HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday 23, 2005
ANNAN TO ATTEND PLEDGING CONFERENCE ON SUDAN, WILL VISIT DARFUR
The Secretary-General will be traveling to Africa this week, first to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and then to Sudan.
In Addis Ababa, the Secretary-General will co-chair with the African Union (AU) Commission Chairman, Alpha Oumar Konaré, on Thursday, 26 May, a pledging conference aimed at increasing support to the AU Mission in Sudan.
From there, he will travel to Khartoum, the Darfur region and then to Rumbek in southern Sudan.
The Secretary-General is returning to Darfur to see first hand one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and the progress being made in meeting the people’s needs on the ground. By going to Darfur, he hopes to rally support to the AU’s security presence, revitalize the AU-mediated political process and focus attention on the need to sustain the vital and massive UN-led humanitarian assistance activities underway there.
In Khartoum, the Secretary-General is expected to meet with Sudanese government officals, AU officials and the UN team on the ground. He will be travelling to Rumbek where he plans to meet with John Garang, Chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
He is expected back at UN headquarters on 1 June.
SUDAN: CLASH AT CAMP FOR DISPLACED PERSONS
The UN Mission in Sudan reports that, late last week, a clash between police and merchants in Kalma camp, which houses internally displaced people in South Darfur, reportedly resulted in one death and nine injuries.
Following the incident, the African Union (AU) police and elements of the AU Protection Force established a 24/7 presence at the camp. The situation appears to be calm and agencies have resumed humanitarian assistance.
The UN Mission also provided reports of fighting in North and West Darfur, as well as an incident of banditry in the Nuba Mountains.
WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY ADOPTS NEW INTERNATIONAL HEALTH REGULATIONS
In a statement issued through his Spokesman, the Secretary-General welcomed the decision of the World Health Assembly to adopt the International Health Regulations 2005, a measure that is among the recommendations in the Secretary-General's recent report, In Larger Freedom.
This decision marks a watershed for global public health and will help the World Health Organization to further advance its mandate -- the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health -- amid the challenges of the new millennium.
Few challenges reflect the increasing interdependence among all States -- rich and poor, weak and strong -- so vividly as the spread of infectious disease. Our experience with SARS, avian influenza and the Marburg virus leave no doubt as to how rapidly infectious disease can traverse borders, oceans and continents, and compromise rudimentary and modern health systems alike.
In adopting the new regulations, the Assembly has taken a bold and necessary step towards enhancing international cooperation in promoting and protecting global public health from all disease risks, irrespective of origin or source. It has also demonstrated that our multilateral institutions are fully capable of adapting to new threats and challenges.
Recognizing that successful implementation of the regulations will require States to develop effective national capacity, the Secretary-General reiterates his call to all Governments to devote greater attention and resources to building public health infrastructure, and to donors to assist developing countries in doing so.
AFGHANISTAN: U.N. ENVOY DEEPLY DISTURBED BY PRISONER ABUSE
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, issued a statement yesterday in Kabul, on the abuse of Afghan prisoners by international forces.
He said the circumstances involving the abuse were deeply disturbing and that such treatment was utterly unacceptable and an affront to everything the international community stood for in Afghanistan.
He added that the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission should be given access to prisons, including Coalition facilities.
Asked if the UN had any further comment to make on media reports about the abuse of prisoners by coalition forces in Afghanistan, the Spokesman said the comments made by Arnault were all the UN had to say for now on that matter.
Asked for the UN’s stance on media reports which claim the US Government has criticized Afghan President Karzai’s efforts against opium poppy growers, the Spokesman said that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has indicated that the information it currently has does not suggest that President Karzai is any less committed than he was before to eliminating opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.
The Spokesman added that UNODC looks forward to discussing the matter further with Afghan and US officials in Kabul.
U.N. REPRESENTATIVE ADDRESSES FOOD INSECURITY IN ZAMBIA
James T. Morris, the Secretary-General’s Special Humanitarian Envoy for southern Africa, was in Zambia today. This is the first stop in an 11-day four nation regional tour.
The food security issue in Zambia is very serious this year after three years of already severe problems related to food security, HIV/AIDS and the weakened capacity of the government to respond to these crises.
Seventy-five percent of the population lives below the poverty lines and Zambia also has an adult HIV/AIDS prevalence of nearly 17% with nearly a million orphaned children – roughly ten percent of the population.
Morris’ efforts center around refocusing attention on the crisis in southern Africa.
ARMED CONFLICTS LEADING CAUSE OF WORLD HUNGER
In a new report, the Food and Agriculture Organization says that armed conflicts are now the leading cause of world hunger, with the effects of HIV/AIDS and climate change not far behind.
The report says that the goal of reducing the number of the world's hungry by half by the year 2015 – set by the World Food Summit in 1996 and reinforced by the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, are almost – is almost certain to be missed by a wide margin if current trends persist.
However, the report adds, the goal of cutting the proportion of hungry and poor, may be achieved in most regions with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa.
GLOBAL SYSTEM NEEDS STRONG LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Asked if a commencement address given over the weekend at the Pace University School of Law by Mark Malloch Brown – in his capacity as Administrator of the UN Development Programme – indicated a new strategy, the Spokesman said that the speech was aimed at a graduating class of lawyers and his message was that the global system needs a strong legal framework to meet the demands of globalization.
The Spokesman added that Malloch Brown was encouraging the graduates to get involved and follow in the footsteps of other American legal scholars who provided the legal foundations for the League of Nations, the UN Charter, and the Declaration of Human Rights.
Asked if Malloch Brown’s recent comments indicated he was becoming an “attack dog” for the Secretary-General, the Spokesman said he did not agree with this characterization, and pointed to Malloch Brown’s presentation to the House International Relations Committee as an example of Malloch Brown’s respectful and engaging approach.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS WITH COUNTRIES GIVING TROOPS TO PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS: At 3:00 p.m., the Security Council has scheduled consultations on Burundi. This morning the Council is meeting with troop contributing countries for the UN Missions in Burundi and Haiti. Today is also the day of the monthly Security Council luncheon with the Secretary-General.
NORWEGIAN JUDGE RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF RWANDA TRIBUNAL: At the Judges’ annual Plenary Meeting of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda over the weekend, Judge Erik Møse of Norway was re-elected as President of the Tribunal for a second two-year term. Judge Arlette Ramaroson of Madagascar was elected Vice-President.
HUMANITARIAN CHIEF WINS PRIZE: Yesterday, Hebrew Union College awarded the 2005 Roger E. Joseph Prize to Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. The Joseph Prize is an international award presented annually to an individual or organization, which has made a distinctive contribution to humanity. Egeland will donate the $10,000 prize to field operations carried out by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
**Today’s guest at the noon briefing was Palitha Kohona, Chief of the Office of Legal Affairs’ Treaty Section. He marked the launch of the book, “Focus 2005: Treaties Responding to Global Challenges.”
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