HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS,
NEW YORK
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
ANNAN: CHARLES TAYLOR’S DISAPPEARANCE
“EXTREMELY WORRYING”
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
spoke to reporters this morning, and was asked about reports that former
Liberian President Charles Taylor has disappeared from his residence in
Nigeria. The Secretary-General said that “it would be extremely worrying if
indeed he has disappeared,” since Nigeria had indicated that it would
cooperate with transferring Taylor to Liberia and to the
Special Court for Sierra Leone.
He also discussed his recent travels in Africa, including
his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where preparations are
underway for the first elections in 45 years. The Secretary-General said he
was struck by the difference in the country when he visited Kisangani, in the
east, where, he noted, the last time he visited, “the tension was palpable”,
but this time, the atmosphere was fairly calm.
Asked whether the Secretary-General would speak to the
authorities in Nigeria, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General was in
the process of trying to reach President Olusegun Obasanjo. UN officials in
New York are also in contact with the UN office in Nigeria, she added.
ANNAN, IN MESSAGE TO ARAB LEAGUE SUMMIT,
SAYS PALESTINIAN AFFIRMATION
OF ARAB PEACE INITIATIVE WOULD BE WELCOME STEP
Ibrahim Gambari, the Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs, today delivered a
message on the Secretary-General’s behalf to the Summit of the League of
Arab States taking place in Khartoum, Sudan.
In that message, the
Secretary-General notes that today’s gathering takes place during a period
of continued turbulence in the Arab world.
The Secretary-General says that the affirmation by the
new Palestinian cabinet of the Arab Peace Initiative would be a first and
welcome step towards the reaffirmation of Palestinian commitment to the
principles of nonviolence, recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and
acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the
Road Map.
On
Darfur, Sudan, he stresses that the transition to a UN force means
building upon the existing African Union mission, so as to make the UN
successor mission larger and more mobile.
SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON GEORGIA
This morning, the
Security Council held a private meeting for troop-contributing countries
of the UN Observation Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG).
It then went into consultations on Georgia and other
matters, with a briefing by Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber, who heads the
Department of Peacekeeping Operations’ Europe and Latin America Division.
U.N.
PEACEKEEPERS REDEPLOY IN WESTERN TOWN IN COTE D’IVOIRE
The UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI)
today reports that its troops redeployed in the western town of Blolequin
yesterday, two months after the Mission withdrew its troops from the town
following violent anti-UN demonstrations.
Other UN peacekeepers redeployed into Toulepleu last
week, bringing to approximately 220 the numbers of peacekeepers back in
position in the west. The redeployment operation continues.
The Mission also reports that The University of Bouake
opened its doors today for the first time in three years.
The “Blue Helmets” delivered for marking thousands of
student examination papers that were the result of the first round scholastic
examinations in the north for three years. UNOCI provided security and
logistic support for those examinations, which are necessary for students to
go on to higher education.
UNITED NATIONS IS HELPING BURUNDI SET UP
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
Nicolas Michel, the Under Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, is in
Burundi today leading a high level UN delegation aimed at helping that country
set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and establishing a Special
Tribunal.
Michel said he was encouraged that the Burundian
authorities have given a high priority to reconciliation and to ending
impunity, which, he said, were essential elements for a durable peace.
UNITED NATIONS SEEKS $92 MILLION FOR
FOOD REQUIREMENTS IN AFRICA’S SAHEL REGION
The United Nations today
launched a humanitarian appeal for nearly $92 million to meet food
requirements in Africa’s Sahel region, which is still recovering from poor
harvest yields in 2004 and 2005 and is now entering the lean season between
harvests.
The appeal covers Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and
Niger.
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for West Africa, said, “We cannot wait for thousands of people,
the majority of them women and children, to die of hunger or malnutrition to
react.”
U.N. HUMANITARIAN CHIEF TO VISIT AFRICA
The Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator,
Jan Egeland, will
embark this Thursday on a nine-day mission to Uganda, Sudan, Chad and
Kenya.
In Uganda, he is planning to visit the country’s north,
to get a firsthand view of the situation of the internally displaced persons
there. In Sudan, he will travel to Juba in southern Sudan, as well as South
Darfur. In Chad, Egeland plans to visit a Sudanese refugee camp in the east of
the country.
PROGRESS LESS THAN HOPED FOR IN HIV
TREATMENT
IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES
A new
report by the World Health Organization (WHO)
and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
shows that the number of people on HIV antiretroviral treatment in low-
and middle-income countries more than tripled to 1.3 million, from 2003 to
2005. In addition, Sub-Saharan Africa and East, South and Southeast Asia --
the regions most heavily affected by the epidemic -- achieved the most rapid
and sustained progress.
At the same time, however, that progress, despite being
substantial, is less than what had been hoped for.
The WHO/UNAIDS "3 by 5" initiative actually aimed to get
treatment to 3 million people in low- and middle-income countries by the end
of 2005. The report also finds that access to therapy that would prevent
mother-to-child HIV transmission remains unacceptably low.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
LECTURE SERIES TO FOCUS ON USE OF LANGUAGE
IN WAR AND PEACE: The latest in the
Secretary-General’s lecture series kicks off this afternoon at UN
Headquarters. At 1:30 p.m., the Secretary-General introduced his two guests –
the novelist, Professor Chinua Achebe, and the poet, Professor Paul Muldoon –
who spoke on the topic “The Use of Language in War and Peace.” The lecture was
followed by a question and answer session.
U.N. ENVOY WELCOMES KOSOVO PRIME MINISTER’S OUTSTRETCHED
HAND TO KOSOVO SERBS: The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in
Kosovo,
Søren Jessen-Petersen,
welcomed the call of Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku yesterday, for Kosovo
Serbs to join efforts of the Kosovo government and the international community
to build a multi-ethnic society, which would guarantee them their rightful place
in Kosovo. Jessen-Petersen said, “The Prime Minister’s appeal is yet another
example of the earnestness of the Kosovo leadership to fully integrate the
Kosovo Serb community in the current and future structures in Kosovo. It is now
time for the Kosovo Serbs to respond in kind.”
LEBANESE JOURNALIST AWARDED UNESCO PRIZE: The
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization today designated
Lebanese journalist May Chidiac, winner of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press
Freedom Prize 2006. Chidiac, a popular television presenter
was the victim of a car bomb attack last year, that left one of her hands and
her left leg amputated. The, the prize honours the work of an individual or an
organization defending or promoting freedom of expression, especially if this
action puts the individual’s life at risk
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