PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

At a Headquarters press briefing today, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sergio Vieira de Mello, told correspondents that the humanitarian mission to Kosovo proposed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be a humanitarian needs assessment that would look at the short- and medium-term needs.

Mr. Vieira de Mello, who was speaking at the daily noon briefing, said the proposed mission would particularly focus on a positive scenario for a change -- the possibility of the return home of all the Kosovars, Serbs and others who had been displaced by the conflict. As the situation permits, immediate rehabilitation needs would also be examined and there were no apparent preconditions attached to the mission.

The purpose of an advance team that would precede the mission would be to work out the modalities of the mission, the logistics, the itinerary and security arrangements, he continued. As for questions raised about freedom of movement, that was what the Secretary-General had requested in a letter that he, Mr. Vieira de Mello, had sent to the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia three days ago. "It was confirmed to me and freedom of movement is obviously our precondition for a credible assessment of needs", he added.

A correspondent noted that freedom of movement in an area where security was tenuous might be very difficult. He wanted to know what assurances were being sought from both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Serb side that the humanitarian needs assessment mission would not be caught in the middle of a bombing or other security measures. Mr. Vieira de Mello said, "there is an element of risk in any such mission and, although we are not irresponsible, I would say that we are used to working in that kind of environment. Unfortunately this is not new to the kind of job that we do".

The Serbs had provided assurances on security for the mission, he continued. The Yugoslav Government had stated that clearly, in a letter, as had the Yugoslav Ambassador to the United Nations, Vladislav Jovanovic. The Secretary-General had also notified the Secretary-General of NATO, Javier Solana, of the Organization's intention to dispatch the mission. "We will be in touch with NATO headquarters in the coming days, providing them with maximum information, which I hope they will use as wisely as possible", he said. "We need freedom of movement."

Asked if a pause in the bombing was being sought before the mission went in, Mr. Vieira de Mello said no, he did not think that was the Secretary- General's intention.

A correspondent drew attention to the disparate nature of the agencies that were going into Kosovo over a 10-day period, among them the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Bank. Were they

De Mello Briefing - 2 - 7 May 1999

all going to stick together, given that they had such different needs and requirements? he asked. Mr. Vieira de Mello said that, as he had mentioned earlier, those were just some aspects that had not yet been worked out. There might be need for an environment specialist in certain areas of the country, but not in others, and that was what the advance team would be working out.

Asked if he would be travelling to other parts of Yugoslavia, once he was in Kosovo, the Under-Secretary-General said, "I hope this will be a comprehensive needs assessment mission". It would start in Kosovo and it would continue in the republics of Serbia and Montenegro. "We will look at all those areas where we believe or have been told that humanitarian needs exist."

Responding to a question on the length of the mission, Mr. Vieira de Mello said that depended on a number of factors. His guess was that it would take a minimum of 10 days.

Another correspondent asked if Mr. Vieira de Mello was leading the mission. He responded that the Secretary-General had asked him last night to head the mission, as an indication of the importance attached to it. He could not yet say how many people would be on the mission. He had also asked the advance team to let him know who they believed were essential to do the job properly and with adequate security.

A correspondent asked who would be supplying security and would the team be free to see things that it was not supposed to see? Reiterating his earlier point, Mr. Vieira de Mello said, "we attach great importance to freedom of movement. I do not want to be the prisoner of pre-arranged itinerary". One of the fundamental principles of humanitarian work was free access to areas and people who were relevant to the work.

Mr. Vieira de Mello added that security was one of the items on the agenda of the advance team. Since they would be looking into that issue, he did not want to pre-judge or make any statement today that might complicate their task. Obviously, however, since the work would be carried out in the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, it would be largely their responsibility on the ground to supply security for the mission.

A correspondent raised the concern of United States officials about manipulation of the mission. Mr. Vieira de Mello said he thought the judgement and experience of the members of the team could be trusted. He, for one, had 29 years experience and there were not many examples of situations where he would have allowed the United Nations or humanitarian agencies to be manipulated in any form. "We will do our utmost to be able to carry out a credible assessment", he said.

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