HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, 16 May 2006

 

ANNAN WELCOMES AFRICAN UNION COMMUNIQUÉ ON DARFUR

• Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomes the communiqué of the African Union Peace and Security Council meeting held in Addis Ababa on 15 May 2006. He was pleased that the meeting adopted a forward-looking agenda for war-affected Darfur that emphasized immediate measures to address the crisis.
   

• He is also pleased by the decision of the Commission to take concrete steps to bring about the transition from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to a UN peacekeeping operation. The United Nations is continuing to prepare for that operation so that it can begin as early as possible, as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 1679, whose adoption today the Secretary-General also welcomes.
   

•  The United Nations will continue to support AMIS including through efforts to mobilize the international community to strengthen the AU Mission in the interim period before a UN operation. The United Nations also hopes to dispatch, as quickly as possible, a joint UN/AU Technical Assessment Team to Darfur, and towards that end, is in continuous consultation with the Government of National Unity.  
   

• Asked whether the Secretary-General has discerned any change in Khartoum’s position, the Spokesman said that the previous stumbling block had been the need for an agreement, which has now been reached in Abuja. The United Nations, he said, continues to expect that the Government of Sudan will cooperate as the United Nations puts in its planning team as quickly as possible.
   

• Asked whether the Secretary-General has received a positive response from the Government of Sudan to the sending of a technical assessment mission, the Spokesman said that discussions were continuing, in Khartoum as well as in New York, on the quick deployment of a team to Darfur. The UN team is being identified, and it will be led by a senior UN official, he said.
   

• Asked about the issuance of visas by the Government, Dujarric said that the cooperation of the Government is essential.
   

• In response to further questions about the status of discussions with the Sudanese Government on the assessment team, the Spokesman said that, now that the African Union has spoken with one voice, the United Nations was working as quickly as it could on the planning process.
   

• That involved the sending of an assessment team, but also involved discussions with the Government and consultations with the African Union. The Spokesman noted that meetings between UN and AU officials on the transition and on the increase support for AMIS had already taken place in Addis Ababa, Khartoum and El Fasher. He noted that, while the assessment team’s visit is crucial, it is also important for Member States to pledge troops, logistical support and funds, as well as to strengthen the current African Union Mission in Sudan.
   

• Asked whether the Secretary-General has received a response from President Omar al-Bashir, the Spokesman noted that contacts are continuing at various levels.
   

• He said that the United Nations is actively discussing with the Government the next steps in the planning process. The Secretary-General, he added, appeals as well for the international community to support the African Union Mission in the interim before a UN force is deployed.
   

• Asked about a timetable for the team’s arrival, he said that the United Nations would work with the timetable set out in the Security Council resolution.
   

• Asked if the assumption of six to nine months were correct before a UN force could be on the ground, the Spokesman said he would not comment on a time table, stressing the planning process was moving quickly. He added that the time-frame for putting a UN force on the ground would be affected by how quickly member states responded to the UN's need for troops and other support for the force.

 

  SECURITY COUNCIL CALLS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF DARFUR PEACE ACCORD

• The Security Council, after brief consultations this morning, held a formal meeting in which it unanimously approved a resolution calling for the implementation without delay of the Darfur Peace Agreement.
   

• The Council called on all parties to the Darfur Peace Agreement to help in accelerating the transition to a UN operation. It called for the deployment of a joint African Union-UN technical assessment mission within one week of today’s adoption.
   

• Acting under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, the Council urged the parties that had not signed the agreement to do so without delay.
   

• The Security Council then resumed consultations to hear a briefing on the situation between Chad and Sudan. That briefing was given by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh.
   

• The Council agreed upon a Press Statement calling for “an unconditional and immediate ceasefire by the warring parties” in Somalia, and expressing “their intention urgently to consider how to strengthen the effectiveness of the arms embargo” against Somalia.

 

U.N. ENVOY TO DISCUSS DARFUR PEACE DEAL WITH LOCAL GROUPS

• The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, will leave tomorrow for Darfur to continue his efforts to widen the circle of support for the Darfur Peace Agreement.
   

• The UN Mission in Sudan says that during his three-day visit, Pronk will meet commanders of the African Union Mission in Sudan, as well as the Wali, or governor, of West Darfur and local representatives of civil society and international non-governmental organizations. He will also visit a camp for internally displaced persons.
   

• Pronk returned today to Khartoum from Addis Ababa, where he took part in a meeting of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council on Sudan.
   

• In his speech to the Council, he said that while the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement was a major achievement – implementing it and improving the situation on the ground for the people of Darfur may prove to be even harder.
   

• He outlined five priority areas to prevent violations of the Agreement and its breakdown – and these included strengthening the African Union Mission in Sudan and planning for a transition to a UN force in Darfur.

 

CHIEF U.N. POLITICAL OFFICIAL HEADING TO MYANMAR  

• The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, will be leaving New York today for Myanmar, where he will begin a three-day visit starting on Thursday.  The programme includes meetings with senior officials of the Government, members of civil society and representatives of political parties including the National League for Democracy.
   

• The United Nations has not been able to engage to this extent with the Myanmar government and people on the vital issues of democracy and human rights for more than two years.
   

• The Secretary-General views this visit, therefore, as an overdue and potentially important opportunity to assess developments in the country firsthand and to see what more can be done, including by the United Nations, to help Myanmar move in the direction of all-inclusive democracy, sustainable development and true national reconciliation.
   

• During his visit, Under-Secretary-General Gambari will convey a clear message that Myanmar’s prospects for improved relations with the international community will depend on tangible progress in restoring democratic freedoms and full respect for human rights.
   

• Asked whether Gambari would meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Spokesman said that a meeting with her has been requested. 
   

• The position of the Secretary-General on Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention is very clear, the Spokesman said: he has consistently urged her release from detention. Under-Secretary-General Gambari will certainly reinforce that message while in Myanmar.
   

• Asked whether Gambari will take up the situation involving the treatment of ethnic minorities in Myanmar, the Spokesman said that he would raise with the authorities the need for respect for human rights, and would encourage a return to genuine democracy in Myanmar.
   

• Asked about Gambari’s further travels, the Spokesman noted that he would travel through Bangkok on his way out of Myanmar.

 

ANNAN DISCUSSED NORTH KOREA’S NUCLER PROGRAMME WITH SOUTH KOREA’S PRESIDENT

• Secretary-General Kofi Annan wrapped up his visit to the Republic of Korea today, meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun.
   

• He discussed a range of topics with the President, including North Korea’s nuclear programme and relations with Japan – both of which the Secretary-General commented on in his press encounter following his meeting with the Foreign Minister a day earlier.
   

• The Secretary-General and Nane Annan also attended a luncheon hosted by the President and First Lady, before departing the country.
   

• The Secretary-General is now in Tokyo, where tomorrow he will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, among other senior officials. He is expected to hold a press encounter following his meeting with the Prime Minister.

 

ANNAN APPOINTS SENIOR OFFICIAL FOR PEACEBUILDING

• The Secretary-General has decided to appoint Carolyn McAskie of Canada as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support.
   

• McAskie was previously the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the UN Operation in Burundi.
   

• Asked what McAskie will do, the Spokesman said she would head the secretariat for the Peacebuilding Commission, one of the key accomplishments of the Secretary-General’s reform efforts. The peacebuilding office, he said, would help the members of the Peacebuilding Commission identify areas of concern and make its work as effective as possible.

 

ANNAN TO APPOINT GUATEMALAN TO HEAD U.N. MISSION IN HAITI

• The Secretary-General has written to the Security Council to inform it of his intention to appoint Edmond Mulet, of Guatemala, as his Special Representative in Haiti and the head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti.
   

• Mulet has served as Guatemala’s ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg, and he would be taking the place of Juan Gabriel Valdes, whose term expires at the end of the month.

 

AFGHAN REFUGEES HEADING HOME;

• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that the number of Afghan refugees returning home this year from Pakistan under its repatriation programme is about to pass the 50,000 mark.
   

• This means some three million Afghans will have returned from Pakistan since the programme started in 2002, more than 90% of them with UNHCR assistance.   
   

• In other UNHCR related news, the agency said that it is receiving reports that the recruitment of males in refugee camps in eastern Chad is continuing despite its repeated appeals to the Chadian government to ensure that the civilian character of refugee camps is maintained.
   

• Militarization of camps can make them a target of one side or another, endangering all of the refugees, the agency said.
   

• It again calls on the Chadian government to do everything it can to ensure the civilian character of the camps.

 

UNITED NATIONS LAUNCHES APPEAL FOR GUINEA-BISSAU

• The United Nations has launched a flash appeal to help approximately 20,000 people in Guinea-Bissau, who have been made vulnerable by more than two months of fighting between the Guinea-Bissau Army and a separatist group from Senegal’s Casamance region.
   

• The appeal was launched today in Geneva, and calls for $3.6 million.

 

UNITED NATIONS FEEDING MILLIONS IN SAHEL; BUDGET UNDERFUNDED

• In the Sahel region of West Africa, as the annual ‘lean season’ gets underway, the World Food Programme is working to feed more than three million people – the great majority of them young children – in Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
   

• The cost of the programme is $54 million, but to date only $16.5 million has been received.

 

 RIGHTS EXPERTS ASK MYANMAR TO END ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS

• Six UN human rights experts today issued a joint statement calling on the Government of Myanmar to take urgent measures to end the counter-insurgency military operations targeting civilians in the areas of Northern Karen and Eastern Pegu, where thousands of ethnic minority villagers have been displaced.
   

• The experts deplored the violence against unarmed civilians by the Myanmar military and called for action to ensure that no further excessive use of force is employed.

  

GENERAL ASSEMBLY   TO ELECT PEACEBUILDING GROUP

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