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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

TUESDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2015

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SECRETARY-GENERAL TO ATTEND WHITE HOUSE SUMMIT ON COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM

• On Thursday, 19 February, the Secretary-General will be in Washington D.C. to attend the Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, hosted by the United States Government.
• He is expected to address high-level delegates gathered at the Summit on ways in which the international community can address the threat of violent extremism, including through a comprehensive multi-faceted approach.

DEPARTING U.N. ENOY CALLS FOR MORE SUPPORT FOR IRAQ

• The departing Special Representative for , Nickolay Mladenov, briefed the this morning on the situation in Iraq, noting that almost-daily terrorist attacks continue to kill Iraqis.
• He highlighted the violations of human rights by Da’esh and the equally worrying revenge attacks that have taken place.
• Mr. Mladenov described himself as a “paranoid optimist” as he completes his tenure in Iraq, adding that he is optimistic because Iraq’s political, community and religious leaders have come together to save their country from terror, but is also paranoid because so many things can go wrong.
• He said that Iraqis must be supported in building democracy and must be assisted in ensuring justice while being granted the respect and dignity they deserve.

U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO BRIEF SECURITY COUNCIL ON VISIT TO SYRIA

• The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, will brief the later in the afternoon in closed consultations about his recent diplomatic efforts.
• Mr. de Mistura visited Damascus last week, where he met with President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF CONDEMNS “VILE CRIME” AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN LIBYA

• The UN , Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said today that the mass beheading of Christians in Libya was a “vile crime targeting people on the basis of their religion.”
• He urged Libyans to unite against extremists launching attacks based on religious, ethnic, national, racial or political grounds.
• In their response to these killings, High Commissioner Zeid said, the Egyptian air force must ensure full respect of the principles of distinction between civilians and fighters, and civilian objects and military objectives.
• In a we issued yesterday, the Secretary-General condemned, in the strongest terms, the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya by Da’esh. He deplores the targeting of people on account of their religious affiliation. The Secretary-General expresses his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives as a result of this barbaric act and to the Government of Egypt.
• The Secretary-General reaffirms that the ongoing dialogue in Libya is the best chance to help the country overcome its current crisis. Only through dialogue can Libyans build a state and institutions that are able to confront terrorism.

W.F.P. DETERMINED TO CONTINUE OPERATIONS IN YEMEN DESPITE VIOLENCE

• The World Food Programme () said today that it is determined to continue its operations across Yemen despite clashes between rival factions, the president’s resignation and demands in the south for secession.
• The World Food Programme is able to reach some of the hardest-to-access parts of the country through its partner Yemeni Non-Governmental Organizations, staffed by people from these areas. Despite the significant security and operational challenges, WFP was able in January to reach about 1 million people.����

U.N. NUCLEAR WATCHDOG PRAISES JAPAN FOR TAKING MEASURES TO REDUCE RISKS AT FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI POWER PLANT

• An expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency () today a third review of Japan's efforts to plan and implement the decommissioning of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
• The 15-member team praised Japan for taking steps to implement planned measures to reduce radiological risks from the site and progress towards the safe decommissioning of the accident plant.
• The situation, however, remains very complex, with the increasing amount of contaminated water posing a short-term challenge that must be resolved in a sustainable manner.
• The need to remove highly radioactive spent fuel from the reactors that suffered meltdowns also poses a huge long-term challenge.

WORLD BANK, F.A.O. TEAM UP TO HELP RURAL COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY EBOLA IN GUINEA

• The is teaming up with the Food and Agriculture Organization () and national authorities, by providing $5 million for urgently-needed interventions in assisting rural households in Guinea.
• Tens of thousands of people in rural areas of Guinea worst-hit by the Ebola epidemic will receive training on how to prevent the spread of the disease and support in producing food and generating income.
• A total of 30,000 households will be sensitized on measures to counter the transmission of the disease in rural areas, and experienced rural development and field workers will undertake awareness activities combined with the provision of hygiene kits to rural communities.

U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE VISITS INDIA

• The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, Michael Bloomberg, is completing a two-day visit to India where he advocated for increased renewable resources, smarter cities, sustainable transport and urban climate adaptation.
• During his mission, the Special Envoy met with the Prime Minister and representatives from the Government, business and civil society.��
• He made the keynote address at RE-Invest, where he said that he was impressed with India's ambitious commitment to scaling up renewables.
• Today, the Special Envoy visited the Disaster Management Office of Mumbai to observe how one of the world's most vulnerable cities to the impacts of climate change prepares for and responds to natural disasters.

U.N. AGENCIES LAUNCH NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT AGAINST AIDS IN ADOLESCENTS

• The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (), the UN Children’s Fund () and other partners such as the MTV Staying Alive Foundation launched today in Nairobi, , a new platform for action in the fight against AIDS in adolescents aimed at encouraging strategic changes in policy and engaging more young people in that effort.
• While major advances have been made in almost every area of the response to HIV, progress for adolescents is falling behind, with AIDS becoming the leading cause of death for adolescents in Africa and the second leading cause of death among adolescents globally.
• Adolescent girls, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are the most affected. In South Africa for example, in 2013, more than 860 girls became infected with HIV every week, compared to 170 boys.

U.N. CONDEMNS BRTUAL MURDER OF ÖZGECAN ASLAN

• and the UN Population Fund () have the brutal murder of Özgecan Aslan and continue to stand with the women and men of Turkey in the fight against gender-based violence.
• The agencies have called for the effective implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, the Istanbul Convention – a ground-breaking international agreement that Turkey ratified in 2012.����

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

• The President of the has invited Council members to a public meeting of the Security Council at 3.00 p.m. today, in connection with the “Letter dated 13 April 2014 from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council.”
• Algeria and Australia are now the 35^th and 36^th Member States to pay their regular assessments to the UN in full.

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