DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

[Incorporates briefing by UNICEF Representative for Sierra Leone]

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by welcoming Tony Bloomberg, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative for Sierra Leone, to this briefing. Since the evacuation of United Nations international staff from the country, he had been operating out of Conakry, Guinea. Sierra Leone remained an underreported story, and as Mr. Bloomberg was in New York, he had been asked to brief correspondents about developments there.

"You've probably noticed a lot of people smiling in the Building today", Mr. Eckhard told correspondents, lighting up like a Christmas tree himself. "It is a billion-dollar day at the United Nations", he said, referring to last night's announcement by Ted Turner, Vice-President of Time Warner, Inc., that he was donating $1 billion -- $100 million annually over 10 years -- to support United Nations activities.

The moral boost that the donation had given to the Organization exceeded the financial value of Mr. Turner's gift, the Spokesman said. In the unlikely case of those who might have missed the news, he told the packed news briefing of how Mr. Turner "stunned us all" at the United Nations Association dinner last night where he was being honoured as the principal guest. Some people had immediately inferred that the United States did not have to pay its $1.5 billion debt, but that was not the way the financial regulations worked. He explained that the United Nations could not accept contributions by private citizens against the regular budget expenses. The Charter was categorical that Member States had to pay those. No one, therefore, was "off the hook".

Mr. Turner had stated that his donation would go towards supporting humanitarian work: lifting landmines, helping refugees, and feeding hungry children. Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General had been making appeals to the private sector since January, asking them to get involved in the work of the United Nations. He hoped that Mr. Turner's gift would be the first of many from the private sector. Correspondents would be able to hear for themselves what Mr. Turner said at the ceremony, as a videotape of it would be shown on in-house television (Channels 3 and 31) at 1 p.m. today, courtesy of Cable News Network (CNN).

The Secretary-General was stopped by journalists as he came into the Building this morning after his breakfast with the International Peace Academy, the Spokesman said. "I think it is a wonderful gesture and I hope it is a sign of things to come", the Secretary-General said. "It shows his

belief in the Organization and in international cooperation, and I hope it will inspire governments to pay what they owe."

On that subject, Mr. Eckhard said, the list of outstanding contributions for mid-month was out today, coincidentally. It showed that the total outstanding contributions were at nearly $2.6 billion. Of that amount, $655 million was for the regular budget, $25 million was for the two International Tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, and $1.9 billion was for peacekeeping operations.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that Eritrea had become the eighty-eighth Member State to pay its contributions to the regular budget in full, with a cheque for $160,508. That meant that the Organization was now about where it had been last year at this time, in terms of the number of Member States paid in full.

The Secretary-General was meeting with the "Group of 77" developing countries this morning, and with the Latin American Group and the Eastern European Group in the afternoon, the Spokesman said. All those meetings were reform-related, in preparation for the General Assembly's consideration of his reform package. He was briefing those groups on the specifics, and speaking with them about the strategy for implementing the package.

The Security Council this morning considered the situation in Georgia, Mr. Eckhard said. It received a briefing by Liviu Bota, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia, who explained the status of the peace process, including the Geneva talks between Georgian and Abkhazan parties last July, and the next round of talks scheduled for mid-October. Mr. Bota also described the good cooperation between United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) and the forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Council was now taking up a draft ministerial statement for the ministerial level meeting planned for 25 September on the subject of Africa. It might also take up the report on Liberia.

Mary Robinson, the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, would be at Headquarters next week, for a period of two weeks, the Spokesman said. She would arrive on Monday, 22 September, and was scheduled to meet with the Secretary-General and senior United Nations officials, as well as with high-level government officials who would be at Headquarters for the Assembly's general debate. At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, 30 September, she would hold a press conference in room S-226. At noon on Wednesday, 1 October, she would meet with non-governmental organization representatives in the Economic and Social Council Chamber. Interview requests were to be placed with Isabelle Broyer of the Spokesman's Office. Ms. Robinson had issued a statement on the Secretary-General's human rights investigative team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was available in the Spokesman's Office.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 19 September 1997

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), had issued a statement on Tajik refugees, which was also available on the third floor, as were two other press releases from the World Food Programme (WFP), the Spokesman said. The first was about malnutrition among children in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while the other was on Sierra Leone, where food was almost running out in Freetown, its capital.

Mr. Eckhard drew attention to the fact that the hectic part of the General Assembly would begin on Monday, with the arrival of heads of State for the commencement of the general debate. There was an extraordinary security situation on Monday because of the visit of President William Jefferson Clinton to address the Assembly. The basic rules for Monday were that all vehicular traffic on First Avenue in the vicinity of the United Nations would be suspended at 8:30 a.m. Those driving in were required to get to Headquarters before then. The regular flow of traffic would resume at about 3:10 p.m.

There would be three crossing points from First Avenue into Headquarters for pedestrians with valid United Nations identification, the Spokesman said. They would be at 42nd, 45th and 48th Streets. Journalists with equipment would have to go through the metal detector at the Visitors Entrance. As of 8 a.m., access to the second floor would be restricted to all correspondents, except those organized on a pool basis by the United Nations. All those measures were expected to be lifted by 3:10 p.m. Lieutenant Levtchenko of the United Nations Safety and Security Service was the contact point for correspondents and could be reached at extension 3666.

With respect to those arrangements, Raghida Dergham, President of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA), said she had spoken to the Security Service, which had confirmed that those holding valid United Nations identification -- not only resident correspondents -- would have access through the 42nd Street entrance. As for the second floor, she said that although security might put extraordinary arrangements in place, the normal thing was that all holders of press passes could go to the designated areas on the second floor. There would be equal access for all correspondents. The only difference was that resident television correspondents had more access than their non-resident colleagues. Beyond that, there would be no discrimination of any kind, and once the special security arrangements were lifted everyone would have equal access.

On the same subject, Mr. Eckhard said that if there were any errors in the Department of Public Information (DPI) bulletin that had been issued, it would be corrected and a revision issued.

Apart from Mr. Turner, had there been any large private donors to the United Nations that could be identified? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he understood from the UNHCR that George Soros had made a $25 million contribution for assistance to refugees in Bosnia; the money was put in a

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 19 September 1997

trust fund and disbursed consistent with UNHCR's programme activities. The Spokesman said there was a meeting this morning between Joseph E. Connor, Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, and his staff and representatives of Mr. Turner, to begin to discuss the modalities for accepting the donation and how it would be spent. Noting that Mr. Turner had said in his speech that he would be contacting other people of means in the country to urge them to offer similar support to the United Nations, the Spokesman said the donor seemed intent on enlarging the fund. "Of course, we would welcome that."

Asked how the money would be administered, Mr. Eckhard said that the idea was premature. "We are all just smiling with happiness and thinking about how we are going to do it, but it is too early to say what the details are."

Had Mr. Turner stipulated any particulars as to how the money would be disbursed? a correspondent asked. Was there a time line? Mr. Eckhard said that, in announcing the donation, Mr. Turner stated that it was not to go to administration. "And it can't, by United Nations rules", the Spokesman added. Mr. Turner wanted it to go to such areas as landmines, children and disease. Work was still going on at this point concerning specifics. "A donor can give voluntary contributions for a certain kind of activity, and we can accept in that spirit. Once we accept it, then we become the ones who decide how specifically the money is spent." There had been no discussion of time line, to the Spokesman's knowledge, except that Mr. Turner had said he would pay out the donation at the rate of $100 million a year for 10 years.

A correspondent asked about private donations that had come to the Organization "for frogs and dogs and teddy bears and what-nots". Mr. Eckhard said the odd cheques were still coming in, and that some $68,000 had been collected from a score of countries. The money had gone into a special fund, but could not be used against the United Nations arrears, which had been the symbolic intent of the donors.

Where had the meeting between Mr. Connor's office and Mr. Turner's representatives been held? a correspondent asked. Could a read-out on it be obtained? Mr. Eckhard said the meeting had been held at Headquarters, presumably in the office of Mr. Connor, who "told me that they got off to a very good start".

Had there been any concerns raised within the United Nations about one person giving such a large gift and earmarking it, in effect, setting United Nations priorities about how the money would be spent? a correspondent asked. Mr. Turner would not set United Nations priorities, the Spokesman stressed; those were set by Member States and funded out of the regular budget. Voluntary contributions could be accepted by the Secretary-General if they were used for purposes consistent with the programme objectives set by the General Assembly. "As long as that activity was approved of by the General Assembly, there is no reason why you cannot turn up the volume a little bit

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 19 September 1997

with additional contributions, either by individual governments or, as in this case, by private citizens."

On whether Mr. Turner wanted something in return, Mr. Eckhard said that listening to him talk, the donor evidently believed in multilateral causes and had the means to support those beliefs. The Spokesman said he was not worried about the issue of the money being issued as stock options, nor by whether Mr. Turner would try to influence how the money would be spent, since United Nations rules would not permit that. Upon further questioning, he said that Mr. Turner's kind of donation was much more common for the voluntary agencies.

In response to a question, the Spokesman said he was not aware of a comment from the United States Government with respect to Mr. Turner's donation. To another question, he said he did not know if Mr. Turner would be making another similar donation to any other organization. "You would have to ask him. I don't think he is giving anyone else a billion dollars, though."

Some people were saying that the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization was just a bureaucratic report with no practical value, a correspondent said. Asked about its utility as a document, Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General reported annually to the General Assembly on the work of the Organization. It was called for in the Charter and it was up to the Member States to assess the value of the report.

Had there been any fresh initiative by the Secretary-General on Afghanistan following the mission of Lakhdar Brahimi, which seemed to have arrived at a "dead end"? a correspondent asked. The Spokesman said that Mr. Brahimi's report was in, but he had nothing to add to what he had previously told correspondents.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said that the President had been in the audience last night when Mr. Turner made his "stunning" announcement, but that was definitely a case of being "positively stunned". He said that the Assembly President had high hopes that the fifty-second session would be a watershed event in promoting the cause of reform in the United Nations. To reach that goal, the Organization needed both symbolic support and practical contributions, and Mr. Turner had certainly provided a billion-dollar symbolic gesture. Mr. Udovenko had known Mr. Turner as a steadfast and vocal supporter of the United Nations. By his pledge, noted the Spokesman, Mr. Turner had certainly "put his money where his mouth is".

The General Assembly today held its fourth meeting, at which it had considered and approved the report of its General Committee (document A/51/250). The report contained agenda items and their allocation to different Committees. Giving highlights, he said that the item on the reform of the United Nations proposed by the Secretary-General would be considered by the Assembly in plenary.

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 19 September 1997

Mr. Taukatch said the Assembly would recess its session not later than Tuesday, 16 December, and the Committees were expected to complete their work before 28 November. The General Committee had also recommended that the meetings of the Main Committees, as well as informals, be adjourned no later than 6 p.m., and there would be no meetings on weekends.

The General Committee had further recommended that the General Assembly waive the requirement of the presence of at least one third of Members to declare a plenary meeting open and permit the debate to proceed. Mr. Taukatch noted that the President of the General Assembly would see to it that the session worked at a fast pace.

Mr. Bloomberg, the UNICEF Spokesman for Sierra Leone, said that the situation in that country had been deteriorating since the coup on 25 May. Its nutritional status had declined and was approaching 10 per cent of global malnutrition, the point where supplementary feeding had to be implemented. However, there was a lack of supplementary foods in Sierra Leone. There was also a lack of relief food. Although there was commercial food available, purchasing power was very low and people were depending on relief food.

Since the coup, the health system had also collapsed, Mr. Bloomberg said. There was minimal child survival activity being carried out by UNICEF and the health-related non-governmental organizations -- that is, by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Action Aid, Action contre faim, and Médicins sans frontières. However, despite those activities, the situation would deteriorate further unless certain constraints were lifted.

The UNICEF would like to see a very liberal exemption of relief supplies from the current Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) embargo, Mr. Bloomberg said. Not only vaccines and injection materials, but general food should be exempted, he said. Without general food, children returning to their families after supplementary feeding would again be faced with malnutrition.

Mr. Bloomberg said it was very important that United Nations international staff be allowed back into the country to back the nationals currently at work in Sierra Leone and to ensure that the supplies go to the needy beneficiaries. "We are sounding the alarm now to avoid a humanitarian crisis in two or three months time", he said.

* *** *