HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS,
NEW YORK
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
SECURITY
COUNCIL TO TAKE UP
REPORT ON IRAN
The
Security Council will hold consultations at 3:00 this afternoon on
non-proliferation and other matters.
Security Council
members are expected to
discuss the
report submitted last Friday by the Director General of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, on the status of Iran’s compliance
with the Non-Proliferation Treaty. That report was issued as a document
yesterday.
Asked whether
the Secretary-General would speak at today’s Council consultations on Iran,
the Spokesman said he would not.
Asked about
the visit of the head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, to Iran,
the Spokesman said that was part of his meetings with countries in the region
to discuss Afghanistan.
Asked about
the UN response to a recent letter to the Secretary-General by the Iranian
Government, the Spokesman said that the letter had included a request for it
to be distributed to Member States, which had been done.
SUDAN:
TOP HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL CONVEYS CONCERNS ABOUT RESTRICTIONS;
U.N. ENVOY HEADS BACK TO ABUJA TALKS ON DARFUR
On
the fourth day of her
visit to
Sudan, the High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today met in
Khartoum with senior government officials, including the justice, humanitarian
and state ministers.
According to
her spokesman, she conveyed concerns about restrictions imposed by a new law
on non-governmental organizations and the effects of a pervasive presence of
officials of the state’s security and intelligence services, which was
especially evident in Darfur.
Louise Arbour
also asked for more access of human rights monitors to detention centres,
including those of the national security service, around the country.
Meanwhile,
the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)
reports a demonstration of about 2,500 internally displaced persons in the
Kalma camp near the African Union compound in Darfur.
The IDP representatives
handed over a letter addressed to the
Secretary-General's Special Representative Jan Pronk
in which they complained of
increased insecurity in the camp. They cited several shooting incidents and
the abduction and rape of women, the failure of the AU to protect the camp,
and insufficient humanitarian assistance.
They called for UN forces to be
deployed as soon as possible and compensation for their losses.
Asked about
Jan Pronk’s activities, the Spokesman said that Pronk has been in New York,
where he had been requested to appear before a General Assembly advisory
committee on the budget to defend the Sudan Mission’s budget. He also met the
Secretary-General today and would leave later today for Abuja to follow the
peace talks on Darfur there.
Asked about
UN efforts at the Abuja talks, the Spokesman said that the United Nations was following the
Abuja talks very closely.
The Secretary-General, he said, would urge the parties to redouble their
efforts to reach a deal.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME WARNS
OF RAPIDLY DEPLETING FOOD STOCKS IN CHAD
Amid rising
tensions and reported preparations for armed attacks in Chad, the World Food
Programme (WFP)
warned today that food is becoming a serious issue for some 70,000 people
who have either fled the continuous armed incursions in the east of the
country or are resident
there.
A WFP-led
food security assessment mission which has just returned from eastern Chad,
said that while the situation was not yet cause for alarm, the food stocks of
some 50,000 internally displaced people were rapidly being depleted as they
share their limited resources with around 20,000 people hosting them.
ANNAN NAMES NEW DEPUTY ENVOY FOR
IRAQ
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
has appointed Jean-Marie Fakhouri
of Lebanon as his Deputy Special Representative for Iraq, with responsibility
for Humanitarian, Reconstruction and Development issues. Fakhouri will succeed
Mr. Staffan de Mistura of Sweden.
For over 25
years, Fakhouri has managed humanitarian operations and complex emergencies
while serving in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
For the past two years, he has been UNHCR’s Director of Operations for the
Sudan situation, addressing the needs of Sudanese refugees, returnees and
internally displaced persons.
NEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON
GENOCIDE ESTABLISHED
The
Secretary-General has decided to establish an Advisory Committee on Genocide
Prevention. This Committee will provide guidance and support to the
Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Mr. Juan
Méndez, and contribute to the broader efforts of the UN to prevent genocide.
The Committee
will be composed of senior personalities with a diversity of backgrounds
related to conflict prevention, human rights, peacekeeping, diplomacy and
mediation. It will be chaired by Dr. David Hamburg, President Emeritus of the
Carnegie Corporation of New York and meet at least twice during this year.
Its first meeting is scheduled for 19-20 June.
Asked what
the committee will do, the Spokesman said it would provide support and
guidance to the Special Adviser. He noted that the group includes individuals
with expertise in diplomacy and conflict prevention, including Archbishop
Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Gen. Romeo Dallaire of Canada and former
Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.
Asked why the
committee was deemed necessary, Dujarric said that any support given to the
Special Adviser would be helpful, including providing access to a range of
experts. He declined to interpret the formation of the committee, as one
reporter did, as a tacit admission that efforts to prevent genocide have not
been succeeding.
Asked about
the committee’s expenses, the Spokesman said that they would work pro bono. He
added later that additional expenses would be paid for out of a trust fund.
ANNAN TO HEAD TO
WASHINGTON, D.C.
TO ADDRESS JEWISH GROUP
The
Secretary-General will travel tomorrow to Washington DC, and he will address
the centennial dinner of the American Jewish Committee that takes place that
evening.
On the
following day, he will deliver the inaugural speech in an annual series
sponsored by the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington
University, on the topic of the relationship between the United States and the
United Nations. He will also receive an honorary degree.
He is
scheduled to return to New York later that day.
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
THREATENS STABILITY IN SIERRA LEONE
The first
report of the Secretary-General on the UN Integrated Office in Sierra
Leone is out as a document.
The report
says the overall security situation in the country has remained calm since the
departure of the UN peacekeeping mission, UNAMSIL. Currently, it says, the
most immediate threat to stability in Sierra Leone is the worsening youth
employment situation.
It also notes
that there is also growing concern that the ongoing trials of the former
fighting groups at the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the recent transfer
of the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, to the Court could be a
source of potential security incidents. So far, the small contingent of UN
troops protecting the Court, who are under the UN Mission in Liberia’s
command, have the security situation at the Court premises under control.
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY OBSERVED
ACROSS THE GLOBE
Today is
World Press Freedom Day, and the Secretary-General has issued a
message, in which he says that it is tragic and unacceptable that the
number of journalists killed in the line of duty has become a barometer for
measuring press freedom.
He also urges
all governments to reaffirm their commitment to the right to “seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers”, as set out in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
The head of
the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Koïchiro
Matsuura, also issued a
message.
Meanwhile,
some 300 participants attending a UNESCO conference in Sri Lanka today adopted
a declaration calling for freedom of the press to be recognized as a core
element in development strategies.
At UN
Headquarters this morning, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and
Public Information Shashi Tharoor is moderating a discussion on press freedom.
In Sudan, UN
Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) Radio today organized in
Khartoum a debate
on the evolution of the once tightly controlled Sudanese media towards more
freedom since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed.
In Burundi, a
roundtable meeting was organized at the Maison de la Presse, the headquarters
of Burundi's media professionals, in Bujumbura. The UN was represented by
Ibrahima Fall, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
Burundi, and UNESCO Representative Colin Nicholas.
ANNAN
DISCUSSES
REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN AT UNITED NATIONS
Asked about a meeting the Secretary-General had today with representatives of
women’s non-governmental organizations, the Spokesman said that was held to
follow up to a letter sent to the Secretary-General about the representation of
women at the United Nations. The Secretary-General felt much more can be done on
that issue.
Asked about the appointment of a man, Mark Malloch Brown, to serve
as Deputy Secretary-General, Dujarric noted that Malloch Brown was replaced as
Chef de Cabinet by a woman, Alicia Barcena.
U.N. STAFFERS FILLING OUT
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORMS
In response
to questions about the number of Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant
Secretaries-General who had not yet filled out the financial disclosure forms,
about 80% of those required have filled out the forms.
The Deputy
Secretary-General is now contacting those who have not yet filled them out.
Those
required under the new rules and regulations are directors and all staff in
procurement, people with access to information regarding to accounts or
financial information and anyone else that each department’s executive office
deems appropriate.
Asked whether
the Secretary-General has filled out the disclosure form yet, the Spokesman
said that he had not, but would do so, as it had been said before. The
Spokesman, in response to questions about why the Secretary-General had not
yet filled out the form, said that he had not been required to do so, since he
is not a staff member, but would fill them out in order to set an example to
staff.
Asked whether
Mark Malloch Brown had filled out the form, the Spokesman confirmed that he
had.
Asked how
many staff were affected, he said that the forms presently affected about 125
Assistant Secretaries-General and Under-Secretaries-General. He added that an
effort to expand financial disclosure to include directors and anyone with
access to sensitive financial information would affect about 1,300 people.
Asked who
would receive the forms, the Spokesman said they would be handled by the
Ethics Office. In that context, the Spokesman noted that Tunku Abdul Aziz, the
Special Advisor for the Ethics Office, would brief the press a week from
tomorrow – Thursday May 11th – on the work of the Office.
ANNAN SETTING UP
FOUNDATION TO DEAL WITH ISSUES DEAR TO HIM
Asked whether
the Secretary-General was setting up an outside foundation to distribute the
prize money he received from the Sheikh Zayed Award because he did not trust
the United Nations to do so, the Spokesman denied that was the case. The
Secretary-General, he said, wanted to set up a foundation to deal with issues
close to his heart in Africa, and that entity would likely deal with the
United Nations.
Asked whether
the prize had been given to Kofi Annan as an individual or as UN
Secretary-General, the Spokesman answered that it had been given to “Kofi
Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations” for his work in the field
of the environment.
He cautioned
reporters to wait for the foundation to be formed before judging its work, in
response to further questions.
Asked what
would happen to the interest accrued on the prize money, Dujarric said that
was expected to add to the money going to the foundation.
NEW AFRICA WORLD HERITAGE FUND TO BE
LAUNCHED
A fund to
help the States of sub-Saharan Africa improve the preservation of their
cultural and natural heritage will be launched in South Africa on 5 May.
The African World Heritage Fund will also
be used to help boost the number of African sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage
List.
Sub-Saharan
Africa is severely
under-represented on the List. Despite great cultural and natural diversity,
only 65 of the 812 World Heritage sites are to be found in this region. They
constitute 43 percent of sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
UNITED
NATIONS
TO SUPPORT CONGOLESE AUTHORITIES:
Asked about a possible postponement of elections in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, the Spokesman said that was a decision to be taken by the Congolese
electoral authorities. The United Nations, he said, would support them and help
them in whatever decision they take.
NEXT ROUND
OF KOSOVO STATUS TALKS START TOMORROW:
Tomorrow and Friday morning, the Deputy Special Envoy for the
Kosovo status talks, Albert Rohan, will chair in Vienna the fourth round of
direct talks between Pristina and Belgrade. Like the previous round, these talks
will focus on decentralization and the creation of new municipalities, including
but not limited to those with Kosovo-Serb majorities.
ANNAN
TO MEET WITH AMBASSADORS TO ESTABLISH
CONSENSUS ON MANAGEMENT
REFORM: Asked about UN
efforts on management reform, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General
remains focused on it. He will discuss and meet with a number of ambassadors to
see how to re-establish consensus on reform.
CONCERN
EXPRESSED OVER DWINDLING
BANANA SUPPLIES: The Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
is concerned about the shrinking numbers of wild bananas in India, the world’s
premier producer. Bananas and plantains are the staple food of 400 million
people in the developing world. FAO says overexploitation and the loss of
forests are causing a rapid loss of wild banana species that have existed in
India for thousands of years, and it’s calling for studies to assess the damage
and catalogue the number and types of surviving wild species in India and
Southeast Asia.
SOMALI LEADERS
TO ATTEND U.N.-ORGANIZED CONSTITUTIONAL
WORKSHOP:
Some 250 Somali Members of Parliament will attend a
six-day training seminar in Baidoa, starting today, to prepare the ground for a
new Federal Constitution. The seminar on Federalism and Constitutional Affairs
has been organized by the UN Political Office for Somalia to stimulate a
dialogue on the Transitional Federal Charter, to help members understand how
federal government works and to enhance their legislative and policymaking
capacity.
KNOWLEDGE
EXPO HIGHLIGHTS MILLENNIUM GOALS: The UN Development Programme’s Knowledge
Expo on “Energizing the Millennium Development Goals” starts today and will last
until Friday, in the outdoor tent in the Visitors’ Plaza, at UN Headquarters in
New York. In addition to interactive exhibits, the Expo will feature a keynote
address by Jeffrey Sachs, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the
Millennium Development Goals. The Knowledge Expo is being held in connection
with the current session of the UN’s Commission on Sustainable Development.
Office
of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 100178
Tel. 212-963-7162 - press/media only
Fax. 212-963-7055
All other inquiries to be addressed to (212) 963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org