DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

Good afternoon.

**Security Council Notes

The Security Council President this morning read a statement on Haiti. And we have the full text of that available in my office. The Council then heard a briefing by Ambassador Robert Fowler of Canada on the Report of the Panel of Experts on Sanctions Against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

All fifteen members of the Council are scheduled to speak, as well as representatives of Angola, Burkina Faso, Belgium, Togo, Rwanda, South Africa, Bulgaria and Zambia.

Following that open meeting, Ambassador Fowler will hold a press conference here in this room. We expect that could be 1 p.m. or later, depending on how long the Council session goes.

**Secretary-General’s Visit to Paris

The Secretary-General flew from London to Paris this morning where he began his official visit to France with a luncheon meeting with Laurent Fabius, the President of the National Assembly. They reviewed in depth the situation in Kosovo and efforts at reconstruction. Their talks also focused on peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the new inspection regime for Iraq, United Nations reform and plans for the Millennium Assembly.

The Secretary-General is now, or should now, just be beginning a meeting with the Minister of Defence, Alain Richard.

This evening, he will have a working dinner with Hubert Vidrine, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. And we’ll get read-outs of those last two meetings later today.

**Additions to Brahimi Panel

You’ll recall that at his press conference in announcing the composition of the panel on United Nations peace operations to be headed by Lakhdar Brahimi, the Secretary-General allowed that he might be naming additional members of the panel. Today, he is adding two new members.

The first is Vladimir Shustov, a former Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations and a specialist in security matters. He is currently Ambassador at large.

And second, Colin Granderson of Trinidad and Tobago, who has been serving as the head of the Organization of American States (OAS)/United Nations International Civilian Mission in Haiti also known as MICIVIH.

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 15 March 2000

Mr. Brahimi will meet with all members of the panel for the first time, Tuesday of next week.

**Chechnya Appeal

Today, the United Nations launched a new Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the Northern Caucasus during a meeting with Member States and agencies in Geneva.

Covering the period 1 December 1999 through 30 June 2000, the Appeal incorporates financial requirements of a three-month United Nations flash appeal launched in November 1999.

The new appeal seeks a net amount of $19.2 million to address the emergency and early rehabilitation needs of the displaced people and host families in the region. Among the agencies participating in this common humanitarian plan include the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

As you know, the Secretary-General is very concerned by the fate of civilians inside Chechnya and the United Nations is exploring the possibility of working inside Chechnya. However, the security situation remains extremely volatile and must be carefully assessed before launching any regular type of operations inside Chechnya. Provision was made in the Appeal to redirect some of the assistance to Chechnya, should security requirements be met.

**AIDS and Peacekeeping

As you know, Security Council resolutions on United Nations peacekeeping operations now include a clause “welcoming and encouraging efforts by the United Nations to sensitize peacekeeping personnel in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases in all its peacekeeping operations”.

There are no statistics or evidence supporting the contention that personnel in United Nations peacekeeping operations have, in fact, spread AIDS. However, because United Nations civilian and military personnel in peacekeeping or humanitarian operations can be exposed to the dangers of contracting or spreading AIDS, the United Nations has been stepping up preventive measures.

For example, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations proposed budgets for the United Nations missions in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that include a line-item for the procurement and distribution of condoms. Such a precautionary programme would be carried out in conjunction with efforts to sensitize personnel, both military and civilian, to the dangers of AIDS.

The Secretary-General writes in the forward of a new booklet on AIDS and HIV infection for United Nations employees and families, “until a vaccine or a cure is found, our greatest weapon against HIV/AIDS is knowledge”.

This booklet has just been distributed to all United Nations field missions by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. We have samples of these booklets in my office. One is for all United Nations staff, and the other is for soldiers and police. **New Peace-building Mission in Haiti

A new peace-building mission will start operations tomorrow in Haiti, replacing the United Nations Civilian Police Mission (MIPONUH) and the International Civilian Mission (MICIVIH), which end their work in Haiti today.

The International Civilian Support Mission in Haiti, which will be known as MICAH, is authorized by General Assembly Resolution 54/193 that was adopted on 17 December 1999.

The Secretary-General has recommended that MICAH assist the Haitian authorities in developing democratic institutions and provide technical assistance for elections.

The new mission is expected to have about 150 international staff when it’s fully deployed. The number of peacekeeping missions now stands at 15, down from 16.

On a related note, a new film on Haiti, called “A Work in Progress” is available from room S-805A in the Department of Public Information. This film, which documents the struggle to build a society respectful of human rights, was made by MICIVIH staff.

**’Oil-for-Food’ Weekly Report

We can finally announce the release of the latest report on the “oil-for- food” programme for Iraq. The document combines three requests from the Security Council for reports -- an overall look at the effectiveness of the “oil-for-food programme” in meeting the humanitarian needs of Iraq’s people; a summary of the report of the group of oil industry experts who were in Iraq in January, and the 90-day report for the current Phase VII.

And then there’s the weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme, which we also have upstairs. This weekly report shows so far that in Phase VII, Iraq has exported oil worth $3.9 billion. In Phases IV through VII, the sanctions committee has approved contracts worth $5.7 billion and put $1.7 billion worth on hold.

**Kosovo Notes

From Kosovo, we have the daily briefing notes from Pristina. Today, they contain an account of an incident that occurred earlier in the day in Mitrovica in which KFOR says it had to use tear gas to disperse a crowd while KFOR was widening a security zone at the north end of the bridge that divides the city.

The United Nations mission also announced that by the end of the month, it expected to have two special police units trained in riot control, one from Pakistan and another from Jordan, each with at least 100 officers. They are expected to be deployed in the Mitrovica area.

The United Nations police also reported a cluster bomb in a village near Decani in the Southeast, which apparently killed two boys.

**Secretary-General to Receive Polio Eradication Award

Rotary International will present the Secretary-General and Mr. Ted Turner with a Polio Eradication Champion Award on Friday, 17 March. It will be presented by Herbert Brown, the President of Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. It will be open to the press. If you’re interested, a list of past recipients of the award, as well as additional information on this ceremony is available in my office.

**UNESCO Book Launch

From the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), we have this announcement that a joint publication by UNESCO and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, entitled “Toward a Women’s Agenda for a Culture of Peace”, will be launched tomorrow at Columbia University in New York. Angela King, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, will introduce the publication.

And if you’re interested in that, you should contact Patsy Robertson, in the Division for the Advancement of Women on extension 7977. We also have a press release available.

**ILO Governing Body Session

From the International Labour Organization (ILO), gender discrimination, forced labour in Myanmar and the follow-up to the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work will be among the major items to be discussed at the session of the International Labour Organization’s Governing Body that will start tomorrow in Geneva. The session, which is the 227th , will run from 16 to 31 March. We have a press release available in my office.

**WFP Flood Relief Update

We have also available today’s update from the World Food Programme (WFP) on operations to assist flood victims in Mozambique and Madagascar.

**Press Conferences

A press conference this afternoon at 2 p.m. Co-Chairs of the New York Host Committee for Beijing + 5. More press conferences, and tomorrow is a holiday, Eid Al-Adha. Get the announcement of those other conferences on the bulletin board.

Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question: Do you have any details on how many members of the new Haiti mission are going to be deployed when it takes over tomorrow?

Spokesman: No I don’t. That’s a voluntarily funded mission and I think the number of personnel that can be deployed depends on the amount of money we collect.

Question: These 200 special unit police going to Mitrovica, are these newly-donated additions that are part of this police group that we’ve been trying to get?

Spokesman: Yes. The overall police requirements included the special police. The special police, that is riot control police, have been especially awaited. They need to work in cooperation with the Kosovo Force (KFOR) on riot control and so on. KFOR has had to do that on its own. And the way the job is properly done is for riot police to be the first line of defence in a riot control situation backed up by the military.

Question: Do you think that the recent events there propelled a quick donation?

Spokesman: It’s been in the pipeline for a long time. It’s just taken us a long time to get them. I don’t know that the events in Mitrovica have hastened things along. The events have certainly illustrated the need for these kinds of police.

Question: Also regarding Special Police, two days ago Ambassador Lavrov said to us, a few journalists in his mission, that Russia had made a request for 110 special policeman back in –- not Russia, actually -– Russia was asked to contribute 110, back in July. They were told that they could not go to Kosovo because there are not adequate premises for that. So what is the full truth about that?

Spokesman: You would have to ask the mission that question.

Question: No, they told us that they had been told.

Spokesman: The problem of some police units, and you have to ask the mission, where the Russian contingent of special police was to be deployed. But there’s a problem of housing these police. So first, there’s a problem of getting the commitment; second, when we’ve got the commitment, it’s a matter of absorptive capacity. Are we able to house them? I don’t know where in Kosovo, these police were intended to be deployed, but I’m speculating now, that one reason why they have not been deployed to date is that there has not been housing in the area that they were intended to go to.

Question: And he also told us that they were even ready to go the tents.

Spokesman: These are logistic matters that I would have to talk to the mission about. Not anything that I know about. I’ll have to get back to you, but we’ll have to call Pristina to get an answer.

Question: On the North Caucuses initiative, how much contact has there been with Russian officials on international agencies getting access to places like Grozny?

Spokesman: I think you know that we announced the departure to Moscow of a special envoy. A retired United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official, who’s been having talks in Moscow now for more than a week concerning a memorandum of understanding that would regulate or define the terms of reference for international relief agencies to operate in the Northern Caucuses and, specifically, in Chechnya. That memorandum of understanding

hasn’t yet been completed. It’s still being drafted. So there has been, for at least a week, daily consultations with the Government of the Russian Federation.

Question: Does the Secretary-General have a position on the report accusing many African countries of sanction busting?

Spokesman: No, he doesn’t. That is an event that’s just happening now. Ambassador Fowler is presenting the results of his panel’s inquiry and Member States are reacting. I don’t think the Secretary-General would want to say anything until, at least, the Member States have finished commenting on the report.

I said, I think it was yesterday, that the candour of this report, in being very specific about naming names of people, or governments, that they have found evidence of sanctions busting, will strengthen the Security Council’s sanctions regimes as a whole. I think it’s good that we get this kind of blunt, candid, reporting with everyone being held to account. As for a specific reaction by the Secretary-General to the African nations involved, which I think is your specific question, I have nothing to say on that today.

Thank you very much.

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