HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON
BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday, August 9, 2005
KOFI ANNAN IS ENCOURAGED BY LATEST
ROUND OF KOREAN TALKS
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is
pleased that the fourth round of the six-party talks on achieving
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula took place in Beijing in the spirit
of mutual respect, and is encouraged that the participants were able to
increase understanding and broaden the areas of consensus.
The Secretary-General would like to pay special tribute
to China as host of the talks, for its dedication and tireless efforts to
facilitate progress.
The Secretary-General urges the Governments concerned to
use the time before the round is resumed in three weeks to identify ways to
reconcile their needs and concerns.
NEW
DONATIONS SOUGHT FOR NORTH KOREAN FOOD EMERGENCY
The World Food Programme (WFP)
today
said new donations were urgently needed for its severely under-funded
emergency operation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
At present, WFP is unable to
provide cereal rations to nearly one million North Koreans, mainly elderly
people and poor urban residents. Without fresh pledges, that number will rise
to more than three million by November.
SECURITY
COUNCIL DISCUSSES EXTENSION OF U.N. MISSION IN IRAQ
The
Security Council today is discussing
Iraq in its closed consultations. Council members heard from Assistant
Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh about the work of
the UN Mission in Iraq.
The Secretary-General in a recent
letter recommended that the Council extend the mandate of that Mission,
which expires this Friday, by another 12 months. A draft resolution on the
extension of the Mission’s mandate was circulated in the Council today.
Meanwhile, in Baghdad today, the Secretary-General’s
Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, met with Iraqi Prime Minister
Ibrahim Ja’afari, to discuss the constitution, UN support for elections and
the current political situation.
ANNAN URGES ‘RESTRAINT’ IN IRAN NUCLEAR
ISSUE
The Secretary-General spoke yesterday to Iran’s new
President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, about the Iranian nuclear program and the
negotiations with the three European Union nations.
The Secretary-General urged restraint and encouraged the
continuation of the ongoing process. He hopes both sides will remain engaged
in the search for an acceptable solution.
This afternoon in Vienna, the
International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors began a meeting to
discuss the situation in Iran.
IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei
today
told reporters in Vienna that he hopes that latest developments in Iran
are “simply a hiccup in the process and not a permanent rupture.” He called on
all parties to exercise maximum restraint, desist from taking any unilateral
actions and continue the negotiation process.
Asked whether the Iran case might be brought before the
Security Council, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General hopes this issue
will be resolved through negotiations between the three EU states and Iran.
The United Nations remains focused on supporting that effort, he said.
Asked about the Secretary-General’s role in that effort,
the Spokesman said that the three EU states remain in the lead, and the
Secretary-General is supporting the process in whatever way he can.
Asked about U.S. threats not to grant a visa to President
Ahmadinejad when he attends the General Assembly next month, the Spokesman
said that the United Nations had neither heard from the United States that it
would take such action, nor had it heard from Iran that it had any concerns
about getting a visa for its Head of State.
UNITED NATIONS IS STRENGTHENING
PROCUREMENT METHODS
Asked whether the United Nations is looking more closely
at how its procurement office works, in light of the charges against former
procurement officer Alexander Yakovlev, the Spokesman noted that the Office of
Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) does not consider Yakovlev’s case to be
closed and continues to look into his activities.
He said that the U.S. National Institute of Governmental
Purchasing has given some 47 recommendations on how to strengthen the UN
procurement process, and OIOS will also make recommendations. Anything that
the United Nations can do to strengthen oversight will be done, he added.
BLUE HELMETS IN
HAITI FREE ANOTHER KIDNAP VICTIM
The UN Mission in Haiti
reports that its Blue Helmets have freed another kidnap victim in Port au
Prince. This is the sixth time in recent weeks that UN troops have freed a
kidnap victim.
The latest rescue came in a large operation which secured
an area previously controlled by gangs. No shots were fired.
Asked about the UN Mission’s new approach in dealing with
kidnapping, the Spokesman said it was part of a robust UN effort on the ground
to bring security to the residents of Port au Prince.
U.N. EFFORTS IN NIGER CONTINUE DISPUTE
LOW FUNDING
Of the $81 million that the
United Nations requested for Niger, only $26 million has been received. And
within the
appeal, funding for health and nutrition programs stands at just 4
percent.
Nevertheless, UN agencies are
still working to surmount the food crisis in the country. The World Food
Programme, for example, yesterday
handed out food in a village near the capital, Niamey, marking the start
of large-scale distributions.
And the World Health Organization, which is concerned
that malnutrition contributes to disease outbreaks,
is
planning to ship eight cholera kits to Niger, which will be able to handle
up to 800 severe cases of the disease.
For its part, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is
supporting the creation of cereal banks and helping to train health
workers.
U.N. ENVOY AND IVORIAN PRESIDENT WORK TO
AVOID OBSTACLES
The Secretary-General’s Special
Representative in Cote d’Ivoire and Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo have
agreed to a rapid communications system to avoid repetition of
incidents, which the United Nations claimed hampered its work.
The United Nations had complained that its
troops had been blocked by local armed forces repeatedly in recent weeks. The
U.N. representative, Pierre Schori met with Gbagbo yesterday and agreed on
ways to stop the blockades, including better communications.
MALARIA WARNING ISSUED FOR ETHIOPIA
In Ethiopia, a
sharp increase in the number of reported malaria cases has prompted the Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to
warn that the country may be inadequately equipped to confront an epidemic
in 2005.
The World Health Organization (WHO), together with
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health, is currently assessing areas at risk, and the
UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is planning to help WHO and the Ethiopian
Government to distribute the malaria treatments that are currently in the
country.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNAN HOPES STATES AGREE ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM:
Asked about the Secretary-General’s views on Security Council reform, the
Spokesman said the Secretary-General hopes that Member States can agree on
reforms by the time of the World Summit next month. He said that the reform
discussions were a membership-led process which was led by the General Assembly
President, with the Secretary-General assisting and making himself available to
Member States.
ANNAN SENDS MESSAGE TO LANDLOCKED COUNTRY MEETING:
The Secretary-General today
sent a message of encouragement to ministers from landlocked and developing
countries meeting in Asuncion, Paraguay. In the message, delivered by
Under-Secretary-General Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Kofi Annan said the work of
group was important in helping landlocked and developing countries, and in
achieving the worldwide Millennium Development Goals He said their meeting would
strengthen their collective voice and draw international attention to the
special needs of their countries.
BENON SEVAN TO RECEIVE PENSION: Asked whether the
United Nations could prevent the former head of the
Oil-for-Food programme Benon Sevan from receiving his UN pension, the
Spokesman said it could not, noting that the UN Administrative Tribunal has made
it clear that the United Nations cannot withhold pensions from staff members.
U.N. MISSION TO HELP HOUSE DISPLACED
SERBS IN KOSOVO: During a visit yesterday
to Plementina, a camp for displaced Serbs that lies close to Kosovo’s capital,
Pristina, the Secretary-General’s Principal Deputy Special Representative in
Kosovo, Larry Rossin,
announced that the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
would commit €200,000 for the construction of housing facilities there. That
sum matches a similar contribution by Kosovo’s Provisional Institutions for
Self-Government.
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