BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday , 21 April, 2005
The Secretary-General arrived in Jakarta on Thursday morning. On the eve of the opening of the two-day Asian-African Summit there, he began his programme with a briefing on UN reform to heads of state and delegations. The briefing lasted more than two and a half hours with more than a dozen delegates taking the floor.
Saying that the world is not paying enough attention to the challenges of development, the Secretary-General outlined key features of the proposals contained in the report he presented to the General Assembly last month.
He emphasized that a functioning, effective UN is important for everyone -- but perhaps it is most important for the developing world.
He again stressed the importance for concrete commitments to meet the target for Official Development Assistance amounting to 0.7% of Gross National Income by 2015.
General Assembly President Jean Ping joined the Secretary-General on the podium and briefed on how the report was being discussed by Member States at UN Headquarters.
In the evening, the Secretary-General held a meeting with Natwar Singh, the External Affairs Minister of India.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will address the opening of the Asian-African Summit, and he also faces a schedule of at least 10 bilateral meetings.
SECRETARY-GENERAL CONCERNED BY VIOLENCE IN ECUADOR
The Secretary-General has learned that the Vice-President of Ecuador, Alfredo Palacio, has assumed the functions of the presidency.
The Secretary-General remains concerned about the violence in the country, which has already claimed victims. He reiterates his call on all parties to show restraint and to initiate an urgent dialogue towards the full restoration of the rule of law, as the basis for the achievement of political, social and economic stability in the country.
The Secretary-General emphasizes that the United Nations will continue to support all Ecuadorians in their efforts to achieve that end.
ISRAELI DISENGAGEMENT FROM GAZA & NORTHERN WEST BANK WILL BE A LANDMARK
The Security Council today held an open meeting on the Middle East, at which Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, said that the revived peace process there is still fragile and that “doubts and suspicions” still need to be dispelled about both Israeli intentions and Palestinian resolve and capabilities.
Prendergast said Israel's planned disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank will be a landmark in Israeli-Palestinian relations, and urged both sides to ensure that it happens in a coordinated way, and that it does not become a dead end, but contributes to the momentum for peace.
Prendergast also touched on the situation in Lebanon, noting that the work of the International Independent Investigation Commission into the assassination of Rafik Hariri is expected to begin “very shortly.” After the meeting, the Council proceeded to hold consultations on the same topic.
The UN Operation in Cote D'Ivoire (UNOCI) says that the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line – by government soldiers and the armed forces of the main rebel group, the Forces Nouvelles – began today. The withdrawal is proceeding smoothly, with no reports of major hiccups, and it will continue until 24 April.
Yesterday, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Côte d'Ivoire, Pierre Schori, held separate meetings with representatives of the opposition Group of Seven and the Ivorian Popular Front. The meetings focused on the follow-up to the Pretoria Agreement and the parties' commitment to the peace process. Schori reaffirmed his determination to continue the cooperation between UNOCI and Ivorian political parties.
Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that water has become dangerously scarce for some 150,000 people in and around the northern city of Korhogo .
OCHA says the national water company has been rationing water, to stretch out the limited resources, which will only last until the first week of May. The water crisis, which began over two months ago, is primarily due to poor infrastructure and low rainfall.
The Secretary-General's Special Representative in Iraq , Ashraf Qazi, met yesterday with President Jalal Talabani for talks on the current political situation.
Qazi said he hoped that the formation of the government would proceed as quickly as possible in order to allow adequate time for the constitution-making process.
He also briefed the President on meetings he had had with senior officials in the region, Europe and America in recent weeks; as well as his discussions at UN Headquarters – where he'd been recently to brief the Security Council on the Secretary-General's latest report on Iraq.
Qazi's other meetings yesterday included the Iraqi Bar Association the Secretary-General of the Association of Muslim Scholars.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that an outbreak of cholera in camps for displaced people in the Ituri district is likely to worsen in the Tché camp, where the lives of about 25,000 people are at risk, due to lack of access by aid workers for more than a week.
Tché had recorded 165 cases of cholera with four deaths before the area became inaccessible.
Tché is located northeast of Bunia, the capital of Ituri, where there've been sustained militia operations by both UN peacekeepers and Congolese troops to disarm militiamen preying on local inhabitants.
OCHA also warns that in addition to the cholera epidemic, people in the camp will soon run out of food, water and medical supplies.
NO REQUIREMENT ON FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORMS BEFORE 1999
Asked repeatedly about the UN's knowledge of the business dealings of Maurice Strong, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General and Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Korean Peninsula, the Spokesman said that Strong would not have had to complete any UN financial disclosure forms for appointments he held prior to 1999 – as now required by UN staff on appointments of Assistant-Secretary-General or Under-Secretary-General – as that requirement was put into place in 1999.
He added that UN staff on “$1-a-year” contracts or “paid-only-when-employed” contracts are also not required to disclose their financial dealings, although that policy is now being reviewed for envoys employed in either category.
Asked if Strong was the UN staff members referred to as “official number 2” in media reports, the Spokesman said the UN did not have any information to that effect, and that the issue is being looked at by the federal attorney-general's office in New York.
Asked about a potential replacement for Strong, the Spokesman said that for the short-term, Strong's duties will be handled by the UN Department of Political Affairs.
SYRIAN WITHDRAWAL VERIFICATION TEAM TO ARRIVE IN LEBANON BEFORE END OF MONTH
Asked when the team being sent to verify the implementation of resolution 1559 is scheduled to arrive in Lebanon, the Spokesman said that the team is expected to travel to Lebanon by the end of the month at the latest. He added that it was small, technical team, well versed in verification matters.
Asked if Syrian President Bashar Assad will meet with the Secretary-General in Jakarta, the Spokesman said it was his understanding that President Assad would not be going to Jakarta.
Asked if the commission tasked with investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariar has already been formed, the Spokesman said it had not, but an announcement would be made once it has.
Asked about the contents of the Secretary-General's report on resolution 1559, the Spokesman said that the report may include the official confirmation from Syria and Lebanon that Syria has withdrawal, but the findings of the verification team will not be included and that these will not available until later.
He noted that the Secretary-General's upcoming report will be sent to the Security Council no later than 26 April.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SOME 350,000 CHILDREN COULD BE SUFFERING FROM MALNUTRITION IN NIGER: The World Food Porgramme (WFP) has warned that approximately 350,000 children under the age of five in Niger could be suffering from malnutrition initiative, with stunted growth already a fact of life for some 61% of children in the southern regions of Zinder and Maradi. Despite the worrying trend, WFP emergency operation in Niger currently ha a shortfall of $2.5 million. PLANS UNDERWAY FOR EXPANDED U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE IN NEPAL: A joint UN team -- headed by Walter Kalin , the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, and Dennis McNamara, Director of the UN's Internal Displacement Division -- left Nepal yesterday after identifying the needs of an expanded UN human rights office there. The UN's goal is to set up regional field offices to ensure rapid responses to violations reports, and to have an advance team of human rights monitors in Nepa by early May.
NORTH KOREA APPLIES NEW KNOWLEDGE IN WATER MANAGEMENT: North Korea (DPRK) is applying knowledge gained from a forestry project to help reduce soil erosion and increase agricultural output. In 2001, the Food and Agriculture Organization launched, at the request of the government, a project which addressed the decline of natural forest cover. Based on that experience, North Korea is now developing a watershed management plan for the Taedong River.
NEW WOMEN'S INITIATIVE ON WATER: A joint initiative was launched at UN headquarters on Wednesday, entitled "Women Leaders for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for all (WASH)", during a side event at the Commission on Sustainable Development . Ministers of Water and Environment and senior UN officials participated. Among the points raised were that women generally are far more severely affected than men by inadequate provision of water and health care, and that world leaders therefore must act in gender-conscious ways to ensure access to safe water and sanitation.
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