HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Friday, October 20, 2006
SECURITY COUNCIL IS ENCOURAGED BY
LIBERIA’S DRIVE
TO MEET SANCTIONS’ REQUIREMENTS
The
Security Council held consultations
this morning on Liberia.
Ambassador Ellen Loj of Denmark, who
chairs the Security Council’s sanctions committee for that country, briefed
Council members about the status of the diamond and timber sanctions imposed
on Liberia.
Afterward, the
Security Council President,
Ambassador Kenzo Oshima of Japan,
told reporters
that the Security Council members commended the Liberian legislature for
passing legislation to ensure a transparent, accountable and
government-controlled forestry sector.
Security Council members were also
encouraged by the steps Liberia has taken towards meeting the requirements for
the lifting of the measures on diamonds.
ANNAN
URGES NORTH KOREA TO RETURN TO SIX-PARTY TALKS
Asked whether the sanctions on the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) should be lifted following reports that it
would not undertake further nuclear tests, the Spokesman said that was a
decision for the Security Council, which had imposed the sanctions.
He said that, if the DPRK were committed not to
conducting another test, it would be very welcome. Dujarric added that the
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
encouraged the DPRK to return to the six-party talks.
Asked about reports of camps for disabled people in
the DPRK, the Spokesman said that the practices described were condemnable. He
said the United Nations would examine the report of the special rapporteur for
the DPRK.
He added that the Secretary-General has been clear
about the need for all to respect the rights and dignity of all people.
Asked whether a Member State
could be expelled from the United Nations for actions such as those that had
been reported, the Spokesman noted that, in accordance with the
United Nations Charter, such
decisions are in the hands of the Member States.
LARGE NUMBER OF IRAQI FAMILIES DISPLACED BY CONFLICT
The Office of theUN
High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) today said that its Iraq unit estimates that some 754,000 Iraqis have
been internally displaced since the start of the conflict in 2003. Of that
number, some 365,000 have been displaced just since the recent sectarian
violence began after the Samara bombings in February.
Meanwhile, UNHCR adds, some 40,000
Iraqis are now arriving in Syria from Iraq each month.
The Refugee Agency also
reiterated its
concern about the threats faced by Palestinian refugees living in Baghdad and
near the borders with Syria and Lebanon. Last night, UNHCR says, a mortar
attack in a Palestinian neighbourhood left four Palestinians dead and a dozen
wounded. Asked about UN activity to protect
Palestinians, the Spokesman said that UNHCR is working to ensure the safety of
Palestinians in Iraq.
He added that the UN Special
Coordinator for the Middle East, Alvaro de Soto, had briefed the Security
Council at length about the need for a cessation of the violence in Gaza and
the West Bank.
SECURITY
SITUATION IS TENSE IN ERITREA-ETHIOPIA BORDER AREA
The UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE) says that the military
situation in the Temporary Security Zone between the two countries is volatile
and tense. The Mission
says that in addition to routine troop movements on both sides of the
border, there has been a large-scale induction of Eritrean troops inside the
Temporary Security Zone.
Meanwhile, the ban imposed by the
Eritrean Government on the Mission’s helicopter flights remains in place. And
restrictions also remain in place on the movement of the Mission’s patrols in
the central and western sectors of the security zone, and UN peacekeepers’
night-time movement is also curtailed in certain areas.
Even so, UN peacekeepers were able to
conduct a total of 711 ground patrols in throughout their Area of
Responsibility. UN troops also continued to provide medical assistance to the
local population in the Temporary Security Zone and adjacent areas. They also
provided some 21,000 litres of water to local communities in the past week.
U.N. CHIEF IN SUDAN REMAINS IN HIS POST;
COMMENT ON HIS BLOG A PERSONAL VIEW
Asked about reports in the media that the Sudanese
military had declared the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Sudan, Jan Pronk, to be persona non grata, the Spokesman said that, as far
as the United Nations is aware, he has not been officially made persona non
grata.
He noted that the views of the Government of Sudan
are expressed through normal, official channels and there had been nothing on
Pronk being declared persona non grata in those channels.
In that regard, he said, it’s clear that the
Government of Sudan has welcomed the joint African Union-UN initiative to
boost the work done by the African Union Mission in Sudan.
Asked what Mr. Pronk’s location is, the Spokesman
said that Pronk was in Khartoum and continues to express the official views of
the United Nations and the UN Mission in Sudan
in his official communications.
Asked whether the views expressed in Pronk’s blog
are shared by the United Nations, the Spokesman emphasized that the views
expressed by Pronk in his blog are his personal views.
Asked about the UN’s views, he added that the
Secretary-General’s views on the situation in Darfur are well known and
expressed through numerous reports and public statements.
Asked about rules for staff members to write blogs,
Dujarric said that there are no specific regulations on the use of blogs by UN
staff, but the United Nations expects staff members to exercise proper
judgment in what they include. He noted that the United Nations does have
specific rules for public speaking and for publications which lay out the UN’s
expectations on how staff use their judgment in expressing their views.
Asked whether Pronk had been told to stop writing
his blog, the Spokesman said that there have been discussions with him
concerning the blog and the UN’s expectations that staff use judgment in
writing on blogs.
REFUGEES’
RETURN TO SUDAN IS TEMPORARILY HALTED
The UN Refugee Agency has temporarily
suspended convoys returning people to South Sudan from Uganda following
reports yesterday that gunmen killed at least 38 civilians in a series of
attacks in southern Sudan.
The agency will be monitoring the
security situation closely before deciding to resume the repatriation convoys.
IRAQ’S
WORKING RELATION WITH UNITED NATIONS IS IN GOOD SHAPE
Asked about a
media report that the United Nations had been informed by Iraqi authorities
that they would no longer be receiving mortality figures from them, the
Spokesman said that the United Nations does not comment on reported leaks or
on intra-governmental communications.
Dujarric said
that the UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has
enjoyed excellent cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Health and its
Medico-Legal Institute and hopes very much that this cooperation will continue
in the future. He said that UNAMI was in contact with those bodies.
Asked about the
UN’s view on any effort by a government to suppress information, the Spokesman
said that part of the UNAMI mandate was a reporting mandate.
He added that Iraq is a
sovereign government, and that discussions continue with that government.
“ROOF
FIRST” STRATEGY DELIVERS RESULTS FOR INDONESIA
QUAKE VICTIMS
As many as 50,000 families who lost
their homes in last spring’s Yogyakarta earthquake in Indonesia do not have
sufficient shelter for the approaching rainy season,
according to the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
To address these families’ needs, the
Government of Indonesia, UN agencies and other humanitarian partners have
developed a joint “roof first” strategy. To date, 23,000 roof structures have
been constructed and tens of thousands of additional roofs are planned to be
delivered by early 2007.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
TRUCKERS FACE
PROBLEMS WITH EXCESSIVE BORDER DELAYS: The International Labour
Organization, in a new
reportt, says that truckers and other road transport workers face
problems with excessive border delays, corruption by border officials and
drivers' vulnerability
to sexually
transmitted diseases like AIDS. ILO will hold a meeting next Monday in Geneva on
those challenges.
U.N. DEVELOPMENT AGENCY FUNDS
BI-COMMUNAL PROJECT IN CYPRUS: Asked about
United Nations’ Development Programme (UNDP)
money going to a bi-communal project in Cyprus, the Spokesman said that UNDP has
been in touch with the Cypriot authorities to address their concerns. The
Secretary-General, he added, is leaving the matter in UNDP’s hands.
U.N. CONTRACTS FOR MANY TOP
OFFICIALS EXPIRE IN FEBRUARY: Asked when
the terms of the Special Representatives and Special Envoys end, the Spokesman
reiterated that most contracts for Under-Secretaries-General end next February,
after which the next Secretary-General can decide on their terms.
***Rogelio Pfirter, head of the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons, was the guest at the noon briefing.
THE
WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Monday, October
23
At 1:00, Vitit
Muntabhorn, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, will hold a press conference.
At 3:00,
Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, will hold a press conference.
In Geneva,
the International Labour Organization will hold a four-day meeting on
international road transport, starting today.
Tuesday, October
24
UN
Headquarters
will be closed in observance of Eid
Al-Fitr.
Today is both United
Nations Day and World Development Information Day.
The Eighth International Conference of
National Human Rights Institutions, partly organized by the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, will start today in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and last
until 26 October. The theme will be migration.
Wednesday,
October 25
At 10:30, the
Permanent Mission of Japan is sponsoring a press conference by the Stop AIDS
Organization on the “Africa AIDS Orphan Soccer Project”.
The guest at the
noon briefing will be Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser
of the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women.
At 2:00, Martin
Scheinin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights
while countering terrorism, will hold a press conference.
This morning, the
Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting for troop-contributing
countries, followed by consultations, on the UN Mission in Western Sahara. It is
also scheduled to hold afternoon consultations on Cote d’Ivoire.
Voting resumes in
General Assembly plenary to elect a non-permanent member of the Security Council
from the Latin American and Caribbean States.
Thursday,
October 26
The
2007 Education for All Global Monitoring
Report will be launched by the Director General of UN
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
Koïchiro Matsuura, and UNICEF’s Executive Director, Ann Veneman, at UNICEF House
in New York at 9:30 a.m. A panel discussion will follow. The director of the
Report, Nicholas Burnett,
and Peter Smith, UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Education,
will be the guests at the noon briefing.
At 11:15, in connection to the Security
Council open debate on women, peace and security, the UN Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM), is sponsoring a press conference with the women peacebuilders
from Timor-Leste, Burundi and Liberia who will be participating in the Council’s
open debate and in its Arria formula meeting.
At 1:00, Jean Ziegler, Special
Rapporteur on the right to food, will hold a press conference.
The Security Council is scheduled to
hold an open debate this morning on women and peace and security.
Friday, October
27
This morning, the Security Council is
scheduled to hold a private debate on the International Court of Justice,
followed by consultations on Timor-Leste.
The Secretary-General and Deputy
Secretary-General will attend the annual fall session of the UN System Chief
Executives Board for Coordination, at UN Headquarters. Later today they will go
to the Greentree Foundation for a related retreat, which will last until
Saturday.
More than two dozen UN Permanent
Representatives will meet for two days of closed-door sessions at UNICEF House
in New York, to analyze the world’s greatest challenges and determine a
prioritization of the problems using the Copenhagen Consensus framework.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
