DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's press briefing by welcoming Anthony Hewett, the representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) based in Bangkok, who would brief correspondents on the humanitarian situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (Mr. Hewett's briefing is being issued separately.)

A joint certification statement by the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Secretary-General on the Liberian special elections would be available to correspondents immediately after the briefing, Mr. Eckhard said.

He then paraphrased passages from that text as follows: "The results of the 19 July Liberian elections had been announced by the Chairman of the Independent Elections Commission which had also formally completed the electoral process. The Commission had succeeded in according Liberian voters the opportunity to freely elect their leaders. Polling took place without violence or intimidation. The entire electoral process was conducted in an impartial and transparent manner. There were no reports of irregularities or incidents of a nature that could have affected the credibility of the elections. On behalf of the Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations we declare that the elections were free, fair and credible."

Turning to Congo-Brazzaville, the Spokesman said the United Nations Technical Survey Team would be leaving this evening or, at the latest, tomorrow, once final administrative arrangements were completed. The team would be led by Colonel Peter Leentjes, head of the training unit in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations. With approximately 10 members, the team would include political and military planning officers as well as logistics experts. They would travel first to Libreville, Gabon, and then Franceville, also in Gabon, before arriving in Congo-Brazzaville. The team would be in the region for roughly two weeks to assess the feasibility of a United Nations peace-keeping mission for Congo-Brazzaville. On the basis of its findings, the Secretary-General would prepare a report for the Security Council.

The Secretary-General had yesterday completed a round of consultations with the five regional groups in which he had responded to questions about his reform package, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General had also begun a similar set of consultations with the funds and programmes of the United Nations system. He had visited the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday afternoon, and addressed a meeting of their senior staff. This afternoon, he would meet with senior staff of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Torrential rains in central and eastern Europe had caused about 50 deaths and displaced some 62,000 people, Mr. Eckhard said. The Department of Humanitarian Affairs had activated its Emergency Response System to deal with the crisis in Poland, which had formally requested the Organization's assistance. Those wishing to channel contributions through the Department of Humanitarian Affairs could do so via a special account in Geneva. Donors should contact the Swiss Bank Corporation, Case Postale 2770, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, and refer to the Poland-Floods account, number CO 590.160.1.

The Security Council was today considering the Secretary-General's report on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia (document S/1997/558), Mr. Eckhard said. Also before the Council was the Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) (S/1997/550 and Corr. 1). In addition to its consideration of a draft resolution on Lebanon, the Council was discussing a related draft presidential statement.

The Council might hold a formal meeting before the end of the day, Mr. Eckhard continued. Under other matters in the Council's agenda, the Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations Manfred Eisele would brief members on violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which some United Nations property had been destroyed and a Stabilization Force (SFOR) soldier injured.

There would be an Ad Hoc Inter-agency meeting tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. in the DC-2 building on gender issues in Afghanistan, Mr. Eckhard said. That meeting had been called by the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Angela King. Tomorrow's meeting was the second of its kind; the first had taken place in mid-June. He added that the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan, which incorporated a gender and human rights component, had been briefed on related issues.

Next, the Spokesman said the "UN21 Awards" ceremony would take place from 12:15 to 1 p.m. today, in Conference Room 4. The ceremony was to acknowledge the efforts of six teams of United Nations staff members that had contributed to enhancing the effectiveness of the Secretariat. Between 50 and 55 staff members would be awarded a "UN21" pin. The Secretary-General would address the staff at 12:45 p.m.

Mr. Eckhard then provided a brief description of the six teams receiving the award. First, was the selection assistance team that had helped test and select police monitors sent to the former Yugoslavia and other missions. Next, was a mainframe consolidation team, whose work had resulted in the Organization's mainframe operations being consolidated at the international computing centre in Geneva. That effort had resulted in an estimated yearly savings of $1.2 million.

A third award recipient was the UN-I-QUE database team that had designed and put on line a new database to guide researchers worldwide through 50 years of the Organization's documentation, Mr. Eckhard continued. Also to be recognized was an Internet connection team which had helped connect every permanent mission in New York to the Internet. The United Nations Postal Administration Counter Sales and Graphics Team would receive the award for its efforts which had led to an increase in counter sales at Headquarters by 50 per cent over the previous year. The sixth team being recognized today was the Ombudsman and Staff Counsellor team, which had contributed significantly to the drive for efficiency in the Organization's office in Nairobi.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that next week, from 28 to 30 July, the "International Conference on Governance for Sustainable Growth and Equity", organized by UNDP would be held at Headquarters. It would provide a forum for representatives of governments, parliaments, local authorities, civil society organizations and United Nations agencies to share experiences and best practices in governance for sustainable growth and equity. More than 150 participants were expected to attend, including mayors, ministers, former Heads of State and Governments and other senior officials.

The opening ceremony would begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, 28 July, in the General Assembly Hall, the Spokesman continued. After a welcome statement by the UNDP Administrator, James Gustave Speth, the Secretary-General would deliver an inaugural address. Further information could be obtained by contacting UNDP's Press Officer Barbara Francis at (212) 906-5312.

The regular, mid-month report on Member States' outstanding contributions to the United Nations was now available to correspondents, Mr. Eckhard said. As of 15 July, the report showed the total outstanding contributions to be over $2.3 billion.

A troop-contributors meeting on the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) would be held in Conference Room 7 at 4 p.m. today, Mr. Eckhard said. He then apologized for any disruption of work caused by the fire alarm this morning. Smoke from the kitchen had accumulated in a duct, he explained. That had triggered the smoke alarm which, in turn, had resulted in the fans being shut down, making the smoke build-up worse. The whole matter had been under control in a short period of time.

The Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Salma Khan, would address correspondents tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. in room S-226, Mr. Eckhard said. Ms. Khan would be accompanied by two other Committee members, Charlotte Abaka and Silvia Cartwright. The briefing would concern the conclusion of the Committee's seventeenth session.

Mr. Eckhard then reminded correspondents that he had mentioned yesterday that the two delegations in the talks on Congo-Brazzaville in Libreville had been expected to hold a face-to-face meeting yesterday. That meeting had not taken place, he said. There was still disagreement over the meeting's format. The joint United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, Mohamed Sahnoun, had reminded both parties that the lack of progress at the negotiation table, as well as their failure to agree on a government of national unity would be noted by the international community if both parties "don't get off the dime" and start negotiating seriously.

A correspondent asked whether there had been any reply from the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Laurent Kabila, to the Secretary-General's letter in connection with the proposed investigative team. Mr. Eckhard replied that there had been a letter of reply noting the Secretary-General's response to their conditions for sending the investigative team. The preparations for that team were quite advanced now, he added. He hoped to be able to announce the team's composition tomorrow. Despite some continued reservations about the procedures expressed in the letter, Mr. Eckhard said he felt the doors were open for the team to go in and do its work.

Would that letter be made available to correspondents? he asked. Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General's letters could be distributed, but by the diplomatic rules he could not make the other party's letters available.

Would the Secretary-General be meeting with the staff of UNICEF? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that such a meeting was on the Secretary-General's agenda. The UNICEF's Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, was currently away, so the meeting would most likely be scheduled for next week.

The Secretary-General's report on UNSMIH (document S/1997/564) had not mentioned assessed contributions, while the past report had noted $30 million in arrears, a correspondent said. Had the arrears situation been resolved? he asked. Mr. Eckhard said no, that situation had not been resolved. He referred the correspondent to Hiro Ueki at the Spokesman's Office for more detailed information on the contributions for the mission in Haiti. When the same correspondent asked why the report had omitted information on the status of the contributions, Mr. Eckhard said he would have to ask the Secretary-General that question.

Next, a correspondent asked about the Secretary-General's meetings on reform with the regional groups. For the most part, Mr. Eckhard said, the political signals sent at those meetings seemed to indicate support. There had been specific questions on a wide variety of aspects of the reform package.

The Secretary-General had considered the consultation process itself to be of prime importance, Mr. Eckhard continued. He had wanted to be available to answer questions on the report, which was long and complicated. As had been mentioned before, the Secretary-General hoped that now the report would be sent to capitals where it would be studied in-depth through the balance of the summer. He further hoped that when delegations returned for the General Assembly in September an informed debate would ensue on the package as a whole.

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