FRAGILE SOMALI PEACE PROCESS NEEDS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT – UN OFFICIALS

FRAGILE SOMALI PEACE PROCESS NEEDS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT – UN OFFICIALS
New York, May 13 2009 3:00PM
Top United Nations officials today urged the international community to continue to nurture the fragile peace process in Somalia and help the country consolidate its hard-won gains, in spite of recent threats to the new Government.

"We meet today at a critical moment for Somalia," Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe told a meeting of the Security Council. "One in which the response of the international community to an embattled Government's pleas for help could make the difference between consolidating hopeful steps toward peace and a descent once again into anarchy and hopelessness."

Mr. Pascoe said the situation remains "quite fragile" following the attempted coup on 9 May by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Al Shabaab fighters, and noted that the latest surge in violence is clearly a response to the Government's strategy to reach out and build a critical mass in support of peace.

In a news release issued today, UN envoy for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah described the attackers as extremists who know do not have the support of the Somali people, and accused them of bringing in foreign fighters who have no connections to the situation in Somalia.

Mr. Pascoe said that despite heavy fighting, recent months have witnessed newfound reasons for hope, and the Somali people have the best chance in two decades to end their suffering and move towards a better and more stable future.

"The Government's efforts at building a consensus for reconciliation are slowly gaining ground, despite the serious challenge by well-funded radicals," he stated. "The international community must make a vital investment at this time to nurture the fragile peace process, help the Government establish its authority throughout the country and build its security and rule of law institutions.

"Now is not the time to analyze and discuss, but to provide concrete help while it can still make a difference," said Mr. Pascoe.

In January, the Council signalled its intention to establish a UN force, when conditions permit, in the Horn of Africa country. It also requested Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to establish a trust fund to help support the existing African Union (AU) force, known as AMISOM, and to facilitate a logistical support package, training and equipment, in anticipation of its eventual absorption into a UN force.

UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy informed the Council about the three-phase approach Mr. Ban has outlined for UN engagement in Somalia, saying that the incremental approach is the right strategy for the country at the present time. It is important to emphasize, he added, that this is a flexible strategy and not one based on a rigid timetable.

He said important benchmarks for establishing a UN force include implementation of a credible ceasefire, consent to the deployment by all the major Somali actors on the ground, and adequate pledges of troops and required military capacities by Member States.

"It remains the assessment of the Secretary-General that deployment of a UN peacekeeping operation at this stage, in the absence of these conditions, would be a high-risk option, and that an ill-timed mission would fail."

Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, told the Council that the gains achieved in building peace by the Somali leaders and the international community must not be lost.

The current situation on the ground evidences that the Somalia's nascent and yet fragile peace process must be protected. Among other things, she said, the disbursement of donor pledges must be expedited.
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URGENT NEED TO GENERATE MOMENTUM IN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE PROCESS – BAN

URGENT NEED TO GENERATE MOMENTUM IN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE PROCESS – BAN
New York, May 11 2009 2:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need to generate momentum in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, warning that the situation on the ground could worsen easily without fresh efforts by both sides as well as the international community.

"After the inconclusive results of last year's negotiations, and the bloodshed in Gaza, the last three months witnessed almost no progress on the two key resolutions – 1850 and 1860," Mr. Ban <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3838">told today's Security Council <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sc9655.doc.htm">meeting, chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The Council, in the two resolutions adopted earlier this year, called for a durable and fully respected ceasefire, prevention of the illicit supply of weapons to Gaza; reopening of the crossings in accordance with the Agreement on Movement and Access; and progress on Palestinian reconciliation under the legitimate Palestinian Authority.

"The challenge is to begin implementing transformative changes on the ground; and to kick-start a renewed and irreversible drive to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian agreement," stated Mr. Ban.

The Secretary-General cited the need to be "determined as we are patient, as insistent as we are supportive, as principled as we are empathetic to the very real concerns of both parties," adding that the parties need confidence that the process will address their vital interests.

They also need confidence that commitments made will be commitments monitored and commitments kept, he added, noting a "deep crisis of confidence" among ordinary people on the ground.

Mr. Ban noted that in the period ahead, United States President Barack Obama will host the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and key regional parties in Washington. He also expected that the Middle East Quartet – comprising the UN, European Union, Russia and US – will meet soon.

"Like a bicycle that falls over when left at a standstill, the situation on the ground could easily deteriorate unless proper direction is given and real momentum is quickly generated," he stated.

"Violence and terror will not bring the Palestinians statehood and dignity, and settlement expansion and closure will not bring Israel security or peace. And no two-State solution can be reached if the situation between Gaza and southern Israel continues on its present destructive course, or if Palestinians remain permanently divided," said the Secretary-General.

Mr. Ban called on the parties to honour all existing agreements and previous commitments and pursue an irreversible effort towards the two-State solution, including by fully implementing commitments on the ground.

"I also believe the international community's credibility is at stake," he added. "We are a long way from where we hoped to be when we embarked on a fresh push for peace less than two years ago. However, I take heart that there is a deep consensus about the scale of the challenge and the importance of meeting it."

Mr. Ban added he remains "extremely worried" about the situation in and around Gaza, with internal Palestinian divisions and Israeli-Hamas tensions trapping the civilian population in a "vortex of hopelessness."

He noted that nearly four months after the conflict in Gaza – in which 3,800 houses and 2 health care centres were destroyed, and 34,000 homes, 15 hospitals, 41 health care centres and 282 schools sustained varying degrees of damage – it is difficult to get anything beyond food and medicine into the area. "This is completely unacceptable," he stressed.
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CÔTE D'IVOIRE: UN CALLS ON PARTIES TO FOCUS ON PEACE PROCESS, STALLED ELECTIONS

The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) has urged political leaders to show restraint and focus on the peace process aimed at unifying the country, which has been divided since 2002 between the Government-held south and a northern area dominated by the rebel Forces Nouvelles.

"It is also imperative to avoid an escalation of verbal confrontation which would only divert attention from the issues that real concern Ivorians," UNOCI spokesperson Hamadoun Touré told journalists in Abidjan.
In response to a question on the call by elements of the Forces Nouvelles for the Prime Minister to resign, Mr. Touré said that it was an internal matter and underscored the importance of the institutional framework established by the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. "We are counting on this system, otherwise we are going to find ourselves in situations which could be beyond our control and take us back."
He noted that there are urgent challenges to overcome in order to organize open, free, fair and democratic elections as soon as possible.

After a meeting with the West-African nation's Prime Minister yesterday, Y. J. Choi, head of UNOCI, told correspondents that there is now peace and stability in the country, with commercial activity in the south, north and west, and the identification and voter registration operation making strides.

However, he said, there have been delays in the electoral process, which now lacks a timetable, along with slow implementation of the latest addendums to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, especially with regards to the transfer of authority, the centralization of the treasury and the redeployment of the administration in the north.
Earlier, the spokesman had announced that Mr. Choi, who is also the Special Representative of Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, would be presenting the Secretary-General's latest report on the country to the Security Council on 28 April.
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