HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Friday,
September 10, 2004
The Security
Council met for three hours in closed consultations on Thursday
afternoon to discuss the US-introduced draft resolution on Sudan.
Security Council members
agreed to continue discussions on the resolution at the experts level at 10
a.m. today.
No date for a vote
has yet been scheduled.
Asked whether the
United Nations needs a formal request to act following the US invocation of
Article Eight of the Genocide Convention, the Spokesman said that the United
States had taken the initiative to act, with the administration declaring a
finding of genocide and saying it would present a draft resolution to the
Security Council.
That matter, he
added, was now in the hands of the Security Council.
The Spokesman said
the United States also had the option of bringing the matter to other
competent UN bodies, including the Secretary-General and the International
Court of Justice. He noted that the U.S. draft resolution included a
request for the Secretary-General to open an inquiry into the Darfur issue.
In response to
another question, he said that if a resolution were adopted asking the
Secretary-General to conduct an inquiry, he certainly would do so.
The Spokesman added
that a party acting on Article Eight of the Genocide Convention also has the
option to take national actions.
Asked whether the
invocation of Article Eight by one State confers any general obligations to
the international community, the Spokesman later said it did not, beyond
those incumbent on all States under the UN Charter.
Mohamed
Sahnoun, the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Africa, visited Kuwait
this week as part of mission in the Gulf region to underline the gravity of
the current situation in Sudan,
to draw attention to the humanitarian challenges facing the international
community in Darfur
and Southern Sudan, and to encourage increased support for Sudan.
UN
agencies have appealed
to the donor community to meet humanitarian needs in Darfur, reintegration
assistance in South Sudan and other urgent priorities through the end of
2004.
Out
of a total requirement of $722 million, only $288 million has been
contributed, leaving a gap of $434 million in unmet requirements, according
to the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs.
The Security
Council began consultations on Haiti
this morning. Council members received a briefing from Assistant
Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi on the
Secretary-General’s
recent report on the deployment of the UN Mission in
Haiti, as well as on the recent deterioration in security in parts of the
country.
The UN Mission
assumed operational responsibilities from the multinational force at the end
of June, and at present has more than 2,700 troops on the ground. But Annabi
said the transitional government and the UN Mission have faced a more
challenging security environment in recent days, as members of the former
Haitian armed forces have taken over police stations in several areas.
Following
consultations, the Security Council adopted a
Presidential Statement on
Haiti, in which it condemned attempts by some illegal armed groups to
perform unauthorized law enforcement functions in some Haitian cities. It
stressed the urgency of disbanding and disarming all illegal armed groups.
The
UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs reports that currently, there are almost 19,000
Congolese refugees at the three transit sites near the border between the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and Burundi.
Large numbers of them are reported to have returned to DRC in recent weeks.
UNHCR,
the UN Refugee Agency, has asked for permission to establish a presence at a
border crossing, but has thus far been denied by the Burundian military,
which says the area remains insecure.
The
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today also noted that
more than 15,000 civilians have fled their homes in the past two weeks in
the eastern DRC’s North-Kivu Province, fearing armed confrontation.
The
World Food Programme has
The World Food Programme (WFP)
says it has started providing food to help resettle more than 260,000 people
driven from their homes in north-eastern Uganda by fighting and attacks by the
rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
WFP also begun distributing
food to the hundreds of children and adults caught up in the Beslan
hostage-taking tragedy. In
response to requests from doctors in Beslan, WFP began on Monday an initial
one-week distribution of food to three hospitals there and in the regional
capital of Vladikavkaz, where many of the victims were taken. UNICEF
has sent
two trucks of medical
supplies to hospitals in Beslan and Vladikavkaz to help the injured.
A UN Disaster
Assessment and Coordination team is currently in Jamaica, which is expected
to be hit by Hurricane
Ivan later today. The team is working with the national authorities and
the International Federation of Red Crescent and Red Cross Committees to
coordinate response to the storm. The UN
Children’s Fund has also pre-positioned health kits in Jamaica.
An aerial survey of
the country will be conducted immediately after the passage of the
hurricane.
Although Haiti is no
longer on the hurricane’s direct path, UN agencies present in the country,
including the peacekeeping mission, have mobilized to deal with the heavy
rains and winds expected in the south.
UN peacekeepers will
transport supplies and medical staff to the town of Les Cayes and any other
affected areas.
The Spokesman
introduced three bomb-sniffing dogs to the UN press corps, noting that, over
the past couple of years, the bomb-sniffing dogs used at the United Nations
were contracted out from a private company at considerable expense. In fact,
they became know as Assistant Secretary-General dogs, in light of their high
salaries.
Now, thanks to the
efforts of the US Mission and the generosity of the New York State Police,
the UN Safety and Security Service will eventually
have six of its own bomb-sniffing dogs.
The State Police
donated the dogs and hosted the UN security officers at their canine
training facilities in Cooperstown, in upstate New York.
In terms of cost, for
much less than half of the $360,000 paid yearly to a private contractor to
provide two dogs and handlers, the United Nations will now be able to
operate up to eight canine teams.
SECRETARY-GENERAL AT
HEADQUARTERS ON MONDAY: Asked whether the Secretary-General would be back at
UN Headquarters on Monday, the Spokesman said he would.
ANNAN PRAISES WORLD
CULTURE OPEN: The Secretary-General praised
a festival in New York today of artists, musicians, intellectuals and other
people from some 50 countries, designed to encourage the sharing of cultural
heritage, customs and traditions. In a message to the World Culture Open,
delivered by Special Adviser Maurice Strong, the Secretary-General notes that
joint events will take place in the Korean Peninsula as part of this festival.
He says that those events add a new dimension to international efforts to
achieve durable peace and prosperity there.
UNDP LAUNCHES NEW BOOK
ON LATIN AMERICA: The
United Nations Development Programme
announced the launch of the book “Contributions to the Debate” – a
companion volume to the report “Democracy in Latin America: Towards a
Citizen’ Democracy.” The book features new essays by 20 leading experts on
Latin America on topics such as globalization, politics and the economy.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE
UNITED NATIONS
The Security Council has
scheduled a public meeting on the work of the 1267 Sanctions Committee, which
deals with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It has also scheduled consultations on the
UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The World Urban Forum,
which is partly organized by UN-Habitat, will begin in Barcelona, Spain, and a
message will be delivered on the Secretary-General’s behalf.
At 11:00 a.m., Julian
Hunte, the outgoing General Assembly President, will give his farewell news
conference.
The 59th
session of the General Assembly will formally convene, under the Assembly’s
new President, Gabonese Foreign Minister Jean Ping.
The Security Council has
scheduled a formal meeting to vote on a resolution extending the mandate of the
UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It has also scheduled an open briefing,
followed by consultations, on Iraq.
At 11:00 a.m.,
Palitha Kohona, Chief of the Office of Legal Affairs Treaty Section, will give a press
briefing to discuss this year’s Focus 2004 treaty event, which deals with
treaties concerning the protection of civilians.
Speakers from the UN
Development Fund for Women will be the guests at the noon briefing.
The photography exhibit
“Guatemala: Images of Peace,” from the photo collection of the UN
Verification Mission in Guatemala, will have its opening ceremony at 5:15 p.m.
at the Visitor’s Lobby of UN Headquarters.
The Security Council has
scheduled consultations on the UN Mission in Liberia, as well as meetings with
troop contributors to that Mission and to the UN Mission in Sierra Leone. The
Council also expects to hold its monthly luncheon with the Secretary-General.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
will launch its annual State of the World Population report, “The Cairo
Consensus at Ten,” which reviews progress on population issues in the decade
since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo.
Safiye Cagar of
UNFPA’s Division of Information and External Relations, will be the guest at
the noon briefing and will discuss the State of the World Population report,
along with Jill Sheffield, President of Family Care International.
The Security Council has
scheduled consultations on the UN Mission in Sierra Leone.
The guest at the noon
briefing will be Stephen Lewis, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative
for AIDS in Africa.
The Security Council
expects to hold formal meetings to vote on resolutions concerning the mandates
of the UN Missions in Liberia and Sierra Leone. It also has scheduled an open
briefing, followed by consultations, on the Middle East.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
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