DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961025
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), would brief the Security Council at 3 p.m. "Originally, Ms. Ogata was supposed to brief the Council at 10:30 a.m. and we were hoping to get her at noon", Ms. Foa said. The Secretary-General and Ms. Ogata would both brief the Council and, depending on how long it took, they would brief correspondents either at the stake out or in room 226.
The Secretary-General and Ms. Ogata were spending most of the day in a meeting of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), Ms. Foa said. Their presence was needed there, so they did not have much time available.
The Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Zaire, Ibrahima Fall, had also been scheduled to brief the Council, along with the Secretary-General and Ms. Ogata at 3 p.m., Ms. Foa said. "However, the last word is that his flight was delayed, so he might not make it. We are not sure where Mr. Fall is at the moment, but his flight out of Kinshasa is seriously delayed."
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, at a ceremony marking World Food Day, which was on 16 October, Ms. Foa said. This year, the theme of World Food Day was "Fighting hunger and malnutrition". During his address, the Secretary-General said that nearly 800 million people around the world were chronically hungry -- which is a disgrace", she said. The Secretary-General said millions more suffered from what has been termed "hidden" or "masked" hunger, which "reduces the capacity of men, women and children to live healthy and productive lives", Ms. Foa continued. He also said that there was "no greater challenge than to break the vicious circle of poverty, hunger and malnutrition" -- and nowhere were those issues more relevant than in Africa. He also noted that responding to emergencies was only one part of the struggle. The United Nations really needed to work to ensure that hunger and malnutrition are eradicated in the long term.
"Most of the rest of the day, except for his appearance at the Security Council on eastern Zaire, the Secretary-General will spend at the ACC, where they are discussing lots of reform issues", Ms. Foa said.
Yesterday, Lord Gladwyn Jebb of Bramfield died at his home in Suffolk, United Kingdom, at the age of 96, Ms. Foa said. There would be a private ceremony for him at Saint Andrews Church in Bramfield on Monday, 28 October. "Lord Gladwyn was, among other things, one of the staunchest defenders of the United Nations in the United Kingdom", she said. He had been part of the United Kingdom delegation to the San Francisco Conference in 1945 and was also present at the opening session of the General Assembly at Westminster Hall -- "at which point he had been made Acting Secretary-General". That, technically, made him the first Secretary-General.
In 1950, he returned to New York as the United Kingdom's Ambassador to the United Nations, Ms. Foa said. In addition -- as an interesting note to United Nations watchers -- Lord Gladwyn was also responsible for Sir Brian Urquhart's employment with the United Nations. "Evidently, in 1945 he hired young Brian as his secretary, starting a career that really skyrocketed."
The Secretary-General was informed about Lord Gladwyn's death late last night, Ms. Foa said. The Secretary-General was "deeply saddened to learn of the death of Lord Gladwyn of Bramfield". He noted that "Lord Gladwyn had devoted his life to public service at home and abroad. He was a man of great vision and commitment, who dedicated himself to promoting the United Nations ideals of peace and international understanding." The Secretary-General said that "as the first Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations and later as the United Kingdom Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lord Gladwyn made a crucial contribution to the work of the world Organization".
The Secretary-General said that "it was particularly poignant that Lord Gladwyn had passed away on United Nations Day", Ms. Foa went on to say. He also said that, "at this time of great sorrow, I would like to express my profound regret at the passing of a great man, and my most sincere admiration for his extraordinary achievements".
"We have had another major loss for the United Nations -- Norway has stolen back Terje Roed Larsen, Special Coordinator in the occupied territories", Ms. Foa said. Mr. Larsen had returned to the Cabinet of his new Government in Norway; his Government had said it needed him. The Secretary- General congratulated him and said that "Norway's gain is our loss". The Secretary-General had also spoken of the outstanding job done by Mr. Larsen and said the United Nations was very grateful for all his work.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General had asked Peter Hansen, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), to provisionally take over Mr. Larsen's duties, in addition to his work with UNRWA, Ms. Foa said.
Yesterday, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh signed the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Ms. Foa announced. Today, nobody was scheduled to do so. There were currently a total of 129 signatories and one ratification. Of the 44 "core countries", only three had not signed the Treaty -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India and Pakistan.
Yesterday, the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the first international legal instrument on the safety of nuclear power plants worldwide, entered into force, Ms. Foa announced. "This Convention commits States parties to ensure the safety of land-based civil nuclear power plants", she said. It was a major step forward in strengthening international cooperation in the safety field. Furthermore, it signalled the growing recognition of global interdependence in safe nuclear development.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 25 October 1996
So far, 27 States had consented to be bound by the Convention on Nuclear Safety, Ms. Foa said. They were: Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mali, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
On the situation in eastern Zaire, Ms. Foa said the non-governmental organizations in Uvira had reported that Banyamulenge forces were closing-in on the town. They also reported that a large number of Zairian civilians and Burundi refugees, who had taken shelter in the town, were fleeing south, apparently towards the United Republic of Tanzania. "Lots of heavy-weapon fire was heard overnight in the Uvira region by staff in Bujumbura, but we are not getting a lot of details."
The UNHCR had broadcast an appeal to Rwandan refugees to return home, Ms. Foa said. The UNHCR had stockpiled blankets, plastic sheets, jerrycans and agricultural tools. In addition, the World Food Programme (WFP) was putting together packages of food for the repatriation.
In Afghanistan, "our dynamo Norbert Heinrich Holl, head of the United Nations Special Mission, is continuing his mediation efforts", Ms. Foa said. Yesterday, he had been in Kandahar talking with the Taliban leadership. He was currently back in Islamabad for the day and was expected to go back to Afghanistan over the weekend. He had stated that his main priority remained that of getting an immediate cease-fire implemented.
At 11 a.m. on Monday, 28 October, a formal agreement would be signed at Headquarters, in Conference Room 8, establishing the International Vaccine Institute, which will be based in Seoul, Ms. Foa announced. The Institute, sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Republic of Korea and the World Health Organization (WHO), was dedicated to improving the availability and use of high-quality vaccines in developing countries.
Today, the World Chronicle television programme would have as a guest Fawzi Hamad Al-Sultan, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Ms. Foa announced.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said this morning the President had been present at the Trusteeship Council Chamber in the ceremony marking World Food Day. In his statement he had made reference to the 800 million people around the world who were undernourished. He had said that "we have gathered here because we have not been successful in overcoming global hunger and malnutrition". In addition, he had called for political ways and economic means to protect the interests, rights and traditional skills of farmers and of those who could not sleep because of hunger. Copies of the statement had been made available on the third floor this morning. (See Press Release GA/9142/Rev.1-FAO/3640/ Rev.1.)
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 25 October 1996
Later this afternoon, the President would host a tea for a group of 80 United Nations interns at the Permanent Mission of Malaysia.
Yesterday, the Assembly had granted observer status to the International Seabed Authority by one of three resolutions adopted, Ms. Abdul-Majid said. The other two were on cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) and on the Universal Congress on the Panama Canal, to be held next year. At the time of the briefing, the Assembly was considering the item concerning cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). On Monday, the Assembly would consider the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), she added.
Yesterday, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) had concluded its debate on disarmament and international security, Ms. Abdul- Majid said. Beginning Monday next week, the First Committee would go into the second phase of its work, a series of closed meetings on a number of topics. It would first take up the topic of nuclear weapons. On Tuesday, it would discuss other weapons of mass destruction, as well as the disarmament aspects of outer space. The Committee would meet in closed sessions in order to facilitate discussions in the preparation of draft resolutions, which were expected to be tabled beginning Friday.
Also beginning Monday, the Sixth Committee (Legal) would consider the item concerning the international criminal court, Ms. Abdul-Majid announced.
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