̽����ѡ

Friday,
September 5, 2008��

��

U.N. ENVOY FOR SOMALIA EXPRESSES
ALARM AT INCREASE IN PIRACY��

• The UN
  , Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has said
  he is extremely alarmed by the increase in piracy carried out against
  ships both in Somali waters and in international waters near Somalia.
  ��

• “This piracy is increasingly a threat to
  international navigation and free trade in an already fragile
  environment. The millions of dollars in ransom paid to the pirates and
  their associates inland and overseas has become a multi-million dollar
  business, which threatens stability in Puntland and in Somalia as a
  whole,” he said in a statement issued today.
  ��

• Up to 10 ships are reported to be held by pirates
  at present. Local Somali authorities say that trade to ports,
  particularly in the north, has been badly affected.
  ��

• He welcomed the fact that the Security Council
  passed
  on piracy in June this year, but added that “these
  criminals are challenging this Security Council resolution and the time
  has come for a collaborative effort to put the resolution into effect.��
  We have to work quickly,” he said, “before the level of criminal
  activity increases and affects ports in neigbouring countries.”

��SECURITY COUNCIL WELCOMES SIGNING OF
SOMALIA AGREEMENT AND LAUNCH OF CYPRUS NEGOTIATIONS��

• The Security Council adopted two Presidential
  Statements yesterday afternoon – on Somalia and Cyprus.
  ��

• On Somalia, the Security Council
  the signing in Djibouti of a peace agreement last month
  between the Transitional Federal Government and the Alliance for the
  Re-Liberation of Somalia.
  ��

• The Council took note of the parties’ request that
  the UN authorize and deploy an international stabilization force in 120
  days and reaffirmed its willingness to consider, at an appropriate time,
  a UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia to take over from the African
  Union Mission, subject to progress in the political process and
  improvement in the security situation on the ground.
  ��

• On Cyprus, the Council warmly
  the launch of full-fledged negotiations between the leaders
  of both the Greek and Turkish communities of Cyprus aimed at the
  island’s reunification under the good offices mission of the
  Secretary-General.
  ��

• There are no meetings or consultations of the
  Security Council scheduled for today.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT MAINTAINS STAY IN PROCEEDINGS IN LUBANGA CASE��

• The International Criminal Court (ICC) says that
  its Trial Chamber has
  an application by the Prosecutor to lift a stay of
  proceedings in the case of Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga.
  ��

• The ICC judges say the Prosecutor’s proposals
  included in the application demonstrably fail to meet the requirements
  for a stay of proceedings. In addition, they violate the right of the
  accused to a fair trial.
  ��

• Despite the ruling, Lubanga will remain in ICC
  custody, pending a Prosecutor’s appeal to the judge’s earlier order to
  release him. He is accused of war crimes, including the forcible
  enlistment of children into the ranks of his armed group in eastern
  Democratic Republic of the Congo.

��ICELAND AGREES TO ACCEPT 29
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES TRAPPED IN CAMP ON IRAQ-SYRIA BORDER��

• The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
  (UNHCR) has
  its appreciation to Iceland, for agreeing to accept 29
  Palestinian refugees.
  ��

• The group has been stranded for the last two years
  in a makeshift camp in the desert on the Iraq-Syria border, and includes
  some of the most vulnerable refugee women -- several of whom lost their
  husbands during the conflict in Iraq -- and their children.
  ��

• Some 2,300 Palestinians are still living in
  desperate conditions in two refugee camps along the Iraq-Syria border,
  according to UNHCR.

U.N. AGENCIES PUSH FOR WORLD HERITAGE
STATUS FOR IRAQ’S “FERTILE CRESCENT”��

• The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and the U.N.
  Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are
  a new initiative to list the Tigris and Euphrates River
  Delta in Iraq as a
  .�� This area, also known as the Fertile Crescent,
  is believed by some to have been the location of the Biblical “Garden of
  ������”.
  ��

• During the final decade of his rule, Iraqi
  President Saddam Hussein drained nearly all of the marshlands as part of
  his campaign against the Marsh Arabs who lived there. UNEP has been
  working for the last four years to restore the ecological viability of
  the site and the livelihoods of the Marsh Arabs.

����NEXT SESSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
COUNCIL BEGINS ON MONDAY��

• The Human Rights Council’s ninth regular session
  on Monday in Geneva and will last for three weeks.
  ��

• The body will consider human rights situations that
  require its attention, including follow-up to its special sessions on
  Darfur, Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, and the global food crisis.
  ��

• At the beginning of the session, the Council will
  hear its first update from the newly appointed
  , Navanethem Pillay of South
  Africa, whose four-year term started on 1 September.

LIST OF ATTENDEES AT TERRORISM VICTIMS
SYMPOSIUM TO BE RELEASED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE��

• Asked about the transparency of preparations for an
  upcoming UN symposium on supporting victims of terrorism, the
  Spokesperson said a final list of participants would be provided as soon
  as possible and that there would be a press briefing on the symposium on
  Monday.
  ��

• Responding to a question about a report from
  Indonesia about a Bali bombing victim coming to the symposium at the
  invitation of the Secretary-General, Montas said that all invitations
  were from the Secretary-General who is hosting the event. She added that
  all invitations had already been sent.
  ��

• Asked if any Palestinians had been invited, the
  Spokesperson said yes – but not as victims of State terrorism, a notion
  which is not included in the existing international instruments on
  terrorism.
  ��

• Asked how such a symposium could be held when there
  was no official UN definition of terrorism, Montas said that, regarding
  the invitees, there had been a working definition of “victims of acts of
  �ٱ�����ǰ�������.”
  ��

• Pressed for more details, the Spokesperson said
  that the existence of victims was a reality and that attendees were
  coming from all over the world.�� She also noted that this was the first
  time such a symposium was being held.

MILLIONS OF
CHILDREN IN THE HORN OF AFRICA FACING SEVERE HUNGER��

• Children, already casualties of the complex
  drought, food price and conflict crisis unfolding in the Horn of Africa,
  are suffering severe effects of the lack of food, water and medical
  care, according to
  .
  ��

• Three million children in the arid, marginalized
  region are at risk of death, disease or the long-term consequences of
  malnutrition. They comprise a large proportion of the more than 14
  million people critically affected, and the numbers are on an alarming
  upward trajectory.
  ��

• UNICEF says some experts are predicting that
  millions more children and families could be engulfed across the Horn if
  steps are not taken immediately.

������UNITED NATIONS ASSISTS IN TRAINING
OF AFRICAN UNION PEACEKEEPERS��

• The United Nations, through its African Union
  ̽����ѡkeeping Support Team within the Department of ̽����ѡkeeping
  Operations (),
  is assisting the African Union Commission to conduct a training
  programme for senior officials of the African Union (AU) and its
  sub-regions to develop their capacity in the planning, deployment and
  management of AU peace support missions.
  ��

• Twenty-five officials from 14 countries are taking
  part in the 12-day programme underway in Botswana. The course is being
  run in partnership among the United Nations, the AU and Southern African
  Development Community (SADC), with support from the Government of
  Botswana and funding provided by the Government of Denmark.
  ��

• This is the third in a series of training courses
  designed specifically for senior AU civilian, military and police
  leaders who might be appointed to positions at the level of head or
  deputy head of mission, force or deputy force commander or police
  commissioner in such operations, and for others associated with the
  development of the African Standby Force.
  ��

• The Security Council, in a
  that endorsed the strengthening of the AU-UN relations,
  encouraged the increased engagement of the AU ̽����ѡkeeping Support Team
  within DPKO as a coordinating point, aimed at providing necessary
  expertise and transfer of technical knowledge to enhance the capacity of
  the African Union’s ̽����ѡ Support Operations Divisions, including in
  mission planning and management, and aimed at developing military,
  technical, logistic and administrative capabilities.

��OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

��

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO RECEIVE HONORARY
DEGREE FROM FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY: Next Wednesday, in Madison,
New Jersey, the Secretary-General will deliver the keynote address at
Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Academic Convocation. He is also slated to
receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the university.��

��

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONCERNED ABOUT RECENT CIVILIAN DEATHS: Asked
about recent civilian deaths from air strikes in Pakistan, the Spokesperson
said the Secretary-General was concerned about the frequency of such
casualties and felt that they could be avoided. Asked if the
Secretary-General was pursuing contacts with the countries concerned, such
as the United States, Montas said yes.

��

U.N. ENVOY
REMAINS IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH ZIMBABWE PARTIES: Asked about
reports that Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change was asking for a
greater UN role in that country, the Spokesperson noted that Assistant
Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios was currently in New
York but remained in close contact with the parties and continued to work
with the so-called Zimbabwe reference group.

��

HIGH-LEVEL
EVENT ON DEVELOPMENT GOALS TO TAKE PLACE ON 25 SEPTEMBER IN NEW YORK:
Asked if the focus of the General Assembly’s general debate this year
was the Millennium Development Goals, as opposed to climate change, which
had been the theme last year, the Spokesperson said that question would be
better directed to the General Assembly. From the Secretary-General’s side,
she noted that he had been striving to draw attention to the
, to be held on 25
September in New York.

��

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME TRUCK CONVOY ROBBED IN
MINDANAO: Asked about UN convoys being
robbed in the Philippines, the Spokesperson noted that the Country Director
for the World Food Programme ()
had confirmed that there had been an incident involving a WFP truck convoy
in Mindanao. Two armed men seized roughly half of a shipment of 60 sacks of
rice, WFP had reported, and local police were investigating what happened.

WFP said it believed that this was an isolated
incident, one that should not affect its operation to assist 410,000
internally displaced people.

��

UNICEF
HELPING INDIA RESPOND TO BIHAR FLOODING: UNICEF
the situation in the northern Indian state of Bihar is worsening
because of the flooding there. According to the latest figures, more than
three million people have been affected by the floods.�� Last year, flooding
affected other areas in Bihar; since then, UNICEF has stockpiled emergency
material there and was, therefore, able to immediately help affected people
with plastic sheets, hygiene kits and other aid. UNICEF has sent health
teams to the affected areas in Bihar to check on possible diseases affecting
women and children.�� It has also distributed rehydration salts and water
purification tablets.

��

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
06 September – 12 September 2008

Saturday, September 6

In Beijing,
Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang, the
Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Sport for Development and ̽����ѡ
Wilfried Lemke, and other U.N. officials attend the opening of the 2008
Paralympic Games.

Monday, September 8

At 11.30 a.m. in Room
S-226, Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General and
Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, briefs on
the 9 September symposium on supporting victims of terror.

The guest at the noon
briefing is U.N. Police Adviser Andrew Hughes, who will brief on the outcome
of last month’s 4th International Policing Advisory Council meeting.��

At 3 p.m. in Room S-226,
Jean-Marc Coicaud, Director
of the U.N. University (UNU) Office in New York and other speakers brief on
tomorrow’s UNU-Cornell Africa Series symposium on “The Social and Economic
Dimensions of HIV/AIDS in Africa”.

From today through Wednesday in Conference Room 4,
there will be informal consultations on the Follow-up International
Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the
Monterrey Consensus.

��

All this week in
Conference Room 5, the Committee on Conferences holds its substantive
session.

From today through 26
September in Geneva, the Human Rights Council holds its 9^th
regular session.�� Today the Council hears its first update from
newly-appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay.

In Geneva, the U.N.
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launches its annual UNCTAD
Assistance to the Palestinian People report.

From today through Wednesday, the International
Court of Justice holds public hearings concerning the proceedings instituted
by Georgia against Russia.

Today and tomorrow,
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes is in Mexico,
where he will attend a regional meeting on enhancing international
humanitarian partnerships.�� On Wednesday and Thursday, Mr. Holmes travels to
Panama.

Today is International
Literacy Day.

Tuesday, September 9

This morning, the Security
Council is scheduled to hold a private meeting with Troop Contributing
Countries to the U.N. Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), followed by consultations
on UNMIL.

At 8.30 a.m. in the Dag
Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, UNU and Cornell University hold a day-long
symposium entitled “The
Social and Economic Dimensions of HIV/AIDS in Africa”.

At 9 a.m. in the Economic
and Social Council Chamber, the Secretary-General convenes a day-long
symposium on supporting victims of terrorism.��

At 12 p.m. in Room S-226,
the Secretary-General and several terrorism victim representatives hold a
press conference.

In Bangkok, the Government
of Thailand and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime jointly launch
Amphetamines and Ecstasy: 2008 Global ATS Assessment and the Global
SMART Programme.

Wednesday, September 10

This afternoon in Madison,
New Jersey, the Secretary-General delivers the keynote address at Fairleigh
Dickinson University’s Academic Convocation and receives an honorary Doctor
of Humane Letters degree.

At
11.15 a.m. in Room S-226, Brian Mishara, President
of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and Werner
Obermeyer, Senior External Relations Officer at the World Health
Organization New York office, hold a press conference in observance
of World Suicide Prevention Day.

��

At
3.30 p.m. in Room S-226, senior U.N. officials brief on the 25 September
High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals and on the
Millennium Development Goals Report 2008.

In Paris, High
Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres is scheduled to address the
Ministerial Conference on Asylum hosted by the French EU Presidency.��

Thursday, September 11

At
11 a.m. in Room S-226, the Secretary-General plans to hold a one-hour press
conference, during which he will set out his priorities in advance of the
63rd session of the General Assembly and launch the Millennium
Development Goals Report 2008.

This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold consultations on its
Sudan Sanctions Committee, followed by a briefing on its 1737 Committee
(Iran sanctions)

Friday, September 12

At
11 a.m. in Room S-226, the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit and the
Department of Safety and Security hold an off-the-record technical briefing
on arrangements for the General Assembly’s 63^rd session.

The
guests at the noon briefing are Srgjan Kerim, President of the 62^nd
Session of the General Assembly; Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan;
Ambassador Francis Lorenzo of the Dominican Republic; Ambassador Zina
Andrianarivelo-Razafy of Madagascar; and actor Danny Glover, who will brief
on the U.N. Millennium Development Goals Awards 2009.

��

��

��