Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a Norwegian general and adviser to international envoy Kofi Annan to head the new U.N. monitoring mission in Syria. The U.N. deputy spokesman announced today the appointment of Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, who will also serve as chief U.N. military observer in Syria.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon kicked off his visit to India today by commending the country’s progress on health, while highlighting the need to do more to promote the well-being of women and children. He noted the importance of doing more to improve women’s and children’s health, and commended India’s commitment to the Global Strategy on Women’s and Children’s Health and its innovative programmes in this area.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on countries to intensify their efforts to combat malaria, stressing that despite remarkable progress in recent years, much more needs to be done to end the monumental tragedy of one child dying every minute from the disease.
Syria has failed to comply with a pledge to withdraw weapons from cities, and citizens who meet U.N. truce monitors may have been killed, international mediator Kofi Annan will told the Security Council on Tuesday, his spokesman said. As violence flared in the Syrian capital Damascus, spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Annan would ask for a “stronger presence" of monitors to watch over the country's ragged ceasefire.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced concern over a fresh wave of arrests of high-ranking public officials in Mali, at a time when numerous efforts are being undertaken to help the country overcome the various challenges it is facing. According to a statement from his spokesperson, Mr. Ban called for the immediate release of all those arrested and urged the junta to refrain from any further actions that might undermine the effective restoration of constitutional rule in Mali.
The first group of six UN unarmed monitors tasked by the Security Council to report on the implementation of a full cessation of armed violence in Syria has arrived in the capital, Damascus, and began their work, according to a spokesperson.
The Secretary-General is in Switzerland on the second day of his European trip, where he spent the day in meetings of the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB). The CEB is the highest level of coordination within the United Nations System, and meets twice a year to bring together the heads of UN agencies under the chairmanship of the Secretary-General.
The Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan, said that he is encouraged by reports that the situation in Syria is relatively quiet today and that the cessation of hostilities appears to be holding. He said calm must now be sustained and that all parties have obligations to fully implement his six-point plan to bring the violence to an end.
The Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan, today received a letter from the Syrian Government informing him of its decision “to cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 6:00 a.m. (Damascus time) tomorrow, Thursday, 12 April 2012,” Mr. Annan’s spokesperson said today.
