DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961021
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that there had been "a lot of excitement in the General Assembly" this morning with the election of new members of the Security Council. The Secretary-General warmly congratulated Kenya, Japan, Sweden, Costa Rica and Portugal for their election to non-permanent seats in the Security Council.
At 10 a.m., she said, the Secretary-General had addressed a high-level consultation on the topic of "Post-conflict Peace-building in West Africa: Political and Development Initiatives". That high-level consultation had included Foreign Ministers and other officials from west African States, donor governments, representatives of regional organizations, the Bretton Woods institutions and specialized agencies of the United Nations system. They focused on the need for proactive management in peace consolidation. "What are the most important things to be done?" she asked. "You've got to re- establish order, disarm ex-combatants and destroy their weapons, repatriate and rehabilitate refugees, train new security personnel, hold elections and support efforts to protect human rights."
Tomorrow, 22 October, there would be a special conference in support of the peace process in Liberia. Nine African countries from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee of Nine were taking part, along with 15 donor nations, the European Commission, the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Government of Liberia. That working-level meeting would take place at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the Economic and Social Council Chamber. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, Anthony B. Nyaki, was at Headquarters to attend the meeting and would be invited to come to room 226 to brief the press. Ms. Foa then reminded correspondents that the latest report of the Secretary- General on the situation in Liberia (document S/1996/858) was available.
The security situation in eastern Zaire had further deteriorated over the weekend, she then said. There had been new attacks near refugee camps in the North Kivu area, north of Goma, and heavy fighting was taking place around Uvira in South Kivu between Zairian forces and the Banyamulenge.
On Sunday, 20 October, shortly before dawn there had been a series of attacks by an unidentified gunman in the North Kivu area, she said. At the Katale camp, where there were some 200,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees, a Zairian officer of the United Nations Camp Contingent -- a security force that helps the United Nations keep order -- had been killed; one other was wounded. There had also been two attacks at the refugee camps at Kibymba and Kahindo,
where a total of some 300,000 refugees lived. There had been sketchy reports of attacks on a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)/World Food Programme (WFP) convoy near Katale, where a truck was destroyed by a rocket-propelled grenade. Some 230 United Nations and non-governmental organization staff were located in Goma; another 53 were located at Uvira. Up to 250,000 refugees had fled camps near Uvira. The camps appeared to be empty. Some refugees seemed to be heading north towards Bukavu. Some were hiding in banana plantations. The situation on the ground was quite tense and most international staff were in the United Nations office at Uvira.
She added that no statistics on casualties were yet available, but hospitals were reporting heavy casualties with many wounded. The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the region, Ibrahima Fall, had met with the Governor of Kivu province in Bukavu. A map was available in the Spokesman's office, she said.
Ms. Foa then announced that the Security Council would meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow to consult on a draft resolution put forward by Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the situation in Afghanistan. It was later announced that the Council would hold consultations at 4 p.m. today.
An international workshop on "An Agenda for Preventive Diplomacy -- Theory and Practice", held from 16 to 19 October, had ended in Skopje, in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ms. Foa said. A press release was available in the Spokesman's office. The Secretary-General had sent a message to that meeting stating, "it's not enough for the international community to play lip service to preventive diplomacy. Rhetoric must be matched with deeds and theory must be closely linked with practice. The United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) is an effective demonstration of what can be accomplished in the realm of conflict prevention when the international community demonstrates political will and acts decisively and promptly".
Tomorrow and Wednesday there would be the first meeting of the Inter- Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality, Ms. Foa said, adding that it would be held in Conference Room 8 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. That Committee had been established after the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women to coordinate and mainstream gender issues throughout the United Nations system. The meeting would be chaired by Assistant Secretary-General and Special Political Adviser to the Secretary-General Rosario Green. "It should be a fairly lively meeting", Ms. Foa said.
She then announced that from 2 to 3 p.m. tomorrow in Conference Room 2, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Permanent Mission of Zimbabwe would hold a briefing on the World Solar Summit, which had taken place in Harare in early September. The briefing would focus on the environment and sustainable development.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 21 October 1996
The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) had announced that 3:30 p.m. today would be the last opportunity to purchase tickets for the annual UNCA awards dinner.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said that in the Assembly today, Japan, Kenya and Sweden had been elected as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two- years terms beginning 1 January 1997. At the time of the briefing the Assembly was holding the second round of balloting for two additional seats.
The results of the first round of voting were as follows: for the African and Asian States (181 ballots, 1 invalid ballot, required majority, 120) Kenya received 172 votes; Japan, 142 votes; India, 40 votes. For Latin American and Caribbean States: (181 ballots, 1 abstention, required majority, 120), Costa Rica received 105 votes; Bolivia, 73 votes; Colombia, 1 vote; Dominican Republic, 1 vote. For the Western European and Other States (181 votes, no abstentions or invalid ballots, required majority, 121), Sweden received 153 votes; Portugal, 112 votes; Australia, 91 votes.
[The results of the second round of balloting, available after the noon briefing, were as follows: Latin American and Caribbean States (181 ballots, 9 abstentions, required majority, 115), Costa Rica received 167 votes; Bolivia, 5 votes. Western Europe and Other States (181 ballots, no invalid ballots, no abstentions, required majority, 121), Portugal received 124 votes; Australia, 57 votes. Elected in the second round were Costa Rica and Portugal.]
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