DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000713The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good afternoon. Professor Ibraham Gambari, Under-Secretary- General and the Adviser to the Secretary-General for Special Assignments in Africa, will be joining me shortly. Following the noon briefing, Professor Gambari, who visited Angola in May and held talks with President dos Santos and other officials, will talk to you about the Secretary-General's report to the Security Council on Angola, which was released today.
**Secretary-General Appoints Panel to Monitor Sanctions Against UNITA
Also on Angola, there is a letter on the racks today to the Security Council from the Secretary-General in which he appoints experts to serve on a monitoring mechanism on the implementation of sanctions against UNITA. The five panelists named are: Christine Gordon of the United Kingdom; Juan Larrain of Chili; James Manzou of Zimbabwe; Ismail Sekh of Senegal and Lena Sundh of Sweden. We should have their biographies available for you later.
**Secretary-General's Report on Angola Highlights 'Grave' Humanitarian Situation
As I mentioned to you, also available today is the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Office in Angola (UNOA), in which the Secretary-General highlights the serious humanitarian situation and the grave overall human rights situation in Angola.
**Security Council Schedules Meeting on Conflict Prevention
The Security Council met in closed consultations this morning on the subject of Conflict Prevention. Speaking to journalists afterwards, the President of the Council, Ambassador Patricia Durrant of Jamaica, said there would be an open meeting on the subject of Conflict Prevention on 23 July chaired by the Jamaican Foreign Minister, Paul Robertson.
Later, the Council held an open meeting in which it adopted the Presidential Statement marking the fifth anniversary of the events at Srebrenica. The Council also observed a minute of silence in honour of the victims.
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The Council also voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the United Nations Military Observer Mission in Prevlaka (UNMOP) for a further six months.
As of now, Hédi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations is briefing the Council on the situation in Kosovo. We hope to make his briefing notes available to you after his presentation to the Council.
**United Nations Welcomes Release of Hostages in Fiji
We welcome the safe release of the 18 remaining hostages after 55 days of captivity in the Fijian parliament compound.
However, we will not have a formal statement until the Great Council of Chiefs concludes its meeting sometime tomorrow.
**Middle East Peace Coordinator Releases Report on Palestinian Economy
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Terje Roed Larsen, released a report today on the Palestinian economy. The report outlines some of the major challenges that lie ahead.
In that report, the Special Coordinator underscores the need for a more rapid pace of institutional and fiscal reforms by the Palestinian Authority as well as the need for greater mobility for both Palestinians and their products.
Speaking from Gaza, the Special Coordinator said: Real long-term growth of the Palestinian economy requires sustained private investment and increased exports. Only a viable peace agreement will provide the stability and predictability necessary to achieve these goals. The ongoing talks at Camp David represent a unique window of opportunity to achieve a lasting peace, and to ensure a durable prosperity for the Palestinians.
The complete report will be available shortly on the Web at www.unsco.org
**At International AIDS Conference, African Scientists Push for Development of HIV Vaccines
Leading scientists in Africa have thrown their weight behind the development of HIV vaccines for Africa by calling on African governments, regional and international agencies, industry and donors to speed up research and testing.
A new African Strategy for an HIV vaccine, unveiled this morning at the 13th International Conference on AIDS, hopes to fast track HIV
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vaccine development in Africa to achieve results in the shortest possible time.
Two decades into the HIV epidemic, sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear a disproportionate burden of HIV infection. Two-thirds of all people with HIV/AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa and in 16 African countries, 10 per cent or more of the adult population is already infected with HIV.
You can pick up a press release in our office for more details.
**Brundtland Highlights Link between Violence Against Women, HIV
Also available is a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO) on breaking the silence on violence and HIV. Speaking at the AIDS Conference in Durban, WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland said that violence against women is an important contributor to the spread of HIV. We will not achieve progress against HIV until women gain control of their sexuality, she said.
**FAO Announces Theme for World Food Day 2000
A Millennium Free from Hunger will be the theme of this years World Food Day to be observed on 16 October, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today.
That press release is available upstairs.
**Press Conferences
At 2 p.m., this afternoon, the East Timor Action Network will discuss the situation of refugee camps in West Timor.
At 4 Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France, in the context of the French presidency of the European Union, will present the priorities of the European Union at the 55th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Thats all I have for you. Thank you very much.
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