Libya: in an effort to coordinate the international response in Libya, the SG will travel to Cairo next week to Chair a meeting of concerned international and regional organizations at the League of Arab States Headquarters on April 14. The Chairman of the Commission of the AU, SG of the OIC and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy are all expected to attend. Also next week, on Tuesday, USG Pascoe and the SG’s Envoy for Libya will represent the UN at the first meeting of the Libya Contact Group in Doha (established at the London Conference on Libya March 31). The UN delegation will also include representatives from UNDP and OCHA. The objective of the meeting is to enhance coordination among organizations addressing the crisis in Libya. OCHA is reporting that sustained hostilities continue to impede the provision of assistance and evacuation of stranded people, though WFP was able to dock at a port yesterday and unloaded medical supplies for 50,000 people for a month. Food for 40,000 people for a month is also on the ship and will be distributed in the coming days.
Haiti: speaking to the press today, SRSG Mulet said this is the first time he has “good news”, referring the run-off elections which just took place in Haiti, which demonstrated the resilience of the Haitian people. For its part, the UN is pleased with how the process went. Ms. Manigat said she will not appeal/contest the results, so Mr. Martelly is the president-elect of Haiti. However, the legislative situation is still not clear and there are a handful of places where tensions are high, at which the UN has deployed to support the Haitian National Police. Final results expected April 18 and on the 27th or 28th the National Assembly will install itself (Senate and Lower House) and adopt constitutional reforms prior to inauguration of the new president.
Israel: today the SG met with President Peres of Israel, and discussed the impasse in the ME peace process and the need to find a way forward. He also repeated his condemnation of the militant rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, and expressed serious concern with the Palestinian civilian casualties in Israeli military operations.
Cote d’Ivoire: OHCHR human rights teams are currently investigating reports of killings and human rights violations in the west of the country and have found more than 100 bodies over the past 24 hours in three towns.
SG: this morning the SG addressed the civil society hearings ahead of the June HLM on AIDS, speaking on the goals of his latest report on the global AIDS movement, emphasizing that “stigma = death” and underlining the importance of women recognizing the right to their own reproductive health.