United Nations Daily Highlights, 10-07-12

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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

FARHAN HAQ

ASSOCIATE

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, July 12, 2010

HAITI MARKS SIX-MONTH ANNIVERSARY SINCE EARTHQUAKE STRUCK

Today marks the six-month anniversary of the earthquake that struck

Haiti on 12 January. The Secretary-Generals Special Representative in the country,

Edmond Mulet, spoke at a ceremony at the logistics base of the

UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, located in Port-au-Prince, earlier today.

Mulet also attended a commemorative ceremony at the Palais National, where

Hédi Annabi, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Haiti who died in the earthquake, will receive posthumous recognition from President René Preval.

The Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Haiti,

Bill Clinton, also took part in the ceremony and met with President René Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.

The

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator,

John Holmes is also in Haiti today. He will meet with Government officials, Haitian citizens, representatives of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, as well as the donor community. Holmes will take stock of humanitarian efforts in Haiti six months on and will review the main areas of progress and challenges, including preparedness for the hurricane season.

Incentives for people to return, land issues, rubble removal, preparedness and disaster risk are some of the issues that Holmes will raise. In addition to drawing attention to the need for resources to continue life-saving assistance, he will also focus on the need to address the priorities of the Haitian people: employment, education, and safe housing.

The

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

says that six months after the earthquake, and despite an unusually complex and difficult operation for both the Haitian authorities and the international community, humanitarian achievements are tangible. Over 1.5 million people now have emergency shelter, over four million have received food, and over one million people have safe water to drink.

But OCHA also says that that much work remains to be done both in the short and long term and that the humanitarian needs are still significant. For example, just over 5,500 transitional shelters have been built so far out of the 125,000 planned by next year at this time. OCHA continues to work with the Government on land-related procedures and to help relocate people out of sites at risk during the hurricane season.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS BOMBING IN KAMPALA

The

Secretary-General strongly

condemns the vicious bombings yesterday in Kampala that claimed the lives of dozens of people and left hundreds wounded among Ugandans and other nationalities at establishments where they were watching the World Cup final.

The Secretary-General hopes that the perpetrators of these horrific acts will be brought to justice and prosecuted.

He extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and the Government of Uganda, and wishes a full and speedy recovery to those who have been injured.

BAN KI-MOON TO ATTEND MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS MEETING IN MADRID

The

Secretary-General will travel to Madrid to attend the first meeting of the

Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group this Friday. Ahead of the

MDG Summit that he will convene in September in New York, the Secretary-General will meet with the eminent personalities who make up that Group and its two co-chairs, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain.

The Secretary-General will then travel to Geneva to attend the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament. This global summit, from 19 to 21 July, is convened by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and will focus on democracy, the role of legislative institutions and their relationship with the United Nations.

SECRETARY-GENERAL HONOURS SREBENICA VICTIMS

Speaking at a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the events that took place in Srebenica, the

Secretary-General paid homage to the thousands of men and boys who were slaughtered at Srebenica, the largest atrocity on European soil since the founding of the United Nations.

We recognize the burden of families and loved ones who carry the memories and pain with each step, the Secretary-General

said. And, we vow, together, never again to allow such an atrocity to happen at any time, in any place.

He added that while it is a day to remember the horror of Srebrenica, it is also a time to re-assert the power of tolerance and understanding, noting that all Bosnians, and indeed, all of the people of that part of the Balkans, must re-engage with one other on the basis of mutual respect and trust.

The emergence of respect and trust after conflict also depends heavily on bringing perpetrators to account, the Secretary-General said, noting that the

International Court of Justice and the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia have found that the horror of Srebrenica constituted a crime of genocide.

Until all those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes face those charges and are judged, our quest for justice, and the path towards healing, will remain incomplete, the Secretary-General said, adding that the United Nations also had to learn from what took place.

Asked whether Srebrenica was a massacre or was genocide, the Spokesperson noted, as the Secretary-General made clear at todays observance, that UN judicial bodies had charged and convicted officials linked to the killings at Srebrenica with committing the crime of genocide.

SECOND ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR SUDANS PRESIDENT BASHIR

A pre-trial chamber of the

International Criminal Court (ICC) has

issued a second warrant of arrest against the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, for three counts of genocide.

The Court says the alleged crimes were perpetrated against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. It adds that this second arrest warrant does not replace or revoke in any respect the first warrant of arrest issued against President Bashir on 4 March 2009. In the previous arrest warrant, the ICC accused al-Bashir of five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes.

Asked about the Courts issuance of the arrest warrant, the Spokesperson noted the

Secretary-Generals deep concern at the nature of the charges against President al-Bashir. The Secretary-General calls on the Government to provide its full support to the work of the ICC and to address issues of justice and reconciliation in accordance with the Rome Statute.

The Spokesperson recalled that the ICC is an independent judicial body and the substance of the charges is a judicial matter, so, out of respect for the due process of law, the United Nations could not comment on them.

The Secretary-General reiterates his call on all parties to the peace process to reach a comprehensive and inclusive agreement, addressing the root causes of the conflict and issues pertaining to justice, compensation and returns.

Haq added that the work of the UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan and its relations with the Government of Sudan would continue.

SPOKESPERSON: U.N. MISSION IN NEPAL IS ACTING WITHIN ITS MANDATE

Asked about comments made by the Prime Minister of Nepal concerning the

UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) the Spokesperson said that the Mission is acting within its mandate and consistent with calls by the

Security Council for the parties to take advantage of UNMINs expertise and readiness to support the peace process, and facilitate the completion of its tasks.

The issue dealt with in the non-paper containing the timeline for integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, he said, is based on consultations by UNMIN, which has been consulting with the main parties in Nepal for some time which have taken place with the full knowledge of the Government; this is not something new.

Haq said that the ideas it has shared with the parties are part of that discussion and intended to facilitate forward planning of the implementation of integration and rehabilitation of former Maoist combatants once political decisions are made by the parties.

The completion of UNMINs arms monitoring mandate, in large part, is contingent on the parties agreeing on a plan to address the future of the Maoist army personnel.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SECRETARY-GENERAL DISCUSSED FLOTILLA INCIDENT WITH ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: In response to a question, the Spokesperson said that the

Secretary-General had spoken by telephone this morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and they had discussed the inquiry into the 31 May flotilla incident.

UNIFIL FORCE COMMANDER MEETS WITH MUKHTARS IN SOUTHERN LEBANON: The Force Commander of the

UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),

Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas, today met with 14 mayors and mukhtars from adjoining areas, during a visit to the peacekeeping missions Turkish Company base in southern

Lebanon. The Force Commander explained how UNIFIL operates in close coordination with the Lebanese army and reiterated the points made in his open letter to the people of south Lebanon last Thursday. He also heard the concerns raised by the municipal representatives with respect to UNIFILs operations and allayed their apprehensions in this regard.