HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

ANNAN TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE AT 11:30 A.M. WEDNESDAY

• Secretary-General Kofi Annan is scheduled to hold a press conference
  at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at UN headquarters.
• Consequently, there will be no noon briefing on that day.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO HEAR BRIEFING ON IRAQ THIS AFTERNOON

• This afternoon at 3:30, the Security Council has scheduled an open briefing
  by UN Special Adviser Lakhdar Brahimi on Iraq ,
  to be followed by consultations on the same topic.
• Brahimi will also talk to reporters after consultations adjourn.

ANNAN PRAISES DECADE OF SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY

• The 10th anniversary of democracy in South Africa is a day that gives
  concrete meaning to the abstract concepts of humanity and of hope, the
  Secretary-General said today.
• Speaking at an event to mark the anniversary this morning, the Secretary-General
  says that today, the international community rejoices to see South Africans
  of all colors, ethnic groups and creeds, working together to forge a common
  future. South Africa now occupies a key position and has a strategic role
  in regional and international affairs, he added.

ANNAN: WITHDRAWAL, PEACE PLAN ARE WESTERN SAHARA OPTIONS

• The Security Council held consultations
  on Western
  Sahara . A draft resolution was introduced after Hédi Annabi,
  Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, briefed members
  on the Secretary-General's latest report on
  the Western Sahara, which was issued today
• In the report, the Secretary-General notes that the issue of sovereignty
  continues to divide Morocco and the Polisario Front and to prevent a negotiated
  solution.
• The Secretary-General says he sees only two options for the Security
  Council to consider. The first would be to terminate the UN Mission ( MINURSO )
  and return the issue of the Western Sahara to the General Assembly, acknowledging
  that 13 years of deployment and $600 million will not solve the problem
  unless one or both of the parties are required to do something they would
  not voluntarily agree to do.
• The second option is to try once again to get the parties to work towards
  acceptance of the Peace Plan. The Secretary-General favors the second option.
  He calls upon the parties to work towards acceptance and implementation
  of the Peace Plan and recommends that the mandate of MINURSO be extended
  for 10 months.
• Asked whether the Secretary-General has any optimism that the Western
  Sahara issue can be resolved in the next ten months, the Spokesman said, “I
  don't think it's a question of optimism but of tenacity.”
• Following consultations on Western Sahara, the Security Council received
  a briefing by the Chairman of the Al-Qaeda
  and Taliban Sanctions Committee , Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of
  Chile, who presented the latest report of the committee.

IRAQ ADOPTS ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOLLOWING UN PROPOSALS

• The Iraqi Governing Council announced on Monday that it is adopting the
  proposal for the formation of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq.
  This follows the proposal put forward by the UN Electoral Assessment Mission,
  headed by Carina Perelli, during its recent visit throughout Iraq .
• The task of this Independent Electoral Commission will be to oversee,
  prepare and conduct the elections according to the Iraqi legal framework
  and international standards.
• This commission will be headed by an eight-member Board of Commissioners,
  of which seven will be Iraqis and one will be an international member.
• There will now have to be a large public information campaign to encourage
  qualified Iraqis to be nominated to serve on this independent commission.
  Candidates will have to submit a package that will include, among other
  items, references and a personal essay.
• Once nominations are received, the candidates will be assessed through
  a multi-step technical evaluation process undertaken by the United Nations.

UNITED NATIONS REACHES NORTH KOREA RAILWAY DISASTER VICTIMS

• The train explosion in the North Korean city of Ryongchon last Thursday
  appears to have destroyed nearly two-thirds of the city center, the UN
  Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.
• The UN Humanitarian Coordinator and the regional director and country
  director for the World Food Programme visited the city on Sunday to assess
  the situation and to deliver food aid. According to the local authorities
  there, the most important needs of the affected people are medicines, food,
  building materials and utensils.
• OCHA was told that, as of today, the death toll stands at 161, with more
  than 1,300 people injured. In many cases, the injuries appear to be very
  severe, with the majority appearing to be injuries to the eyes and face,
  as a result of the blast.
• The World Food Programme says
  it has delivered the first humanitarian assistance to hospital victims
  of North Korea's railway disaster. WFP said it had delivered seven tons
  of food and the agency's goal was to distribute at least 1,000 tons of
  food amounting to $1 million to those affected by the disaster. A new flash
  appeal was expected to be issued soon to meet the pressing needs.

SECRETARY-GENERAL SEES REASONS FOR OPTIMISM IN GEORGIA

• The Secretary-General's latest report on
  the situation in Abkhazia,
  Georgia says that there is reason for cautious optimism in the long
  term. The Secretary-General says the new Georgian leadership's public commitment
  to pursuing a comprehensive settlement by peaceful means is encouraging.
• He also calls on the Abkhaz side to review its position and use the opportunity
  of the changing political climate in Tblisi to start meaningful negotiations
  on the substantive issues of the conflict.

FACT-FINDING TEAM TRAVELS TO NORTHERN DARFUR, SUDAN

• The UN fact-finding team that was dispatched to look into the human rights
  situation in the Darfur region was in Al Fasher today in northern Darfur.
  The team was expected to return to Geneva early next week and to submit
  their report shortly thereafter to the acting High
  Commissioner for Human Rights , Bertrand Ramcharan. The report would
  be transmitted to the Secretary-General and to the Commission on Human
  Rights.
• Meanwhile, James Morris, the Executive Director of the World
  Food Programme , and leader of the humanitarian assessment mission
  to Darfur, arrived in Khartoum with his team today.
• The UN High
  Commissioner for Refugees is investigating reports of a new influx
  of Sudanese refugees into north-eastern Chad, an area already hosting
  earlier waves of refugees who are facing food and water shortages. Local
  authorities estimate that each week some 200 to 300 people have been
  crossing the border from Darfur into Chad since the beginning of the
  month.

SERIOUS LOCUST SWARM THREATENS NORTHWEST AFRICA

• The Food
  and Agriculture Organization is warning that despite intensive control
  efforts, the threat of desert locusts in West and Northwest
  Africa remains extremely serious – the most serious locust situation
  in the region for 10 years. The swarms could threaten crop areas throughout
  the region.
• More than $17 million have been spent since October 2003 on locust control
  operations that have treated nearly 1.4 million hectares. Most of this
  money was provided from national budgets within the affected countries.
  An additional $17 million is needed to continue the current campaign during
  the spring and extend it to breeding areas during the summer.

SHARP DROP IN MEASLES DEATHS REPORTED WORLDWIDE

• The World
  Health Organization and UNICEF ,
  the UN Children's Fund, today announced a 30 percent global drop in the
  number of deaths from measles between
  1999 and 2002. There was a 35 percent drop in measles deaths in Africa,
  which is the region with the highest number of people affected by the
  disease.
• This progress demonstrates that, collectively, countries can achieve
  the UN goal of cutting global measles deaths in half by the end of 2005.
• Despite the availability of a safe, effective, inexpensive vaccine for
  over 40 years, measles remains the leading vaccine-preventable killer of
  children.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNAN TO ADDRESS HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON DEVELOPMENT : The High-Level
Ministerial Segment of the Commission
on Sustainable Development (CSD) swill start on Wednesday, and the Secretary-General
will address the Opening of that Segment, which is expected to be attended by
over 80 ministers.

NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY REVIEW PREPARATIONS TO BEGIN: The third
and final phase of preparations for next year's review of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) began here on Monday, with States that are
party to the Treaty discussing recent challenges to the Treaty and its effectiveness.

* The guest at today's briefing was Johan Schölvinck, Director of the
Division for Social Policy and Development in the Department of Economic and
Social Affairs, who discussed the findings of the World
Youth Report 2003 .

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