretary-General intends to make 2010 the year of the Millennium Development Goals.

He urges all Member States and people everywhere to start preparing for the Summit now. He also strongly urges Heads of State and Government to attend the MDG Summit and engage fully in ensuring a successful, practical, action-oriented outcome that delivers results for the billions of people struggling to meet their basic needs and to live in dignity and peace.

SECURITY SITUATION GETS WORSE IN EASTERN CHAD

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the security situation in Eastern Chad is getting worse. This follows an attack on a convoy of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) over the weekend.

An officer of the Integrated Security Detachment escorting the convoy was wounded. The detachment provides security in camps for refugees and internally displaced persons, as well as for the activities of humanitarian organizations.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that this shows that attacks are now being carried out even against humanitarian transport under security escort and this is a serious handicap for the distribution of humanitarian assistance by non-governmental organizations and the United Nations.

SOME DOCUMENTS SHIFTED FROM PRINT TO ELECTRONIC TO MAKE U.N. MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY

Following the Secretary-Generals commitment to making the Organizations in-house practices and procedures environmentally friendly and sustainable, the distribution of printed copies of certain documents will stop at the end of the year.

These include parliamentary documents as well as Secretary-General Bulletins, administrative instructions, information circulars and the Journal of the United Nations.

These documents will however be available in electronic versions on the United Nations website and on the Official Documents System (ODS).

Printed copies of documents will continue to be available at the Documents Counter which will be relocated to the North Lawn Conference Building.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY DEPLORES DEPORTATION OF UIGHURS FROM CAMBODIA TO CHINA: In response to a question on the forcible return of ethnic Uighurs from Cambodia to China, the Spokesman said that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had been extremely active and

vocal on this subject.

U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY ROED-LARSEN CONTINUES CONSULTATIONS: U.N. Special Envoy for the implementation of Resolution 1559, Terje Roed-Larsen, consults regularly with Lebanese and all other relevant Arab interlocutors in the region and all states relevant to the implementation of resolution 1559. At the moment, Syria had refused to be part in these consultations.

WESTERN SAHARA: U.N. ENVOY TO HOLD NEW CONSULTATIONS EARLY 2010: There are no Security Council consultations on Western Sahara are scheduled at present. The Secretary-Generals Personal Envoy is continuing his consultations with a view to organizing the next meeting early next year. Asked about the nature and timing of an eventual meeting organized by the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, the Spokesman said that this meeting would be informal, such as the talks held in Vienna last August. He reiterated that the Personal Envoy was continuing his consultations with a view to organizing a meeting early next year but that there were no exact dates for the holding of these talks.

Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

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