Secretary-General's remarks at press conference [unofficial transcript]

It is a pleasure to be with you.

Last week, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, world leaders issued a joint statement committing themselves to work together to make 2008 a turning point.

In Davos, I asked world leaders to join me in a call to emergency action. I said: Let the year 2008 be the year of the “bottom billion.”

They are the ones forgotten by much of the rest of the world, the nearly one billion people left behind by global growth. But they are not forgotten by you, because hundreds of millions of them live in Africa, struggling to survive on less than one dollar a day.

This is not right. This is not just. Development is an innate human right. We must work, together, to fulfill this right in Africa.

As Secretary General of the United Nations, this duty rests especially heavily upon me. We are the champions of the weak, the disadvantaged, the poor.

That is why, in September of this year, the UN will host a high-level meeting on this issue at the opening of the General Assembly. We must re-energize the world's commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. We must give special attention to the problems of the poorest of the poor.

Ladies and gentlemen:

In my meetings in Rwanda and here in Addis, I shared with the African leaders my deep concern about the situation in Kenya. The death and destruction has been appalling. Clashes are growing along ethnic lines. If political leaders fail to act responsibly in the interests of all Kenyan people, the situation could escalate beyond control.

I will meet with President Kibaki here right after this press conference. Tomorrow I will go to Nairobi to give my full support to the Panel of Eminent African Persons, led by Kofi Annan. I will meet Mr. Odinga, some civil society leaders and visit my UN staff as well. I commend African leaders for responding so quickly to the turmoil, which has forced thousands of refugees beyond the borders of Kenya. The United Nations stands ready to provide all necessary assistance. Kenya can remain stable and prosperous?a model to all Africa. We must all do our utmost to ensure that it does so.

I call on the Kenyan people: Stop the killings and end the violence now, before it is too late! Heed the calls, from Mr. Annan and other world leaders, for restraint, tolerance and peaceful dialogue to resolve contentious issues. Demand it from your leaders.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

When I began my term as Secretary-General over one year ago, the resolution of the Darfur conflict was made one of my main priorities. During 2007, the UN and AU worked hard to ensure that progress was made on both the political and peacekeeping tracks. We have revitalized the peace process, not least through intensive contacts with the movements, and obtained agreement on the establishment the hybrid force. It is now urgent that we build on this foundation. The people of Darfur have waited long enough, frustrated and miserable in the IDP camps and entangled in a conflict that is dangerously spilling over into the region.

2008 must be the year for peace in Darfur. This builds on the premise that all the parties and the international community realize that every effort must be made to achieve a real cessation of hostilities so that the people of Darfur can return to normal life.

I am encouraged by the discussions held over the past few days between the UN, AU and the Government of Sudan on resolving the pending issues related to the deployment of UNAMID. What is most important is that we agree on the goals of the mission: that there must be a strong peacekeeping force which will also create conditions for a credible political process. Full cooperation of the Government of Sudan is critical. Likewise, timely provision of key assets such as helicopters and heavy transport equipment is essential. The people of Darfur depend on the troop and police contributing countries assembled here today to speed up the required preparations, and arrive in the theatre of operations, as soon as possible.

The parties have agreed that there is no military solution and must now sit down together in a constructive dialogue to discuss the future of the people of Darfur.

It is also crucial, and in view of the present incursions into Eastern Chad, that both Chad and Sudan exercise maximum restraint, refrain from cross border incursions and military activity. These developments are extremely dangerous and could lead to an escalation of the conflict in the region.

Peace in Sudan must be comprehensive. The CPA remains the bedrock of any sustainable peace and I am encouraged by the commitment of the parties and have urged them to move toward resolution of the pending issues.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am also deeply concerned about the implications of the latest restrictions imposed by Eritrea on our peacekeepers. This is having a crippling effect on the ability of the Mission to discharge its mandate. I appeal to the Government of Eritrea to lift all restrictions that affect the activities of the peacekeeping mission. I also call on Eritrea and Ethiopia to maintain their full commitment to the cessation of hostilities and to implement the Peace Agreement of December 2000.

Last but not least, I remain alarmed at the worsening situation in Gaza. I continue to urge immediate easing of restrictions so as to alleviate the suffering of innocent civilians. United Nations agencies will spare no efforts to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the population of Gaza. I will also work with the Middle East Quartet partners for substantive progress in the peace process.

Thank you very much.

Q: Regarding Kenya, do you consider that the best-case scenario is a power sharing process and possibly a replay of the electoral process?

SG: There may be short-term and medium-longterm solutions to this issue. As for short-term, first of all, the violence must stop. The killings of innocent people must stop. They must listen to the warnings [inaudible]. This is very tragic. The political leaders, President Kibaki and opposition leader, Raila Odinga should sit down again and continuously discuss all the issues so that they can show confidence and trust to the general population that political leaders are discussing all these issues, source of grievances or conflict that should be resolved as this violence has erupted after the elections. Therefore, they should discuss all pending issues which will help resolve all these issues.

In the medium and long-term, there are issues of constitutional reform, electoral reform process and land reform. Political and civic community leaders, elders and all Kenyans should be able to discuss these issues for the future of their country.

Q: Could you please tell us what you are doing about the situation in Chad and Darfur?

SG: Regarding the situation in Darfur, I have had constructive meetings with President Bashir and also I discussed with Chairman Konare of the African Union. In fact, during the last year, I discussed this issue to bring peace and stability in Darfur with many world leaders, particularly African leaders. On the basis of the agreements, which we have committed to each other, we must work hard.

I have urged the Sudanese government and President Bashir to fully implement what has been agreed. Now we are in almost the final stages of agreeing on the status of the forces. This agreement will facilitate legal clarity for the peacekeepers there. We have come to a good understanding of the composition of the forces. We must expedite the deployment of forces in Darfur to the full strength of 26,000 as mandated by the Security Council. There are other administrative and technical issues which will be finalized through senior level consultations.

Peace and stability in Darfur is critically important. Likewise, the situation in Chad and the continued military conflict there should not spill over negatively to the peace and security in Darfur, as well as the ongoing process of deployment of UNMIS [United Nations Mission in the Sudan] and the ongoing political process in Darfur.

I sincerely hope and urge both the leaders of Chad and Sudan to refrain from taking military solutions and exercise maximum restraint, as I have clearly stated in my statement.

Q: The UN has said on more than one occasion that Somalia is going through one of the worst humanitarian crises. Is the UN considering at any point to deploy peacekeepers and if so, when would that be?

SG: The situation in Somalia is very worrisome. I have been doing my best again to bring peace and stability. I would say that there should be tracks which need to be taken by Somali leaders. I will discuss with the Prime Minister of Somalia this afternoon. First of all, the Somali leaders should engage in broader dialogue to bring reconciliation within their society. The traditional form of government should exercise their political leadership and secondly the international community should help to strengthen the capacity of AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia]. I don't think that AMISOM's capacity is sufficient. It needs to be strengthened so that they may be able to carry out their duty to bring peace and stability. I have dispatched a strategic technical assessment team to Somalia to assess the situation there. On the basis of their recommendations and findings, I will discuss with the Member States of the UN, particularly Security Council members.