HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE
DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday, 10 October 2005
SECRETARY-GENERAL LAUDS INTERNATIONAL AID TO PAKISTAN
Secretary General Kofi Annan is
greatly encouraged to see the rapid and large response by the
International community to the devastating earthquake that has struck the
people of Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan and India.
The Emergency teams dispatched by the United Nations have
been working since 8 October around the clock in support of national
authorities to ensure a rapid assessment of the needs and an effective
coordination of international assistance. To this end, OCHA coordination
centres have been established in Islamabad and in Muzaffarabad close to the
epicentre.
The Secretary General encourages all international actors
to work together to achieve full coordination of all international efforts
in support of the national rescue efforts.
Agencies of the United Nations system, including UNICEF,
WFP, UNHCR, WHO, UNFPA - have immediately activated their in country
capacities and dispatched relief supplies and sectoral experts.
U.N. ACTS
QUICKLY TO HELP IN SOUTH ASIA QUAKE
Hours after a devastating earthquake hit South Asia, the
UN began responding to the survivors’ humanitarian needs. A UN emergency team
has
set up a coordination centre in Islamabad, Pakistan, and an on-site
coordination centre in the Muzaffarabad area to help out. It has also set up a
reception centre at the Islamabad airport in order to assist national
authorities to deal effectively with international aid.
An eight-member UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC)
team arrived today to help with ongoing assessment and coordination work, in
response to a request made by the Government of Pakistan. Six additional
supporting members are expected later today.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has
provided Pakistan’s Ministry of Health with two emergency health kits.
Each kit contains essential medical supplies covering the needs of 10,000
people for three months. An additional five emergency health kits, as well as
ten trauma kits (each sufficient for 100 surgical interventions), will be sent
in the coming days.
For its part, the World Food Programme
is planning an
airlift to Pakistan of 120 tons of high energy biscuits,
for some 240,000 victims for five days.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees today
announced that it is making available tons of urgently needed family
tents, blankets, stoves and other basic relief items for tens of thousands of
Afghan refugees and Pakistanis made homeless by the earthquake.
Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is
moving supplies from a Karachi warehouse into the affected region. The
supplies include blankets, clothing, tents, emergency medical supplies, food
for infants, and water purification tablets.
‘EVERY HOUR
COUNTS’ IN QUAKE AID: ANNAN
The Secretary-General, speaking at a
press conference in Geneva today, said he has directed the UN humanitarian
community to do everything possible to assist the Government of Pakistan in
their response to the earthquake. A UN team from Geneva has set up a
reception center at Islamabad airport to help coordinate arriving search and
rescue teams and international assistance, he said. “Every hour counts,” he
added.
He also discussed the situation concerning migrants in
the Mediterranean region, on which we issued a statement late Friday, and said
that the UN Refugee Agency currently has three teams, in Ceuta, Melilla and
the Canary Islands. UNHCR is in touch with the Moroccan Government and the
Secretary-General hopes UNHCR will be able to send a team in very shortly and
they will want to determine the status of these people, get them the
assistance they need.
He was asked about the rebel seizure of some African
Union soldiers in Darfur, Sudan, and he called that action “absolutely
unacceptable,” adding that “a firm stand must be taken by the Government” of
Sudan.
ANNAN CALLS
ATTACKS IN SUDAN ‘UNACCEPTABLE”
The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the
upsurge in violence in Darfur. In particular, he strongly
condemns the killing of three peacekeepers and two contractors affiliated
with the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), as well as the abduction of
other AMIS personnel over the weekend. The apparent targeting of the AU
Mission is completely unacceptable. The Secretary-General expresses his
condolences to the families of the bereaved, the African Union and the
respective governments.
The Secretary-General reminds the parties that AMIS is an
impartial force deployed to assist the people of the region and the parties to
the conflict. He calls on the Government of Sudan and the rebel movements to
assist in bringing those responsible to account without delay. The
Secretary-General reminds the Government that it has the ultimate
responsibility for the protection of peacekeepers and humanitarian workers.
The Secretary-General calls on the Government and the
rebel movements to take immediate steps to stabilize the situation in Darfur,
and at the same time engage seriously in the talks in Abuja with a view to
reaching an early political settlement.
The
Security Council will hold consultations at 3:00 this afternoon on Sudan.
Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi is
expected to brief the Council on the latest developments in that country.
Asked why the statement did not identify who had killed
the African peacekeepers, the Spokesman said that the United Nations was not
in a position at this point to confirm who the killers were.
SECRETARY-GENERAL ENCOURAGES MICROFINANCE
The Secretary-General began the
day by
addressing a symposium of Swiss bankers and other leading members of the
Geneva financial community on microfinance and small business finance, aimed
at contributing to the UN Year of Microcredit 2005.
“Microfinance is gaining
acceptance,” he said, saying that where businesses are given a chance to
develop, countries are more likely to flourish. The Secretary-General added,
“Where people have a stake, a start, a piece of ownership, they are more
likely to prosper.”
He also went to the UNAIDS
office in Geneva, and met with a group of HIV-positive staff, whom he
applauded for their courage at helping to bring down the barriers of
discrimination.
On Saturday night, the Secretary-General attended the
United against Malaria concert taking place in Geneva,
saying that it was “not an event. It’s a movement.” He urged those
participating to stick to their effort to ensure that we can have a more
equitable world.
SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS ON LIBERIANS TO JOIN IN VOTING
The Secretary-General is
pleased that the Liberian presidential and parliamentary elections are to
take place as scheduled on 11 October. The issues emanating from the Supreme
Court rulings have been resolved through consultations conducted by the ECOWAS
Mediator, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Head of State of Nigeria. The
Secretary-General would like to thank the candidates who have agreed to
withdraw their claims for their demonstration of flexibility. He also thanks
General Abubakar, who, together with the UN, worked tirelessly towards
ensuring that the elections would take place in accordance with the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the electoral timetable.
The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
is providing technical and logistical support to the elections, as well as
security, along with Liberia's security agencies. The Secretary-General calls
on all Liberians to participate in large numbers and in a peaceful manner in
this historic election.
U.N. CONDEMNS
SLAUGHTER IN DR CONGO
The
UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has sent units
to two small villages in south Kivu where some 15 persons were slaughtered
overnight by men with machetes.
Witnesses identified the killers as Rwandan Hutus, the
Mission said.
MONUC medical teams are assisting wounded, and armed
units are securing the area.
William Swing, the Special Representative of the
Secretary General strongly condemns the murders, MONUC said. Swing will visit
the villages on Tuesday.
U.N. IRAQ ENVOY
VISITS COMMUNITIES IN KIRKUK
Ashraf Qazi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Iraq, was in the city of Kirkuk over the weekend, where he met with
delegations from the city’s Turkmen and Arab communities, as well as the head
of the Kirkuk Normalization Committee.
Qazi discussed how to ensure the integrity of the 15
October Constitutional referendum, as well as the forthcoming elections in
December. He also talked with them about the importance of adequate political
representation for Kirkuk’s various communities.
He reiterated the UN’s commitment to upholding
internationally accepted human rights norms and its support for a free,
inclusive and transparent political process.
U.N. TO LAUNCH
APPEAL FOR VICTIMS OF GUATEMALAN FLOODS
The UN will today launch a flash appeal for approximately
$22 million for Guatemala, which has been hit by severe flooding and
mudslides.
Over the weekend, the UN Resident Coordinator in
Guatemala began
providing initial food and health assistance and a seven-member
UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team has been deployed to
the country.
Among the material assistance provided by UN agencies are
large quantities of medical supplies including remoisturizing salts and
antibiotics, a mobile water treatment plant, and food assistance. Technical
expertise has been provided in the areas of health, nutrition, water and
sanitation, planning, social protection and education.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
U.N. ENVOY WORKING ON MACEDONIA ISSUE: Asked
about the UN response after Greece called a potential change in the name of the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) “unacceptable,” the Spokesman said
that the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy to the Greece-FYROM talks,
Matthew Nimetz, has been in touch with both sides in recent days. He added,
in response to another question, that he was not aware of any plan to change
Nimetz’s role.
U.N. HELICOPTERS IN ERITREA STILL GROUNDED: Asked
about UN helicopter operations in
Eritrea, the Spokesman said that UN helicopters still were not flying there
following Eritrea’s declaration last week restricting their travel. Eritrea
still has not provided an explanation for that decision, he added.
NO IMMEDIATE CYPRUS VISIT PLANNED: The Spokesman
said, in response to a question, that he was not aware of any plans for UN
officials to visit
Cyprus in the coming days.
KOSOVO REPORT SENT FIRST TO COUNCIL, PARTIES: Asked
why the report of the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Kosovo, Kai Eide,
was made available to reporters late last Friday, the Spokesman noted that the
report first had to go to the members of the Security Council, as well as to
Pristina and Belgrade.
U.N. BUDGET: The arrival last Friday of a check from
Bulgaria brought the number of fully paid-up Member States to 126.
* The guest at the noon briefing was Ed Tsui, Director
of the New York Office of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, who discussed the Pakistan earthquake and flooding in Central America.
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