League of Arab States Summit & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (29 March 2019)

Briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Daily Press Briefing:
- Trip Announcement,
- Peacekeeping
- Cyclone Idai
- Gaza
- Peter Sutherland
- Senior Personnel Appointment
- Honour Roll
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
Later today, the Secretary-General will depart for Tunis, where he will attend the 30th League of Arab States Summit and make an address on Sunday.  While in the Tunisian capital, the Secretary-General will meet with President Beji Caid Essebsi and senior members of the Tunisian Government. He will also meet university students to discuss the critical role of young people in national and international conversations and policies, and the UN’s efforts to ensure that their voices are heard, and their views are translated into action. The Secretary-General will also inaugurate the new UN House in Tunis, la Maison Bleue, and hold a meeting with women leaders and civil society representatives. 
The Secretary-General’s main priority for this visit will be the situation in Libya. On the sidelines of the Summit, the Secretary-General will attend a Quartet meeting on Libya, which brings together the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union and the European Union. He will be joined by his Special Representative for Libya, Ghassam Salame.
On Monday, the Secretary-General will travel to Cairo, where he will hold discussions with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who also serves as Chair of the African Union.  In Cairo, the Secretary-General will visit the Al Azhar Mosque and meet the Grand Imam to express his solidarity and underscore the need to fight the scourge of Islamophobia, as well as all forms of hatred and bigotry.
The Secretary-General will move on to Jordan, where he will speak at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa at the Dead Sea. He will meet with His Majesty the King of Jordan and senior Government officials. The Secretary General’s visit to Jordan comes after the London Conference 2019 that took place this past February, which marked the start of a new partnership approach between Jordan and the international community in pursuit of Jordan’s sustainable growth and self-reliance, in light of the pressures on the country.
While in Jordan, the Secretary-General will visit the Baqa’a Camp, run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), where he will meet with students from an all-girls UNRWA-run school, students from the UNRWA Central Student Parliament and women’s representatives. At the Baqa’a Camp, the Secretary-General will highlight the importance of continuing to fund the vital services UNRWA provides to millions of Palestine refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

PEACEKEEPING
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the ministerial meeting on peacekeeping – taking place here at Headquarters,
He said that the UN’s peacekeeping operations have helped countries from Liberia and Sierra Leone to Timor Leste and Cambodia move from conflict to peace. They protect hundreds of thousands of civilians, support political solutions to conflict and help preserve ceasefires.
The Secretary-General said that making these missions stronger and safer is one of the key elements of his Action for Peacekeeping initiative, together with refocusing peacekeeping with more realistic expectations, and mobilizing greater support for political solutions.
He urged Member States consider contributing high-value and critical capabilities such as armored personnel carriers – which are needed in Mali—or helicopters for medical and casualty evacuations from remote areas which are needed in the Central African Republic and in other countries.
Beyond better equipment and readiness, the Secretary-General also said that we must increase local engagement. Women peacekeepers and civilian staff are essential to improve these efforts, he added.
And this afternoon, the Secretary-General will speak at the Security Council on Mali. He is expected to call on all parties to strengthen efforts to address the root causes of instability and insecurity in the country.
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