DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Fred Eckhard, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, opened today's noon briefing by introducing a person he said he had waited 20 months to recruit -- the new Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Manoel de Almeida e Silva of Brazil. Mr. Eckhard said the former journalist, sitting alongside him, had worked with O Globo, with the United Nations Information Centre in Rio de Janeiro and with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"I met him in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he was head of UNHCR's information programme. He was in charge of something modestly called Information Notes, which every journalist working in Bosnia and Herzegovina considered the most valuable piece of weekly information put out by anyone there." Mr. Almeida e Silva had then become the head of the Public Information Section of UNHCR in Geneva, Mr. Eckhard continued. The United Nations had "borrowed" him for a year as spokesman in Guatemala, and then "I grabbed him from Guatemala". After the Secretary-General had agreed with the appointment, as of today, Mr. Almeida e Silva was Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

"So welcome", Mr. Eckhard said, then gestured towards the correspondents. "This small crowd is an illusion", he added, "They're all watching in their offices, so just wave", the Spokesman added, and both men waved.

"Now down to business", the Spokesman said. The Security Council had met this morning for informal consultations to discuss two draft resolutions, one on the illicit flow of arms to and in Africa, and the other on the security and neutrality of refugee camps. The Council had also discussed a draft presidential statement on enhancing the monitoring activities authorized by the Security Council and carried out by Member States. Both the draft resolutions and the draft presidential statement were expected to be adopted by the Council this Thursday, at a formal meeting following consultations on Kosovo scheduled for tomorrow.

The resolutions and statement would complete the series of six themes addressed by the Security Council's ad hoc group on the Secretary-General's report on the situation in Africa, Mr. Eckhard continued. The Council had already adopted a resolution on strengthening coordination between regional organizations and the United Nations for conflict prevention and the maintenance of peace. The Council had already adopted another resolution on strengthening the effect of arms sanctions regimes, as well as a presidential statement on strengthening Africa's peacekeeping capacity.

Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations would be represented at the ad hoc Ministerial Meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to be held in

Gaborone, Botswana, this Friday, by the Secretary-General's Representative for the Great Lakes Region and the Regional Humanitarian Advisor, Berhanu Dinka, and not by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall, as had been reported by some news organizations. Ambassador Dinka would travel to Botswana on Thursday, the Spokesman added. The ad hoc meeting would precede the Ministerial Meeting scheduled for 6 December, to be followed by a Summit meeting in Lusaka on 8 December. The ad hoc meeting was expected to provide a mechanism allowing the Democratic Republic of the Congo rebels direct contact with the representatives of the countries involved in the conflict in that country.

The Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights had been issued today, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General reported that the ceasefire in the Israel-Syria sector had been maintained without serious incident over the last six months and that the area of operation of UNDOF had remained calm. Despite the present quiet, however, the situation in the Middle East continued to be potentially dangerous and was likely to remain so "until and unless a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the Middle East problem" could be achieved. The Secretary-General therefore recommended an extension of the UNDOF mandate for a further period of six months until 31 May 1999. The current mandate would expire at the end of this month.

In a letter to the President of the Security Council, Mr. Eckhard continued, the Secretary-General had informed the Council of his intention to renew the mandate of the United Nations Peace-Building Support Office in Liberia for a further year, until the end of December 1999. In the letter, dated 11 November, the Secretary-General had reported on the active role the Office had played since its establishment last year, particularly in reducing tensions between Liberia and its neighbours and with the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG). The Secretary- General had also mentioned the efforts of the Office in promoting internal reconciliation.

As mentioned earlier in the week, Mr. Eckhard said that at the Secretary-General's request there would be a meeting today with the Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sergio Vieira de Mello; the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and representatives of all United Nations agencies directly or indirectly involved in assistance efforts to Central America in the wake of Hurricane Mitch. Multilateral financial institutions had also been invited to the meeting, whose purpose was to review medium- and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction priorities with the aim of dividing efforts among the international actors on the ground. For further information, the contact person at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs was Phyllis Lee; for UNDP, it was Ian Steele. Both were Information Officers.

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Mr. Eckhard then said the first-ever nationwide nutritional survey of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, conducted by major humanitarian agencies operating in that country, had confirmed the presence of serious malnutrition among children. According to the findings of the survey carried out by the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the European Union, the overall malnutrition rate for young children in the famine-stricken country was around 60 per cent in the moderate to severe category and 16 per cent in the acute. Both rates were the highest in East Asia and put the Democratic People's Republic of Korea among the world's top 10 list of countries for the highest malnutrition rates.

The survey, Mr. Eckhard added, had been carried out between 23 September to 16 October. The survey sample had been drawn from 130 of the 212 counties in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The figures represented more than 15 million people, of whom 2.1 million were children under the age of seven. Further details were contained in the press release available in room 278.

"Well, the widely anticipated bronze cast elephant is being unveiled, as we speak, in the United Nations garden",Mr. Eckhard said. Available in room 378 was the text of the address the Secretary-General was delivering on the occasion, during which he was expressing the heartfelt thanks of the United Nations to the Governments of Kenya, Namibia and Nepal for their generous gift. (See also Press Release SG/SM/6800-HQ/589.)

Tomorrow and Friday (19 and 20 November) the Asia-Pacific Regional Symposium on Children and Armed Conflict would be held at the United Nations University in Tokyo, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, would deliver the keynote address, and the meeting, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in collaboration with Mr. Otunnu, the United Nations University and the Japan Committee for UNICEF, would be the second in a series of regional symposiums aimed at raising awareness about critical issues. Friday's session of the two-day meeting would be open to the public and the media. That day's activities would include panel discussions and a question- and-answer session in which the media were welcome to participate.

As announced yesterday, Mr. Eckhard said, the Third United Nations Television Forum would take place on Thursday and Friday, 19 and 20 November, in the Economic and Social Council Chamber. The Forum would begin at 9:45 a.m. tomorrow with addresses by the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General and the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lamberto Dini. The Chairman of the Telegraph Group Ltd, Conrad Black, would be the keynote speaker. At noon, there would be a Film Directors' round table dedicated to the memory of Akira Kurosawa and organized by Martin Scorsese, which would feature a video presentation by Mr. Scorsese and other presentations. Panels would continue until Friday afternoon; further details on Friday's programme

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would be disclosed tomorrow, while the entire programme would be webcast live on the Internet.

"On behalf of the French Mission, I am proud to announce -- and pleased -- that Le Beaujolais Nouveau has -- arreeved", the Spokesman pronounced with flair. Also, the Mission had invited all to the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club on Thursday at 5:30 for a first taste of the '98 vintage and to listen to the Nicolas Rageau Quartette.

A correspondent asked whether a read-out had been made available of the first day back at work of the inspectors in Iraq.

"The United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) on Iraq reported to us that the inspectors went out today, did a normal day's work and came back", Mr. Eckhard said. Asked to verify that there had been no problems, Mr. Eckhard said, "No problems".

A correspondent then said there had been talk from the United States and the United Kingdom about opposition leaders one day taking over Iraq. "Is there an opinion on whether that kind of talk from members is a violation of the United Nations Charter?" the correspondent asked.

"I think Members can say anything they want, including in this house", Mr. Eckhard said. "We are an organization of governments and I, on behalf of the Secretary-General, would not react to anything Members would say, at least not in this case."

Jadranka Mihalic, spokesman for General Assembly President Didier Opertti (Uruguay), said that yesterday afternoon the President had met with the Joint Coordinating Committee of the Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement to inform them on progress in the work of the fifty-third session and to share his views on issues before the Assembly.

In the meeting, the President had referred to his ongoing consultations on revision of the Charter, particularly with regard to the reform of the Security Council, and on preparations for the Millennium Assembly, which he believed should be more than a symbolic observance but an opportunity for Member States and the Secretariat to review priorities at the outset of the new millennium. Finally, the President had shared his strong views that the General Assembly President should be included, ex officio, as an observer in all deliberations of the Security Council on issues affecting international peace and security.

This morning, Ms. Mihalic then said, the Assembly had first taken up the issue of Bethlehem 2000. A draft resolution on that item had been introduced on behalf of 28 sponsors by the representative of Senegal in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the

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Palestinian People. Eleven other speakers had been inscribed on the item and had addressed the Assembly before action had been taken and the resolution had been adopted without a vote.

Ms. Mihalic said the Assembly had then begun consideration of the situation in Central America: procedures for the establishment of a firm and lasting peace and progress in fashioning a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development. Three reports of the Secretary-General had been circulated under that item, along with two draft resolutions. The representative of Mexico had introduced a draft on the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala, and Guatemala had introduced a draft on the situation in Central America. Ten other speakers had been inscribed to address the Assembly on that item. Due to the number of speakers inscribed for the two items being considered in the plenary this morning, the meeting was expected to resume in the afternoon.

Tomorrow morning, Ms. Mihalic said, the plenary would take up the report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal's annual report would be introduced by the President of the Tribunal, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, and so far seven other speakers had been inscribed to address the Assembly on that matter. In the afternoon, the plenary would begin considering the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters. A draft resolution on that matter, co-sponsored by 27 Member States, was contained in document A/53/L.16 and 62 delegations had been inscribed on the list of speakers, with the list not yet closed.

With regard to the work of the Main Committees, Ms. Mihalic said the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) had begun this morning the general debate on the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. At the end of the morning session, the Committee had also been scheduled to take action on the question of Guam, which had been postponed during consideration of the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

The spokesman said several draft resolutions would be introduced this afternoon in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), including a draft on three reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), four drafts on human rights questions and one on human rights situations, as well as reports of Special Rapporteurs. The Committee had also been scheduled to take action on three draft resolutions on the Office of the UNHCR; two draft resolutions on implementation of human rights instruments; four on human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms; four on the reports of special rapporteurs and representatives

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(Iran, Haiti, Nigeria and Kosovo); and one on the implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), Ms. Mihalic said, would take action this morning on draft resolutions on the financing of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone as well as on the scale of assessments. It would also open the general discussion of the programme budget implications of the resolution on the scale of assessments, and continue discussion of human resources management and of the financial reports and audited financial statements and reports the Board of Auditors. It would later hold informal consultations on the development account, and on the review of the implementation of the General Assembly resolution establishing the Office of Internal Oversight Services.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) would hold informal consultations all day on measures to eliminate international terrorism.

A correspondent asked for an elaboration on the President's strong view concerning the General Assembly President's participation in the Security Council. Was that a precedent? he asked. Ms. Mihalic said it may not have been a practice in the past, but the present President felt strongly that the person in charge of the General Assembly, the only organ of the United Nations that included participation by all Member States, should participate as an observer in deliberations and should have insight into what happened in the other main organs of the United Nations.

Did that mean there was no communication between the Security Council and the General Assembly, some normal channel for information? Ms. Mihalic said that was not the case. "The President feels that any head of the General Assembly should know first hand what is going on." Asked whether the President intended to speak before the Council, Ms. Mihalic said the President would be in the Council only as an observer.

Asked to elaborate on the resolutions regarding Guatemala, Ms. Mihalic said she would provide the reference numbers of the two resolutions before the Assembly, one on the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala and one on the item of Central America as a whole.

Finally, a correspondent welcomed the new Deputy Spokesman on behalf of those present and those not present today.

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