DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961009
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that Joseph Connor, Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, would be coming to the briefing to speak about the financial situation of the United Nations.
Ms. Foa said the Secretary-General's first meeting this morning had been with the Chairman of the Council of State of the Liberian National Transitional Government, Ruth Perry. He had very warmly congratulated her on becoming the first woman head of State in Africa. Mrs. Perry said that she was exceedingly proud of having been chosen and promised to encourage women worldwide to rise to decision-making levels. Afterwards, Mrs. Perry and the Secretary-General had held a lengthy discussion on the United Nations role in next year's elections in Liberia, which were scheduled for May 1997.
The Secretary-General was currently in the General Assembly, Ms. Foa said. This morning he had also met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Thailand, Amnuay Viravan.
"Today is a special day since it's the ninetieth birthday of the former Senegalese President Leopold Sedar Senghor", Ms. Foa announced. He had been the President of Senegal for 20 years and was having his birthday celebrations in France today. The Secretary-General had sent two cables, one addressed to Mr. Senghor himself, and the other one to the President of Senegal, Abdou Diouf. In the cables, the Secretary-General had expressed his great affection and admiration for Mr. Senghor, whose work, he had said, was a model for Africa and for the international community as a whole.
Today, it was International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction, Ms. Foa announced. The theme this year was "Cities at Risk". The Secretary-General had sent a message stating that such natural disasters as floods and earthquakes could be particularly devastating in urban environments, where problems of infrastructure and environmental safety were common. He had also said that "with some 45 per cent of the world's population now living in cities, and the percentage increasing daily, an unprecedented number of people are at risk". In his message, the Secretary-General had added that urban dwellers could take action to protect themselves. Furthermore, he had urged governments, local authorities and citizens to vigorously pursue actions and activities to enhance their ability to prevent and mitigate the consequences of natural disasters.
There was a note from the World Food Programme (WFP) which stated that in Afghanistan the agency had 19 national staff and four international staff,
all of whom were women, Ms. Foa said. "Here in the United Nations, when we try to prevent gender discrimination, sometimes we go overboard. We don't know who is a woman and who is a man if we just have their last names", she said.
The head of the United Nations Special Mission in Afghanistan, Norbert Heinrich Holl, also known as the "dynamo" who never seems to stop, was continuing his shuttle diplomacy, Ms. Foa said. He would be flying to Mazar-i Sharif Thursday as part of his efforts to find some agreement between the parties on establishing a broad-based government.
This morning, the Security Council had had a long briefing from the Special Representative for Angola, Alioune Blondin Beye, Ms. Foa announced. "They should currently be hearing from Under-Secretary-General Chinmaya Gharekhan on Afghanistan, and resolution 986 (the oil-for-food formula)", she said.
Yesterday, Ms. Foa continued, the Secretary-General had met with the Foreign Minister of the Sudan who had briefed him on the status of relations with his country's neighbours -- Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt. They had also discussed Security Council resolution 1070 (1996), and the Secretary- General had informed the Foreign Minister of his intention to send a mission to the Sudan to consult with that country's Government before his report to the Security Council in November.
Resolution 1070 had been passed on 16 August, Ms. Foa explained. It requested the Secretary-General to submit by 15 November a report on the compliance to that resolution by the Sudan. The Council would then decide about the entry into force of the provisions set out in paragraph 3 (mainly air sanctions). The Foreign Minister of the Sudan had welcomed the decision to send a mission. Later on, the Secretary-General had stressed the importance of having the full cooperation of the Government of the Sudan in facilitating the activities of Operation Lifeline Sudan in delivering assistance to populations in need.
Concerning the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, Ms. Foa said Samoa had signed this morning. The Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal and Chad had signed yesterday, bringing the total to date to 119 signatories.
On housekeeping matters, Ms. Foa said there was an information note in the Spokesman's Office on the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan which explained the amount of humanitarian aid and the type of United Nations agencies in the country.
Peace-keeping had come up with a new book -- available at the documents counter -- on all its operations, Ms. Foa announced. It was a handy reference, she added.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 9 October 1996
The World Chronicle Television today would have Ambassador Hisashi Owada of Japan, Chairman of the General Assembly ad hoc committee that recently completed the mid-term review of the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s, the Spokesman said. It would be on in-house television at 3 p.m. on channels 6, 23 and 38, "unless we get our signals crossed with Gilligan's Island, as we did yesterday", she added.
What was the United Nations position on the march by Louis Farrakhan that would be in front or near the United Nations on 16 October? a correspondent asked. Ms. Foa replied the United Nations had no position. The National Director of the march then intervened and said that the march was geared at the United Nations. The city of New York had given permission to hold it. All the streets would be filled with people on 16 October.
Ms. Foa announced that the exact amount the United Nations currently owed to 81 peace-keeping contributing nations was $1.44 billion. Some of those countries had been unable to pay their own soldiers. Furthermore, troops from some of the poorest countries contributing to peace-keeping operations had been reduced to forging in farmers' fields to get something to eat because they had not been paid. It was a very sad situation, Ms. Foa said.
Asked how much money was currently owed by the United States to the United Nations, Ms. Foa replied that the United States owed a little bit over $1.4 billion and of that about $949 million was for peace-keeping.
How much was owed to the peace-keepers involved in Liberia? a correspondent asked. Ms. Foa replied that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) force was present there. The donor countries had promised to fund it through a trust fund. However, the mission there had had great difficulty in getting their money, as well as the promised equipment.
In response to a question about efforts made to claim Afghanistan's United Nations seat, Ms. Foa said a note verbale had been passed to the Credentials Committee and the matter would be taken up on Friday.
Asked whether the Security Council would hold a formal meeting on Angola tomorrow, the Spokesman replied that no announcement had been made on that yet. She had only been able to see a very preliminary draft resolution responding to the Secretary-General's report.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) this morning granted requests for hearing by five petitioners. It had also continued discussions on issues relating to decolonization.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 9 October 1996
The Assembly was not meeting this afternoon, Ms. Abdul-Majid announced. It had continued its general debate this morning with six speakers -- Western Samoa, Malawi, Liberia, Kyrgyzstan, Equatorial Guinea and Nepal. The Assembly would conclude its discussions a day early -- instead of Friday, it would do so on Thursday. "This is the result of better time management and the persistence by the President of the General Assembly to start meetings on time", the spokeswoman said, adding that the number of plenary meetings for the general debate would reduced by three. In addition, previously, the General Committee had been able to conclude its work in one instead of three meetings.
The activities of the General Assembly's President today included a meeting with the Chairman of the Council of State of the Transitional Government of Liberia as well as briefings with the Asian, Western European, and Latin American and Caribbean groups, Ms. Abdul-Majid said. Those were part of a series of meetings the President was holding with the various groups on the work of the Assembly.
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