DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000427The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by David Wimhurst, Acting Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal
While continuing to monitor the World Education Forum, which he addressed yesterday in Dakar, Senegal, the Secretary-General joined his wife Nane today for visits to a clinic and a school.
This morning they went to the outpatients centre of FANN Hospital, where they were briefed on Senegal's successful fight to contain the AIDS virus. Drawing on strong social structures and cooperative programmes involving religious and civic groups, an aggressive government policy over more than a decade has kept the national rate of HIV infections low.
Among the briefers at the clinic was the distinguished Senegalese medical researcher, Souleymane Mboup, who first discovered the existence of an older virus, HIV-2, which is concentrated in West Africa as well as in the former Portuguese colonies farther south.
Nane Annan asked a woman doctor if traditional taboos had not made it difficult to carry out a national information programme. Of course, the doctor replied, but the danger posed was so great, she said, that we have no choice.
The Secretary-General and his wife also had some private time with patients at the clinic. On the way out, traditional communicators, or griots, who were used widely in the anti-AIDS campaign, sang their message. The Secretary-General told Senegalese television afterwards that he was profoundly impressed with how the Government had led such a successful nationwide cooperative effort. The team that had briefed him, he said, were "Solide et solidaire" -- they showed solidity and solidarity.
After returning to his hotel, the Secretary-General met with Nigerian President Obasanjo. They discussed West African security issues, primarily peace efforts in Sierra Leone.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General and his wife were to visit a primary school, headed by a dynamic woman principal, where girls' education was a priority. In that school, slightly more than half the students are girls.
In the late afternoon, the Secretary-General will return to his official programme with a meeting with Senegalese Prime Minister Moustapha Niasse. This is to be followed by a session with the Foreign Minister, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio.
The Secretary-General concludes his visit to Senegal tomorrow, and then travels on to the Gambia.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 27 April 2000
**Security Council
The Security Council's open briefing on East Timor has begun, with Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi reporting to the Council on the latest developments there.
He told the Council that the overall security situation has been relatively stable, and that the situation on the border with West Timor has improved since a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 11 April by United Nations and Indonesian Army officials.
However, the economic and social conditions in East Timor remain a primary concern, Mr. Annabi said. Currently, United Nations quick impact projects employ more than 2,700 East Timorese, while the United Nations Mission is in the process of setting up Employment Service Offices in Dili and Baucau.
Mr. Annabi also noted that the Mission is discussing with the National Council for Timorese Resistance and other groups the possibility that East Timor could have a small armed force in the future.
We hope to provide the text of Mr. Annabi's comments, as they are delivered, shortly after this noon briefing.
Prior to its formal meeting, the Security Council held closed consultations to hear a briefing by Mr. Annabi on the incident last weekend in the Makeni-Magburaka area in Sierra Leone, which we reported to you earlier in the week.
Today, with the arrival of 250 Zambian troops in Freetown, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone now includes more than 8,300 military personnel.
There is no meeting of the Council scheduled for tomorrow, which is the beginning of the Orthodox Easter weekend. Unless the Council changes its plans, today's meeting is therefore the last to be held under the Presidency of Robert Fowler of Canada. Starting on Monday, the President of the Council for May will be Wang Yingfan of China.
**Kosovo
The Security Council delegation visiting Kosovo arrived there today, and began what is to be three days of meetings at United Nations headquarters.
Meanwhile, protests by Kosovo Albanians over missing Albanians in Serb prisons entered their second day. Restaurants and businesses were closed in support of the protest in Pristina last night. Some blockades of roads entering Pristina were reported, but did not hamper the movement of Council members arriving. Yesterday, the demonstration included the stoning of a United Nations bus carrying Kosovo Serbs, but there were no injuries.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 27 April 2000
**Bosnia
Yesterday in Sarajevo, the graduation ceremony for the first multi-ethnic class took place at the Federation Police Academy. The one-year course, held under the auspices of the International Police Task Force (IPTF), included six months each of classroom and field training. The 106-member class included 63 Serbs, 8 Bosniaks, 24 Croats and 11 others. Half the class consisted of female cadets.
During his speech at the graduation ceremony, the IPTF Commissioner, Vincent Couerderoy, stressed the importance of making the police forces in the Federation more multi-ethnic and gender-diverse as part of their overall democratization, and he commended the work of the Academy's staff in shepherding this first class through.
The Academy's second multi-ethnic class is ongoing, and the third should begin in July.
More news from Bosnia is available in the briefing notes from the mission which are available in our office and on the Web.
**Iraq -- Oil for Food Programme
The sum of $2 million was yesterday deposited in the United Nations "778 Escrow Account" by the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company. The amount is the equivalent to the value of 20 per cent of a cargo of oil found aboard the Academic Pustovoyt by the Multinational Interception Force (MIF) earlier this month. This portion of the cargo was found to have come from Iraq illegally.
However, the $2 million deposited by the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company was not a fine, as previously reported in the media, but an amount agreed to by the company with the MIF as equivalent to the value of the illegal amount of oil in the cargo. I repeat, this was not a "fine" assessed by the United Nations.
The United Nations Escrow Account, which holds frozen Iraqi assets, was used to pay for humanitarian aid to the northern part of Iraq prior to the adoption of resolution 986.
**United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
We have a note concerning UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy's call today on the world's donor countries to forgive immediately the debt of poor countries that have a viable plan for achieving the goal of education for all. Ms. Bellamy addressed the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal. "No country seriously committed to basic education will be thwarted in the achievement of this goal by lack of resources", she said, quoting the draft Framework of Action now being considered for adoption by the Forum.
We have a full statement available for you upstairs.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 27 April 2000
**Budget News
On budget news, Barbados has become the eighty-third Member State to pay its full contribution to the United Nations regular budget for this year. The payment is just over $84,000.
**Press Conferences
And finally, notices of press conferences which will be held in this room.
This afternoon at 2:30 p.m., Hubert de la Fortelle, representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament, will speak on the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Tomorrow, at 1 p.m., Robert Fowler of Canada, who is the current President of the Security Council, will review the April Presidency of the Council.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Will the Security Council Mission to Kosovo study the administrative measures taken by the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), namely their opening of its own customs, and also the use of non-Yugoslav currencies, which was seen by some people as violating the 1244 resolution?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: The delegation obviously will have full discussions with the Administrator, and obviously that would include looking at the regulations that have been brought out by the United Nations mission in Kosovo. We have a full programme of the trip, which is available, including all of the visits. I cannot tell you specifically what they will discuss with Mr. Kouchner, but obviously, as this trip goes forward, we will get more briefings from UNMIK and we will be able to keep you informed.
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