HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY
MARIE OKABE
ASSOCIATE
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday,
May 9, 2005
ANNAN, IN
MOSCOW, ATTENDS 60TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION
OF END OF WORLD WAR II; GENERAL ASSEMBLY MARKS OCCASION
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is in Moscow today, where he
attended the 60th observance of the "Victory in the Great Patriotic
War" and a luncheon with other world leaders hosted by Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
At UN headquarters,
Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette this morning
addressed the General Assembly meeting the anniversary. Noting that the United Nations rose as fascism fell, she
said that the most important task challenging the world today was defending
the notion of humanity. She added that building a world fit for humankind was
the best tribute the international community could pay to the millions who
died in the war.
IN MOSCOW, ANNAN ATTENDS QUARTET MEETING
ON MIDDLE EAST
The Secretary-General took part in a
meeting, at the principals’ level, of the
Quartet dealing with the Middle East, which brings together the United
Nations, the United States, the Russian Federation and the European Union.
In a statement issued after that meeting, the Quartet
emphasized that this is a hopeful and promising moment for both Palestinians
and Israelis, and that they deserve the full support of the international
community in helping them with the hard work and difficult decisions required
in order to make positive use of this opportunity.
The Quartet expressed its full support for its Special
Envoy for Gaza Disengagement, James Wolfensohn, and stressed the urgent need
for Israelis and Palestinians to coordinate directly and fully on withdrawal
preparations.
The Secretary-General also spoke to the press afterward
and
said that the ultimate objective is to see a settlement in the region,
based on UN resolutions
242 and
338.
On Sunday, the Secretary-General met in Moscow with
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, who is also one of his Special Envoys
for the September Summit on UN reform. They discussed the state of play among
Member States on UN reform, and she indicated her willingness to travel to
discuss reform issues in the run-up to the Summit.
NEW U.N. ENVOYS
APPOINTED FOR MIDDLE EAST AND IRAQ
The Secretary-General has
informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Alvaro de Soto,
of Peru, as UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and as
his Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the
Palestinian Authority. De Soto, most recently the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Western Sahara, replaced Terje Roed-Larsen.
De Soto assumed his functions immediately and accompanied
the Secretary-General to today’s Quartet meeting in Moscow.
Also on Friday, the Secretary-General
appointed Michael von der Schulenberg of Germany as his Deputy Special
Representative for Political Affairs in Iraq. He will be based in Baghdad.
AFGHANISTAN: ANNAN CONDEMNS BOMBING THAT
KILLED U.N. CONTRACTOR
The Secretary-General
condemns the suicide bombing which was carried out at an internet cafe in
Kabul in the early evening of 7 May, killing three people including an
international contractor working for the United Nations Office for Project
Services. At least six Afghan nationals were injured in the incident.
The Secretary-General is
concerned about the increase in violence witnessed in recent weeks. He calls
upon the Government of Afghanistan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led
International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan (ISAF), and the
coalition forces to take the necessary measures to address the security
situation.
The Secretary-General expresses
his profound condolences to the bereaved families.
LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER WELCOMES U.N.
ELECTORAL ASSISTANCE
The Secretary-General
met on Friday with the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati. In that
meeting, the Secretary-General reiterated his call for the full implementation
of
resolution 1559.
He took note that Prime Minister Mikati had welcomed UN
electoral assistance and the deployment of European Union electoral observers.
The Secretary-General commended the Prime Minister for his efforts to ensure
that the elections will be held on schedule and in a free and credible manner.
Meanwhile, on the topic of elections, the United Nations
electoral team led by Carina Perelli officially began its mission in Lebanon
today, meeting with acting Foreign Minister Elias Murr and Interior Minister
Hassan al-Sabaa.
Perelli stated that the expertise of the United Nations,
which has assisted over 200 electoral processes throughout the world, was at
the disposition of the Lebanese authorities.
Perelli and her team will continue their consultations in
Lebanon until 18 May, meeting with political actors, civil society and the
international community.
Asked whether the United
Nations will field a team in Lebanon, the Spokeswoman said that, while the
United Nations will not itself observe the elections, it will field a team
that will remain in Lebanon during the holding of parliamentary elections. The
team will coordinate and support international observers sent by other
countries and organizations, liaising with the Lebanese electoral authorities,
the observer groups, and the national monitoring groups.
Asked when the UN verification
team in Lebanon is due to complete its work, the Spokeswoman said they were
expected to report back during this month.
SUDAN: AFRICAN
UNION MISSION IN DARFUR NEEDS STRENGTHENING
The
report of the Secretary-General on UN assistance to the African Union (AU)
mission in Sudan is out as a document today.
In it, the Secretary-General
notes that the AU mission in Darfur is effective in the areas it is deployed,
and therefore needs strengthening, in order to expand its presence to cover
more of the vast and difficult terrain.
The AU mission has been a groundbreaking initiative for
the African Union and its supporters within the international community. The
Mission has accomplished a remarkable amount in a very short time and despite
significant constraints.
The Secretary-General says it is now critical for all
concerned to do their part.
States members of the African Union must now identify
personnel to join the mission; the AU Commission must strengthen planning and
management capacity in order to support an expanded mission; and partners must
provide the African Union with the means required to carry out a costly and
challenging task.
The report also outlines a concept of a complex,
multinational 12,000 strong operation to contribute to a secure environment in
Darfur in time of the 2006 planting season.
Meanwhile, the World Food
Programme
announced that it began airlifting food today from a Libyan airport
directly into Darfur, pioneering a new route to move as much food aid as
possible to nearly two million people during the rainy season.
U.N. REPRESENTATIVES MEET WITH SUDANESE
MILITARY GROUPS
The first meeting of the
Ceasefire Joint Military Committee, including observers representing the
Sudanese Armed Forces, the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army and the United
Nations, was held yesterday at the UN Joint Military Coordination Office in
Juba,
Sudan.
The UN military representatives
and the observers spent 2 hours discussing the military tasks and objectives
covered in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and agreed to hold regular
meetings, approximately every 2 weeks, in order to ensure that the military
and security forces of both Parties fulfill their obligations under that
agreement.
ANNAN TAKES STEPS TO IMPROVE U.N.’S
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
AND BUILD STRONGER CULTURE OF PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY
On Friday, Chef de Cabinet Mark Malloch Brown sent out a
note to all UN staff, informing them of the Secretary-General’s decision to
form two small committees to improve strategic direction and build a stronger
culture of performance and accountability.
The first is the Policy Committee, which will meet weekly
and focus on issues requiring strategic guidance and decisions, as well as
identifying emerging issues. The second is the Management Committee, which
will meet monthly and deal with internal reform and management issues. Both
will be chaired by the Secretary-General.
Malloch Brown this morning held an extraordinary general
meeting with UN staff in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, to discuss
UN reform and other staff issues.
LINKS BETWEEN FOOD AID AND TRADE REFORM
NEED TO BE RECOGNIZED
James Morris, Executive Director of the World Food
Programme (WFP), today
called on members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to support and
recognize the importance of food aid, as they negotiate agricultural trade
reform.
Morris, who was for the first time addressing WTO
representatives from Africa and the least developed countries, said the
nutritional impact of food aid should be strengthened for those who needed it.
At the same time, he added that any commercial distortion that food aid might
have on global and local markets should be minimized.
UNITED
NATIONS FOLLOWING VOLCKER COMMITTEE’S LEAD
ON QUESTIONS OF IMMUNITY
Asked whether the
United Nations would waive the immunity of staff on Paul Volcker’s
Independent Inquiry Committee, the Spokeswoman said the matter was being
dealt with between Volcker and members of the U.S. Congress.
The United Nations
is supporting whatever the Independent Inquiry Committee does, every step of
the way, she said, and is following Volcker’s lead on the matter. She added,
in reply to another question, that she was familiar with a letter that the
Committee’s legal counsel had sent on that issue.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
FARM SCHOOLS SET UP FOR AFRICAN AIDS
ORPHANS: AIDS orphans in Africa are being helped to improve their often
desperate living conditions by learning agricultural techniques in specially
designed schools, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
said today. To date, FAO has set up 34 such schools for some 1,000 young
people in Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. Many of these children are not
able to farm because their parents could not pass on the necessary agricultural
knowledge before dying of AIDS.
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION BAD FOR SECURITY: In a
message to the International Conference on Environment, Peace and the
Dialogue among Civilizations and Cultures, being held in Tehran, Iran, the
Secretary-General said that international efforts to promote security,
development and human rights, and to pursue sustainable development, would all
be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue
unabated. The message was delivered by Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the
UN Environment Programme.
ANNAN CALLS FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN: In a
message to the Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement
of Women, being held today and tomorrow in Putrajaya, Malaysia, the
Secretary-General acknowledged that there is no tool for development more
effective than the empowerment of women. In the message, the Secretary-General
also urged the international community to remember that “promoting gender
equality is not only women’s responsibility – it is the responsibility of all of
us.”
PARTIES GATHER TO DISCUSS LIBERIA’S RECONSTRUCTION:
Today and tomorrow in Copenhagen, top officials from Liberia’s National
Transitional Government
will update the country’s partners on its progress since the Liberia
Reconstruction Conference. Co-organized by the UN and the World Bank, this
second Technical Meeting will bring together representatives of donor countries,
international financial institutions, UN agencies, regional organizations, and
civil society representatives.
UNICEF SUPPORTS REINTEGRATION EFFORTS FOR CHILD CAMEL
JOCKEYS: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
today
signed an agreement to provide some $2.7 million to help in the return and
re-integration of child camel jockeys in their home communities. The agreement
will complement ongoing efforts from the UAE government to exclude all underage
children in camel racing, and to strengthen measures to prevent the exploitation
and abuse of children brought in from other countries.
NO MEETINGS IN SECURITY COUNCIL: The
Security Council has no meetings or consultations scheduled for today.
Consultations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which had been previously
scheduled for this afternoon, have been rescheduled for Thursday.
U.N. ENVOY GETS PEACE AWARD:
Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
Children and Armed Conflict, has been awarded the 2005 Sydney Peace Prize for
his lifetime commitment to human rights and efforts to protect children in time
of war.
*Immediately following the noon briefing, UN officials from
the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Department of Political Affairs
and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs held a background
briefing on the complexities and challenges facing Darfur, Sudan and what the
United Nations is doing to address the situation.
Office
of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162 - press/media only
Fax. 212-963-7055
All other inquiries to be addressed to (212) 963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org