DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000712The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Good Afternoon.
**Secretary-General Ends Visit to Lomé, Togo
The Secretary-general is completing the last day of his visit to Lomé, Togo. His first appointment today was with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone, followed by President Pierre Buyoya of Burundi.
Following that, he met with General Victor Malu, Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army, and Colonel Kerfala Kamara, Chief of Staff of the Guinean Army. The Foreign Minister of Ghana, Victor Gbeho, also participated in the meeting organized for the Secretary-General to review the operation on the ground of the peacekeeping forces in Sierra Leone. Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria are the three West African States which are contributing troops to the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).
Upon leaving the meeting, the Secretary-General had a brief press encounter. In response to a question about the meeting, the Secretary-General said, "We discussed some of the operational difficulties on the ground and the need for us to work as a force that is solid and solidaire, and that really works together to implement the mandate. I think there was unanimity as to what we should do to pull support for Major General Jetley, and full support for our efforts on the ground. There is certain missing equipment that we need to provide for the contingents on the ground [that] some of the Western countries have promised and it will be my responsibility to press them to deliver."
In answer to a question on sanctions, he said, "Yesterday, we did discuss it with the political leaders and the decision taken by the Council to ensure that sanctions are imposed, and that neighbouring countries do not facilitate the smuggling of diamonds, particularly by the RUF, to continue the war. We hope that, in time, the diamond areas will be brought under governmental control and that the riches will be exploited for the benefit of the people of Sierra Leone who have suffered and suffered long enough, and hopefully will one day see peace, stability and prosperity."
Responding to another query, the Secretary-General said that he had discussed the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during bilateral meetings, but a mini-summit on the sidelines of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) gathering, such as was held on Sierra Leone, was not possible due to the absence in Lomé of President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
We will have the complete transcript of this press encounter later this afternoon.
The Secretary-General ends his marathon oversees trip -- that began with a tour of the Middle East -- this afternoon and will depart from Lomé to begin a private visit to Sweden. He is expected back at United Nations Headquarters early next week.
**Sierra Leone Update
In Sierra Leone, there has been no change in the situation of the 222 Indian peacekeepers and 11 military observers in Kailahun in the east. Every option continues to be studied in order to bring an end to this situation.
A significant relief convoy sponsored by the World Food Programme (WFP), together with the non-governmental organization partner Catholic Relief Services left Freetown this morning for Kenema via Mile 91. This convoy is being escorted by elements of United Nations peacekeepers and is designed to bring assistance to the displaced persons gathered there.
**Security Council
There are no Security Council consultations today. Tomorrow the Council has scheduled an opening meeting to discuss Kosovo and another on the extension of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP).
**UNICEF 'Progress of Nations 2000' Report Details Impact of HIV/AIDS on World's Youth
The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) today unveiled a new report detailing the enormous impact of HIV/AIDS among young people, whom UNICEF said hold the key to breaking the transmission rate and ultimately defeating AIDS.
The Progress of Nations 2000 finds that almost a third of all people with HIV/AIDS are between the ages of 15 and 24 - a total of some 10 million young people, and every minute, six young people under the age of 25 become infected with HIV.
Copies of the report will be available in our Office after the briefing.
We also have copies of the statement delivered by UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy today at the thirteenth International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.
She noted that one issue that had to be addressed urgently and bluntly was the need to break the unconscionable silence that surrounds the disease. The silence that surrounds HIV/AIDS will remain impervious to efforts by individuals, communities, organizations and nations until, and unless, the entire global community joins forces to fight back, she said.
**United Nations Reconnaissance Team Returns to Addis Ababa
The United Nations Reconnaissance Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea returned to Addis Ababa yesterday. They completed a four-day visit to Eritrea. Today they met with representatives of the Ethiopian Defence Ministry and the diplomatic community based in Addis Ababa.
Tomorrow, they will begin field visits to the north where the front lines are located, and the Mission is expected to hold further discussions early next week with Ethiopian authorities on the implementation of the 18 June Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. They will also meet with the Secretary-General of the OAU to discuss cooperative arrangements between the United Nations and the OAU in this regard.
Major General Timothy Ford, who is leading the Mission, gave a press conference this afternoon in Addis Ababa, and his remarks are available in our Office upstairs.
We are now in the final stages of coordinating the departure of two teams of military liaison officers to the capitols of both countries. We will let you know when that takes place.
**Secretary-General Appoints New Force Commander for East Timor
We have a new Force Commander in East Timor. Lieutenant General Boonsrang Niumpradit, of Thailand, has been appointed by the Secretary-General as the new Force Commander for the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). General Niumpradit is expected to take up his new position this coming Monday, 17 July, and will be replacing Lieutenant General Jaime de los Santos of the Philippines who has been the UNTAET Force Commander since February this year.
**McAskie Shocked at 'Brutal' Attack on Health Workers in Democratic Republic of Congo
We have a statement issued by Carolyn McAskie, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, available for you upstairs, in which she expresses shock at Sunday's brutal attack on a vehicle transporting relief workers from the International Medical Corps (IMC) that resulted in the death of the health centres supervisor and the wounding of several staff members. Armed men opened fire on the vehicle while it was at a checkpoint near Uvira, which is in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the third day of a polio immunization campaign in the region. As a result of this viscous attack on humanitarian personnel, the IMC has decided to suspend its immunization activities in that country.
As you know, the National Immunization Days were initiated after the warring parties agreed to honour a request made recently by the Secretary-General to stop fighting in most areas of the country so that 10 million children could be vaccinated against polio.
Ms. McAskie called on the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and all parties involved in the fighting in the eastern part of the country to adhere to their commitment to enable relief workers to operate safely and to ensure that those responsible for this cowardly act are brought to justice.
The full statement is available upstairs.
**Cyprus Proximity Talks in Two-week Recess
The Cyprus proximity talks adjourned today in Geneva, as we previously announced. They are scheduled to resume on 24 July.
At the conclusion of this round, Alvaro de Soto, Special Adviser to the Secretary General on Cyprus, told journalists that he did not want to characterize the state of the talks. Mr. de Soto also stated that the Secretary General had obtained a pledge from both parties to observe a strict news blackout even during the period of recess.
**Millions Needed to Address Humanitarian Costs of War in Ethiopia-Eritrea, UNHCR Says
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today said it needed $23 million to deal with the humanitarian cost of the most recent war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which drove nearly 100,000 Eritreans into the Sudan, Djibouti and Yemen, and caused massive displacement within Eritrea.
The UNHCR also announced today that representatives from more than 60 countries and international organizations will meet in Geneva on Thursday and Friday to discuss progress in efforts to resolve mass displacement in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The press releases from the UNHCR on both those items are available for you in our Office.
**Press Releases Available
We also have the weekly update for Afghanistan, as well as a note from the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention on Pino Arlacchis visit to Antigua and Barbuda.
We also have available the briefing notes from Kosovo from the missions (UNMIK) briefing in Pristina today.
**Israel Signs Convention on Terrorism
Israel became the twenty-first State to sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. Adopted in December of last year, the Convention remains open for signature until 31 December 2001.
**Budget Matters
We have available in the Spokesman's Office the "Status of Contributions to the Regular, Peacekeeping and International Tribunals' budgets" as of 30 June.
In other budget news, the United States has made a sizable payment to the United Nations today. The checks, amounting to approximately $135 million, are towards their peacekeeping dues.
**Press Conferences
Tomorrow at 2 p.m., the East Timor Action Network will discuss the situation of refugee camps in West Timor. Guests will include John Sayles, the noted filmmaker.
At 4 p.m., Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France, whose country holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, will present the priorities of the European presidency at the fifty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
And finally, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs asked me to bring to your attention an informal briefing by Ericsson for the Economic and Social Council humanitarian segment. That briefing will be held this afternoon from 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Conference Room 7. We have a handout upstairs on what the briefing is about. And that's the news from me. Are there any questions?
**Questions and Answers
Question: In light of the Taliban's edict forbidding women to work for United Nations agencies, can your Office provide us with copies of the original agreement that sets the international agency employment guidelines for women? Could we also get a copy of the Taliban's edict?
Associate Spokesperson: Let me start with your first question. I think what you're referring to is the Memorandum of Understanding between the United Nations and the Taliban regarding various issues, but ultimately designed to bring humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. That was from 1998 and yes, we do have copies available upstairs. We also have copies of the edict available.
Question: We heard that a representative of the Taliban told reporters today that one of the issues that had provoked the edict was that the WFP had hired 600 women in one day and that they had been made to sign biographical questionnaires which the Taliban found offensive. Can you confirm this?
Associate Spokesperson: This is the first that we've heard about the Taliban representative's statements to the press, so I can't comment directly on his allegations. However, I have two points. The first is that it is worldwide United Nations policy to reserve the right to choose its employees, whether in Afghanistan or anywhere else. Second, as for the WFP allegations, we'll have to get some guidance from them. I would assume, however, that the WFP must have similar guidelines in it's hiring practices. [The WFP said later that the 600 women were temporary workers with the blessing of the Ministry of Planning. They were required to provide their name and ID number for payment.]
Question: Is it true that United Nations and other agencies had been asked to provide the Government of Afghanistan with a list of names and corresponding biographical information for all the employees working for these agencies?
Associate Spokesperson: Again, I'll say that this is the first that we're hearing of this demand, so we don't have an official reaction. I think, though, that the same policy would apply; since the United Nations chooses its own employees as it sees fit, it would also not be obligated to supply governments with that type of information for screening purposes.
As you know, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Erick de Mul, is in Kandahar today where he met with the Foreign Minister there. Tomorrow, he will be travelling to Kabul and will be there taking up the issue of this edict and all its ramifications with the Ministry of Planning, which is the organ that announced the edict late last week.
Question: As a result of Mr. de Mul's visit, will the issue now be seen as resolved from the United Nations standpoint or will this prohibition of women seeking employment with international agencies have a continued deleterious effect on the United Nations ability to conduct humanitarian relief work in Afghanistan?
Associate Spokesperson: As you know, we made our point fairly strongly yesterday, that if such an edict were put into effect it would have a seriously detrimental effect on the ability of the United Nations to deliver programmes to the vulnerable populations of Afghanistan, many of whom are women and children. That concern stands and, hence, we've sent Erick de Mul to negotiate and demand that the edict not be put into effect. Since he is in the middle of discussions, I don't think I can give you a readout yet. We will keep you updated on the progress of the negotiations. We're hoping for the best, of course.
[Shortly following the noon briefing, the Associate Spokesman announced that Erick de Mul, following his meetings with the Taliban, had reported that things were looking positive, and that a resolution of this issue was imminent. Mr. de Mul is scheduled to travel to Kabul on Sunday, 16 July.]
Question: A few months ago, we heard the Special Representative of the Secretary-General described the Republic of the Congo as almost a forgotten country. Since then, we've heard nothing further. Are we letting this country die?
Associate Spokesman: I have not seen any new developments to report to you on the Republic of the Congo. I can certainly look into it, however, and let you know. I think the humanitarian dimensions of the crisis there have been repeatedly cited in documents that our Office has released as the situation there continues to be at the top of the list for agencies trying to deliver assistance.
Question: How would you describe President Kabila's attitude towards the United Nations? Is he being cooperative?
Associate Spokesman: Well, as I mentioned to you in our note, I think it is disappointing that President Kabila did not attend the summit in Lomé. I think the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the major issues in Africa that needs to be tackled today, so the fact that he was not at the summit and that all the parties could not discuss that crisis in any depth was unfortunate.
Question: Does the United Nations have any reaction or comment on the Taliban's decision to expel an American aid worker who had been working in Afghanistan for many years?
Associate Spokesman: I have no official comment. The only official report I heard this morning was that she had been working in Afghanistan for some 30 years and that she had been released today, along with a group of Afghan women, and would be leaving the country. That's all the information we have for now.
Question: Do you know the breakdown of the $135 million payment from the United States? Does that payment resolve that country's outstanding balance?
Associate Spokesperson: Let me look into that and get back to you with the precise figures.
[Shortly following the briefing, the Spokesman's Office announced that $41 million of the United States' payment was for the peacekeeping budget; $40 million was for the mission in Kosovo (UNMIK); and $53 million was for the missions in East Timor (UNTAET and UNAMET). The outstanding balance for the United States is $1.63 billion.]
Thank you and have a good afternoon.
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