DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

David Wimhurst, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by expressing pleasure and extending a welcome to the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, who after the briefing would talk about his first report.

Mr. Wimhurst then said the Secretary-General's visit to Japan had continued yesterday with a very full programme. In the course of that programme, the Secretary-General had twice addressed the Second Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD II). In his remarks to the plenary session, the Secretary-General had noted that the peace and security situation on the African continent remained ambivalent. He had said he was particularly troubled by conflicts and violence based on regional or ethnic identities and a lack of respect for humanitarian and human rights norms, especially regarding the rights of women.

Further, the Associate Spokesman continued, the Secretary-General had said that States interfering in political, military and security problems beyond their borders were creating a spillover effect, with conflict in one country jeopardizing or undermining progress in neighbouring peaceful States. On the positive side, he had also said there was a growing determination by Africans, working through the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and subregional organizations, to take responsibility for finding solutions to Africa's problems. They were recognizing that only an Africa free of conflict could hope to find stability and that, as he was often repeating, "chronically insecure neighbourhoods are not the ones that attract investment".

The Secretary-General had gone on to say that that the overarching challenge in Africa remained poverty reduction and the integration of Africa into the global economy, Mr. Wimhurst said. That was an enormous task, encompassing a full slate of urgent issues for which "all out capacities and all our will" had to be summoned. "But we should not be daunted", he said.

Those remarks had been made at the plenary session, Mr. Wimhurst noted. Later, in his remarks during the closing session, the Secretary-General had said that the forum he had been attending had demonstrated that the long-term stability of the global economy would be facilitated by the many contributions that Africa could make, rich as it was in human and natural resources. The conference had provided a boost to Africa's efforts to reform and equip itself to take advantage of the opportunities presented by globalization, while managing its negative aspects.

"One of the most valuable aspects of this conference has been the opportunity it provided for dialogue between African and Asian leaders and nations", the Associate Spokesman said, quoting the Secretary-General. That dialogue would lead to new understandings about the development process, to new directions for South-South cooperation and to new partnerships on the ground, especially with the private sector, the Secretary-General had added.

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 21 October 1998

It was already Thursday in Tokyo, approximately one in the morning, Mr. Wimhurst said. Later in the day in Tokyo, the Secretary-General would be meeting with young Parliamentarians and in the afternoon would attend a luncheon hosted by the Foreign Minister. Following that, the Secretary- General would meet with the Rector of the United Nations University, Van Ginkel, and then attend the Founding Ceremony of the Academic Council on the United Nations System in Japan. His activities would also include a dialogue with Japanese university students and he would hold a press conference before leaving in the evening for Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Mr. Wimhurst then announced that the Security Council had scheduled informal consultations for today at 4 p.m. to discuss the situation in Kosovo. As background, he added that the expanded Contact Group, consisting of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States, and with it the delegations of Japan, Portugal and Sweden, had been working on a draft resolution, following the agreement reached between the United States Envoy Richard Holbrooke and President Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Still on Kosovo, Mr. Wimhurst recalled that last week the Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Louise Arbour, had announced her intention to lead an investigation team in Kosovo. The Prosecutor was now planning to go to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 5 November. No further details would be given now, but it was likely that the Prosecutor would talk with the press at the end of the mission. She was now in New York, presenting the budget for the Rwanda Tribunal to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

Mr. Wimhurst then read a statement by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Sergio Vieira de Mello, on the situation in Guinea-Bissau, which read as follows:

"I am extremely concerned and disheartened over the resumption of fighting in Guinea-Bissau and the collapse of the cease-fire to which all parties have largely adhered for almost three months.

"This renewed conflict is having a profound impact on the humanitarian situation in Guinea-Bissau. Many of the over 300,000 internally-displaced civilians who had begun to return to their homes in and around Bissau City are once again forced to seek refuge in the interior of the country. This is placing a heavy burden on the rural host communities, which have already exhausted most of their resources over the last four months in caring for the displaced. Furthermore, the fighting will most likely disrupt the harvest, which is currently underway.

"I urge all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and principles and to ensure the safety and security of innocent civilians. I also appeal to them and to the neighbouring countries to facilitate the delivery of urgently-required humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable populations in Guinea-Bissau."

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 21 October 1998

Copies of that statement were available in room S-378, Mr. Wimhurst said, as were copies of a note by Mr. Vieira de Mello on the subject of his completed visit to the Ukraine. He stated in the note that in the course of his visit he had held in-depth discussions with senior Government officials, donor representatives and representatives of United Nations agencies on strengthening international cooperation to address the serious problems relating to the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

As mentioned yesterday, Mr. Wimhurst said, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, and the Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Pino Arlacchi, were indeed in Colombia. Mrs. Robinson had yesterday discussed administration of justice issues and the protection of human rights defenders with Colombian authorities and representatives of non-governmental organizations. On the second day of her visit, her first to Colombia, the High Commissioner had participated in a seminar on the administration of justice organized by the Andean Commission of Jurists. Continuing her visit today, she would meet with Colombia's President, Andres Pastrana, with Colombia's Prosecutor-General, its Human Rights Ombudsman and the leaders of the two houses of Parliament, as well as with representatives of national and international non-governmental organizations.

Mr. Arlacchi, the Associate Spokesman said, was scheduled to sign an agreement with President Pastrana through which the Government of Colombia and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) would commit themselves on a number of issues. Those would include the most important one of alternative development and others, such as the negative environmental effects of illicit cultivation and production, demand reduction, legal assistance and money laundering. The Conference on the peace process that Mr. Arlacchi had been scheduled to attend had been cancelled and he was continuing his activities in Colombia today.

Turning to the issue of the Taliban, Mr. Wimhurst said the United Nations and Taliban officials had now had three days of discussions on security arrangements for United Nations operations in Afghanistan and they would meet again tomorrow. "The talks are taking place in a cordial atmosphere, with both sides expressing a desire that matters be swiftly resolved, paving the way for United Nations international staff to return to the country", he said.

"And for some more good news", Mr. Wimhurst said, "for the first time in a very long time we have received a payment from the United States of America", which he said had made a payment of $50 million to the United Nations regular budget. "Well done, United States", he added. "Let's see more of the same."

The amount of the overall outstanding contributions now stood at $2.4 billion, the Associate Spokesman continued. Out of that amount, over $600 million was outstanding for the regular budget, more than $1.7 billion for peacekeeping operations and less than $100 million for international tribunals. Copies of the monthly report on the status of outstanding

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 21 October 1998

contributions to the United Nations regular budget as of 15 October were now available in room S-378.

For those concerned with the fate of sharks, Mr. Wimhurst said that in a press release issued in Rome today, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) had said that many of the world's shark and ray species were severely depleted. "Unless efforts are taken promptly to halt growing catches, the future of many more shark populations is very bleak", the report had stated. Mr. Wimhurst added that representatives from approximately 70 countries, including major fishing nations and observers attending an FAO consultation, were expected to approve an "International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks". Copies of the press release were available in room S-378.

Also, Mr. Wimhurst said, a number of documents on the racks today would be of interest to correspondents. Those included the reports of the special rapporteurs examining the respective human rights situations in Iran (A/53/423) and Iraq (A/53/433); the Secretary-General's report on emergency assistance to Tajikistan (A/53/316); and the report of the High Representative for the implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina (S/1998/947).

Also out today was a new report of the Secretary-General on human resources reform (A/53/414), Mr. Wimhurst said. It described the series of actions to be taken for realizing the vision of organizational change, as set out by the Secretary-General.

Finally, Mr. Wimhurst said, a note from the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) had announced that in the UNCA Club at 11 a.m. tomorrow, 22 October, the Secretary-General of Amnesty International would hold a briefing entitled, "Rights for all: The failure of human rights in the United States".

Asked by a correspondent whether the $50 million payment by the United States was enough to take it out of being subject to Article 19, Mr. Wimhurst said not yet, it still had a way to go. Asked how much the United States needed to pay to stay out of Article 19, the Associate Spokesman said "somewhere in the vicinity of $300 million". There had been a briefing on that issue yesterday afternoon with very good details, he added.

In response to a question about whether the High Commissioner for Human Rights had issued a statement on General Pinochet of Chile, Mr. Wimhurst said he couldn't recall her having made a statement, but that he would follow up on that.

Jadranka Mihalic, spokesman for General Assembly President Didier Opertti (Uruguay), said the plenary this morning had taken up the report of the Security Council (document A/53/2). It had been introduced by the President of the Council for October. So far, 34 additional speakers had been inscribed to address the plenary on the issue in both the morning and afternoon sessions.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 21 October 1998

Thursday morning, the spokesman continued, the plenary would meet in Conference Room 3 to enable the preparing of the General Assembly Hall for the United Nations Day concert to be held on Friday. The Assembly would consider a note by the Secretary-General (document A/53/357) concerning notification by him under the stipulation of Article 12, paragraph 2 of the Charter, which states that "The Secretary-General, with the consent of the Security Council, shall notify the General Assembly at each session of any matters relative to the maintenance of international peace and security being dealt with by the Security Council...".

Also on Thursday, Ms. Mihalic said, the plenary would take up the issues of cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States (agenda item 27) and between the United Nations and the Organization of American States (agenda item 21). Draft resolutions on those items would be before the plenary and after discussion of those items, the plenary would take up the issue of cooperation between the United Nations and the Latin American Economic system (agenda item 25). Finally tomorrow, the plenary was expected to take action on two reports of the Fifth Committee, dealing with gratis personnel and the support account for peacekeeping operations.

Regarding the work of the Main Committees, Ms. Mihalic said the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) this morning had heard the final seven speakers in its general debate. This afternoon, the Committee would begin consideration of the rationalization of its work and the reform of its agenda.

In the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning, the spokesman continued, a draft resolution on operational activities for development had been introduced and the Committee had begun consideration of the item on environment and sustainable development. The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today was continuing the general discussion of the promotion and protection of the rights of children.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), Ms. Mihalic said, had begun this morning with a discussion of the pattern of conferences, before proceeding with informal consultations on the development account. This afternoon, the Committee would hold informal consultations on development planning. The Sixth Committee (Legal) had today begun consideration of the establishment of an International Criminal Court.

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