HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

 BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, May 13, 2002 

 UN ENVOY MEETS ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN OFFICIALS IN ITALY

[…]

  • Over the weekend in Rome, Terje Roed Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, held separate meetings with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Mohamed Rashid, Yasser Arafat’s senior economic advisor. The meetings took place on the sidelines of an international conference on globalization called the First Global Forum.
  • In other news from the region, earlier today, Timothy Rothermel, the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) representative to the Palestinian Authority, along with Japan’s Representative to the PA, inaugurated a school, municipal building and wastewater pumping station in Gaza City.
  • Japan underwrote a $5.8 million assistance programme for the Gaza Strip, administered by UNDP's Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People, which financed the construction of the facilities as part of its wider efforts in the area.
  • The school will provide education for children between the ages of three and 12 years. The Beit Lahia municipal building, a two-story structure, contains offices, meeting rooms and an assembly hall for municipal staff.  The wastewater pumping station will serve 35,000 inhabitants of Beit Lahia and is expected to improve public health conditions in the municipality.
  • Asked if there was any information on the Secretary-General’s efforts to write a report on the events in Jenin refugee camp, as mandated by the General Assembly, the Spokesman said there was none. He added that the letters to both Israel and the Palestinian authority regarding this new report had not gone out.

[…]


Document Type: Press Release
Document Sources: Secretary-General
Subject: Assistance
Publication Date: 13/05/2002