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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

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��UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

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During August,
the Spokesperson's noon briefings will take place on Monday's, Wednesday's and
Friday's.

Developments
within the UN system will be posted on the website daily during this time.

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Thursday, August
6, 2009

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BAN KI-MOON
SALUTES MEMORY OF HIROSHIMA ATOM BOMB VICTIMS; CALLS FOR END TO NUCLEAR ARMS
RACE

• In a
  on the 64^th anniversary of the atomic bombing of
  Hiroshima, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that nuclear weapons and the
  51�Թ� were born that same year, in 1945. But while atom bombs
  offered a so-called peace based on terror and destruction, the United
  Nations provided a peace co-created by nations through debate, compromise,
  the rule of law, human rights, the pursuit of justice and economic
  prosperity.
  ��

• The Secretary-General saluted the memory of the hibakusha
  (victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and their
  families.
  ��

• He also expressed concern about the apparent resumption
  of a nuclear arms race among nations, and appealed to “all humanity” to
  support the sensible and achievable goal of ending that pursuit and phasing
  out existing weapons. “We must never forget not only the horrific effects of
  nuclear weapons, but also the human costs of war itself as a means to
  resolving disputes,” he said.��
  ��

• The Secretary-General also
  had a video message to the Seventh General Conference of
  held on the margins of the Hiroshima anniversary. He
  commended the Conference on raising public awareness about the dangers that
  cities, in particular, would face if these destructive weapons were ever
  used again. “A world without nuclear weapons may be distant, but it is no
  longer just a dream,” he said.��
  ��

• UN General Assembly President Miguel
  d’Escoto-Brockman also attended the events in Hiroshima and delivered
  on that tragic event as well as prospects for a possible end to
  the use of nuclear weapons.
  ��

• And
  in Geneva, the head of the
  ,
  Ambassador
  Caroline Millar of Australia, said that today marked a sober reminder to all
  of the destruction and devastation of nuclear weapons and of the compelling
  importance of the Conference resuming its work on nuclear disarmament.��
  

BAN KI-MOON DESCRIBES ARRANGEMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER CLIMATE
CHANGE SUMMIT��

• Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
  briefed Member States this morning about the Summit on Climate Change that
  he will convene at UN Headquarters next month.
  ��

• The objective of the Summit, he said, is to create a
  broader political vision of the urgency for action, and to mobilise the
  political will needed to reach an agreed outcome at the 51�Թ�
  Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.
  ��

• A clear airing of views on fundamental climate change
  issues can provide government negotiators with the political signals and
  guidance needed to move the negotiations forward.�� But this will not be a
  negotiation, he added.
  ��

• The Secretary-General said that the points of
  convergence achieved will be captured in a Chair’s Summary which will be the
  main outcome of the Summit.
  ��

• Much of the time will be devoted to interactive
  roundtables where leaders can have focused discussions. These roundtables
  will be closed and there will be no press.
  ��

• The Secretary-General noted that the 51�Թ� is
  working on a background paper that will help to focus the discussions during
  the roundtables.

SECRETARY-GENERAL BRIEFS GROUP OF FRIENDS ON MYANMAR��

• The Secretary-General on Wednesday afternoon met with
  the Group of Friends on Myanmar, and informed them of his 31 July meeting
  with the Permanent Representative of Myanmar.
  ��

• At the 31 July meeting, the Secretary-General
  afterward, he had underscored his clear expectation and
  that of the international community that the Government of Myanmar will give
  careful consideration to the implications of any verdict in the trial of Daw
  Aung San Suu Kyi and use this opportunity to exercise its responsibility to
  ensure her immediate release. He also had noted the importance of ensuring
  the release all political prisoners so that they could participate in a
  credible and inclusive political process.
  ��

• The Secretary-General said that the members of the
  Group of Friends agreed to his proposal to convene a second High-Level
  Meeting of the Group of Friends on Myanmar at the margin of the General
  Assembly in New York in September.

TOP ENVOY FOR SOMALIA WELCOMES MEETING
BETWEEN U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE AND SOMALI PRESIDENT

• The Special Representative of the
  Secretary-General for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has welcomed today’s
  meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, between the US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham
  Clinton, and Somalia’s President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
  ��

• Ould-Abdallah, who’s the head of the UN
  Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), said the meeting strengthened the
  efforts being made to support the Somali government by regional and
  international organisations, such as the Inter-Governmental Authority on
  Development (IGAD), the African Union, the League of Arab States, and the
  Organisation of Islamic Conference and the European Union.
  ��

• “This meeting is therefore a strong show
  of support for peace and stability in Somalia as promoted in the Djibouti
  Agreement,” said Mr. Ould-Abdallah.
  “The Government needs strong backing to continue its dialogue with various
  parties and to increase security for the people.
  ��

• Ould-Abdallah further called on other
  “countries, groups, individuals and especially spoilers” to show more
  understanding and respect for Somalia and help its people to rebuild their
  society and their country.

U.N. AGENCY
CONCERNED BY POSSIBILITY OF MORE EVICTIONS IN EAST JERUSALEM��

• The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
  in the Near East ()
  has welcomed the statements this week by the international community which
  deplore the evictions of two families from their homes in the Jerusalem
  district of Sheikh Jarrah. However, UNRWA remains concerned about the other
  refugee families in the area and the possibility of more evictions which
  will cause further unacceptable humanitarian suffering. The agency says it
  will continue monitor this situation closely.
  ��

• According to UNRWA, the families, evicted in the early
  hours of Sunday from the homes where they have lived for more than half a
  century, continue to suffer distress and shock. The children are
  particularly traumatized. The lasting humanitarian impact on the 53 people
  directly affected including 20 minors cannot be over-estimated. Seeing
  settlers being escorted into the houses in which some family members were
  born, was particularly distressing for these refugees, the agency adds.
  ��

• UNRWA notes that, not only were the refugees surrounded
  by Israeli police and security personnel at dawn, their homes broken into
  and their families thrown onto the streets, but they had to endure the
  indignity and humiliation of their personal effects being loaded onto trucks
  and dumped in scrub land at the edge of Jerusalem’s Route One. UNRWA has
  assisted the families in recovering their belongings and will store them
  until the issue is resolved. The agency is raising these cases with the
  Israeli authorities as a matter of urgency.
  ��

• UNRWA states that the evictions violate the rights of
  the refugees and international law. The agency calls on the Israeli
  authorities to refrain from taking any further measures to evict other
  members of the Palestine refugee community in Sheikh Jarrah and to reinstate
  the evicted families, as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East
  Peace Process has
  .

U.N.-RUN
DISARMAMENT CENTER OPENS IN SUDAN��

• The joint UN/Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and
  Reintegration Commission in the central Sudanese state of Kordofan has
  stepped up operations, with the launch yesterday of a second demobilization
  centre.
  ��

• That’s according to our Mission there (),
  which also noted that 19 ex-combatants of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army
  (SPLA) were processed on the first day of operations at the new centre. In
  total, the centre expects to manage the demobilization of some 2,300
  ex-combatants.
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• So far, the Mission has
  helped disarm and reintegrate into civilian life some 3,200 former
  combatants from the onetime rebel Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA) and
  the pro-government Popular Defense Forces (PDF). When the project concludes,
  some 18,000 Sudanese government soldiers, PDF and SPLA ex-fighters would
  have disarmed.

CYPRUS LEADERS
MEET UNDER U.N. AUSPICES, DISCUSS CITIZENSHIP & IMMIGRATION ISSUES��

• Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish
  Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met today under UN auspices in Nicosia.
  ��

• The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on
  , Alexander Downer, spoke to the press afterwards. He noted that
  the leaders had continued talks on the issue of immigration, asylum and
  citizenship and had made “good progress.”
  ��

• Downer added that the leaders will meet again in
  September to discuss the issue of governance and in particular the
  executive. Once they have finished discussing that issue, they will move to
  the question of property and then other outstanding issues.

SECURITY
COUNCIL ENDS DEBATE ON PEACEKEEPING WITH PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT��

• The
  ended its day-long open meeting on peacekeeping on
  Wednesday by adopting a
  , in which it emphasized the need to focus on such
  issues as credible and achievable mandates, matched with appropriate
  resources; better information-sharing and management; and greater awareness
  in the Security Council of the resource and field-support implications of
  its decisions, and of the strategic challenges across peacekeeping
  operations.
  ��

• The Council stressed, among other things, the need to
  assess regularly, in consultation with other stakeholders, the strength,
  mandate and composition of peacekeeping operations, with a view to making
  adjustments according to the situation on the ground.�� It also encouraged
  the practice of holding meetings between Council members and the Secretariat
  at the level of political-military experts prior to discussions on mandate
  renewals.�� The Council also requested an estimate of resource implications
  for a proposed new mission or significant changes to a peacekeeping mandate.
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• The statement also addressed the need for earlier and
  more meaningful engagement with troop- and police-contributing countries
  before the renewal or modification of mandates, and expressed the Council’s
  intention to increase its interaction with the Secretariat in the early
  phase of mandate drafting and throughout mission deployment.

COOPERATION BETWEEN FAITH-BASED
ORGANIZATIONS AND UNFPA CRITICAL TO MATERNAL HEALTH

• The 51�Թ� Population Fund
  (UNFPA) today that it has
  concluded the two-day policy round table meeting with more than 40
  international faith-based organizations.�� Its partnership with faith-based
  organizations is promoting action against maternal health, ending violence
  against women and advocating women’s empowerment.��
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• UNFPA’s Executive Director underlines
  the importance of the partnership due to the “profound moral authority that
  religious leaders have, and we are all aware of the face that religious
  organizations are the oldest social service providers humankind has known.”

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Office of the
Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

51�Թ�, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055

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