HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, 27 April, 2005
ANNAN MEETS INDIAN LEADERS, CHAIRS ROUNDTABLE ON HIV/AIDS
Secretary-General Kofi Annan began his activities in India today with a visit to the Rajghat – the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi – where he and Mrs. Annan laid a wreath.
Afterwards, he began a series of meetings. He met the Minister of External Relations, Natwar Singh, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, opposition leader L.K. Advani, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the Indian National Congress Party.
The topics discussed during his meetings ranged from UN reform to regional security – with particular emphasis on relations between India and Pakistan, and India and China, as well as the situation in Nepal.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General chaired a roundtable on HIV/AIDS, the main focus of the discussion being the stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV in India. Mrs. Annan drew attention to the need to treat with dignity people living with AIDS, especially women.
In the evening, he and Mrs. Annan attended a dinner hosted by the Prime Minister. In a separate programme, Mrs.Annan visited a UN Development Programme-supported training and sensitization programme for Delhi police personnel on HIV/AIDS issues, with particular focus on their dealings with marginalized and vulnerable people.
Mrs. Annan commended the police for their leadership in the drive to create an AIDS-free India, describing them as “torchbearers” in their outreach efforts with colleagues, non-governmental organizations, schools and the community at large.
Mrs. Annan also met with a group of Indian women activists brought together by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to discuss progress on issues facing women such as violence, trafficking, HIV/AIDS, legislative issues, political participation and economic development.
U.N. PEACEKEEPERS BEGIN DEPLOYMENT IN SUDAN
The UN Mission in the Sudan says that the first contingents of peacekeepers have begun to arrive there. An advance party of twelve Nepalese soldiers is now on the ground; six of them arrived on Sunday and another six today.
Also, pre-deployment training for around 40 UN senior staff officers and military observers started in Nairobi yesterday. The training covers all aspects of living and working in Sudan.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, will go to Addis Ababa tomorrow for discussions on the expansion of African Union activities in Darfur .
SECURITY COUNCIL ENCOURAGED CONGOLESE PARTIES IN POLITICAL PROCESS
There are no Security Council meetings or consultations today.
Yesterday afternoon, the Council was briefed by Jean Marie Guéhenno, the head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on recent political developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In a statement to the press afterwards, Council President Wang Guangya said Council members encouraged the Congolese parties to carry through their political process in full respect of the principles set out in the Global and All-inclusive Agreement.
Council members also discussed sending some of its Ambassadors on a mission to Kinshasa.
UN APPEALS FOR $7.5 MILLION TO HELP FEED 30,000 PEOPLE IN DJIBOUTI
The United Nations has issued a flash appeal for Djibouti, in response to the severe food crisis threatening that country. The appeal amounts to $7.5 million, and aims to provide food aid to nearly 30,000 people.
Additional immediate needs include water for 18,000 people and mobile health services for 5,000. Caused by three consecutive failed rainy seasons, the crisis has also given rise to concerns about child malnutrition.
MANY PEOPLE CONSULTED IN DECIDING ON HEAD OF INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE
Asked if James Wolfensohn or Maurice Strong, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General and Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Korean Peninsula, had been involved in selecting Paul Volcker to head the Independent Inquiry Committee, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had consulted many people and that Volcker would have been on anyone’s list of preferred candidates. As for Wolfensohn and Strong in particular, that question could be directed to the Secretary-General himself.
Asked if Maurice Strong currently had any financial connections to the UN, through affiliated companies for example, the Spokesman said he was not aware of any such links. However, Strong himself might be able to give a more definitive answer.
Asked if the Secretary-General now conceded that he had been at fault when he lobbied on behalf of Cotecna to the Ghanaian ambassador in 2002, the Spokesman said he had already answered that question and had nothing to add.
Asked if, given the Maurice Strong revelations, the UN was looking into other potential conflicts of interest, involving UN envoys and businesses, the Spokesman replied that, as part of the on-going reform process within the Secretariat, the UN was indeed reviewing conflicts of interest and financial disclosure requirements. That included a review of the types of questions that are asked on the form, who fills that form out, and who reviews it. As part of that process, the UN was currently reviewing best practices in other organizations.
The Spokesman added that the focus right now was on the future, and since most UN envoys were on yearly renewable contracts, they would have to face the new financial disclosure rules as their contracts were being renewed.
The Spokesman also said that his office was trying to organize a press briefing either later this week or next week to give an update on the internal reform process underway, including strengthening oversight, ethics and whistleblower protection.
Responding to a question about whether the Secretary-General sent a letter to Volcker about his use of the word “exonerate,” the Spokesman said no, but that such a letter may have been sent by the Secretary-General’s attorney. The Spokesman then reiterated that the Secretary-General’s use of the word “exonerate” simply referred to one specific charge in the second Volcker report, and that the Secretary-General accepted the criticism found in the other parts of the report.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
QUESTIONS ON MOTIVATION SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO JOURNALISTS: Fielding a question about relations between the UN and the US press and about comments by the Secretary-General about a “lynch mob” out to “destroy” him, the Spokesman said he had nothing to add to the Secretary-General’s comments. As for what motivated journalists to write stories with a particular slant, the Spokesman said that question should be addressed to the journalists and not to the Spokesman.
UNITED NATIONS LOOKING FOR LEADER FOR HARIRI INVESTIGATION TEAM: Asked if the Secretary-General was having trouble finding a leader for the UN team that would be investigating the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, the Spokesman said that the UN was in the process of looking for a leader and that, once such a leader was found, the name would be made public. He had no comment on the degree of difficulty being encountered.
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