DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19990209
The following is a near verbatim transcript of todays noon briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard:
**Guest at Noon:
Good afternoon... I would like to welcome Richard Monk, Commissioner of the International Police Task Force (IPTF) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who will give you an update on whats happening with IPTF, and take your questions.
**Secretary-General:
The Secretary-General returned from Jordan at 2:30 a.m. aboard the United States aircraft that took United States President William Clinton to the memorial service of King Hussein. He should be returning from Washington to New York about now, and is expected to go to the residence.
**Security Council:
The Security Council started consultations this morning on Western Sahara. The mandate and mission there will expire on Thursday, and members are discussing an extension.
Under other matters, Council members will most likely discuss the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia. On this issue, Mohamed Sahnoun, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy in Africa, arrived in New York last night. I dont yet know when he will be briefing the Council. We are also awaiting for confirmation of the date that the Secretary-General will brief the Council.
As correspondents know, the briefing was scheduled for today, but had to be postponed because of his trip to Amman. Both briefings are expected to happen either Wednesday or Thursday of this week, and we will let you know.
**Oil-for-Food Programme:
We squawked late yesterday the weekly update for the oil-for-food programme in Iraq, and that is still available in my office for anyone who may have missed it.
**East Timor:
As you also know, the ministerial level-talks on East Timor concluded yesterday evening, followed by a joint press briefing in this room by Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor, the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Ali Alatas, and the Foreign Minister of Portugal, Jaime Gama.
Ambassador Marker said that the proposals for autonomy were nearly a clean text. He said there were only very few but important issues which still require consultations with the two Governments. He announced that the senior officials would meet on 9 March, and then the Ministers would meet on 10 March. He said that after the March meetings, the United Nations should have a set course and a direction in which to pursue its activities in East Timor. The transcript of the press briefing is available on the briefing racks located in the second floor, Room S-285, and on the website.
**World Health Organization/River Blindness:
The World Health Organization has protected more than 34 million people from "river blindness", prevented more than 400,000 cases of blindness and cured at least 1.5 million people from the infection since it launched a project to eradicate the disease 25 years ago.
WHO, which describes the project as one of the most successful in the field of health and development in Africa, also says that more than 11 million children born since 1974 are not at risk of going blind due to river blindness.
These statistics and more are available in a press release issued by WHO to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the programme this week through ceremonies in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, as well as in other participating and donor countries.
Before WHO launched the campaign, river blindness was a real blight in West Africa. Before 1974, 60 per cent of the population had been infected and in some villages, up to 10 per cent were blind. Today, the risk of blindness has been eliminated throughout the programme area.
**The Hague Forum:
The First Lady of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton, today addressed The Hague Forum in the Netherlands which is examining implementation of the Programme of Action adopted at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.
We expect a press release on her address shortly. For now, you can pick up in my Office copies of the latest press release from UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund).
**Secretary-Generals Speech to Palestinian Rights Committee:
We have available in our Office the Secretary-Generals statement at the opening of this years session of the Palestinian Rights Committee, which was delivered on his behalf by the Under-Secretary- General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast.
The Secretary-General acknowledged that this past year has seen its share of frustration and despair. But he also pointed to the achievements of the Palestinian people, including the additional rights and privileges conferred on Palestine in its capacity as Observer by the General Assembly; the opening of an international airport in Gaza; and the conclusion of the Wye River Memorandum.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 9 February 1999
The Secretary-General expressed regret over the recent standstill in the peace process, and stressed that the parties must remain committed to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region based on Security Council resolutions.
He warned that too much is at stake for the process to falter again. Real, tangible progress, he said, is the best antidote to violence and the best answer to the forces of disruption, destruction and doubt.
**UNESCO Special Event on Africa:
Just a reminder that this afternoon, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is holding a special event on the development of science and technology in Africa from 3 to 6 p.m. in Conference Room 1.
The Secretary-General was scheduled to address the meeting, but instead, his speech will be delivered by Nitin Desai, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
We have copies of the speech in our Office, if you are interested, embargoed until delivery.
**Sierra Leonean Refugees:
Four Sierra Leonean refugees who crossed into northern Liberia in recent days told the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that hundreds of civilians are being prevented from fleeing eastern Sierra Leone by Revolutionary United Front rebels. The refugees say that hundreds of people who want to leave the rebel-controlled area in Kailahun district, about 20 kilometres from the Liberian border town of Vahun, are kept against their will by fighters.
You can get more details in the UNHCR briefing note from Geneva, in his Office.
**International Criminal Court:
Some of you have been anticipating next weeks meeting of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The PrepComs agenda is out on the racks today (document PCNICC/1999/1). It makes reference to resolution F adopted by the Rome Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court.
Resolution F outlined the PrepComs work, including its responsibility for drafting rules of procedure and evidence, a relationship agreement between the Court and the United Nations, financial rules and regulations and a budget for the first financial year. The Commission will also work to define the crime of aggression, as well as the conditions under which the Court would act in response to that crime.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 9 February 1999
The Commission will hold a total of three sessions this year. The first one, which starts one week from today, will run through February 26th.
**Special Rapporteur on Former Yugoslavia:
The Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in The former Yugoslavia, Jiri Dienstbier, will travel to the region this Sunday for a two-week mission.
Mr. Dienstbier will meet with Government officials in Croatia, and will go to the former conflict zones there. He will then travel to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, spending several days in Vojvodina in the north. We have a note in our Office with details.
**UN Appeal for Sudan:
The United Nations today is launching a nearly $200 million appeal for emergency humanitarian assistance to the Sudan -- and you can pick up a press release on that.
**Hurricane Mitch Aftermath:
Destruction by Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and Nicaragua topped $850 million, and the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a press release on that today, and you can pick up copies in my Office.
**Press Conference:
Finally, a press conference tomorrow, Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. -- Visions of the Third Millennium -- to launch a youth art competition on the theme: the right to a culture of peace and non- violence. It will be open to children from all over the world, and the actor and playwright, John Amos, will be the spokesperson for one of the sponsors, and the Ambassador of Spain to the United Nations, Inocencio Arias, will also speak.
**Question-and-Answer Session
Question: Do you know if the Secretary-General and President Clinton spoke about the dues/budget issue of the United Nations?
Spokesman: I understand that they did speak a couple of times, but I dont know if it was about money.
Question: On the situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea, is there any follow-up, is the ceasefire in action, because Ethiopia has said in a letter that Eritrea is continuing with the bombardment there?
Spokesman: The reports that we have is that heavy fighting broke out on Saturday. Its continuing today. Both sides during this long period of increasing tension, to our knowledge, have
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 9 February 1999
continued to arm. We think the potential for a very destructive war is there. Ambassador Sahnoun has been trying to support the efforts of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to find a political solution -- so far, not successfully. He will be reporting to the Council Wednesday or Thursday of this week, and well just have to wait to see what develops. But, it doesnt look good.
Question: On a question of protocol for the burial of a Head of State, does the Secretary- General represent the Organization or the President of the General Assembly?
Spokesman: The President of the General Assembly presides over the Assembly; he doesnt represent the Assembly. The Secretary-General, of course, heads the administrative arm of the United Nations and is usually the one who attends the memorial services, as was the case this time.
Let me just add, you know, we started putting out summaries of these briefings -- highlights actually -- and they are usually posted by 2 p.m. And, now our colleagues in DPI have changed the format of the fuller account of the briefing so that it is a near verbatim. That started yesterday. So, youll now find at the end of the day a near verbatim of this briefing to back up the highlights that come out earlier in the day.
The following is a summary of the briefing by Jadranka Mihalic, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly:
**General Assembly Schedule:
This afternoon at 3:30, the General Assembly will resume the emergency special session on Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. There are still 12 speakers remaining in the general debate, before the Assembly takes action on draft resolution contained in document A/ES-10/L.5/Rev.1, which was issued this morning.
Then, five more speakers are inscribed to address the Assembly after the vote.
Also this afternoon, the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Financing for Development, will hold the opening meeting of its second session, which was postponed from yesterday. The Assembly President will make an opening statement, the text of which will come out shortly as a press release in English and in Spanish. I understand Mr. Desai will deliver the statement by the Secretary-General.
And then, of course, this morning, the Open-Ended Working Group on the Security Council reform is continuing to meet in closed session.
**Question-and-Answer Session:
Question: I havent seen the resolution, but is there a date in it for the convening of the conference of the High Contracting Parties?
Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 9 February 1999
Spokesman: Yes, there is a change in date; that is one of the revisions in the draft. The date is now 15 July.
Follow-up question: It would be in Geneva, is that correct?
Spokesman: The United Nations Office in Geneva.
Follow-up question: Has that been approved by the Swiss and the people there?
Spokesman: The observer for Switzerland is one of the speakers, actually the last speaker, this afternoon before action on this draft, so you should look forward to their statement. And, I presume that copies of this resolution are available on the racks.
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