DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960710
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, began today's noon briefing by saying that the Secretary-General this morning had attended the closing session of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). That closing session was presided over by President Paul Biya of Cameroon, who is also the current Chairman of the OAU. The Summit was attended by 31 heads of State, she added.
Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General had met with the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Kingsley Amoako, Ms. Foa said. He was then received by President Sylvestre Ntibatuganya of Burundi who was accompanied by that country's Prime Minister. They discussed the evolution of the political situation in Burundi and the creation of a technical committee to prepare an action plan to provide security assistance. (Ms. Foa said that, at that point, the telephone connection was cut and she could not get further details on the discussion.)
She announced that the Secretary-General had appointed Norbert Holl of Germany as the new head of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan. Mr. Holl would succeed Mahmoud Mestiri, who resigned in May due to health reasons. Until his appointment, Mr. Holl was director for south Asia at Germany's Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Bonn. He would assume his functions immediately and, after being briefed in New York, would be based in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, pending the return of the Special Mission to Kabul. Ms. Foa reminded correspondents that the Mission had had to move from Kabul to Jalalabad. A statement on the appointment and a biography of Mr. Holl were available in the Spokesman's Office. The monthly summary of contribution of troops to peace-keeping operations as of 30 June was also available in the Spokesman's Office, Ms. Foa announced.
The Spokesman then announced, on behalf of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, that the United Nations was today launching a special appeal calling for $863,000 for the emergency relief needs of an estimated 250,000 internally displaced persons in the North Kivu Province of Zaire. The appeal covered a period of six months and aimed at meeting the immediate humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable population, such as children in especially difficult circumstances. Most of the money would go to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) operations in the health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation sectors. Those activities were designed to complement the already ongoing efforts of other humanitarian partners operating in the region, primarily the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Médecins sans frontières of the Netherlands.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 10 July 1996
Referring to questions asked previously, Ms. Foa said that the report on the Sudan had come in with the comments of the Secretary-General and was being processed. "We expect it to get to the Security Council before the end of the week. We'll keep an eye on it for you."
She announced that tomorrow, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Catherine Bertini, would come to the noon briefing to discuss the problems humanitarian operations were confronting right now in the Sudan.
Carl Bildt, the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, would be in New York beginning 16 July and would be at Headquarters on 17 July to brief the Security Council, Ms. Foa said. "We have already put our dibs on him. Evidently, he is briefing the Council in the morning so there shouldn't be any reason that we can't get him."
She also announced that present at the noon briefing today was the Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, George Webber. With him was the Director of the Federation's New York Office and its Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Eigel Pedersen. Mr. Webber was available to talk to the press. He had some very interesting points to make "on the need to adapt our structures to meet the humanitarian needs that we expect to see in the twenty-first century. He is quite concerned about our failure to do so". Mr. Webber was available and would be in the building until about 4 p.m.
A correspondent referred to a television broadcast this morning dealing with the failure of health care in the United States and linking it to the failure of political decision-making in the country. He then asked if it would be preposterous to suggest that the failure of any nation's political system could distract attention from the failure of all nations to create a functioning United Nations political unity.
Ms. Foa said that she needed to see the question in writing "and then I'll get my task-force together. If you can give that to me in writing, I will get you an answer. It's been so many years since I've been in university that I am not used to getting these kind of questions".
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