Secretary-General

Noon briefing of 24 May 2006

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, 24 May 2006

ANNAN PRAISES VIETNAM’S EFFORTS TO MEET DEVELOPMENT GOALS & FIGHT BIRD FLU

  • Secretary-General Kofi Annan is now in Vietnam. He started today with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where he and Mrs. Annan took part in a wreath-laying ceremony.

  • He then held a series of meetings with Vietnam’s leaders; these included President Tran Duc Luong, Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, and the Secretary-General of the Communist Party, Nong Duc Manh. In between those meetings, he met women leaders and the National Avian Influenza Steering Committee, as well as with UN staff.

  • Speaking to the press at the end of the day, the Secretary-General praised Vietnam’s progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goals, describing its dramatic decline in recorded poverty over the past as a historic achievement. He also lauded Vietnam for having taken the lead in the fight against avian influenza.

  • The Secretary-General took questions about his impressions of Vietnam, the Iranian nuclear crisis and questions about being Secretary-General and the next Secretary-General.

  • Meanwhile, Mrs. Annan visited a self-help group of HIV-positive women and their children. Many of the women spoke about having been infected by their partners who were injecting drug users as well as about their activities ranging from life skills education and training in how to fight stigma and discrimination, access to counseling, testing and treatment, and prevention awareness activities.

  • Mrs. Annan also visited a rural microfinance project outside Hanoi, where she met and spoke with women who had received small loans to purchase livestock and start small businesses. The project reports a 99 percent success rate for repayment of loans.

ANNAN: DIRECT TALKS BETWEEN U.S. AND IRAN WOULD BE DESIRABLE

  • Asked for comment on a press report that the Secretary-General had been approached by representatives of the Iranian government, asking him to convey a message that Iran’s leadership seeks direct talks with the US, the Spokesman said he was unable to confirm that report.

  • “The Secretary-General has been very clear on his views on the desirability of direct negotiations between the US and Iran,” Dujarric said, noting that the Secretary-General re-stated his position on this issue today while in Vietnam.

  • Asked if the Secretary-General had spoken with Iranian officials in the past week, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General had been in touch with Iranian officials and personalities since the beginning of the stand-off.

  • “However he is not a party to the negotiations,” Dujarric said, adding that the Iranian personalities include former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami whom the Secretary-General met on the sidelines of a meeting in Qatar earlier this year.

SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED BY DELAYS IN COTE D’IVOIRE ELECTION ROADMAP

  • The Security Council held consultations this morning on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Iraq and other matters.

  • It met formally on Cote d’Ivoire this morning and adopted a Presidential Statement, by which it welcomed the progress there, but reiterated its “grave concern at the serious delay in the implementation of the roadmap” to peace, reconciliation and elections. The Council scheduled discussion on a second Presidential Statement on Iraq for this afternoon.

  • On DRC, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country, William Swing, briefed on latest developments there, in particular on the electoral process.

  • In the afternoon, the Council will hold a meeting, followed by consultations, on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari will be briefing.

ANNAN URGES BOLD G-8 ACTION ON POVERTY, ENERGY

  • Earlier this week, the Secretary-General sent a letter to the Heads of State and Government of the “Group of Eight” -- as they prepare for their meeting this July in St. Petersburg and as he has regularly done in the past.

  • In the letter, the Secretary-General focuses on two topics: trade and energy security. On global trade, he says that the lack of significant progress is conspicuous, even perilous. He therefore urges the G-8 to adopt bold liberalization measures that will lead to a successful conclusion of the Doha round.

  • He also proposes specific steps that would allow poor people in the least developed countries to lift themselves out of poverty.

  • On energy security, the Secretary-General says that the lack of access to modern energy services is a great barrier to poverty reduction. At the same time, he says that energy security cannot be reached if the environmental consequences of energy consumption are not addressed.

U.N. ENVOY TO MEET SUDANESE PRESIDENT TOMORROW

  • In Khartoum, Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is scheduled to meet Sudanese President Omar Bashir and other senior officials of the Government of National Unity tomorrow.

  • Over the last two days, he has met a number of people there, including the Foreign and Interior Ministers, presidential advisers, and the Speaker of the National Assembly and parliamentarians, as well as the Head of the African Union Mission in Sudan.

  • Brahimi plans to give a press conference tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. local time in Khartoum.

ETHNICITY-RELATED CRIME DROPS IN KOSOVO

  • The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Kosovo, Søren Jessen-Petersen, today called on all concerned to stop spreading misinformation on the security situation in Kosovo, particularly with respect to the Kosovo Serb community.

  • According to the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, there has been a marked decline in potentially ethnically motivated crimes, during the first quarter of this year.

  • Meanwhile, delegations from Pristina and Belgrade yesterday held in Vienna a round of direct negotiations on the protection of religious and culture heritage in Kosovo, under the auspices of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. The parties agreed to establish an expert group, which would discuss setting up protective zones around religious sites.

  • The next round of direct talks, which will focus on economic matters, will take place in Vienna on 31 May.

UNITED NATIONS SUPPORTS DIALOGUE IN TIMOR-LESTE

  • The UN Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL)reports as of the last few hours, the situation is quiet there, and the streets are deserted, given the time of day in Dili.

  • The United Nations is supporting the Timorese Government’s proposed initiative to convene a meeting with representatives of the dissident groups in order to engage in a dialogue.

  • UNOTIL also reports that it has set up a camp near the UN headquarters, for some 1,000 persons seeking refuge from the violence. It is providing tents and supplies for those people and Thursday will be seeking additional tents from UN agencies in case they are needed.

  • Asked about the United Nations’ involvement in developments in Timor-Leste, the Spokesman said the United Nations was working closely with the Timorese Government, encouraging them to hold a dialogue with representatives of the dissident groups to discuss grievances and overcome the current impasse.

  • The Spokesman added that the United Nations has been in contact with those Member States (Australia, Portugal, Malaysia and New Zealand) that have been approached by Timor-Leste to provide immediate support. “We’re keeping a close eye on the situation,” Dujarric said.

ANNAN EXPLORING POSSIBLE OPTIONS IN ZIMBABWE

  • Asked if the United Nations shared the view, reported in the press today, of South African President Thabo Mbeki that the Secretary-General is “key” to solving Zimbabwe’s political and economic crises and whether a visit was being planned for the Secretary-General, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General had been concerned for some time about the humanitarian situation there, and has been exploring, through emissaries and others, whether there is the possibility of movement on the political and economic fronts in Zimbabwe ahead of a possible visit.

  • “But I think it would be premature to characterize it at this stage as an initiative or even a package," Dujarric said.He noted that the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, had been tasked by the Secretary-General to meet Zimbabwe’s Foreign Minister and Gambari had been doing that.

  • Asked if the Secretary-General or any of his emissaries been involved in discussions over an exit package for President Robert Mugabe which would see him step down in return for immunity, the Spokesman reiterated that it would be premature to describe any of the contacts that have been carried out as a package.

U.N. BUDGET: MORE COUNTRIES PAID UP THAN THIS TIME LAST YEAR

  • Controller Warren Sach briefed the Fifth Committee this morning on the status of payment of assessed contributions by Member States.

  • In 2005, 72 countries had paid in full their assessments for the regular budget by 30 April. This year, the number was 85.

  • However, the level of payments was down by over $300 million, and unpaid assessments were over $200 million higher than they were by 30 April 2005.

  • Asked about the effect of the United States’ different payment schedule for its assessment towards the UN regular budget, the Spokesman said that the report identifies a number of other countries that have not paid despite having paid in the past.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

U.N. TO USE SPORTS TO PROMOTE PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION: The UN and the Institute for International Sport will launch a partnership at UN Headquarters tomorrow aimed at using sports as a means to promote peace and conflict resolution around the world. The launch begins the one month countdown to the 2006 World Scholar Athlete Games, which are organized by the Institute and take place in June.

ALL U.N. OFFICIALS EXPECTED TO COOPERATE WITH INTERNAL AUDITORS: Asked about claims that the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, has been hampering the work in Sudan of an investigation team from the UN Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the Spokesman said the Secretary-General expects all missions and senior officials to cooperate with OIOS auditors. “We would want to see this issue resolved in a manner which would allow OIOS auditors to do their job as they need to do it throughout the UN system,” Dujarric said.

UNITED NATIONS WOULD NOT APPROVE OF COUP ATTEMPTS: Asked if the United Nations had a view on the reported arrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of foreign military contractors for plotting a coup, the Spokesman said the UN would not look kindly upon the activities of any foreign military contractors trying to overthrow the DRC’s government, or anywhere else.

U.N. ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME SENSITIVE TO RELIGIOUS NEEDS: Asked if the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) is excluding Muslims with its use of chemical toilets during the soccer World Cup given that Muslims need to wash in water for religious purposes, the Spokesman said he was sure the that UNEP’s efforts to find environmentally facilities will be culturally sensitive to every religion, race and culture attending the World Cup.

U.N. MISSION IN REGULAR CONTACT ON HUMAN RIGHTS WITH PARTIES IN IRAQ: Asked what the United Nations was doing in relation to the reported killing of civilians by employees of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, as mentioned in a recent human rights report by the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), the Spokesman said that part of UNAMI’s mandate is dealing with human rights, and UNAMI is in regular contact with Iraqi authorities on improving human rights in terms of police activity and detention centres. He added that UNAMI is also in contact with the Multi-National Force. “It’s an ongoing dialogue,” Dujarric said.

***The guest at today’s noon briefing was Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, who briefed on his recent trip to Myanmar.