������ҹ������

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 16 JUNE 2015

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO VISIT SAN FRANCISCO TO MARK 70^TH ANNIVERSARY OF SIGNING OF U.N. CHARTER

• The Secretary-General will travel to San Francisco on Friday, 26 June, to take part in events marking the 70^th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter. In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the UN Conference on International Organization to draw up the Charter.
• The Secretary-General will attend the Charter Commemoration Ceremony at City Hall, together with San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee and United States House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. He is also expected to travel to Palo Alto to give a lecture at Stanford University, highlighting the 70^th anniversary of the founding of the UN.
• While in San Francisco, the Secretary-General will also participate in events focusing on the priorities of the UN, including sustainable development, climate change and human rights.
• He is scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion with Environmentalist Tom Steyer and other participants, on climate change and building momentum for action at the forthcoming Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris.
• The Secretary-General is expected to receive the Harvey Milk Medal for launching the UN Free & Equal . Launched in 2013, the campaign raises awareness of homophobic and transphobic violence, and discrimination, and promotes greater respect for the rights of LGBT people everywhere.
• He will attend a meeting with representatives from the private sector, including the Chief Executive Officer of Dell, Michael Dell, to discuss ways in which major tech companies in the Bay Area can contribute to advancing the global development agenda. He will also meet young entrepreneurs at a tech-focused start-up incubator.

SECRETARY-GENERAL RECEIVES INDEPENDENT PANEL REPORT ON PEACE OPERATIONS

• The Secretary-General today received the report of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations today, and he the Panel that he would study their recommendations carefully and transmit the report to the and the Security Council.
• He told the panel members that he had been especially impressed by how they had engaged in an open, consultative process, including meetings with the Security Council, several General Assembly committees and others.
• The Secretary-General said that his office will be leading the implementation phase for the report’s recommendations, with the close participation of all the key departments.
• He said that his instruction to them will be to carry on the spirit the Panel employed; to be bold; and to see the task as nothing less than preparing the UN to rise to the challenges of the future.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS BOMBINGS IN CHAD’S CAPITAL N’DJAMENA

• In a statement on Chad yesterday, the Secretary-General strongly the bombings in N’Djamena that killed more than 25 people.
• The Secretary-General commended Chad for its courageous role in the fight against Boko Haram and stressed the importance of enhanced collaboration in this combat.
• The Security Council also issued a statement on these terrorist attacks and commended Chad’s courageous and active contribution to peace and stability in the Sahel region.

SANA’A DELEGATION ARRIVES IN GENEVA TO PARTICIPATE IN YEMEN CONSULTATIONS

• The Sana’a delegation participating in the consultations on Yemen arrived earlier this morning in Geneva, Switzerland. The transfer was made possible with the logistical support of the Department of Field Support (DFS) and the cooperation of Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Greece, Italy, Sudan and Switzerland, which expedited all the flight and landing clearances.
• The Special Envoy on Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has been meeting with the delegations from Riyadh and Sana’a. They would discuss the composition of the delegations, which could not exceed a formula of seven delegates plus three advisors from each side. In the coming days, the Special Envoy will brief members of the international community concerned with the situation in Yemen.
• Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that the number of children in Yemen who have been killed as a result of conflict over the last 10 weeks is four times that of all those confirmed to have been killed last year.
• At least 279 children have been killed and 402 wounded since the escalation of violence in Yemen, which began on 26 March, compared with 74 and 244, respectively, that were reported in the whole of last year.

SYRIA: U.N. ENVOY CONDEMNS KILLING OF CIVILIANS IN ALEPPO

• The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, strongly condemned the shelling by armed opposition forces of the area of Rahman Mosque in Aleppo which reportedly killed and wounded dozens of civilians, including children.
• This indiscriminate attack on civilians in the city of Aleppo took place at the very time when Mr. de Mistura was in Damascus raising with the Government the issue of the protection of civilians and the urgent need to stop the use of barrel bombs.
• While strongly condemning this very grave attack on civilians by armed opposition forces, the Special Envoy reaffirmed that this should not justify in any case retaliation on populated areas through barrel bombs by the Syrian Government.
• The Syrian people are tired of being indiscriminately targeted in this cruel conflict and deserve protection. The Special Envoy recalls that international humanitarian law should apply in all circumstances and without distinction.
• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that new fighting in northern Syria has sent a further 23,135 refugees fleeing across the border into Turkey9;s Sanliurfa province.
• UNHCR said that, according to information received on Tuesday from the Turkish authorities, some 70 per cent of these were women and children.
• Most of the new arrivals are Syrians escaping fighting between rival military forces in and around the key border town of Tel Abyad, which was controlled by militants, and is across the border from Akcakale. However, they also include more than 2,000 Iraqis from the cities of Mosul, Ramadi and Fallujah.
• According to UNHCR staff in the field, most of the refugees are exhausted and arrive carrying just a few belongings. Some have walked for days.
• Since the arrivals began, UNHCR staff members have visited several areas where people were crossing or waiting to cross. In recent days, people have fled directly to Akcakale to escape fighting in Tel Abyad.

U.N. HUMANITARIAN CHIEF URGES URGENT SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY VIOLENCE IN SOUTH SUDAN

• The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O9;Brien, today called for urgent support for the humanitarian response in South Sudan and the region at a high-level event co-organized by the European Commission and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva.
• He noted that it is the failure to end the violence that is fuelling humanitarian needs. The revised appeal seeks US$1.63 billion to meet the most urgent needs until the end of the year, with a gap of $1 billion at the moment.
• On the ground, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations have undertaken an emergency airlift operation to deliver survival kits, containing lifesaving supplies, to internally displaced people in hard-to-reach areas of Unity State.
• The first distribution of survival kits was delivered by helicopter, targeting an estimated 28,000 people with approximately 4,500 kits.
• Recent violence has affected an estimated 750,000 people in Greater Upper Nile and forced approximately 150,000 people to flee their homes, many to extremely remote areas. Most are rural households, forced to abandon their lands before they could plant this season9;s main crops.

GREECE: U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY CALLS FOR MORE SUPPORT TO RESPOND TO MIGRANT CRISIS

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today called for urgent European support for Greece amid worsening conditions for refugees. Despite the considerable efforts of local authorities and civil society, initial reception conditions for refugees arriving in Greece9;s North Aegean and Dodecanese islands are worsening.
• Hundreds of refugees continue to arrive each day in inflatable dinghies and wooden boats, putting a tremendous strain on the island communities that receive them.
• Since the beginning of this year, more than 55,000 refugees have arrived in Greece by sea from Turkey. More than 90 per cent are from countries experiencing war and conflict, principally Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.
• The number of arrivals is expected to increase further during the summer, when weather conditions make the sea crossing from the Turkish mainland less hazardous.

CYPRUS: U.N. ADVISER COMMENDS WORK OF NEGOTIATING TEAMS FROM GREEK AND TURKISH CYPRIOT COMMUNITIES

• The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, spoke to the press following his meetings with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in Cyprus today.
• The leaders are scheduled to meet tomorrow – this is second meeting between the leaders; the first one took place on 28 May.
• In the meantime, their negotiating teams have continued to meet, including today. At their meeting tomorrow, the leaders will continue to focus on fulfilling their joint vision for a united federal Cyprus. They have already scheduled additional meetings in June and July.
• Special Adviser Eide commented on the work of the two negotiating teams for continuing to pave the way towards substantive negotiations.

U.N. CONCERNED ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS OF DEFENDERS, JOURNALISTS AND CRITICS IN AZERBAIJAN

• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) remains concerned that a number of human rights defenders, journalists and Government critics have been deprived of their liberty in Azerbaijan for exercising their right to freedom of expression, opinion, association and assembly.
• High Commissioner Zeid Ra9;ad Al Hussein has reached out to the authorities, including the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, on a number of cases. Mr. Zeid has sought their release on humanitarian grounds. He has also called for the release of all others who have been deprived of their liberty simply for exercising their human rights.
• OHCHR said that these cases are indicative of a shrinking democratic space in Azerbaijan, where many civil society actors, journalists and lawyers fear reprisals or legal and administrative obstruction in carrying out their work.

U.N. RIGHTS CHIEF STRESSES NEED TO ADVANCE EDUCATION FOR ALL GIRLS

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, today spoke at a panel discussion on girls’ education at the Human Rights Council (HRC). He said that despite considerable progress regarding girls9; education in recent years, restrictions, violence and injustices continue to blight the lives of millions of women and girls.
• He said that in several countries, education is far from being a zone of gender-sensitivity and safety, and a shocking number of girls face sexual violence and harassment inside and on their way to schools.
• One-third of girls in developing countries are married before they are 18, and millions give birth while they are still in their teens.
• Mr. Zeid added as we advance towards a new agenda for development world-wide, we must advance education of girls, and the human rights of all women.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

• In response to a question on Burundi, the Deputy Spokesman confirmed that the UN has received a letter from media in Burundi. The UN continues to stress that freedom of expression and respect for the independence of journalists is essential, and calls on all actors, including the Government, to ensure their safety.
• The 5^th Global Forum on Remittances and Development in Milan today observed the first International Day of Family Remittances. Yesterday, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) launched a report, “Sending Money Home: European flows and markets,” which shows that last year 50 million migrant workers living in Europe sent home US$109.4 billion in remittances, providing a lifeline to more than 150 million people around the world.
• Today at 6:30 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, there will be an interactive panel discussion on digital solutions for online counter-radicalization. The event, co-organized by the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre and the Digital Diplomacy Coalition, will allow experts from the UN, digital media, communications and technology companies to discuss ways to address extremist narrative online without limiting the basic rights of freedom of speech and access to information.