DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000110The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General:
**Security Council Discusses Impact of HIV/AIDS on Peace and Security in Africa
Good afternoon. The first open meeting of the Security Council this century took place this morning before a packed house, with Vice President Al Gore of the United States presiding over the beginning of a discussion of the impact of HIV/AIDS on peace and security in Africa.
Twenty-eight Member States are on the speakers list, including the Health Ministers of Namibia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. If any of you have any interest in interviewing any of those Health Ministers, please let my office know.
Vice President Gore spoke of the need to recognize a new agenda for world security -- an agenda including the challenges of the environment, of drugs and corruption, of terrorism and of global pandemics.
Mr. Gore described HIV/AIDS as a global aggressor which, in Africa, is as much a security crisis as a humanitarian crisis.
In his comments, the Secretary-General acknowledged the expanding security agenda and included the problem of inequality between States and the exclusion of too many of the world's people from the benefits of globalization.
The Secretary-General said the impact of AIDS in Africa was, in some ways, worse than warfare, killing about 10 times more people than armed conflict.
He said AIDS overwhelmed health services, created millions of orphans and caused social and economic crises, threatening political stability. He said, "this cocktail of disasters is a sure recipe for more conflict".
The President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, also spoke, noting that it was the first time the Bank was addressing the Security Council.
Mr. Wolfenson argued that poverty and development issues were root causes of most conflicts and told the Council that the absence of action against such issues would result in a world of conflict.
He said Africa needed up to $2.3 billion for programmes to prevent the growth of HIV/AIDS -- this compared to the $160 million in official assistance currently provided.
I won't go on further. The Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mark Malloch Brown, and the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot, also addressed the Council, but they will come to this room at 1:15 p.m. to give you a special briefing on AIDS. And they will be joined then at 1:30 p.m. by Jim Wolfensohn of the World Bank.
We also have available in my office a detailed briefing kit on AIDS in Africa prepared by UNAIDS.
If there are any questions that can't wait until 1:15 p.m., we have Jim Sherry who is the Director of Programme Development at UNAIDS and who will be joining me here at about 12:15 p.m.
**Notes from East Timor: Vieira de Mello Appoints 10 Judges to Civil Judiciary
At midnight on Wednesday of this week, the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET) will hand over to the newly created Civil Judiciary of East Timor 36 cases of people detained by INTERFET for serious crimes. About two thirds of these cases involve militia activity.
The United Nations Administrator for East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, last Friday appointed 10 judges to the Civil Judiciary, who will begin functioning on Thursday of this week. Also on Thursday, the United Nations Civilian Police will assume the principal authority for arresting, detaining and investigating criminals. The text of the notification of the appointment of the judges is available in my office, along with the text of the statement made on the occasion by Mr. Vieira de Mello.
One of the first cases to be taken up by the new Civil Judiciary may involve a man who was arrested today in Liquica by United Nations Police in connection with several murders committed in Liquica last April. The suspect has been identified as a member of a local militia group.
Tomorrow, United Nations Police will begin exhuming a mass grave in Liquica. Local sources say the site contains seven bodies from the April 1999 church massacre in Liquica and 11 bodies from the 17 April violence in Dili.
**Notes from Kosovo
We have upstairs today's briefing notes from Pristina, Kosovo. The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo announced that tomorrow the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Bernard Kouchner, will preside at the handover of 11 tons of toys and educational material from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to a group of Kosovar children. The materials -- purchased by financial donations by the citizens of Paris -- will be distributed to schools throughout Kosovo. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), together with KFOR, the military force, will also be taking part in the distribution.
UNHCR, meanwhile, reported that it operated in Mitrovica an exceptional inter- community bus service over the three-day holiday weekend, giving both Albanians and Serbs a chance to attend religious services and to visit Muslim and Christian graveyards on opposite sides of the River Ibar.
The special Serbian Orthodox Christmas and Muslim Bajram bus shuttle service had Danish drivers and French KFOR escorts, and they took place without a hitch, giving hundreds of Kosovars the opportunity to show respect for their deceased relatives in safety.
On Friday, for the first time in many months, bells tolled in the long- shuttered Orthodox Church south of the river. The following day, some 240 Albanians living south of the same river travelled north to visit the Muslim graveyard, and then on Sunday some 40 Albanians went to the Mosque. Also on Sunday, 100 Serbs went to the Christian graveyard in the south.
**Disarmament Board List Available
We have available in my office a list of this year's board members of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. That board will hold its next session from 31 January to 2 February.
The Board, which provides advice to the Secretary-General on arms limitation and disarmament affairs, has five new members this year. They are: Ambassador Guillermo Enrique González of Argentina; Ambassador Kostyantyn Gryschenko of Ukraine; Ambassador Jean-Marie Guéhenno of France; Ambassador Hu Xiaodi of China; and a name I think is familiar to all of you, Graça Machel, the former first lady of South Africa and the President of the Foundation for Community Development.
The Advisory Board has 20 members, as well as one ex officio member, and will be chaired this year by Miguel Marín Bosch, who has served for many years as Mexico's representative to the Conference on Disarmament.
**Emergency Relief Coordinator Statement on Sudan Incident Available
We have a statement attributable to Carolyn McAskie, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, on an incident that took place in the Sudan last week, and which calls on all parties to maintain respect for international humanitarian law and principles. In that incident, two humanitarian aid workers were killed and two were abducted.
**Notes from Sierra Leone: Status of Troop Strength
We have now the complete status of deployment of the United Nations troops in Sierra Leone.
As of today, more than 4,500 troops are present on the ground. Out of the six battalions scheduled to make up the peacekeeping mission, five are already in the mission area -- two from Nigeria, one from Kenya, and one from Ghana. And then there is also a unit from India, which is providing administration, medical, transport and engineering, as well as an aviation refueling unit. The last battalion is from Guinea and it is scheduled to arrive in Freetown shortly. In addition to the infantry, there are also 215 unarmed military observers to monitor the ceasefire and report on violations.
**Otunnu Statement on Minimum Recruitment Age Available
Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, issued a statement today as discussions got under way in Geneva on a draft optional protocol dealing with the minimum recruitment age for military service which is currently set at 15.
In his statement, Mr. Otunnu said: "I urge the establishment of 18 as the minimum age for both recruitment -- voluntary as well as compulsory -- and participation in armed conflict. The age limit must apply both to governments and to non-State entities and for both international and internal armed conflicts".
The text of his statement is available in my office and Mr. Otunnu is available for press interviews today on that subject. Fergus Nicoll, his press officer, can be reached on extension 3-8460.
Jim, welcome to the briefing -- Jim Sherry from UNAIDS who's here to take any questions you might have. [A summary of Mr. Sherrys briefing will be issued as a separate press release.]
**Terrorism Convention Opens for Signature
This morning the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism was opened for signature at United Nations Headquarters. By the end of today, seven nations are expected to have become the treaty's first signatories.
Starting at 9:30 this morning, the Ambassadors of Finland, France, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka signed the Convention at the United Nations Treaty Room. And then this afternoon, officials from Malta, the United Kingdom and the United States are expected to sign the treaty between 3p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The Convention, which commits governments to take steps to prevent the financing of terrorist activities, was approved by the General Assembly on 9 December, and it takes effect 30 days after it has been ratified by 22 countries.
**Payments
Today, Denmark and Egypt became the eleventh and twelfth Member States to make their full payments to the regular budget for the year 2000. Denmark made a payment of approximately $7.2 million and Egypt a payment of approximately $670,000.
We also have copies of the updated Honour Roll for this year available in my office.
**UNEP Press Release on Biosaftey Talks Available
We have available upstairs a press release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the resumption of biosafety talks later this month in Montreal, Canada. Governments will resume the talks -- following the suspension last February of the first session in Cartagena, Colombia -- from 24 to 28 January, and will focus on reducing any potential risks that could result from the transboundary movement of living modified organisms.
In addition to a press release, UNEP has also provided a brief backgrounder on biosafety issues that could be discussed during the talks.
**Screening of "The Hurricane"
And last, we'd like to remind you that at 3:30 this afternoon in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, the United Nations Staff Union, Universal Pictures and Beacon Pictures are hosting a special screening of the film "The Hurricane," based on the life of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Among the expected attendees at the screening will be General Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab, the Director of the film, Norman Jewison, and the star, Denzel Washington. As part of the ceremony, Universal Studios will provide a donation to the scholarship fund for the children of United Nations personnel who have died in the line of duty. That's all I have for you. What do you have for me?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Do you have any comment on the report in the Financial Times today about the Secretary-General's short list of names for the Chairman of UNMOVIK? Are those the only two names on the short list? Is that the final short list?
Spokesman: No, I think if what the Financial Times reported was that a list of two names was sent, then that's not accurate. This is the last week, as you know. The Secretary-General expects to announce a choice of a new Executive Director by Friday of this week. He will be consulting with Security Council members tomorrow on the remaining names, and there are more than two. Until he gets the feedback from the Council members he won't be in a position to give a final evaluation of this list. We expect an announcement on Friday.
Question: How do you plan to have this announcement. Will the person be present on Friday regarding the naming?
Spokesman: I don't know. That's a television question, right? You want a picture?
Question: No, it's just for planning purposes in terms of time of day. Will it be a Friday night surprise or will it be earlier in the day?
Spokesman: Because its unresolved at this time I really can't predict how this drama is going to unfold between now and Friday. So I couldn't predict what time on Friday or even how the announcement will be made.
Question: Let me ask a television -- and now, since my company was taken over today -- an Internet question also. What did Mr. Gore and the Secretary-General discuss at their meeting?
Spokesman: I don't have a read-out of that meeting. I'm sorry.
Anything else? Any questions on AIDS, or do you want to wait until 1:30 p.m.?
Question: The Secretary-General had issued a report not too long ago concerning the root causes of conflict in Africa, namely poverty. In his statement before the Council today we had the whole agenda, submitted to the Council, and the word "poverty" does not appear in any of these items. Could you explain that?
Spokesman: No, his position hasn't changed. So I dont think you should take what he said today as contradicting anything he has said before. I think he still considers poverty as one of the major destabilizing elements in the world today.
Thank you very much.
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