DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970512
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Juan-Carlos Brandt, Associate Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan, began today's noon briefing by stating that, given the magnitude of the earthquake which struck Iran last Saturday -- the third in as many months -- the Government had launched an appeal for international assistance through the office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Iran and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs.
Mr. Brandt said the appeal listed the items required on an emergency basis, including food, family and individual tents, blankets, clothing, cookers, water tankers, ambulance and four-wheel-drive pickups, lift trucks, plastic sheeting, shovels and picks, floor coverings, medicines and water coolers. A massive search and rescue operation had begun immediately after the earthquake, under the leadership of the Deputy Minister of the Interior for Development Affairs. A United Nations disaster management team was in the area for a first-hand assessment of damage and needs.
The Government of France had dispatched 40 metric tons of relief supplies, Mr. Brandt said. The Swiss Disaster Relief Unit had fielded a reconnaissance team to the affected area. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today announced that it was allocating $200,000 to help coordinate relief activities and provide communication equipment. The Department of Humanitarian Affairs was providing an emergency grant of $50,000 and was dispatching a two-person team to assist international efforts to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Funds channelled through the Department for the immediate relief phase would be used in a coordinated manner with the relevant organizations of the United Nations system.
Mr. Brandt said contributions for the earthquake relief effort could be sent to the United Nations, care of the United Nations Treasurer, Room S-2778, New York, New York 10017. Information would be made available for interested correspondents. A statement on this immense tragedy made by the Secretary-General on his arrival in Tokyo had been issued. In that statement, he asked the international community to give promptly and generously to assist the Government of Iran in its dark moment.
The latest official figures from Iran's Foreign Ministry estimated the death toll at more than 2,000, with over 5,000 people injured, Mr. Brandt said. However, many of the injured had been sent to nearby cities for hospitalization and treatment. According to the country's disaster task force, over 185 aftershocks had occurred, measuring 2.8 to 5.5 on the Richter scale. Over 100 schools and many houses, rural health centres and hospitals had suffered between 20 per cent to 100 per cent destruction. Roads, government buildings and other infrastructure facilities were also reported to have been damaged.
Mr. Brandt said a list would be prepared of contributions from Governments, including the United Kingdom, France, the Russian Federation, Kuwait, Japan and others.
Turning to the situation in Zaire, Mr. Brandt said the Joint Investigative Mission to Eastern Zaire of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights had not received the required clearance to visit the area and, unfortunately, had to return to Geneva for the time being. He referred to a statement on the matter that was issued in Geneva on Saturday. In another statement, issued today, the Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ralph Zacklin, deplored the obstacles created by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo/Zaire (ADFL), Which had effectively prevented United Nations human rights investigators from entering eastern Zaire to carry out tasks set out in a mandate established by the Commission on 15 April. The mission was prepared to return there once it received assurances from the ADFL of its full and unconditional cooperation, including security guarantees.
Mr. Brandt said eight flights from Kisangani had today taken 2,071 refugees home to Rwanda. The number so far sent home since the beginning of the operation totalled 20,685. As anticipated and announced on Friday, 9 May, an inter-agency mission with the participation of non-governmental organizations had been granted access on Saturday to Obilo, at kilometre 82 south of Biaro. The mission was the first to have reached the site following the announcement by the ADFL on 9 May that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would have unimpeded access south of Biaro. Some 5,000 to 6,000 refugees were in the encampment and the mission had evacuated 468 refugees, many of them in "horrendous nutritional condition". The chief of the village in Obilo, at indicated that there might be another encampment inside the forest at about kilometre 73.
According to the Office of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, the first medical supplies under Security Council resolution 986 (1995) had started arriving in Iraq over the weekend, with 100,000 bags of intravenous solution being shipped across the border with Jordan at Trebil, Mr. Brandt said. The supplies were part of a 950,000 bag consignment. The goods had reached a state warehouse in Baghdad for testing and distribution to the 18 governorates. Examination of the medical goods by United Nations personnel would begin tomorrow and would follow procedures newly agreed between the Government of Iraq and the United Nations.
"We are now beginning to witness the first arrival of medical supplies under Security Council resolution 986 into Iraq", the statement from the Coordinator's Office announced, adding that it was the first effort aimed at alleviating the distressing situation in Iraq's health sector. Arrivals of medical goods were expected to increase during the course of the month. As of today, more than 650,000 tonnes of humanitarian supplies had reached Iraq. Correspondents were informed that the latest schedules on the arrival of ships at Umm Qasr was available at the counter on the third floor.
The third report on the operation of the Multinational Protection Force in Albania had been submitted to the Security Council on Friday, 9 May, under document S/1997/362, Mr. Brandt said. The report, which covered the period 23 April to 6 May, should be available in the afternoon. It stated that the deployment of the Force was almost complete and had had a positive effect on the overall security situation in Albania. As of 5 May, deployment had reached a level of 6,332 units, 98 per cent of the total envisaged.
The report indicated that current deployment was as follows: Italy, 2,962; France, 923; Turkey, 779; Greece, 722; Spain, 341; Austria, 114; Romania, 399; and Denmark, 11. Control of the country's key entry points by sea and air had been fully achieved. Commercial and industrial activities were resuming, as were maritime connections. Schools had reopened. Nevertheless, isolated clashes were still being recorded. Organized crime and racketeering were still continuing in certain areas where police control remained insufficient.
Mr. Brandt said the Secretary-General had ended his China visit on Sunday, 11 May, as had been indicated at the briefing on Friday. He had gone to Shanghai from Xiang. While there, he had addressed the Academy of Social Sciences and Institute of International Relations. Copies of the speech were available in the Spokesman's office.
In his address, the Secretary-General had stated that some countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, had been marginalized by the global economy, Mr. Brandt said. Most of those countries had attempted economic reform and market liberalization, but the weakness of their economic and governmental infrastructures had limited their ability to take advantage of the opportunities offered by globalization. The Secretary-General had gone on to say that in economic and development matters, the United Nations had a key conceptual and promotional role to play.
In concrete terms, the United Nations should be the democratic voice of the weak in international debates and discussions of economic matters, and should provide a forum where consensus-based action could be decided upon, the Secretary-General said. It should take on the tasks of advocacy and outreach and should help to forge new alliances and partnerships. It should also serve as a forum where private interests and the public good could be reconciled and should promote shared values.
Finally, the Secretary-General said the Organization should itself undertake cost-effective and efficient development activities and also aim to develop and apply new policy instruments for promoting sustainable development through national and global market processes, Mr. Brandt said. "It is a very interesting speech, and I urge you to get a copy and read it."
Continuing with the Secretary-General's itinerary, Mr. Brandt said he had arrived in Tokyo on Sunday evening, for his first official visit to Japan as Secretary-General. In addition to his statement on the earthquake in Iran, he also responded to questions. Both his statement and those answers were available on the third floor.
On Monday morning, the Secretary-General had begun his official programme, when he was received in audience by their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan, Mr. Brandt said. On Monday evening, he met with Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda, followed by a working dinner. Their discussion covered a broad range of issues, including United Nations reform -- particularly of the Security Council -- humanitarian assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, support for economic and social development in developing countries, disarmament, peace-keeping, human rights, and the situations in Zaire and Afghanistan.
Earlier in the day, the Secretary-General had met with a number of high-ranking Japanese officials, Mr. Brandt said. Those included the Speaker of the Lower House of the Diet, Soichiro Ito; the President of the Upper House of the Diet, Juro Saito; the Minister of State for Defence Agency, Fumio Kyuma; and the Minister of State for Environment Agency, Michiko Ishii. He also visited the headquarters of the United Nations University in Tokyo, where he addressed the assembled staff of various United Nations offices. He told them the United Nations must never be a distant bureaucracy but must reach out in unison to explain its work and promote its objectives. Stating that when people knew and understood the United Nations, they supported it, he urged all offices and staff to work as a team towards shared objectives.
At a working lunch hosted by the Rector of the University, Professor. Heitor Gurgulino de Souza, the Secretary-General had the chance to meet with heads of representative offices of the United Nations system in Japan, Mr. Brandt said. He also gave several interviews, including one to NHK television, in which he paid tribute for Japan's support through the years for economic and social development in developing countries, especially in Africa, adding that other States might well follow Japan's example.
The Secretary-General's programme tomorrow would include a meeting with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and other political leaders, Mr. Brandt said. He was also scheduled to make a statement to a large audience being assembled by the United Nations Association of Japan. That speech would be available to correspondents at 3 p.m. today under an embargo. They were urged to check it against delivery.
Mr. Brandt announced that the Secretary-General had sent a message to the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy, on the occasion of a ceremony today to mark Harry Belafonte's tenth anniversary of as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, as well as his seventieth birthday. In his message, the Secretary-General said Mr. Belafonte, the American entertainer, had served the cause of children with great energy and commitment through a decade of concerts and public appearances.
"These events have not only raised funds for children but also created awareness about the plight of children in forgotten parts of the world", the Secretary-General said in his message. The Secretary-General was happy that Mr. Belafonte had continued his association with the United Nations through UNICEF.
At a press conference sponsored by Canada, the Lutheran Office for World Community would hold a brief correspondence on the "Ottawa Process" and global efforts to ban anti-personnel mines, at 11 a.m., in room 226, Mr. Brandt announced. The speakers would be a land-mine survivor from Cambodia, Tun Channareth, and Patricia Curran, a Catholic lay worker, both of whom were active in the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Land-mines.
At 1 p.m. tomorrow, 13 May, also in room 226, Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), would discuss a new study entitled, "Meeting the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development ... of resource shortfalls up to the year 2000".
Asked whether there had been a report from the Foreign Minister of Nigeria recommending a delay of the Liberian elections, Mr. Brandt said he was aware of such a recommendation sent by the Minister to the Security Council last week. No action had been taken on it. Pressed further, he said the Council might act within the next few days.
Did the United Nations have any comment on Libyan President Muammar Al-Qadhafi's trip to Niger and Nigeria last week? a correspondent asked. Mr. Brandt said that was an issue for the Security Council to pronounce itself on, regarding the possible violation of its ban on air flights to and from that country. He had not seen anything on the subject but would not be surprised if action would be taken by the Council.
Noting that the Secretary-General had been talking about the problem of globalization of the world economy, a correspondent asked whether thought had been given to including the subject on the agenda of the General Assembly. Mr. Brandt said one of the duties of the Secretary-General was to call attention to various world problems or issues of interest, especially when the new millennium was near. Mr. Brandt said the Secretary-General's statement in Shanghai, which he had quoted earlier, was similar to a speech he gave earlier in the year to the international conference on the world economy in Davos, Switzerland. The Secretary-General's intention was to call attention to the need for international action on that problem. Mr. Brandt hoped that concrete action would be taken by Member States.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly, said he appealed to the international community to provide assistance to Iran in the wake of last Saturday's earthquake. The President expressed deep sympathy to the Government and people of Iran for the suffering arising from the earthquake and extended condolences to the bereaved and affected families.
Ms. Abdul-Majid said the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) would meet in the afternoon to begin its second resumed session. It would be a four-week session, ending on 6 June. Among the items on its agenda were the financing of a dozen missions and of the International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, several reports of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, managerial reform, and the United Nations financial situation.
For the first week, beginning this afternoon, the Committee would consider approving requests totalling about $592 million for nine missions, generally covering the period 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998, subject to extension of their various mandates by the Security Council. For interested correspondents, she said the approximate amounts were as follows: United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), $32 million; United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), $122 million; United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), $50.6 million; United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), $29 million; United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT), $7.9 million; United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), $50 million; United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), $17.8 million; United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH), $14.5 million; and United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES), $266.6 million.
She said that most of the Committee's meetings would be informal. Its programme of work and documents were contained in document A/C.5/51/L.58 and L.57, respectively. Ms. Abdul-Majid said she had prepared a two-page listing of the work programme to enable interested correspondents to follow the Committee's proceedings more easily.
Asked for a comment by the General Assembly President on the Secretary-General's remarks on globalization, Ms. Abdul-Majid said she would check with him.
* *** *