DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960826
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 and all of the United Nations community were deeply saddened to learn of the death of one of the staunchest supporters of the United Nations, Erskine Childers, who died in Luxembourg on Sunday. "It's a big loss for all of us." The Secretary- General had sent a personal message to the family.
Mr. Childers, who was the Secretary-General of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), died of a heart attack at WFUNA's Fiftieth Anniversary Congress, the Spokesman said. He had planned the meeting and was working very hard to bring it together, and right in the middle of the session he died. "He really was one of the most articulate defenders we've ever had."
WFUNA had put out a press release giving some details of Mr. Childers life, Ms. Foa continued. It said, "He died as he lived, in the service of the United Nations."
The Security Council was holding informal consultations this morning on the Secretary-General's recent report on the situation in Burundi, the Spokesman continued. As coordinator of the Non-Aligned Movement caucus, Chile had put forward a draft resolution which talked about targeted measures in the absence of political progress and promised a pledging conference for reconstruction if there was political progress. The Council was informally considering it.
The Secretary-General had submitted a report on the International Civilian Mission to Haiti (MICIVIH), the mandate of which would be up for renewal on 31 August, Ms. Foa said. The report provided a description of the activities of MICIVIH, which was operating under the joint auspices of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations. It also provided an assessment of the human rights situation and an evaluation of the institutions whose operations were crucial to the promotion and protection of human rights. In response to a request made in a 18 July letter from President Rene Garcia Preval, the Secretary-General was recommending that the General Assembly to extend the mandate of the United Nations component of MICIVIH until 31 December, under its existing terms of reference and at its current reduced staffing level.
In February 1996, the United Nations staff was reduced from 87 to 32 observers, the Spokesman said. There was a similar reduction in the number of OAS observers. As a result, the Mission's total strength had fallen from 162 observers in 12 regional offices to 64 observers in seven regional offices. MICIVIH was mandated to verify compliance by Haiti with human rights enshrined in its constitution and with international treaties to which Haiti was a party. The Mission was also mandated to provide technical assistance in the field of institution building, which involved training police and establishing an impartial judiciary. It was also mandated to support the development of a programme for the protection of human rights and the consolidation of democracy in Haiti.
The Secretary-General had asked Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Alvaro de Soto to travel to Cambodia tonight to discuss possible United Nations electoral assistance in that country, Ms. Foa continued. Currently, there was a United Nations needs-assessment mission in Cambodia for consultations with Cambodian authorities and electoral experts from donor countries. The United Nations recently received a request from Cambodia to coordinate technical assistance provided by donor countries and organizations for the district-level elections scheduled for 1997 and the national elections scheduled for 1998.
The Department of Political Affairs had said that it expected Eritrea to withdraw from Lesser Hanish Island in a matter of two or three days, the Spokesman continued. Yemen had been duly notified and was in agreement. The Secretary-General was watching that situation very, very closely and working carefully with the French on the issue. "It needs to be watched."
"Guess what!" the Spokesman said. "Only 99 countries still owe. We're really making progress. Only 99: It's like the song about bottles of beer on the wall."
"Thank you, the Bahamas", she said. "The Bahamas, with a check for $217,540, became the eighty-sixth country to pay its 1996 regular budget dues in full. Which means that we're down to only $2.9 billion owed." The regular budget was owed $800 million and the peace-keeping budget, $2.1 billion.
At 3:30 p.m. there would be a meeting of troop contributors for the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL), she said. Tomorrow at 11 a.m. in room 226, Nsanze Terence, the Permanent Representative of Burundi, would discuss the economic blockade of Burundi by neighbouring countries as well as the threat of an arms embargo "by some members of the Security Council".
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 26 August 1996
Also tomorrow at 11 a.m., in the Delegates' Dining Room Number 6 on the fourth floor, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Hewlett- Packard company would give a press conference as well as a free lunch to announce an agreement to work together to help developing countries receive much-needed information technology, the Spokesman said. That technology would greatly expand their access to the Internet for global information on economic development, environmental protection and social equity.
The first countries to benefit from the agreement will be China and Mexico, Ms. Foa continued. UNDP is going to get a whole lot of computer equipment, information technology, consultants and support services in order to build the networks.
Asked about the status of the idea to downsize the agenda of the Security Council as recently proposed by the Informal Working Group concerning the Council's documentation and other procedural questions. Ms. Foa said that the group would meet at 4:30 p.m. and also on the afternoon of Thursday, 29 August. "Evidently this downsizing proposal has caused some consternation. We won't have a decision before the end of the week."
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