DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960923
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that yesterday, at 6 p.m., the Secretary-General had met with former Tanzanian President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who apprised the Secretary-General of his efforts, as a facilitator, to reach a peaceful settlement in Burundi. Mr. Nyerere stated that he would continue to undertake all necessary contacts in order to bring the parties to the negotiating table. The Secretary-General expressed the United Nations appreciation of, and support for, Mr. Nyerere's efforts. He also expressed the hope that all parties would demonstrate the political will necessary to bring those efforts to fruition.
Mr. Nyerere was now briefing members of the Security Council under the Arria formula on the situation in Burundi, Ms. Foa continued. (The Arria formula is an informal consultation process initiated by Diego Arria of Venezuela, which gives Council members the opportunity to hear persons in a confidential, informal setting.)
This morning, before addressing the General Assembly, the Secretary-General had met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Luiz Felipe Palmeira Lampreia, and then with Andorra Prime Minister Marc Forne Molne. The Assembly had started on time and it was a "packed house", Ms. Foa said. "I think some people were actually surprised that it started on time", she added.
At 1:15 p.m., the Secretary-General would hold a luncheon in honour of the eight heads of State and government who were attending the General Assembly today.
This afternoon, he would meet with the President of Colombia, Ernesto Samper Pizano, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Julius Chan, the Foreign Minister of France, Herve de Charette, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Ryutaro Hashimoto.
In the morning Assembly session, Brazil, Marshall Islands, Andorra, Argentina (which replaced Slovakia), Georgia and Angola had already addressed the General Assembly. Iran was also expected to speak.
Tomorrow, 24 September, United States President Bill Clinton was scheduled to address the Assembly and it would be a difficult day, Ms. Foa said. Security had advised that those intending to be in the building should arrive by 8 a.m. "Evidently once President Clinton's motorcade begins moving nothing else does", she added. It took an average of 45 minutes to get into the United Nations garage today and there would be lots of security tomorrow.
In the morning, the Secretary-General would greet President Clinton at the Delegates' Entrance and the two men would then proceed to the Secretary-General's office in the General Assembly, where they would meet for 10 to 15 minutes, Ms. Foa continued. President Clinton would then meet with the President of the General Assembly and they would all go to the Trusteeship Council for the signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., 16 governments, beginning with the United States, would sign the Treaty, Ms. Foa continued. The list of countries had changed slightly from the one given on Friday. Chile would sign in place of Argentina, who would sign later in the day. Following President Clinton's address to the Assembly at 10 a.m., 43 countries would sign the text between 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The list of countries was available in the Spokesman's office.
There was limited space available in the Trusteeship Chamber for correspondents who wished to cover the signing ceremony, Ms. Foa said. There were a few spaces on a platform for the visual media and those who wanted one should speak to Sonia Lecca within the next half hour. Sonia also had tickets for the few spaces available in the gallery for the print media. "Otherwise, I recommend you do what I am going to do and watch the ceremony on television. It is much easier, you get a better view and you hear more", she said.
"Yes, there was good news today", Ms. Foa said. Although it was not a full payment, the United States had given the United Nations $40 million today in partial payment of a prior year. The United States payment brought the country's debt down to $1.64 billion and would help quite a bit, she added. Ninety Member States had paid their 1996 assessed contributions in full. The United Nations was still owed $2.8 billion -- $.7 billion for the regular budget and $2.1 billion for peace-keeping.
There had been a lot of questions in recent weeks on exactly what is the budget of the United Nations, Ms. Foa continued. Now, a list of peace-keeping and regular budget expenditures -- actual expenditures -- from 1990 to 1996 was available in the Spokesman's office. The list would provide "a quick reference tool for what it actually cost to run this joint", she said.
A World Food Programme (WFP) press release was available in the Spokesman's office on the disruption to the delivery of food aid in Sierra Leone, she continued. Rebel ambushes on food trucks had halted relief convoys in the eastern and southern parts of the country, where almost half a million people were dependent on international assistance.
Ms. Foa said that today at 1:15 p.m., in room 226, Hidehiko Hamada, the spokesman for Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yukihiko Ikeda, would hold a press conference on the Minister's meetings with the Rio Group countries,
Spain, Norway and the South Pacific Forum countries. At 5:30 p.m., Mr. Hamada would brief the press on the Minister's meetings with the European Union Troika, Algeria and Colombia.
Ms. Foa then announced the following press conferences, which would also take place in room 226 tomorrow, 24 September: at 11:15 a.m., the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, would hold a press conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (Australia's Permanent Representative Richard Butler would also attend); at 12:45 p.m., the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Malcolm Rifkind; at 1:15 p.m., Hiroshi Hashimoto, spokesman for Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, would brief correspondents on the Prime Minister's statement to the General Assembly and his meeting with President Clinton; at 3 p.m., Mr. Hashimoto would answer questions on the Japanese Foreign Minister's meetings with the Russian Federation, Indonesia and Luxembourg; at 4 p.m., the President of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski; and at 5 p.m., the Canadian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy.
"It will be a long day of press conferences and I'm glad it's you and not me", she added.
Ms. Foa then reminded correspondents that they were invited to cocktails today at 7 p.m. at the Visitors' Entrance, for an exhibition of sculptures by Jacques Zwoboda. The exhibition would be opened by the French Foreign Minister. The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister of Morocco would also attend. "You don't often get parties in the middle of all this hassle", she said.
On Wednesday, 25 September, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) would release the State of the World's Vaccines report, she continued. According to the report, over the next 15 years revolutionary new vaccines generated by scientific advances could save the lives of 8 million children who now die each year from infectious diseases. "However, if we don't get more backing for scientific research and global immunization it ain't going to happen", she added. The report was embargoed until Wednesday and was available at the documents counter.
"Why aren't you all at the GA?" Ms. Foa then asked the correspondents.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly, told correspondents that six speakers -- Brazil, Marshall Islands, Andorra, Argentina, Georgia, Angola and Iran had addressed the General Assembly this morning. Scheduled to speak this afternoon were the President of Colombia; Prime Ministers of Papua New Guinea, Norway and Morocco; and the Foreign Ministers of Ethiopia, Peru and Nicaragua.
Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia) would hold nine meetings today and at the time of the briefing was meeting with Vice-Premier Qian Qichen of China. A schedule of those meetings was available in her office.
On Friday, 20 September, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) had elected Mohammad Reza Karim Djabarry (Iran) as Vice-Chairman, and Silvia Cristina Corado-Cuevas (Guatemala) as Rapporteur; the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) elected Fesseha Asghedom Tessema (Ethiopia) and Mohammad Masood Khan (Pakistan) as Vice-Chairmen, and Victoria Sandru (Romania) as Rapporteur; and the Sixth Committee (Legal) elected Felicity Jane Wong (New Zealand) and Dumitru Mazilu (Romania) as Vice-Chairmen, and Pascaline Boum (Cameroon) as Rapporteur.
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