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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 9 JUNE 2017

U.N. ANNOUNCES CYPRUS TALKS TO RECONVENE IN GENEVA ON 28 JUNE

• In a statement issued this morning, the Spokesman said:
• “In line with the statement issued following the meeting of the Secretary-General with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Mustafa Akıncı, and the Greek Cypriot leader, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, in New York on 4 June, and following consultations with all participants, the Conference on Cyprus will reconvene in Geneva on 28 June 2017.
• The Conference on Cyprus will reconvene at the political level under the auspices of the Secretary-General, with the participation of Mr. Anastasiades and Mr. Akıncı, as well as Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom as guarantor powers, and in the presence of the European Union as an observer.”

• The Secretary-General was in Astana, Kazakhstan, today where he addressed the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. He highlighted the solid foundation of the group’s cooperation with the United Nations and made a special plea for it to show leadership and commitment in efforts to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change.
• The Secretary-General also touched on the reforms he launched since taking office, including the creation of a new Office of Counter-Terrorism. He told the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that he counted on their commitment to fight terrorism, addressing its root causes and ensuring that international standards of human rights are upheld. He also said that ultimately, inclusive and sustainable development is the best form of preventing armed conflict and violent extremism. As we pursue that objective, he said, let us pay special attention to youth employment, stressing that democratic institutions that uphold the rule of law, and that provide peaceful channels for addressing grievances, are critical for progress, as are space for civil society, and free and independent media.
• Today, the Secretary-General also held a bilateral meeting with the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, as well as meetings with King Felipe of Spain; the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif; the Foreign Minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif; and the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Rashid Alimov.
• The Secretary-General also spoke to the press, stressing the importance of the cooperation between the UN and Kazakhstan at the national, regional and global levels.
• After a visit to the Expo2017 on Future Energy currently ongoing in Astana, he is traveling to Uzbekistan.

• The reports that three peacekeepers were killed in an attack in Kidal yesterday. The UN’s camp was first targeted by indirect fire in which five peacekeepers were slightly injured. The Mission then deployed three Quick Reaction Forces around the base and towards the fire point of origin. Immediately after the indirect fire against the Mission’s camp, unidentified assailants attacked a UN observation post located southeast of the base, leaving three peacekeepers dead and three others injured.
• The UN Mission condemns these attacks and calls on the parties in Kidal to help identify those responsible so they can be brought to justice. The Mission also reiterates its determination to continue its support to the peace process and to protect the population.
• We extend our sincere condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers and to their Government and we wish a speedy recovery to the wounded peacekeepers.

• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for , Ján Kubiš, strongly condemned today’s suicide bombing in Musayib District in northern Babel and expressed his condolences for the families of the victims.
• He said that the terrorists continue to disregard the Holy Month of Ramadan and continue to murder innocent people, showing how cowardly they are.
• Mr. Kubiš added that no matter what the terrorists do, the resolve of the Iraqi people will not wane.

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is alarmed that no UN convoys have moved to besieged and hard-to-reach locations in Syria in over two weeks. The last such convoy was on 22 May.
• Meanwhile, the UN is concerned for the safety and well-being of some 4,000 people who have reportedly fled from the Tel Safuk area and surrounding villages along the Iraq border to Markada town in Al-Hasakeh Governorate, due to ongoing fighting in the area.
• Also, as fighting advances into Raqqa City, we have reports that 95,000 people have already fled the city. We remind all parties to the fighting of their obligations to protect civilians under international humanitarian law.

• Today, the Deputy Secretary-General will depart New York for Atlanta to attend the Rotary Presidential Peace Conference on 10 June, where she will deliver the keynote address. In attendance will be Rotarians, World Business Leaders, Senior Government Officials, and civil society organizations.
• She will then depart later tomorrow for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where she will be meeting with the President and senior management of the Islamic Development Bank. She will also meet with the Sustainable Development Goals () Community of Practice and she will also attend a Town Hall meeting to deliver a lecture on working with Member States of the Islamic Development Bank to Achieve the SDGs.
• The Deputy Secretary-General will travel back to New York on Monday.

• The Under-Secretary-General for , Jean-Pierre Lacroix, will be in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday. During his trip, he will visit Kinshasa, Kananga, Goma, and Beni. Mr. Lacroix is expected to meet with national authorities, members of the government, as well as political and civil society actors. He will convey the need for all Congolese actors to work in a spirit of collaboration and good faith to establish the special provisions and for the speedy and full implementation of the transitional arrangements. Mr. Lacroix will also meet with the staff of the UN .

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, today called on the Human Rights Council to establish an international investigation into the widespread human rights violations and abuses that have occurred in the Kasai Central and Kasai Oriental Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Since August 2016, around 1.27 million people from the Kasais have been internally displaced by the violence. The UN Human Rights Office has documented 42 mass graves, although the actual number may be even higher. Reports of summary executions and other killings – including of children – as well as sexual violence have been documented.
• In early May, Mr. Zeid urged the Government of the DRC to take steps to ensure that a credible, transparent investigation be established by 8 June. While the Government has sought technical support and advice from the UN, the High Commissioner said its response to date falls short, in view of the gravity and widespread nature of the violations, and given the imperative need for justice for victims. The crimes committed in the Kasais appear to be of such gravity that they must be of concern to the international community as a whole, and in particular the Human Rights Council, he added.

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that there have been nearly 102,000 suspected cholera cases, half of them in children, in 789 deaths reported in 19 out of Yemen’s 22 governorates.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF are on areas reporting the highest number of cases to stop the disease from spreading further.
• Yemen’s heath system has been nearly destroyed after more than two years of intense conflict, with fewer than half of the country’s health centres being fully functional. Medical supplies are entering the country at one third the rate they were before March 2015, and heath and sanitation workers have not been paid in more than eight months.
• UNICEF, WHO, and their partners have reached nearly 3.5 million people across the country by disinfecting water tanker filling stations, chlorinating drinking water, restoring water treatment plants, rehabilitating water supply systems, and providing household water treatments and distributing hygiene kits.
• The Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, has appealed for international support and increased funding to stem the outbreak. The Humanitarian Response Plan of $2.1 billion is 25 per cent funded.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency () and the Food and Agriculture Organization () have launched a project to help countries detect food fraud and contamination.
• The project will seek to develop handheld devices to test for adulterants, contaminants and mould in food by using a nuclear-based technology regularly used by border police in the detection of illicit drugs and explosives.
• Food fraud is estimated to cost the global food industry between $10 billion and $15 billion dollars every year, affecting around 10 per cent of all commercially-sold food products. The goal of the project is to reduce this cost by making available low-cost devices and methods for food authorities to use directly in the streets and markets, particularly in developing countries.

• The Secretary-General, in consultation with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has decided to appoint Isabelle Durant of Belgium as Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD, at the Assistant Secretary-General level. Ms. Durant will succeed Joakim Reiter of Sweden, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service and commitment to UNCTAD.
• Ms. Durant brings to the position a wealth of international experience at the senior level in her interactions with governments, the private sector and civil society.
• Currently a member of the Parliament of Brussels-Capital Region, Ms. Durant formerly served as Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium for four years, as well as Vice-President of the European Parliament (2009-2014).