HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday,
December 8, 2004
ANNAN: MEMBER
STATES SHOULD MAKE 2005
THE YEAR OF CHANGE FOR THE UNITED NATIONS
Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke to the
General Assembly today on the
report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, telling
the Member States that it is up to them to make 2005 the year of change at the
United Nations.
He
said that if we do not act resolutely, and together, the threats described
in the report can overwhelm us. The Secretary-General asserted, “Either we
turn our backs on the very notion of collective security, or we must work hard
to make sure that collective security really mean something.”
He told the Assembly that he will move ahead quickly to
implement the Panel’s recommendations that are within his purview. Next year,
he added, he will present to the Member States the outlines of a comprehensive
strategy against terrorism.
The Secretary-General drew particular attention to the
Panel’s recommendation to support a Directorate of Security and to assist in
implementing a new staff security system for 2005.
He said, “Unhappily we cannot, in this increasingly
volatile and dangerous world, carry out the mandates that you give us without
adequate security arrangements.”
Asked whether the Secretary-General was sending a message
in his speech for the United Nations not to be scapegoated, the Spokesman said
that the speech had been intended to focus the attention of the Member States
on the priorities ahead, as he saw them. They had received the Panel report
last week and had time to study it. Eckhard said that this was the beginning
of an almost year-long process so that Member States can make informed
decisions on UN reform when the General Assembly meets again next fall. He
acknowledged that the United Nations is only as good as its Member States.
Asked about the standing ovation that the
Secretary-General had received upon delivering his statement, the Spokesman
said he had noticed the standing ovation, which was consistent with the
expressions of support for the Secretary-General’s work that the United
Nations has received, both orally and in written form, from a number of Member
States.
Asked about problems in U.S.-UN relations, the Spokesman
said that, “for us, this is not an active issue.” He said that calls for the
Secretary-General’s resignation had come from a few members of Congress, not
the U.S. administration. At the moment, he said, no Member State has called
for Kofi Annan to resign, while a number of Governments, and UN staff from all
major duty stations, have expressed their support.
The Secretary-General, he said, had confirmed on Tuesday
that he intends to stay on for the remaining two years of his term, to focus
on the priorities of UN reform and the
Millennium Development Goals.
Eckhard said that, since 1945, there has always been a
minority in the United States that has opposed the work of the United Nations.
Since 1945, public opinion polls showed that some 20 to 25 percent of
Americans questioned the usefulness of the United Nations, compared to some 60
to 70 percent who supported it. Those numbers, he added, have fluctuated more
recently.
He said that the United Nations is not against an
internal debate in the United States about the United Nations, but noted that
a majority in the country views the United Nations as useful, including its
impact on the economy of New York City.
The United States has to ask itself whether it wants to
work through the United Nations to further its national and multilateral
goals. The Spokesman added that the U.S. administration has not indicated that
it wants the Secretary-General to resign or does not want to work with the
United Nations on a concerns ranging from
Afghanistan and
Iraq to
Sudan.
Asked why the High-Level Panel gave two options for
Security Council reform, the Spokesman said that the Panel’s research
director, Steven Stedman, said it was an indication that the 16 members of the
Panel could not agree on a single formula. It hoped that putting forward two
options would invite productive debate among the Member States, since it was
up to them to decide on one formula on which they could agree.
Asked about the Panel’s proposal for buyouts of UN staff,
he said that was a proposal that the Panel felt would be useful to move some
people out and allow younger staff to advance. The Secretary-General could
submit a proposal to the General Assembly, which would decide on how much it
wanted to fund. There have been previous staff buyouts, he added. The
Spokesman added, in response to questions, that it was more likely for any
budgetary requirement for such a buyout plan to be folded into the next budget
year’s funding.
ANNAN WELCOMES
PEACE STEPS FOR ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA
Further to the
Secretary-General’s
statement of November 26, he has studied the five-point proposal that the
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi submitted to Parliament on November 25.
The Secretary-General
welcomes any step which may contribute to full implementation of the 2000
Algiers Agreements and the subsequent decision of the Boundary Commission, to
the initiation of dialogue between
Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as to the restoration of normal relations
between these two neighboring countries.
Such relations could contribute in a major way to
economic and social development in both countries, as well as to that of the
whole region.
ANNAN WELCOMES
AGREEMENT REACHED IN COTE D’IVOIRE
FOLLOWING EFFORT TO RESOLVE CRISIS BY SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT
The
Secretary-General
welcomes the agreement reached by the Ivorian parties regarding the
implementation of the Accra III and Linas-Marcoussis Agreements, following
their consultations with South African President Thabo Mbeki, under the
initiative which he is leading on behalf of the African Union. The parties
must now agree upon a detailed program of action for the implementation of
their commitments within a clear timeframe.
The Secretary-General urges all the Ivorian parties to
seize this opportunity and to ensure that genuine progress, which is required
to prepare for the holding of elections in October 2005, is made.
The Secretary-General looks forward to President Mbeki
and the African Union’s continued efforts to resolve the crisis in Cote
d’Ivoire, in close cooperation with ECOWAS and the
United Nations Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI).
The radio station of the UNOCI
mission, UNOCI FM, went on the air in Bouaké on Tuesday evening. The programs
comprise messages of peace, news programs and features on human rights,
disarmament and the humanitarian consequences of the conflict
.
Meanwhile, the so-called Young
Patriots, who are planning to demonstrate on Saturday to demand the withdrawal
of French troops from the Côte d'Ivoire, told UNOCI that their demonstration
would be peaceful.
U.N. ENVOY
WELCOMED COMMITMENT OF SUDANESE GOVERNMENT
AND REBEL LEADER TO FINALIZE AGREEMENT
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Sudan,
Jan Pronk, returned to Khartoum on Tuesday night from Naivasha, Kenya,
where he met separately with Vice President Osman Ali Taha and Chairman John
Garang of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
In his discussions with them, Pronk welcomed the good
spirit shown by the two leaders and their commitment to finalize agreement on
pending issues.
He emphasized to both of them that every effort should be
exerted in order to fulfill the commitment they made to the international
community and to the
Security Council on November 19 in Nairobi. He cautioned them that
failure was not an option.
SECURITY
COUNCIL CONDEMNS ATTEMPTS TO HARM DR CONGO PROCESS
This morning, the
Security Council held a public meeting on the report of the
Council’s November mission to Central Africa led by France. That report came
out as a document on Tuesday.
The Security Council issued a
presidential statement late Tuesday in which it expressed its concern
about reports of military operations by the Rwandan army in the eastern part
of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
It also condemned any attempt
at undermining the unity and territorial integrity of the DRC, and said it
would consider further actions against anyone who compromises the peace
process there.
NO CONCLUSIVE
EVIDENCE OF RWANDAN TROOPS IN DR CONGO
The
UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
says it still does not have fully conclusive evidence as to whether
Rwandan forces have crossed into Congolese territory.
MONUC says it does have some
evidence of the presence of unidentified – but well-organized – military
groups in the triangle formed by Goma, Walikale and Lake Edward.
MONUC is continuing its
reconnaissance activities by helicopter and by foot to check the numerous and
consistent claims it has received from the local population about the presence
of Rwandan soldiers.
Asked whether Rwanda has denied that it has troops in the
DRC, the Spokesman said the Rwandan Government had publicly threatened to go
into the DRC, after which the United Nations had responded by
saying that that would disrupt the peace process and by inviting Rwanda
and the DRC to engage the UN mechanism that could monitor disturbances on the
border.
Asked why it was difficult to confirm whether Rwandans
were in the DRC, the Spokesman noted that the area that UN forces are
monitoring is larger than Rwanda itself and is heavily forested. UN troops
have found bivouacs and remnants of troop presence, and has seen well-equipped
armed elements, but could not definitively say whether they were Rwandan.
Asked about Rwanda’s concerns about Interahamwe elements
in eastern Congo, the Spokesman said the United Nations has acknowledged those
concerns and tried to deal with it by demobilizing, disarming and returning
Interahamwe and other elements to Rwanda. That is not an easy process to
negotiate and carry out, he added.
SPOKESMAN: MORE
U.N. ELECTORAL STAFF GOING TO IRAQ
Asked whether January elections are feasible in
Iraq, the Spokesman said he was not in a position to say, given that it is
up to the Iraqis to determine the timing of elections. From a technical
standpoint, he noted, the United Nations has said in the past that
preparations were on track for elections at the end of January if security
conditions permitted.
The hope, he said, is that, whatever the Iraqi interim
government decides, the elections can be carried out in relative security and
be seen as credible and fair.
Asked about UN personnel supporting the elections, the
Spokesman said that the United Nations was looking to raise the number of UN
international electoral experts in Iraq to 25, up from eight a few weeks ago.
He said that number of staff was just “the tip of the iceberg,” with a
substantial number of staff also posted to Jordan and other countries in the
region, and more than 6,000 Iraqis trained by UN experts in electoral work.
Eckhard said, in response to another question, that the
Secretary-General had recently raised the ceiling on UN international staff in
Iraq from 35 to 59. The United Nations also expects to put in place a close
protection unit of more than 100 Fijians.
He said that the United Nations expects its experts to
operate from time to time outside the International Zone in Baghdad, and to
have offices in other places, as part of the risk it is willing to take to
support the electoral process.
PALESTINIANS
AND ISRAELIS MEET WITH UN, DONORS IN OSLO
Today in Oslo, the UN Middle East Envoy,
Terje Roed-Larsen, attended a meeting of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee.
This group brings together the donor countries, alongside the United Nations,
the World Bank, the IMF and the
Palestinians and Israelis.
This was the first time in almost a year that Israeli and
Palestinian officials sat face to face and exchanged views. Participants said
the meeting took place in a positive spirit of cooperation as recent
developments on the ground offered new opportunities.
Donors and the United Nations said steps should be taken
by Israel to lift the closures in the Palestinian territory to increase
freedom of movement and ease the humanitarian situation for the Palestinians.
They also urged the Palestinian to redouble their reform
efforts, specifically in the judicial and security areas. The Palestinian
delegation was congratulated for a smooth political transition.
Asked about UN involvement in the Palestinian election
plan, the Spokesman said that the United Nations had been advising the
Palestinians on the election process. More recently, a European Union official
took charge of the process, but the United Nations remains involved.
FAO: HUNGER
KILLS MORE THAN FIVE MILLION CHILDREN YEARLY
The
Food and Agricultural Organization today
released its annual report, “The
State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004.”
Hunger and malnutrition kill more than five million
children every year, the report says. The cost to developing countries, the
agency says, is billions of dollars in lost productivity and national income.
On a positive note, the authors note that more than 30
countries, representing nearly half the population of the developing world,
have reduced the percentage of hungry people by at least 25 percent in the
1990s. They add that these countries provide proof that rapid progress is
possible as well as lessons in how that progress can be achieved.
UN TEAM ARRIVES
ON CAMBODIA FOR FUNDING TALKS
A six-member UN team arrived in Cambodia today to begin
talks with the Cambodian Government on funding for the proposed trials of
Khmer Rouge leaders.
The
Secretary-General
reiterated last week that UN approval of the Agreement on the trials will
depend on whether sufficient money is in place to fund the staffing and
operations of the Extraordinary Chambers for the trials for a sustained period
of time.
Asked about the budget negotiations, the Spokesman said
that the Secretary-General has made it clear that he was not prepared to
commit the United Nations to the trials until pledges have been made for the
Chambers’ three years of operations and until actual contributions for its
first year have been received.
EMERGENCY
RELIEF COORDINATOR SAYS 2004 ONE OF THE MOST
CHALLENGING FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
The past year has been one of the most challenging in
terms of providing humanitarian assistance, largely because of the high number
of natural disasters that took place, the UN
Emergency Relief Coordinator,
Jan Egeland, said today.
At a press conference in Geneva, Egeland noted the crises
that extended from the earthquake in Bam, Iran, at the beginning of the year
to the recent typhoons in the Philippines.
Among the worst crises, he said, was the one in
Darfur, Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of lives had been saved because
of the work of some 800 relief workers.
Egeland also drew attention to next month’s World
Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan, where delegates from some 120
countries are to draw up a plan to prevent the worst effects of natural
hazards.
In the
Philippines, UN teams are continuing their work in assessing the damage
from the recent storms, which left roughly 1,500 people dead or missing. One
team that went to Aurora Province reported that, at the main town of Dingalan,
the health clinic has been destroyed, the schools are closed and there is no
running water.
CONFERENCE ENDS
ON VOLUNTEERISM AND MDGS
The first UN system conference on volunteerism and the
Millennium Development Goals concluded in Pakistan’s capital city,
Islamabad, with several recommendations on maximizing citizen engagement in
activities framed around the Goals.
The more than 200 international delegates who attended
the three-day conference focused on the role of volunteers in supporting the
actions of national governments in meeting their commitments outlined in the
Millennium Declaration.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO MEET UN STAFF COUNCIL: Asked
about the Secretary-General’s meeting this afternoon with the UN Staff Council,
the Spokesman said that the agenda is wide open. The Council has been unhappy
that it has not had closer interaction with the Secretary-General and senior
management, and the Secretary-General wants to hear whatever concerns they have.
REFUGEES FACING CUT IN FOOD RATIONS UNLESS DONATIONS
RECEIVED: The
World Food Programme
warned today that it will be forced to make a drastic cut in food rations
for 118,000 refugees in camps in Ethiopia, unless $4.2 million are donated
immediately. Stocks of cereal, which comprise almost 80 percent of the daily
food consumed by the refugees, are expected to run out by next April. The
shortfall could also delay the repatriation of 6,500 Somali refugees, who are
currently in eastern Ethiopia and will need food packages.
WFP TO BUY MORE FOOD FROM ZAMBIA:
The World Food Programme (WFP)
today announced plans to dramatically increase the amount of food aid purchased
in Zambia, as long as there is another substantial surplus in 2005. However,
while Zambia does boast a surplus, there are still large numbers of vulnerable
people in Zambia who need food assistance.
ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY TO BE OBSERVED: Thursday,
December 9, is the first International Anti-Corruption Day. To mark the
occasion, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
is organizing an interactive workshop here at UN Headquarters. It will be held
Thursday, from 9:45 a.m.in Conference Room 8. The event will be chaired by
Marjatta Rasi, in her capacity as President of the Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC).
UNICEF ANNUAL REPORT TO BE LAUNCHED:
UNICEF’s annual flagship publication – The State of the World’s Children
2005 – will be launched on Thursday. The report is the most comprehensive survey
of global trends affecting children. This year’s findings include that one in
six children is severely hungry; one in seven has no health care at all; and one
in five has no access to safe water.
* The guest at the noon
briefing was Anwarul Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative
for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small
Island Developing States.
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