DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960916
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing saying that today was a hectic day. Ms. Foa congratulated the winners of the Dag Hammarskjold scholarship, who were visiting today's briefing. Also, the Geneva press corps was joining the noon briefing today, through an audio and visual link between New York and Geneva.
The General Assembly was scheduled to take up 46 items during the closing meeting of the fiftieth session today, Ms. Foa said. Twelve items had been taken up this morning, with the balance to be addressed this afternoon. All of the Assembly working groups had completed their reports and they were now available. Also available were the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (document A/51/1) and the memorandum on the organization of work of the fifty-first General Assembly.
This morning, the Secretary-General had attended a video conference with Geneva and Vienna on the first progress report of the United Nations Efficiency Board: "UN21: Better Service, Better Value, Better Management". The Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, Joseph E. Connor, was at today's briefing to present that report and to provide details to correspondents. With an eye to making the United Nations a leaner and meaner organization, the Secretary-General had established the Efficiency Board last year. Both in-house experts and experts from outside the United Nations had been working on the Board's report. The Secretary-General had stated that the role of the Efficiency Board was to strengthen the management of change at the United Nations.
Following that conference, the Secretary-General had addressed the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole of the General Assembly for the Mid-term Review of the Implementation of the United Nations Agenda for Development of Africa in the 1990s. Addressing that Committee, the Secretary-General had said that there had been both political and economic progress in Africa, with 12 African countries registering a growth of at least 6 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) last year. In 1992, only three African countries had achieved the target growth of 6 per cent. The number of African countries with negative growth had decreased from 19 countries in 1993 to three in 1995. However, on the down side, official development assistance (ODA) to Africa had decreased from $25 billion in 1992 to only $23 billion in 1994.
Also today, the Secretary-General had addressed the Colloquium on Preventive Diplomacy which had been organized by the United Nations University, the Spokesman said. The Secretary-General had spoken on "the three pillars of preventive diplomacy: information, dialogue and dissuasion".
Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Alvaro de Soto and Professor Michael Doyle of Princeton University would participated in this afternoon's meeting of the Colloquium. The Colloquium was focusing on the following question: "How can the United Nations attract new partners in its efforts for preventive diplomacy?".
This evening, the Secretary-General would attend a ceremony on the eve of the opening of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly at the Holy Family Church, Ms. Foa said. The Secretary-General would make brief remarks to the congregation, during which he would underline that the United Nations was not, and must not, be an organization of the complacent. "The trials of the United Nations", he would tell them, "will allow for the re-birth of the United Nations".
An official from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a doctor from Pharmaciens sans frontieres, a driver for UNHCR and a second doctor travelling together in northern Iraq had "gone missing" on Friday, 13 September, Ms. Foa said. They had somehow crossed into Iran. But, they had all been released to United Nations officials who had met them at the Iran/Iraq border and they were on their way back to Arbil. They were now finishing their reports on: "How I spent my weekend". Those reports were expected this afternoon and additional details would be available at that time.
Regarding the situation in Afghanistan, Ms. Foa said the Under- Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Marrack Goulding, was on his way back to Headquarters following his mission to Afghanistan. Mr. Goulding had contacted Headquarters and had reported that "the devastation of Kabul must be seen to be believed. I have been to Beirut, I know Sarajevo well, but I've never seen anything to compare with what the Afghans have done to their own capital city". Also, he had talked about the dreadful suffering of the people of Afghanistan, saying that by all measures of human health, welfare and prosperity, Afghanistan was one of the most deprived countries in the world. He had also discussed the situation of the Taliban rebels around Jalalabad. He had said that the time had come for all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan to sit down and start talking, with the first objective being that of reaching a cease-fire agreement. Following his return, Mr. Goulding would brief the press.
All of the eight international staff members serving with the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan who had been stationed in Jalalabad had been evacuated to Peshawar, Ms. Foa continued. Due to the very intense bombing of Jalalabad, it had been decided, for the time being, that those staff members should be removed. A security assessment would be conducted in Jalalabad during the next several days in order to determine whether United Nations staff could safely return to the city.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 16 September 1996
Tomorrow was International Day of Peace, Ms. Foa said. A ceremony would be held at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, 17 September, near the Peace Bell, in the west court garden. At that ceremony, the Secretary-General would deliver a special message, ring the bell and call upon people throughout the world to reflect upon the universal goal of peace. The bell -- made of coins donated by people from 60 countries -- had been a gift to the United Nations from the United Nations Association of Japan. Following a moment of silence, the President of the Security Council, Alfredo Lopes Cabral (Guinea-Bissau), would make a statement on behalf of the members of the Security Council.
A new list of outstanding contributions to the United Nations was available in the Spokesman's office, she said.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was preparing to launch the 1996 edition of the Trade and Development Report, she said. A press conference would be held on Wednesday, 18 September, at 11 a.m. to answer questions such as the following: "Is the world economy losing steam?"; "What opportunities and risk does globalization generate?"; and "Can the success of the 'East Asian Tigers' be replicated?".
At 1 p.m. today, she continued, the President of the General Assembly would hold a press conference in room 226 to discuss the work of the fiftieth session of the Assembly.
Noting that the Afghan Government had earlier announced that it would not accept a United Nations delegation which included any women, a correspondent asked if it was correct that there was currently a woman staff member working in Afghanistan. Ms. Foa said that the delegation of Mr. Goulding had included a woman. The Charter of the United Nations forbid discrimination on the basis of gender. The position of Afghan factions in regard to women had been one of the major issues that Mr. Goulding had travelled there to address. He had planned to discuss issues including the education and employment of women. In particular, he had planned to address the employment of women by United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which preferred to suspend its activities rather than conduct operations which excluded women. The issue of the treatment of women by the factions in Afghanistan was one that the United Nations was taking quite a firm stand on.
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