DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000614The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good afternoon, everyone. We are expecting Alfredo Cabral, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, to join us at the briefing today. He is on the road, and we hope he will make it in time. If not, we will arrange for him to talk to you sometime this afternoon.
**Lebanon-
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), accompanied by Lebanese army experts, resumed verification activities today along the border with Israel. They made significant progress and finished up just a short while ago. They expect to go back to work early tomorrow, and the Mission says there is hope that the verification process could be completed tomorrow. I know we said that last week, but we are getting very close.
**Security Council
The Security Council is holding consultations this morning on Cyprus and Bougainville. Council Members were briefed by the Secretariat on Cyprus and discussions, which were interrupted for a briefing in Bougainville, were expected to resume shortly -- I think they have now just resumed. Council Members have the intention to vote on the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) today. They still have that intention.
The briefing on the status of the peace negotiations in Bougainville was done by Noel Sinclair, the Director of the United Nations Political Office in Bougainville.
This afternoon, the Council will hold consultations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A draft resolution, following the report of the Secretary- General on the situation in that country, is expected to be introduced.
In between sessions, Council members will hold their monthly lunch with the Secretary-General.
**Democratic Republic of Congo
The Political Committee established by the Lusaka Agreement on the Democratic Republic of the Congo will hold two days of discussions here in New York with Security Council Members starting tomorrow.
Consultations are scheduled to begin in the morning with a briefing by the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Kamel Morjane, and then he will brief you sometime after that. Then a private meeting on the inter-Congolese dialogue will follow.
There will then be informal meetings between Council Members and members of the Political Committee throughout the afternoon. On Friday, a public meeting of
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 14 June 2000
the Political Committee in the Council chamber will take place in the morning, and that will be followed by a private meeting of the Political Committee in the afternoon.
As youll recall, the Secretary-General, in his report released yesterday, said the meeting of the Political Committee is a welcome chance for all parties to undertake a serious re-evaluation of the deteriorating situation in that country. He also said that it was an opportunity for the Council to make clear to the parties that their assurances of support for the peace process and guarantees of security and freedom of movement can no longer be taken at face value, but must be reflected in their actions.
He repeated his views in remarks on entering the building this morning, and we have the transcript available in my office.
**Ethiopia/Eritrea
A three-man planning team from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations is on standby for departure to Algiers to discuss a possible United Nations role in the peace process being negotiated by the Organization of African Unity for the Ethiopia/Eritrea war.
On the humanitarian side, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Eritrea has now deployed to a place called Ghirmayka, which is on the frontier with the Sudan. The team is working to cover the vast western lowlands border area, where, according to the Eritrean Government, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons have found refuge.
UNHCR is very concerned about the situation facing some 50,000 internally displaced at the Government-run Debat camp, which is one of the newest camps. The shelter situation there is extremely precarious and ever more urgent with the approaching rains.
The UNHCR airlift continues to intensify and will continue next week, with additional heavy vehicles, blankets, water equipment and other supplies scheduled to arrive.
**Sierra Leone
British troops have nearly completed their withdrawal from Sierra Leone. They are expected to be out by tomorrow. United Nations peacekeepers are taking over some of the positions vacated by the British, such as the airport in Lungi.
Meanwhile, the number of internally displaced gathered at the town of Mile 91 has reached some 45,000. Humanitarian convoys were headed to the area today with emergency assistance.
**East Timor
The United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) informed us today that the bodies of two UNAMET staff were exhumed. This is the first exhumation in connection with investigations into the deaths of UNAMET staff. These people were victims of the violence that erupted in East Timor after the popular consultation last August. The bodies, both male, were in graves in the village of Babolete in the Atsabe sub-district.
You can find more information by looking at the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) briefing note in my office. That note also has details on the first women's national congress in East Timor. More than 500 women from all the areas of the country gathered in Dili today to promote equitable development in the national reconstruction process.
Also today in the Timorese capital, during a meeting of the National Consultative Council, the Humanitarian Pillar of the United Nations Mission reported that between September of last year and May of this, more than 162,000 refugees have returned to East Timor; 36,000 metric tonnes of food and 10,000 shelter kits have been distributed; 5,000 houses have been built, and 734 primary schools opened. Also, 70,000 vaccinations were provided.
If you want that overview of humanitarian activity, check the briefing note.
**The 2000 Path to Peace Award
This evening, the Secretary-General will receive the 2000 Path to Peace Award, which recognizes an individuals outstanding leadership in the international community. The designation of the Secretary-General as this years honoree by the Path to Peace Foundation acknowledges his leadership at the United Nations, and particularly his dedicated efforts to build peace throughout the world.
In his remarks, which will be given upon receiving the award, the Secretary- General said that His Holiness Pope John Paul II has reminded us that lasting peace means more than the absence of war, and depends on two indivisible and interdependent rights: the right to peace and the right to development. That to face todays problems, most of which are assuming a global dimension, we must foster a consciousness of universal moral values among all sectors of the international community.
So, pick up the embargoed text of that speech.
**Deputy Secretary-General in Cartagena
In Cartagena this morning, the Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, is participating in a ministerial meeting of the Rio Group, which is a political grouping of several Latin American countries. Following that meeting, she will hold a joint press conference with the Foreign Minister of Colombia, Guillermo Fernandez de Soto.
**Fifth United Nations World Television forum
The convergence between television, digital technology and the Internet will be the focus of the fifth United Nations World Television Forum, which will be held here from 16-17 November. The forum, which is entitled TV@Globe: Adding Values in the Digital Era, will convene media industry leaders and experts from every part of the world to discuss, among other issues, the role of the television industry in bridging the "digital divide".
The theme and dates of the forum were formally agreed upon yesterday in a meeting between the Department of Public Information and representatives of the sponsoring partners of this year's forum. There is a new Web site for the forum, www.un.org/tvforum, that will be launched on Friday, 16 June.
We have a press release with more information if you are interested.
**United Nations Centre for Human Settlements
Habitat wanted us to let you know that a panel discussion organized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) on The role of partners in the Implementation of the Habitat Agenda through Global Campaigns on Secure Tenure and Good Urban Governance, and the draft World Charter of Local Self-Government will be held today at 3 p.m. in the Dag Hammarsjköld Library Auditorium.
**Signatures Today
We have a few signatures to announce. Today Costa Rica became the nineteenth State to sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
Also, Thailand became the forty-third State to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
**Press Conferences
I think we already mentioned that tomorrow, Thursday, Kamel Morjane, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will brief you following his appearance before the Security Council.
The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) has asked me to tell you about a briefing today in the UNCA Club on the Preparatory Commission for the Establishment of the International Criminal Court. There will be nine guest briefers from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. today in the UNCA club on the third floor.
That is all I have for you. See you tomorrow.
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