HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
KYOTO PROTOCOL
ON GLOBAL WARMING ENTERS INTO FORCE
The
Kyoto Protocol against global warming
entered into force today.
Under the Protocol, industrialized countries are to
reduce their combined emissions of six major greenhouse gases during the
five-year period from 2008 to 2012 to below 1990 levels.
So far 140 Member States have ratified the accord.
In a video
message to mark the event, the
Secretary-General urged the world to save the planet by adding to the
limits on greenhouse gases.
Meanwhile, Klaus Toepfer, the head of the
UN Environment Programme,
said that while the U.S. Government has decided against the treaty, there
are many individual states in America which have adopted, or plan to adopt,
greenhouse gas reductions, in line with the spirit of the protocol.
There will be a conference at
UN headquarters tomorrow, on the topic of the treaty, entitled “One Day After
Kyoto: Next Steps on Climate.” The three-hour conference starts at 10:00 a.m.
The speakers include Jose Antonio Ocampo, the Under-Secretary-General for
Economic and Social Affairs; U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel; and Emyr Jones Parry
and Enele Sopoaga, the Permanent Representatives to the United Nations of the
United Kingdom and Tuvalu, respectively.
IRAQ: LOW TURNOUT BY SUNNIS & ARAB
NATIONALISTS
MUST BE ADDRESSED
The elections in
Iraq were “a momentous event for Iraqis and the international community,”
and marked a significant development in the country’s transition to democratic
government, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast
told the
Security Council today.
Prendergast said the elections met recognized standards
for organization, regulations and procedures, and he voiced pride in the role
the UN electoral team was able to play.
Now, he told the Council, the low turnout by Sunni Arabs
and Arab nationalists is something that needs to be addressed if there is to
be more complete participation in the writing of a constitution and a
subsequent referendum.
Iraq’s most immediate challenge, he said, is to form a
transitional government that is broadly representative of Iraqi society and
can bring together all Iraqi constituencies in a national effort to define the
country’s future.
Prendergast offered the United Nations’ continued help,
noting that “the UN has considerable experience of supporting and facilitating
transitional processes under difficult conditions.”
Following his open briefing, which the Secretary-General
also attended, the Security Council went into consultations on Iraq, to
continue its discussion with Prendergast.
A
Presidential Statement on Iraq was also issued.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO TAKE UP COMMISSION
OF INQUIRY REPORT ON DARFUR
The monthly Security Council luncheon with the
Secretary-General is also taking place today.
Then, at 4 p.m., the Security Council has scheduled a
meeting to be followed by consultations on Sudan.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour will
present the
Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur.
The Secretary-General will attend that meeting and make a
statement.
U.N. WILL ACT
IMMEDIATELY AGAINST SIGNS OF ABUSE
IN PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS
The Secretary-General was asked by a reporter today about
any possible increase in UN assistance to
Iraq, and
said that the United Nations had been able to fulfill its mandate during
the Iraqi elections and has indicated ways that it can assist the Iraqis
following the elections.
He was also asked about yesterday’s Security Council
request for a report on Lebanon, and said it was being studied so that the
United Nations could begin to take prompt action. He hoped that the first step
towards meeting the request would take place in the course of the week.
Asked about the images of UN peacekeepers in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) being seen with prostitutes, the
Secretary-General emphasized the UN’s zero-tolerance policy and said, “We have
urged the troops to be careful not to fraternize with these vulnerable
people.” He noted that the Moroccan Government has taken action to punish some
of those involved, and he expected other governments to take action, as well.
Asked about subsequent comments
following the announcement last week of the no-fraternization policy in the
DRC, the Spokesman said that the United Nations has had some preliminary
indications that the Secretary-General’s policy has been slow to filter down
the ranks. Consequently, he said, the United Nations wanted to reinforce the
message to all peacekeeping missions.
He said that UN peacekeeping
heads would come to New York next month for an annual gathering, and the
Secretary-General would take the occasion to drive the message home to them.
Asked whether the
no-fraternization policy would apply to other peacekeeping missions, the
Spokesman said the hope was that the policy in the DRC would serve as a signal
to other missions. The United Nations would look closely at all missions, and
would act immediately against any signs of abuse.
UNITED NATIONS ESTABLISHES PRESENCE IN
TWO IRAQI CITIES
Regarding the UN presence in Erbil and Basra, there is
now a small UN presence in both those locations. As you know the
Secretary-General had decided as far back as December to take steps to
establish a presence in Basra and Erbil, as circumstances permitted.
The UN staff deployed is what we call a liaison
detachment of security personnel and support staff. They will be in contact
with regional authorities, as well as the Multi National Force commanders to
provide security assessments for the UN. They will also facilitate eventual
visits by UN substantive staff to the area.
Any further expansion, including of substantive staff, of
the UN presence beyond the current five staff in Basra and three in Erbil will
depend on the security situation and arrangements, as well as the actual
availability of UN facilities.
Asked about the current
arrangements, the Spokesman said that the people in place in the two cities
are security people and support staff, who can in turn determine whether it is
safe for substantive staff to arrive. “It’s a toe in the water,” he said.
Asked why it had taken so long
after a previous assessment to bring in this level of staff, he noted that,
following the earlier assessment, safe housing and work facilities had to be
identified and arrangements had to be made for a protection force.
In response to another
question, the Spokesman later added that there are
currently around 50 UN staff members in Baghdad. That includes substantive
staff and support staff, as well as civilian security and military advisors.
The additional close protection personnel and guard units bring the total
close to 200. That is in addition to the five in Basra and three in Erbil.
OIL-FOR-FOOD AUDITOR TO ANSWER INQUIRIES
FROM U.S. CONGRESS
In a letter sent to Senators Norm Coleman and Carl Levin
on Monday, the Secretary-General’s Chef de Cabinet, Mark Malloch Brown, said
he would make available to them, and their colleagues from the other
investigative committees, the UN Chief Auditor of the
Oil-for-Food Programme, Dagfinn Knutsen.
As the lead auditor of all of the OIOS audits into the
oil for food programme, no one is better placed to answer whatever questions
Congress members may have on this particular issue of audits.
When Mark Malloch Brown went to Washington last week to
meet members of Congress he told them that the United Nations would work with
Congress to ensure an orderly process that meets the needs of all the
Congressional committees and those of the Independent Inquiry Committee
chaired by Paul Volcker. The United Nations is doing just that.
The details of Knutsen’s appearance will be worked
out with the various committees to find a time in the near future when he
could brief them all.
IMPORTANT STEP TAKEN TO PROTECT CHILDREN
IN ARMED CONFLICTS
Out as a document today is the
report by the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict.
A press release on the report issued by the Office of
the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, says that for the first
time, a comprehensive monitoring and compliance mechanism is being put in
place for the purpose of ensuring the protection of children exposed to armed
conflict around the world.
Otunnu said, “This is a very big day for millions of
children who are being brutalized in situations of armed conflict.”
An open Security Council debate on the report is
scheduled for next Wednesday.
U.N. REPORT NOTES DECLINING FERTILITY
DUE TO CONTRACEPTIVES
Out today is a
report by the Secretary-General on world demographic trends.
It notes that the world’s population reached 6.5 billion
in 2005, and could ultimately stabilize at 9 billion in the year 2050.
The report says that most countries -- both developed and
developing -- have seen significant declines in fertility, in line with the
increased use of contraceptives. At the same time, however, the population of
many countries in Africa and Asia will grow considerably in the coming
decades.
The report also notes that half the world’s population is
expected to live in urban areas by 2007.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
ONLY SECURITY COUNCIL CAN WAIVE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S
IMMUNITY: The Deputy Secretary-General was asked yesterday who can waive the
immunity of a Secretary-General. The answer can be found in the 1946
Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, which
says, in Article V Section 20, that only the Security Council can do that.
NO ANNOUNCEMENT YET ON MIDDLE
EAST ENVOY: Asked about comments today by
the Secretary-General that Kieran Prendergast was his adviser on the Middle
East, the Spokesman said that was not unusual, since, as the head of the
Department of Political Affairs, Prendergast would be a senior adviser to the
Secretary-General, and had been advising him on the Middle East and the work of
the Quartet. A new Special Coordinator for the Middle East has yet to be
announced, Eckhard added.
JOURNALISTS CANNOT RECEIVE
U.N. SALARIES WHILE WORKING FOR MEDIA OUTLETS:
Asked about an e-mail that accused some journalists of being in the pay of the
United Nations, the Spokesman said that no journalist is paid to work for the
United Nations while working for a media outlet. Members of the UN press corps
have sometimes worked for the United Nations or for peacekeeping missions, he
said, but they had to resign from their jobs as journalists, or take leaves of
absence, to do so.
UNICEF TO HOLD CONFERENCE ON POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT:
UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, is holding tomorrow a
conference entitled “Children: The Missing Link Between Poverty and
Development.” UNICEF’s Executive Director Carol Bellamy and Nobel Prize-winning
economist Joseph E. Stiglitz will be on a panel of eminent thinkers, who will
debate issues such as “how children experience poverty differently from adults.”
REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON AVIAN INFLUENZA TO BE HELD:
On 23-25 February, a regional conference on Avian Influenza in animals will be
held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The meeting – for chief veterinary officers,
scientists, and organizations – is jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the World Animal Health Organization (OIE). The
conference follows warnings from FAO and IOE about the need for countries to
step up their efforts to curb the Avian Influenza/Bird Flu epidemic.
U.S. FOOTBALL STARS VISIT TSUNAMI-HIT SRI LANKA: Two
leading U.S. professional football players, New York Giants wide receiver Amani
Toomer and Kansas City Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson, today started a four-day
visit to
tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka, to work with the
World Food Programme on its emergency operation to feed hungry families
there.
*** The guest at today’s Noon Briefing was
K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic
Commission for Africa, who briefed on developments in Africa, including those
relating to the Millennium Development Goals, HIV/AIDS and the Commission on
Africa.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162 -
press/media only
Fax. 212-963-7055
All other inquiries to be addressed to (212)
963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org
