HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday, 20 February 2006
ANNAN TO ATTEND ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS MEETING
To emphasize his concern over the violent reactions to the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to attend in person the meeting of the High Level Group for the Alliance of Civilizations, to be held in Doha, Qatar, this coming weekend.
He hopes on that occasion to meet a number of leaders from Europe and from the Islamic world, and to discuss with them ways of calming the situation and allowing a constructive dialogue between people of different faiths and traditions based on mutual understanding and respect.
The panelists will discuss, among other issues, which population sectors need to be engaged to try to bridge differences and combat extremism, particularly in youth and immigrant populations.
Asked about the participants at the Qatar meeting, the Spokesman noted that the 19 members of the High-Level Group would attend. There may also be a side event, he said, which he was not ready to announce today.
Asked whether the Alliance’s mandate, which reportedly did not previously deal with the caricatures, has changed, the Spokesman said it has not. He added that the Secretary-General wanted to seize the opportunity of the meeting of the High-Level Group to bring up the controversy over the caricatures.
MIDDLE EAST QUARTET NOTES ISRAELI WITHHOLDING OF TAXES
Earlier today, the Secretary-General joined the other members of the Middle East Quartet for a conference call, the Spokesman said in response to a question about the withholding of Palestinian taxes by the Israeli Government.
He said that the Quartet takes note of the Israeli statement on the withholding of VAT funds and agrees that the Quartet should continue to support the interim Palestinian government.
Asked about recent comments by UN Special Coordinator Alvaro de Soto that were critical of the Israeli action, the Spokesman said that de Soto’s remarks were in line with previous statements made by the Quartet when it "urged measures to facilitate the work of the caretaker government to stabilise public finances ... "
Asked whether the withholding of the funds by Israel was legal, the Spokesman declined to comment, but referred back to previous Quartet statements that underscored the importance of funding the interim Palestinian government.
Asked about how a Hamas-led government jibes with the Quartet’s wishes, the Spokesman noted that there is no Palestinian government formed yet. The United Nations is currently dealing with the interim government and the interim Prime Minister.
He added that, as the Quartet has made clear any future Palestinian government should be committed to non-violence, recognition of Israel and an acceptance of all previous commitments and obligations.
ANNAN URGES IRAN TO BUILD CONFIDENCE ON NUCLEAR INTENTIONS
Late Friday, a statement was issued concerning the talks that Iran is scheduled to begin holding in Moscow today on a Russian proposal on uranium enrichment.
The statement said that the Secretary-General trusts that Iran will use the talks in Moscow and the period between now and early March to take the necessary steps to re-build confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
SECRETARY-GENERAL CONGRATULATES HAITIANS ON ELECTIONS
A statement was issued late last Friday in which the Secretary-General welcomed the results of the Haitian Presidential election. He also paid tribute to the commitment of the Haitian people to the democratic process.
The Secretary-General has appointed Larry Rossin of the United States as Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
Rossin is currently serving as Principal Deputy Special Representative for the Secretary-General for the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Rossin will leave his position in Kosovo on 23 February and assume his new responsibilities on 2 March. He will arrive in Haiti on 6 March.
UNITED NATIONS RAISES ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR PHILIPPINES LANDSLIDE RELIEF
Regarding the recent landslides in the Philippines, the UN Development Programme has raised $100,000 for immediate response activities. That is in addition to last week’s emergency cash grant from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
For its part, the UN Children’s Fund has provided health kits and essential medicines for 10,000 survivors.
According to OCHA, concerns that helicopter activity could trigger more landslides have led to flight restrictions, which have further complicated access to the site. In addition, the landslides have blocked tributaries of a major river, which could cause flooding in nearby areas.
U.N. ENVOY FOR HORN OF AFRICA TO START VISIT TOMORROW
The Secretary-General's new Special Humanitarian Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Kjell Magne Bondevik, arrives in Nairobi on his first field visit tomorrow.
While in Kenya, he’ll meet with UN, Kenyan and Somali officials, as well as with representatives of non-governmental organizations. Bondevik will also fly to Turkana, one of the drought-hit areas in Kenya.
UNITED NATIONS REPORTS ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF TWO WEST BANK SCHOOLS
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) says that, since early Sunday morning, an Israeli operation in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank town of Nablus has been hindering its work.
Yesterday, Israeli forces occupied two schools run by the Relief and Works Agency in Balata. Today, the Israeli forces left one of the schools, which is used for girls, but they continue to occupy a boys’ school. Meanwhile, UNRWA says that the Israelis are currently blocking one health clinic, preventing the patients or staff in that building from leaving.
Asked why the UN in New York was not protesting the operation, the Spokesman said that UNRWA has protested to the Israeli authorities and is dealing with the issue on the ground. The UN Secretariat, he added, will support the Agency as needed.
UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZING MEETING OF FEMALE AFGHAN PARLIAMENTARIANS
Today in Kabul, the United Nations is organizing a landmark meeting of female members of both houses of the Afghan Parliament. Dozens of participants are to share their experiences, with all 68 female members of the lower house and 17 women of the upper house invited to attend. The event is being organized jointly by the UN Development Programme and the UN Development Fund for Women.
UNITED NATIONS AND SUDANESE GOVERNMENT BEGIN POLIO IMMUNIZATIONS
The UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization today announced that they, and the government of Sudan, have launched the first round of a campaign to immunize some 8.1 million Sudanese children against polio.
The first effort will be directed at those living in the poorest communities or those intermittently cut off by conflict. The agency said immunizing these children is crucial to stopping the spread of the disease.
PLANNING FOR DARFUR FORCE GOING ‘FULL STEAM AHEAD’
Asked about comments by US Ambassador John Bolton that reportedly criticized the United Nations for moving too slowly on Darfur, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General was well aware of the needs in Darfur and the importance of planning quickly and thoroughly for a UN force that can take over from the present African Union force.
The work on planning for such a force, he said, is going “full steam ahead,” with UN staff working in Addis Ababa with their African Union counterparts, and further planning taking place in New York.
In response to further questions, the Spokesman added that, once the United Nations knows what a UN force in Darfur would look like and can present it to the Security Council, it would go back to countries with the capacity to help and ask for contributions to a robust force.
Asked about the possibility of NATO setting up a mission in Darfur, the Spokesman noted that all sides understood that it would not be a NATO-led mission, but that NATO would continue to provide assistance to the African Union as a transition is made to a UN force.
ASSEMBLY SPOKESPERSON UPDATES ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY ACTIVITIES
On the Human Rights Council, General Assembly President Jan Eliasson is in the very final stages of consultations. He is continuing to seek a solution on the amendments proposed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference and a few other key issues, including the majority required for election of members and the language addressing quality of membership.
Among his consultations today, he was to meet at noon with the heads of all the regional groups. President Eliasson is still aiming to come back to the Membership during the middle of this week.
Informal consultations of the Plenary on development follow-up and ECOSOC reform are being held all day today. The Co-Chairs are hoping to conclude a second reading of the two draft resolutions, with the aim of producing a new text soon.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
U.N. SAYS RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, CORRUPTION FUEL WORLD WATER CRISIS: The UN Economic Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today said that limited political rights and civil liberties, corruption and slow reform are fuelling the world’s growing water crisis,. The claim comes in the second edition of the UN World Water Development Report, the most comprehensive assessment to date of freshwater resources around the world. Entitled “Water, a shared responsibility”, the report will be presented at a press conference on 9 March in Mexico City, by Gordon Young, Coordinator of the UN World Water Assessment Programme and Cristóbal Jaime Jázquez, Director-General of the National Water Commission of Mexico.
ANNAN GIVES PRIZE MONEY TO CHARITIES: Asked if it was a good example for the Secretary-General to accept a half-million-dollar award from Dubai, the Spokesman noted that the Secretary-General would use the prize money for a foundation he was going to set-up to deal with two issues in Africa that are close to his heart: agriculture and girls’ education. The Secretary-General, Dujarric said, has consistently given all his prize money to charity, as Paul Volcker’s reports have noted; his Nobel Prize award, he added, was going to a fund to families of slain UN personnel.
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