HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
ASSOCIATE
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday, March 7, 2005
ANNAN MEETS
WITH SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO DISCUSS
URGENTLY NEEDED RESPONSE TO APPALLING SITUATION IN DARFUR, SUDAN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a
statement today, said, “The members of the
Security Council came to see me this morning, at my request, to discuss
Sudan.
I asked them to come and see me because I am worried that
we are not moving fast enough to deal with the appalling situation in Darfur.
There have been a lot of efforts on the humanitarian side, and by the African
Union on the security side, which go in the right direction. But they are not
enough. We keep getting reports which show that the killing and raping and
burning are still going on.
I was glad to hear from Council members that they hope to
have a new resolution in the course of this week, which will include agreement
on a mechanism for holding individuals accountable for these dreadful crimes.
That is good. We must send a clear message that the world is not going to
tolerate them.
Meanwhile, everyone agrees that a stronger international
presence on the ground is crucial. Where the African Union (AU) troops are,
things are better for the population. But there are far too few of them.
What can be done? Can the AU presence be beefed
up, with our help, or do we need a UN force, which could either include
the AU troops or work alongside them?
I discussed those options with the Council members. We
all agreed that it’s vital to keep the north-south peace process on track and
treat Sudan’s problems in their totality. So we urge all donors to come
through with their promises of aid for the south, and we don’t think it would
be a good idea to ‘cannibalise’ the UN peacekeeping mission there for the sake
of Darfur.
Clearly everyone’s first preference is for the AU to stay
in the lead in Darfur, but for the rest of us to give it more effective help,
while keeping other options open. Council members were glad to hear that the
UN, along with the European Union and the United States, will be joining an
on-the-spot assessment mission led by the AU starting later this week.
Let me add that I welcome the pressure from the public
and the media for stronger and faster decisions on this issue. We here are
getting thousands of letters from people urging stronger action. I am sure
national governments are getting them too. I will hold a meeting next week
with some of the leading NGOs, to discuss with them the best ways of
canalizing this pressure so that it results in effective action by
governments.”
U.N. HUMANITARIAN CHIEF CALLS FOR MORE
FUNDING FOR SUDAN
The Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs,
Jan Egeland, ended a four-day trip to
Sudan, and said he was concerned about the low level of funding to
implement the 2005 work plan for the country.
Only 5% of the funds needed are
in hand, and Egeland said there was a disturbing discrepancy between what the
world promised to do once the peace agreement was signed and what it has
delivered.
He said, “Either the world
comes up with the investment or we lose the historic opportunity to put right
one of the worst wars of our generation.”
Meanwhile,
Jan Pronk, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, today
visited Asmara, Eritrea, to hold discussions with Government officials and
representatives of Darfur rebel organizations. His talks will focus on
attempts to resume the Abuja peace talks.
ANNAN TO VISIT
SPAIN, ISRAEL, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
The
Secretary-General will travel to Spain this week where on Thursday he will
deliver the keynote address on a global strategy for fighting terrorism to the
International Summit Democracy, Terrorism and Security.
The meeting is organized by the Club de Madrid and is
being held under the patronage of King Juan Carlos of Spain.
On Wednesday, the day before the conference, the
Secretary-General will meet with Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
On Friday, 11 March, the Secretary-General will join the
King Carlos, Prime Minister Zapatero and visiting heads of state and
government at the commemoration marking the first anniversary of the Madrid
train bombings.
The Secretary-General will then travel to the Middle
East.
On Monday, he will be in Ramallah to meet with the senior
Palestinian leadership, including President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister
Ahmad Qurei.
While in the Occupied Palestinian Territory he will meet
with staff from the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East (UNRWA),
at a Women’s Training Center run by UNRWA.
On Tuesday, he will begin an official visit to Israel.
While in Israel, the Secretary-General is scheduled to have discussions with
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Vice-Prime Minister Shimon Peres, among
others.
Also on Tuesday, he and his wife Nane will be attending
the inauguration of the new Holocaust History museum in Jerusalem at Yad
Vashem.
The Secretary-General is expected back in New York later
in the week.
Asked about the goal of the
Middle East visit, the Spokesman said that there had been a reinvigoration
of the peace process in recent months, and it was a good time for the
Secretary-General to see the Israeli and Palestinian leadership. The
Secretary-General, he added, also looks forward to seeing the opening of the
Yad Vashem museum.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO HOLD CONSULTATIONS ON
SOMALIA
The
Security Council has scheduled consultations on Somalia at 3:00 this
afternoon.
Winston Tubman, the Secretary-General’s Representative for Somalia, will
brief the Council on the latest developments in that country.
ANNAN LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH U.S.
NOMINEE ON U.N. REFORM
Asked about the nomination of John Bolton to be the next
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the Spokesman said that
the
Secretary-General warmly congratulates Bolton and looks forward to working
with him on UN reform, among other issues.
The Secretary-General was called by U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice this morning, who informed him of the appointment and
assured the Secretary-General that Bolton would work with the United Nations
on reform and a full range of other issues.
Asked about Bolton’s past record of demanding
accountability from the United Nations, the Spokesman said the United Nations
has “nothing against people who hold us accountable.” On the contrary, the
United Nations, he said, had been dealing with accountability and would
continue to do so in the months ahead.
U.N. ENVOY IN
TALKS ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Iraq,
Ashraf Qazi, today met with President of the Muslim Scholars Association,
Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari, for talks that focused on recent developments in
Iraq and their impact on the political process.
In remarks to the press after the meeting, Qazi said
these discussions are part of consultations he is holding with Iraqi
representatives of all political forces to discuss means of advancing the
political process.
Earlier in the day, Qazi visited the headquarters of the
Iraqi Islamic Party where he held similar talks with the party president,
Muhsen Abdul Hamid.
In meetings he has been holding with Iraqi leaders from
across the political spectrum ahead of the convening of the Transitional
National Assembly, Qazi has also been discussing ways through which the United
Nations can further contribute to the advancement of the political process
with a view to encouraging broader participation in political efforts to
restore peace and stability to Iraq.
ANNAN TAKES NOTE OF SYRIAN PRESIDENT’S
SPEECH ON LEBANON WITHDRAWAL
The
Secretary-General
took note of the speech delivered on Saturday in Damascus by the Syrian
President Dr. Bashar Al-Assad and will study it carefully.
Meanwhile, he has requested his special envoy,
Terje Roed-Larsen, to travel to Beirut and Damascus this week to discuss
with Lebanese and Syrian officials the full, complete and immediate
implementation of
Security Council resolution 1559.
Prior to traveling to those two countries, Roed-Larsen
will go to Brussels to meet with European Union officials.
Asked about the impact of Hezbollah’s stated support for
Syria, the Spokesman said an assessment on the situation would come when Roed-Larsen
visits Lebanon and Syria later this week to discuss the full and immediate
implementation of resolution 1559.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL ENDS VISIT TO
U.N. MISSIONS IN WEST AFRICA
The Deputy Secretary-General,
Louise Fréchette, today ended a four-day visit to Cote d’Ivoire, the last
of three West African countries she has visited to highlight the
Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation.
Yesterday, the Deputy Secretary-General met with Ivorian
Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, to inform him about her mission on the
zero-tolerance policy, and also to review with him the current political
situation in the country.
They discussed South Africa’s mediation, in which the
Deputy Secretary-General reiterated UN support for President Thabo Mbeki’s
efforts.
She also said that the United Nations was ready to assist
the Ivorian authorities in organizing transparent, free and democratic
elections.
The Deputy Secretary-General met with President Laurent
Gbagbo on Friday, and reviewed the current situation in the country and the UN
contribution to the peace process.
On Saturday, following a meeting with the senior
management of
the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire, the Deputy Secretary-General held a
press conference to explain her efforts to sensitize UN staff about sexual
exploitation and abuse, and the policy the UN has adopted to deal with that
problem.
Fréchette is now in Berlin, and will go to Kosovo on
Thursday to explain the zero-tolerance policy.
While in Berlin, she will have
meetings with Joschka Fischer, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany and
with Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, MP, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation
and Development. She is also scheduled to address officials at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and to hold discussions with parlementarians of the
Bundestag’s Subcommittee on the United Nations as well as with representatives
of civil society. These discussions will focus on the challenges and
perspectives for the United Nations in 2005, and on this year's reform debate
at the United Nations.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
AFGHANISTAN’S PANJSHIR VALLEY NOW FREE OF ALL KNOWN
HEAVY WEAPONS: Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley is now free of all known heavy
weapons, the
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
reported yesterday. The Mission says that 115 heavy weapons were collected
in the valley, and were deactivated and placed in a secure compound. Nationwide,
there are now 8,630 heavy weapons collected.
MALNUTRITION RATES IN NORTH KOREA HAVE DECLINED:
Malnutrition
rates among children in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have declined
over the past two years, according to survey results announced today by the
World Food Programme and the
UN Children’s Fund. The two agencies attributed the improvements in part to
significant levels of international support. At the same time, however, those
malnutrition rates are relatively high, and one-third of mothers remain
malnourished and anemic. Malnourishment among mothers, which contributes to
child malnutrition, has not improved over the past two years.
PANEL DISCUSSION TO BE HELD IN OBSERVANCE OF WOMEN’S
DAY: Tomorrow, in observance of International
Women’s Day, there will be a panel discussion on gender equality from 10:00
a.m.-12:00 p.m. at UN headquarters. It will be moderated by Shashi Tharoor,
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. Speakers will
include Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender
Issues and Advancement of Women, and Nafis Sadik, of the High-Level Panel on
Threats, Challenges and Change.
DEPLETED FISH STOCKS REQUIRE RECOVERY EFFORTS:
“Rebuilding depleted wild fish stocks is a “challenging necessity,”
according to a
report released today by the
Food and Agriculture Organization. It says that 24% of marine stocks are
over-exploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion, and thus need
rebuilding. Seven of the top ten marine fish species are fully exploited or
overexploited.
REGIONAL MEETING CALLS FOR URGENT REFORM OF FOOD SAFETY
SYSTEMS: Near East food safety regulators and experts from some 20 countries
and international organizations yesterday called for increased surveillance and
better data on food-borne diseases and resolved to step up efforts to improve
food safety throughout the region. The call came at the end of the
first-ever
Near East Regional Food Safety Meeting sponsored by the
Food and Agriculture Organization and the
World Health Organization and hosted by the Jordanian Government.
W.H.O. APPOINTS ETHIOPIAN SUPERMODEL AS GOODWILL
AMBASSADOR: The
World Health Organization (WHO) today
appointed Ethiopian fashion model
Liya Kebede as its Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child
Health. Kebede will help WHO in its campaign to improve the health of mothers
and children. Her appointment comes exactly one month before
World Health Day 2005, and her first official function will be to take part
in the global World Health Day celebrations in New Delhi on 7 April.
*** The guest at today’s Noon Briefing was
Winston Tubman, the Secretary-General’s Representative for Somalia. He spoke
about the latest developments in that country.
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