HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, November
17, 2004
ANNAN CONDEMNS BRUTAL EXECUTION OF
MARGARET HASSAN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is
shocked and deeply saddened by reports of the brutal execution of Margaret
Hassan, Head of the CARE International office in
Iraq, who was taken hostage on 19 October.
Ms. Hassan, who had been an aid worker in Iraq for more
than 25 years and had acquired Iraqi citizenship, devoted her life to helping
the Iraqi people. The Secretary-General condemns this abhorrent crime.
CARE International is one of the most prominent and
respected aid organizations active in areas of conflict and distress. Under
the direction of Ms. Hassan, CARE International had become a close partner of
the United Nations, particularly of
UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, in alleviating the needs of the Iraqi
people.
The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest possible
terms the targeting of humanitarian aid workers and organizations and
reiterates that such acts of terror are indefensible.
The work of Ms. Hassan in Iraq will be remembered by all
in Iraq and beyond as an example of human solidarity.
The Secretary-General expresses his deepest sympathy and
condolences to the family and loved ones of Ms. Hassan. He shares their grief
and sorrow.
U.N. ENVOY AND IRAQI PRESIDENT DISCUSS
IMPACT OF HOSTILITIES
ON CIVILIAN POPULATION IN FALLUJAH
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Iraq,
Ashraf Qazi, today held talks with President Ghazi al-Yawar, in which they
discussed the situation in Falluja following the military operations in that
city.
They focused on humanitarian conditions in Falluja and
the impact of the hostilities on the civilian population.
They also discussed the preparations for national
elections, scheduled for late January, and efforts to create a political and
security environment that is conducive for the holding of credible and
comprehensive elections.
The
UN Assistance Mission to Iraq has been closely monitoring the situation in
Falluja, and has provided medical and other essential supplies to the civilian
population, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations and Iraqi
ministries.
Qazi has also been meeting with various Iraqi officials
and political and civic activists to explore means by which the United Nations
can contribute to advancing the political process in Iraq, in line with
Security Council resolution 1546.
Asked about the contribution by
Fijian soldiers to the security of UN staff in Iraq, the Spokesman said the
Fijians are being recruited as close protection experts, to provide an inner
ring of protection for UN premises and staff. He added that there is also to
be a middle and outer ring of security, provided by the multinational force.
COTE D'IVOIRE: MEDIA MESSAGES
INTERSPERSED WITH CALLS FOR MILITANTS
TO REMAIN MOBILIZED
The overall situation in Cote d’Ivoire is reported to be
relatively calm.
The
UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) says that 10 days after the start of
the crisis, none of the international radio stations have been allowed to
resume their broadcasts. None of the opposition newspapers have reappeared,
and the Government continues to hold the monopoly over the media.
UNOCI says that while official reaction to the
Security Council
resolution adopted this week has been a resolute desire to comply, these
messages are interspersed with calls for the Young Patriot militants to remain
mobilized.
The UN Radio, meanwhile, is broadcasting peace messages,
along with features and interviews on the economic and humanitarian effects of
the crisis.
UN peacekeepers continue to patrol sensitive areas in
Abidjan to preempt any security risks to the civilian population. UN police
have resumed their outreach activities with the local population.
In the north, the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that
all checkpoints in Bouake have been dismantled. Electricity was re-established
on Monday night.
Meanwhile, prices of basic food items have increased and
fuel has skyrocketed by 100%. The
World Food Programme distributed food for about 2,000 persons in two
orphanages.
UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, has provided fuel to health centers to
ensure that the cold chain for vaccines is not affected by the erratic supply
of electricity.
OCHA also says that in the Zone de Confidence, the
situation remains very tense and the civilian population is very vulnerable to
attacks.
SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ARRIVE IN
NAIROBI
FOR TWO-DAY MEETING ON SUDAN
There are no meetings or consultations of the
Security Council today here or in Nairobi, where Council members arrived
ahead of a two-day meeting on
Sudan.
The Secretary-General and his Special Representative for
the Sudan,
Jan Pronk, will participate in the meeting.
In line with the unanimously adopted
resolution 1569 (2004), the Council decided to take the opportunity of its
presence in Nairobi to discuss other peace efforts in the region.
The Council’s discussions are expected to focus on the
civil conflicts engulfing the Sudan, including the crisis in the Darfur
region, as well as the long-running civil war in the southern part of the
country.
According to the
Security Council Presidency, this will be only the fourth time in its
history that the Council is meeting away from United Nations Headquarters in
New York, and its first formal meeting in Nairobi.
The
UN Information Centre in Nairobi has accredited more than 400 national and
international reporters to cover the event.
U.N. MISSION IN SUDAN REPORTS SHOOTINGS
AT DARFUR REFUGEE CAMPS
The
UN Mission in Sudan reports, based on accounts from
internally displaced persons, that over the weekend, police units at Kalma
camp in
South Darfur started firing indiscriminately.
The residents speculate that shooting took place as a
warning following the visit of the Commission of Inquiry on Saturday, 13
November.
According to the Government, rebels within the camp fired
on Sudanese police positions, forcing an exchange of gunfire, the UN Mission
reports.
The Mission also reports that residents in camps around
El-Geneina are increasingly concerned about the presence of armed men in and
around their camps. They report that gunshots are being fired during the
night.
Also in West Darfur, UN agency workers conducted a
one-day training workshop for 60 members of the African Monitoring Force in El
Geneina. The subject was on sexually transmitted diseases and gender-based
violence.
UNITED
NATIONS HELPED FORM PALESTINIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Asked about the Palestinian
elections scheduled for next January, the Spokesman said that, as part of the
process of reform of the Palestinian Authority, in a project funded by the
donor community, since 2002 the United Nations served as lead technical
advisor in the formation of a new Palestinian Electoral Commission. The UN’s
assistance included training, drafting of plans of operations and registration
projects.
Until earlier this year, the
UN’s chief technical advisor had been Carlos Valenzuela, who is now in
Iraq. His post has now been filled by an electoral official from the
European Union.
This new commission, the
Spokesman said, is now ready to go.
The United Nations is now
awaiting a further request of assistance that may be needed to plan for
elections in January.
ANNAN CONGRATULATES CONDOLEEZZA RICE
The
Secretary-General yesterday evening spoke by telephone with U.S. National
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. He congratulated her on her appointment to
become the next Secretary of State.
As he told reporters on Monday, he is looking forward to
a constructive and collaborative relationship with the U.S. administration and
the next Secretary of State.
UNITED NATIONS IS COOPERATING WITH IRAQ
OIL-FOR-FOOD INQUIRY
Asked about media reports that
some of the money diverted by Saddam Hussein from the
oil-for-food program had been used to compensate families of suicide
bombers, the Spokesman said that the matter had not been taken up by the
Security Council’s
661 Sanctions Committee on Iraq.
He noted hearings in the U.S.
Congress this week about the skimming of money from the oil-for-food program.
In a Monday hearing in the Senate, it had been said that the amount that was
diverted had totaled $21.3 billion. Eckhard said that Senator Carl Levin
acknowledged that a substantial portion of that money predated the existence
of the oil-for-food program.
The Spokesman asserted that
none of the oil-for-food money was to go to Saddam Hussein, but to an escrow
account for the benefit of all Iraqis. The oil money that went into any other
account, as the
Secretary-General had said, was illegal and a
breach of sanctions. The Spokesman said that
Paul Volcker’s independent inquiry committee was to determine the extent
to which sanctions had been breached.
Asked for the
Secretary-General’s reaction to Volcker’s letter to Senator Levin and Senator
Norm Coleman, concerning the sharing of documentation, the Spokesman noted
that the Security Council itself had approved the Secretary-General’s
recommendation to set up an independent inquiry under Volcker.
The United Nations, he said,
had turned over all oil-for-food documentation to Volcker, who said that he
would control it.
The Secretary-General, Eckhard
said, approved of that arrangement at the time, and does so today. It is the
only way that Volcker can conduct an orderly and thorough investigation.
The Spokesman added that
everyone at the United Nations has been told to cooperate with Volcker, whom
he described as a trusted individual with enormous integrity. “It’s perverse
to describe this as a cover-up,” he said.
Asked about contacts between
the
Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Frechette, and the two Senators, the
Spokesman said he was unaware of such contacts.
The Secretary-General, he said,
had spoken to each of the Senators over the weekend, saying that he wanted to
get to the bottom of this, and did not want to obstruct their investigation,
but had an obligation to all 191 Member States.
The Spokesman, in response to
another question, said that the Secretary-General supports Volcker’s position
on testimony by UN staff.
U.N. ENVOY
WELCOMES FORMATION OF GOVERNMENT IN KOSOVO
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in
Kosovo,
Soren Jessen-Petersen, has welcomed the formation of a coalition
government there. He said he counts on all parties to play an active role in
the democratic process.
He also said he trusts that the new custodians of the
provisional institutions will honor their commitment to work closely with
minority communities, and towards building a stable multiethnic society.
NIGERIA AIMS TO IMMUNIZE ALL CHILDREN
AGAINST POLIO
UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, notes that
Nigeria aims to immunize every child there against
polio during the upcoming National Immunization Day, which kicks off on 20
November.
There is a lot riding on this campaign, with UNICEF
adding that the polio eradication campaign in Nigeria was on track until the
Oral Polio Vaccines controversy, which began last year over resistance by some
Nigerian states to use of the polio vaccine.
As of last Friday, the
World Health Organization has confirmed that 682 Nigerian children, in 31
states, under the age of five years old have been paralyzed by polio this year
– up from 335 cases in 19 states last year.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW SENIOR OFFICIAL APPOINTED TO U.N. MISSION IN
ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA: Sissel Ekaas of Norway has been appointed Deputy
Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the
UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Immediately prior to this appointment,
Ekaas served as the Director, Gender and Population Division, Sustainable
Development Department in the
Food and Agriculture Organization. She is expected to take up her
duties in Asmara by the end of this month.
NEW STANDARD APPROVED FOR A HUMAN GENETIC TEST:
The
World Health Organization has
approved the first international standard for a human genetic test. It says
that use of the standard will help improve the accuracy and quality of
laboratory results worldwide from a frequently used genetic test. This test
identifies a genetic predisposition to thrombosis and could therefore enable
people to take preventive measures. The new standard was agreed at the 55th session
of one of WHO's longest-standing committees, the
WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization which is meeting from
November 15 to 18 in Geneva.
DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS RELEASED FOR ASIA-PACIFIC:
The
United Nations Environment Programme has
released a set of indicators to help countries in the Asia-Pacific region
measure their progress towards sustainable development goals. Overall, the
indicators show progress in economic performance, poverty reduction and human
health – but declines in the quality of land, air, water and biodiversity
resources. The indicators are published in simple, graphical form; and they
allow policy-makers to use benchmarks and assess trends in 30 different
economic, social and environmental areas.
UNESCO AND MICROSOFT JOIN FORCES TO BRIDGE DIGITAL
DIVIDE:
UNESCO and Microsoft have
signed a cooperation agreement today to help bridge the digital divide, by
using information technology to improve education and development worldwide.
The agreement defines eight areas in which UNESCO and
Microsoft will work together, exchanging experiences, know-how and developing
projects. The include cultural and linguistic diversity and preservation, and
fostering web-based communities of practice, including content development,
knowledge sharing and empowerment through participation.
EDUCATION FOR RURAL PEOPLE TO BE STRENGTHENED:
The
Food and Agriculture Organization,
UNESCO, the European Commission, and several European NGOs, have
agreed to strengthen cooperation in order to address the basic education
needs of rural people. The project, discussed at a three-day meeting which ended
today, will raise public awareness in Europe on the topic.
W.H.O. TO ANNOUNCE AWARD FOR COMMUNITY-BASED HIV
TREATMENT: The
World Health Organization will announce a $1 million award tomorrow
to the Collaborative Fund for HIV Treatment Preparedness. That grant is intended
for community-based treatment preparedness activities and the distribution of
funds for treatment and advocacy. The treatment program will be launched
tomorrow.
*** UN Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch
Brown and Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio
Ocampo briefed on the
International Year of Microcredit 2005.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
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