Secretary-General

Noon briefing of 9 September 2005


HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, September 9, 2005

[Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
There will be no noon briefing that day.]

] WORK CONTINUES ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUMMIT DOCUMENT

  • Discussions are continuing in the General Assembly on the draft outcome document on UN reform or the 2005 World Summit.

  • The core negotiating group met throughout the day yesterday, and is scheduled to meet this morning and this afternoon.

  • Negotiations may continue during the weekend.

  • There is a possibility of a press briefing by General Assembly President Jean Ping over the weekend.

UNITED NATIONS TO FOLLOW UP VOLCKER REPORT PROCUREMENT FINDINGS

  • The Department of Management has asked the Office of Internal Oversight Services to follow up on the findings of the Independent Inquiry Committee’s report, which relate to procurement, to see if any action needs to be taken.

  • Asked about measures the United Nations is taking against those found in the latest report of the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) to have committed wrong-doing, the Spokesman said those found responsible will be held accountable.

  • He pointed out that the UN Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) has been asked to follow up on the IIC’s findings and as a first step, will look in to the UN’s procurement activities.

  • The Spokesman noted that the UN does not have the authority to prosecute criminal matters, which are the responsibility of national judicial authorities. He added that national authorities have received copies of the IIC report, and if charges are filed against any U.N. employee their immunity can be waived.

  • Asked about the extent of OIOS’s powers, the Spokesman said OIOS investigates cases and if it finds that there has been an administrative violation of UN staff rules, then those responsible are charged against staff rules. If criminal activity is found to have taken place, then the case is forwarded to national criminal authorities for prosecution.

  • Asked if the United Nations was taking any measures to deal with the fact that there were, according to the IIC’s report, at least $79 million worth in contracts that were involved in bribery cases that were currently proceeding in criminal investigations, the Spokesman said that the UN was in contact with the U.S. Attorney’s office and that the United Nations would not knowingly employ contractors that were involved in criminal activities. That matter would in fact be looked into through the upcoming OIOS procurement investigation.

  • Asked if the United Nations was currently transferring any money to Benon Sevan through any means, the Spokesman said he was not aware of any such transactions.

  • He did note, however, that Sevan was still entitled to his UN pension. In past cases where the United Nations had tried to withhold pension from former employees facing criminal charges, the UN tribunal had made it clear that UN employees could not be denied their pensions, Dujarric added.

  • Fielding a question about today’s comments by U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, the Spokesman said the United Nations was happy that Coleman had come to the United Nations. Dujarric added that he knew of no planned meeting between the Secretary-General and Coleman, but that Coleman would be meeting with other UN officials.

  • Asked to respond to Coleman’s calls for the Secretary-General to resign, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General still enjoyed the solid backing of the Member States, which was demonstrated at last Wednesday’s Security Council meeting.

  • Asked about the ability of the IIC’s chairman, Paul Volcker, to testify before the U.S. Congress, the Spokesman said the United Nations had not yet received any such invitation for Volcker to appear before the U.S. Congress.

  • In response to a question about Volcker’s diplomatic immunity, the Spokesman noted that only the Secretary-General can lift a UN staff member’s immunity and that is the case with all UN employees. He added that the IIC was formed under a UN Security Council mandate and that afforded its members the rights and privileges provided for under the relevant UN convention.

  • Asked about the Secretary-General’s reaction to the IIC report, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General has accepted the IIC’s report’s criticisms of him, and that the Secretary-General had received the full backing of all 15 members of the Security Council to move ahead on the UN reform process.

  • Asked about references in the Volcker report that UN staffers had contact with outside contractors apparently in violation of UN regulations, the Spokesman said that the OIOS had been asked to look into the findings in regards to procurement.

  • Asked if the Secretary-General still had full confidence in his personal assistant, Wagaye Assebe, the Spokesman said he did.

  • Asked why a letter from the Secretary General to all staff about the Oil-For-Food report was not sent to journalists, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General’s target audience was the staff, and it was a matter between the Secretary General and his staff.

ANNAN MET WITH HEAD OF HARIRI BOMBING INVESTIGATION

  • Responding to a question on the Secretary-General’s meeting yesterday with Detlev Mehlis, head of the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General and Mehlis had taken stock of the investigation so far.

  • The Spokesman added that the Secretary-General would be writing to the Security Council to ask for a 40-day extension for Mehlis’s investigation.

FUNDING SHORTAGES THREATEN HUNGER IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

  • The World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that 430,000 vulnerable people in Mozambique would go hungry unless the international community immediately donated $19 million. Currently, WFP is reaching just over one third of that targeted population.

  • Across the region, WFP still needs nearly $200 million to feed up to 8.5 million people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia through the next lean season, which will probably run from December to next April.

  • Meanwhile, Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, noted yesterday that the UN’s $88 million appeal for Malawi, which was issued last week, has received zero pledges so far.

  • These developments come despite the Secretary-General’s letter on southern Africa, which he sent last month to 27 Heads of State, the European Commission and the African Development Bank, and which drew attention to the need for urgent funding to “avert a catastrophe.”

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSES ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA

  • The Security Council held consultations on Eritrea and Ethiopia today.

  • The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for those two countries, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, briefed on the latest report, which was issued this week.

  • The Council is also expected to discuss preparations for next week’s Security Council summit, scheduled for the 14th.

NEW COMMANDER APPOINTED FOR U.N. WESTERN SAHARA FORCE

  • The Secretary-General has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Brigadier-General Kurt Mosgaard of Denmark to the post of Force Commander for the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. The Security Council is expected to respond shortly.

  • The Brigadier-General has been on active service for 30 years, and this experience includes a previous stint with a UN peacekeeping mission.

TOP REFUGEE OFFICIAL CALLS FOR ACTION TO STOP SOMALIA REFUGEE DEATHS

  • Citing a steadily rising death toll, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres called Friday for an urgent international effort to stem the flow of desperate people who are resorting to ruthless smugglers to take them from Somalia across the Gulf of Aden in unsafe vessels.

  • At least 150 people have died in the Gulf of Aden over the past three weeks, including 25 reported dead on Friday off the coast of Yemen, says UNHCR.

ISRAELI, PALESTINIAN UNESCO UNITS MEET IN PARIS

  • The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, today reported that the Israeli and Palestinian National Commissions for UNESCO held their first, ever, meeting yesterday in Paris.

  • The meeting was aimed at implementing reconstruction plans in the Palestinian territories and encouraging reconciliation through dialogue, UNESCO said.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS WOMEN’S RIGHTS KEY TO MDGS: Deputy-Secretary-General Louise Fréchette today said that promoting women’s rights and gender equality is not only a goal in itself, but also “central to achieving all of the Millennium Development goals.” In remarks delivered at a meeting of Women Speakers of Parliaments in New York, Fréchette said, “there is no time to lose if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015. Only by investing in the world’s women can we expect to get there.”

SECRETARY GENERAL URGES PROTECTION FOR GREAT APES: The Secretary-General today said urged all countries with great ape populations to “consolidate progress” in protecting the dwindling number of the ape species. In a message to a meeting of the Great Apes Survival Project in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Secretary-General said that the numbers of great apes had been reduced to about 400,000 from 2 million fifty years ago. But he said recent conservation moves had showed “signs of hope.” The Secretary-General said “the great apes still have a chance but their fate lies entirely in our hands.”

U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE HAS LEAD INTO KUZNETSOV INVESTIGATION: Asked about the investigations into the activities of Vladimir Kuznetsov, the chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions – who was arrested by U.S. officials in connection with the investigation of a former procurement officer accused of soliciting kickbacks – the Spokesman said the U.S. Attorney’s office had the lead in the investigation.

*** The Guest at the noon briefing was Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office for Drugs and Crime.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Monday, September 12

The Secretary-General will be briefing the press at 10:30 a.m. in S-226.

The official closing of the 59th session of the General Assembly will take place at 3:00 p.m. in the General Assembly Hall.

The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) will be hosting an informal lunch to explore how parliamentarians can become more fully engaged in the response to AIDS. The event will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Millennium Plaza Hotel.

The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) will launch its annual report in New York at 1:00 p.m. Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka will brief in S-226.

Tuesday, September 13

The 60th session of the General Assembly officially opens at 10:00 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall.

At 2:00 p.m., Jan Eliasson, President of the 60th General Assembly Session, will brief the press in S-226.

Then at 3:30 p.m., also in S-226, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Union External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner, and Louis Michel, European Union Development and Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner, will brief on the European Union's commitment to and contributions towards achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will launch its Economic Development in Africa Report 2005 in multiple cities.

Wednesday, September 14

The High-Level Plenary Meeting begins today in the General Assembly Hall.

At 10:00 a.m. in S-226, Maria Mutagamba, Ugandan Minister of State for Water and Chair of the African Minister's Council on Water, Hilde F. Johnson, Norwegian Minister for International Development, and Vanessa Tobin, Chief for Water, Environment and Sanitation, UNICEF, will brief on "Achieving the Millennium Development Goals for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Africa with a Gender Perspective."

Also in S-226, at 12:45 p.m., Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern will brief the press.

The Secretary-General will host a luncheon for Heads of State and Government at 1:15 p.m. in the North Delegates Lounge.

At 2:30 p.m. there will be an official group photo for Heads of State and Government, as well as heads of delegations, at 2:30 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.

Thursday, September 15

The High-Level Plenary Meeting continues today in the General Assembly Hall.

From 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., in Conference Room 7, there will be a meeting of the Economic and Social Council Bureau at the Head of State/Government level.

At 10:30 a.m. in S-226, Cherif Rahmani, Minister for the Management of Territory and for the Environment of Algeria, Corrado Clini, Director-General of the Ministry for the Environment and Territory of Italy, and Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, will brief on the International Year for Deserts and Desertification.

Then at 2:45 p.m. in S-226, President Pervez Musharraf will brief the press.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will brief at 5:45 p.m. in S-226.

Friday, September 16

Today is the last day for the High-Level Plenary Meeting in the General Assembly Hall.

At 12:45 p.m. in S-226, Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada will brief the press.

Also in S-226, at 2:00 p.m., Firmino Mucavele, Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Secretariat, and Ejeviome Elohi Otobo, Acting Director, Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, and others, will brief on the progress of NEPAD, especially regarding the Millennium Development Goals.

Don McKinnon, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, and others, will brief on the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers Meeting at 4:30 p.m. in S-226.

**For additional Summit-related events, please visit: http://www.un.org/summit2005/events_schedule.pdf