HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
ASSOCIATE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday,
September 1, 2004
According to a statement
issued today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan was appalled to learn that more
than 100 pupils are being held hostage at a secondary
school in Beslan, Russian Federation. The attack on the school has
already resulted in deaths. He calls for the immediate release of the
children, their parents and teachers, and condemns in the strongest terms
this criminal act directed against the most vulnerable members of society.
UNICEF
Executive Director Carol Bellamy today also appealed for the "immediate
and unconditional release of the children,” and said that “children must
never be used for political purposes, and schools must never be degraded to
places of violence.”Bellamy
added, “They must be preserved as safe-havens for children to learn and
play. If we don’t respect the sanctity of childhood, then we have
nothing.”
In a statement
issued on Tuesday, the Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms
the terrorist attack at the Rizhskaya subway station in Moscow, which
resulted in the death and injury of many innocent victims. He conveyed his
heartfelt condolences to the Russian people and to the families of the
victims.
Spain has assumed the
presidency of the Security Council
for the month of September. The Council President, Ambassador Juan Antonio
Yañez-Barnuevo of Spain, is currently holding bilateral meetings today on
the month’s program of work.
At 5:00 p.m. today,
the Council President has scheduled consultations on the program of work,
the situation in the Middle
East and threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist
acts, as well as other matters.
The Security Council
President is scheduled to brief reporters in room 226 around 1:00 p.m.
Thursday on the September program.
The
Security Council has received the
report on the implementation of Resolution
1556 concerning Darfur,
Sudan.
The
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan,
Jan Pronk, will brief the Council on the report in an open meeting on
Thursday. He will speak to reporters at the stakeout following that
briefing.
Asked
about details of the report, the Spokeswoman declined to comment until Pronk
has briefed the Security Council.
The World Food
Programme (WFP) today announced
the safe release of three of its employees who had been held captive by
rebels in the Darfur region. While welcoming their release, WFP condemned
the fact that humanitarian workers were being targeted by armed groups.
The three WFP staff,
as well as three members of the Sudanese Red Crescent, disappeared in North
Darfur on Saturday afternoon, while they were on a mission to register
displaced people.
Their release was
secured on Wednesday, following negotiations by a UN security team with
rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), who had abducted them.
WFP
also appealed for $12 million to expand its special feeding in refugee camps
in Chad to save tens of thousands of children under the age of five as well
as pregnant and nursing women driven from their homes in Darfur.
Insecurity and
violent clashes continue to be reported in the three states of Darfur,
according to information reported at a press briefing by the UN mission in
Khartoum, and a general feeling of fear remains among the internally
displaced persons (IDPs) who are reluctant to return to their villages at
this time.
Major gaps in
humanitarian relief remain, despite an increase in many types of assistance
that has been delivered over the past few weeks.
At the Naivasha,
Kenya, peace talks to resolve the
long-running conflict in Sudan's south, the Government of the Sudan and the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) renewed on Tuesday the
agreement on cessation of hostilities for another three months, until
November 31, 2004.
The Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Iraq,
Ross Mountain, today met with Pascale Isho, Iraq’s Minister of
Displacement and Migration.
They
discussed the issue of the resettlement of internally displaced persons in
the north and the returning refugees from Iran in the south of Iraq. The
continuing UN support for the Ministry and their facilities in Basra was
also discussed.
On
Tuesday afternoon, a statement
was issued on behalf of the Secretary-General regarding the killing of the
12 Nepalese hostages in Iraq.
In the statement, the Secretary-General said he was appalled and dismayed by
the gruesome murder.
He
conveyed his deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to the bereaved
families.
The
UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
today protested
to the Israeli Government at the ongoing closure of the Erez Crossing into
the Gaza
Strip.
The
closure, which began on Tuesday, seriously damages UNRWA’s ability to
carry out its humanitarian mandate in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In an unprecedented
and serious development, the Israeli authorities have barred Peter Hansen,
the agency’s Commissioner-General, from leaving Gaza to carry out his
duties in the West Bank. It is unheard of for the executive head of a UN
agency to have his freedom of movement flagrantly curtailed by a member
state of the United Nations in this way.
The Secretary-General
says it is encouraging that some progress has been made in Cote d’Ivoire
towards implementing the Accra Agreement, but adds that much remains to be
done, within a short period of time.
In his latest report
to the Security Council on Cote d’Ivoire, the Secretary-General urges the
Ivorian parties to ensure that crucial deadlines for the adoption of legal
reforms, and for the revision of Article 35 of the Constitution on the
eligibility criteria for the Presidency, are closely adhered to.
He reminds the
Ivorian parties of their personal responsibility for ensuring that the
commitments made in Accra are translated into concrete actions on the ground
that will urgently move the peace process forward.
The report notes that
the deployment of the UN
Mission in Cote d’Ivoire has had a generally positive impact on the
security situation in the country, which has continued to become more stable
during the reporting period.
ANNAN VOICES SADNESS AT DEATH OF YEMENI AMBASSADOR
[In a
statement
issued after the noon briefing, the Secretary-General was
saddened to learn of the death of Ambassador Abdullah Saleh Al-Ashtal, who
served as Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations for almost
30 years.
Deeply committed to the work and ideals of the
Organization, Ambassador Al-Ashtal was a doyen of envoys to the United Nations.
He presented his credentials on May 29, 1973, as Permanent Representative of
the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen to the United Nations, and
continued to represent a united Yemen from 1990.
He remained in his post until
July 2002, giving the title of Permanent Representative exceptionally real
meaning. As one of Yemen's most articulate diplomats and a widely popular
delegate to the United Nations, he was a leading advocate of economic and
social development.
The Secretary-General extends his
condolences to the family of Ambassador Al-Ashtal, as well as to the Government
of Yemen.]
The ninth annual report
of the Rwanda Tribunal says the Tribunal
is on schedule to complete all trials by 2008. To accomplish that task, the
Tribunal could complete trials involving some 65 to 70 persons over the next
few years.
By the end of this
year, 25 persons will be on trial, the report says.
However, it adds, the
Tribunal needs sufficient resources to complete its work. Recently,
recruitment of new staff was frozen because certain Member States had failed
to pay their contributions to the ad hoc tribunals. It is essential that
this situation be resolved as soon as possible.
Economic
security remains
out of reach for most of the world's workers, with about three-quarters of
them living in circumstances of economic
insecurity that foster "a world full of anxiety and anger."
That’s one of the findings of a new study by the International Labour
Organization.
The
report highlights that people's economic security promotes personal well
being, happiness and tolerance, while benefiting growth and development. But,
the report says, only 8 percent of people -
fewer than one in
10 - live in countries providing favorable economic
security.
The
report is the first attempt to measure global economic security as perceived
by ordinary people and was based on detailed household and workplace surveys
covering over 48,000 workers and more than 10,000 workplaces worldwide.
UNITED
NATIONS PROVIDES TOURS, BRIEFINGS TO REPUBLICAN DELEGATES
Asked
to respond to comments about the United Nations made at the Republican
National Convention by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the
Spokeswoman said she didn’t think it would be proper to comment on every
speech made at a political convention.
She
pointed out that by the end of today, the United Nations will have hosted
close to 900 Republicans who are in New York to attend the convention, who
are being provided free tours of the United Nations.
In
an event sponsored by the UN Foundation later today, over 650 young
Republicans will attend a briefing on the United Nations to hear from UN officials on
issues ranging from UN reform to the UN’s role in Iraq,
Sudan,
and Afghanistan.
And
last night, a reception was held for the International Democrat Union (IDU),
an international association of conservative political parties. Senior UN
officials attended that reception.
Developing
countries are making real gains in promoting reproductive
health and women’s rights, but they are hampered by inadequate support
from rich nations and serious problems persist.
That
was the message of Thoraya
Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA,
the United Nations Population Fund, at an NGO conference in London on
Tuesday.
She
said that support from developed countries for reproductive health programs
falls far short of international commitments.
For
example, donors’ share of funding for contraceptive supplies and condoms
for HIV/AIDS prevention has declined
by one third since 1994, and needs for such commodities will grow by 40
percent by 2015.
APPEAL LAUNCHED
FOLLOWING AFGHANISTAN DROUGHT: Today in Afghanistan,
the Afghan Government and the UN Mission launched a joint appeal for $71.3
million, to deal with the drought in parts of the country. That includes $51.8
million for food and $19.4 million for non-food items, to handle needs from
September through next February.
DEADLINE SET FOR
LIBERIA DISARMAMENT: The head of the UN
Mission in Liberia, Jacques Klein, today announced plans to conclude the
disarmament of Liberian ex-combatants at the end of October, giving the
remaining fighters two more months to give up their arms.
UN ENVOY WELCOMES
APPOINTMENT OF ELECTION COMMISSION MEMBERS IN BURUNDI:
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Burundi,
Carolyn McAskie, today welcomed the appointment of the five members of the
Independent National Electoral Commission that will organize the country’s
elections.
UN GUATEMALA MISSION
DEPLORES CLASHES: The UN Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA)
has deplored the violent clashes that took place on Tuesday when riot police
tried to evict armed squatters from a ranch in the southern province of
Retalhuleu. In a press release, MINUGUA stresses that the current crisis is
affecting hundreds of peasant families and calls for land conflicts to be
resolved through dialogue and public policies.
UNICEF CHIEF TO VISIT
BEIJING: Carol
Bellamy, the Executive Director of the UN
Children’s Fund, is to arrive in Beijing today. On Friday, in the Chinese
capital, she will launch a report examining how China is tackling the impact of
vitamin and mineral deficiency in its population.
ANNAN PLEASED WITH
REPORT ON UN VOLUNTEERS: The Secretary-General, in
a note,
says he is pleased that the Joint Inspection Unit has concluded that the UN
Volunteers program has proven to be dynamic and quick to respond to changing and
expanding demands. In this connection, the Secretary-General welcomes generally
the recommendations and suggestions made by the Joint Inspection Unit.
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