DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000425The following is a near-verbatim transcript of todays noon briefing by Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal
The Secretary-General today, after stopovers in Paris and London, is on his way to Dakar, Senegal, where he is expected to arrive in the evening.
Tomorrow morning, he will make the opening address at the World Education Forum, which will last from Wednesday through Friday in Dakar. We have copies of his address available, embargoed until 5 a.m. tomorrow New York time, that is 9 a.m. in Senegal.
In the speech, the Secretary-General emphasizes that, of the 110 million children who should be in school -- but are not -- two thirds are girls. Also, he notes that the majority of the 880 million adults worldwide who are illiterate are women. He says that societies must recognize that "educating girls is not an option; it is a necessity.
We also have available in the Spokesman's Office a joint statement by the Convenors of the World Education Forum, emphasizing that the right to education is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and supporting the goal of "Education for All.
Also, Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, says in a press release issued today that AIDS is "one of the biggest crises and the biggest threats to the global education agenda that we have known.
**Security Council Holds Consultations on Democratic Republic of Congo
The Security Council, in closed consultations this morning, are discussing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and are considering the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission there. That was issued last week, as you know.
Council members were briefed by Kamel Morjane, the Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who will talk to reporters in this room following the conclusion of the consultations. We will keep you informed on that.
Mr. Morjane described the robustness of the ceasefire as encouraging, and explained that the next step is to achieve a physical separation of forces throughout the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He also noted a marked change in the cooperation shown to the United Nations Mission by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He stressed that the international community is currently bearing the great responsibility for ensuring that the ceasefire holds. This will be achieved only by deploying, as soon as possible, military observers on the ground. He said the serious needs for specialized units is still remaining, and
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 25 April 2000
appealed to troop-contributing countries to respond to those needs to allow for speedy deployment.
After the consultations conclude, the Council will hold a closed meeting in its Chamber, to hear a briefing by the Neutral Facilitator of the Inter- Congolese Dialogue, former President Ketumile Masire of Botswana.
**Iraq-Kuwait
Tomorrow, the Security Council is scheduled to hear a briefing by the High-level Coordinator for Iraq, Yuli Vorontsov, on the Secretary-General's recent report on the return of Kuwaiti and third-party nationals.
**Chechnya
Just a few minutes before the briefing, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) informed us that a 17-truck relief convoy arrived in Chechnya at around 3:30 p.m. local time and began unloading. It was the second such delivery since early March. The convoy of trucks provided by Russias Ministry for Emergencies (Emercom) left the UNHCR base of operations in Stavropol, southern Russia, on Monday. The convoy spent the night in North Ossetia, and arrived in Grozny, Chechnya, today.
The Russian Ministry for Emergencies, Emercom officials and the United Nations are discussing where the 17 truckloads of food and non-food items will be distributed.
The distribution is expected to start tomorrow.
**The Commission on Human Rights
Discussions are still going on at the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. I am told that they are currently discussing the draft resolution on Chechnya. If there is a vote, it could happen soon. Meanwhile, a series of resolutions were acted on this morning, including on democracy and on indigenous peoples. The vote counts are available in our office.
[After the briefing, the Associate Spokesman noted that 17 countries had voted in favour of the resolution on Chechnya, 7 against, and 19 abstained.]
A moment ago, the Chairman read a statement on East Timor, reflecting a consensus among all the members of the Commission. In the statement, the Commission welcomes the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor and the Indonesian Government, and takes note of the work done by the two Commissions of Inquiry, the Indonesian one and the International one. It also urges a rapid solution of the East Timorese refugee problem in East Timor. The text of that statement is available upstairs.
**Drought in the Horn of Africa
We also have available today a summary of the findings and recommendations issued by the United Nations Special Envoy for the Drought in the Horn of Africa, Catherine Bertini, who is, of course, also the Executive Director of the World Food Programme.
Following her trip to Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya, which lasted from 11 to 19 April, Ms. Bertini says in her findings that the priority areas for relief assistance are water, basic medicines, food, seeds and livestock. It is also necessary, the mission reports, to enhance security, transport and infrastructure in the region.
The report says that even now, the negative effects of the drought are containable, and that every effort must be made to undertake measures to prevent widespread loss of life. The lives of as many as 16 million people are at risk.
The mission recommends a regional United Nations appeal for assistance to be launched next month, and urges cross-border relief efforts and updated assessments of relief needs in the Greater Horn of Africa.
We also have available the transcripts of the Secretary-Generals remarks today to the media in Paris about the situation in the Horn of Africa, and that is available upstairs.
**Sierra Leone
We learned today from Sierra Leone that over the weekend, on Saturday, heavily armed fighters of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), surrounded the recently opened disarmament reception centre in Magburaka in north-central Sierra Leone, and forced the peacekeepers present to take the camp down.
So far, no RUF combatants have disarmed in Makeni and Magburaka, which are two RUF strongholds, although the Civil Defence Forces have begun disarming in their areas of Bo and Moyamba. These four centres were opened simultaneously on 17 April.
**Budget News
We also have available for you today the "Status of Contributions to the Regular, Peacekeeping and International Tribunal Budgets" as of 31 March.
The chart indicates that, by the end of March, Member States owed $842 million for the regular budget, $1.9 billion for the peacekeeping budget and $93 million for the International Tribunals. This makes a grand total of approximately $2.83 billion owed by Member States to the United Nations.
**United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
We also have a press release from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), released here and in Abuja, Nigeria, which appeals to African leaders to take steps to control malaria throughout the continent.
Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of UNICEF, said that the means are available to prevent and cure malaria, but cannot be deployed if the political will is lacking. Ms. Bellamy is attending the first world summit on malaria, hosted by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
**Book Launching
Peacekeeping in Africa: Capabilities and Culpabilities is the title of a new book that will be launched here on Thursday, 27 April, in Conference Room 6 at 1 p.m.
The authors, Eric Berman and Katie Sams, will be present, as will Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari and Assistant Secretary-General Hedi Annabi. All are expected to speak.
The book, which contains a preface by the Secretary-General, looks at the role of African regional and subregional organizations in the promotion of security on the continent.
You are invited to this event.
**Press Conferences
Tomorrow, at 11:15 a.m., the United States Mission to the United Nations is sponsoring a press conference for Oxfam America, Oxygen Media and the National Education Association to announce Oxygen Medias support for Oxfams Global Action Plan. The Plan addresses the need for education for all the worlds children.
At 3 p.m., there will be a press conference by Franz Fischler, European Union Commissioner for Agriculture, following his participation in the High- level Segment of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
Both of these are press conferences scheduled for here, tomorrow.
**Questions and Answers
Question: The Secretary-General sent a letter to the Security Council regarding the creation of a group of experts. He mentioned that the group should be based in Nairobi. Why in Nairobi?
Associate Spokesman: You were talking about the letter last week, on the day when the Secretary-Generals report to the Security Council on the Democratic Republic of the Congo was released. That same day he had sent a letter to the Council in response to the Councils request, dealing with a clause in the latest resolution on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, regarding the exploitation of natural resources. The Council had asked his opinion, and the Secretary-General got back to them, suggesting the setting up of a panel of experts to look into the issue and report back to him. As far as I know, the Council has not discussed the letter from the Secretary-General.
Question: Why based in Nairobi?
Associate Spokesman: The Secretary-General recommended the setting up of a panel of experts and to report back in 6 months. I dont recall a place where the panel would be based. As I said, they have not discussed that item yet in the Council, so I dont know what they have decided to do, but we will keep you informed.
[The correspondent was later informed that Nairobi was proposed as a neutral site in the region.]
Question: Will there be any investigations into complaints by the Banyamulenge group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo about large-scale violations in the eastern part of the country?.
Associate Spokesman: As you know, the Secretary-General has repeatedly brought his concerns to the attention, in his reports, of the Security Council. He mentioned it in his last report to the Council [document S/2000/330]. We are in the process, as you know, of deploying military observers throughout the country. It is a vast country, but we have more than 100 observers on the ground now. Daily, we are trying to increase our eyes and ears on the ground and trying to monitor as much as possible. Obviously, we need to know the needs on the ground. That process is ongoing.
On the humanitarian front, as you know, we do have a presence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and they are constantly sending us reports. We bring them to your attention, when they go on mission and flag these concerns. As Kamel Morjane mentioned in the Council today, the swift deployments of these observers is currently a major priority for us and the sooner we have the necessary equipment to do so, the faster we can do that.
As to the complaints, I dont know which specific complaint we are looking into right now, but I can follow up.
Question: How should the Security Council mission to Kosovo be interpreted? As a mission of support, or a failure of Bernard Kouchner?
Associate Spokesman: As you recall, when Bernard Kouchner was here last year, he extended an invitation to Council members to see first-hand some of the challenges the Mission is facing in that province. The Council members subsequently agreed to go. They have issued a terms of reference that is available to you upstairs. I am sure that Ambassador Chowdhury would love to have talked about this mission, but I understand that he will debrief the Council almost as soon as he returns, as early as next week. I am sure you will hear more about what their observations are when they return.
As for the mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Council members agreed to go. I understand that eight members are going to Kosovo and seven to the Democratic Republic. These are two very complex operations the United Nations is currently undertaking, and I think they have decided to go in order to understand better what they can do to improve the functioning of the United Nations there.
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