DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000726The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Global Compact
Good afternoon. This morning in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, the Secretary-General opened a meeting with representatives of nearly 50 transnational companies, as well as leaders of labour and civil society organizations, to discuss his Global Compact. That Compact, you'll recall, urges business leaders to promote and apply nine principles pertaining to human rights, labour standards and the environment.
Opening the high-level meeting, the Secretary-General said he hoped today's session would send out a clarion call to others, so that other businesses, unions and civil society organizations can join in a truly Global Compact. What is necessary, he said, is "to ensure that the global market is embedded in broadly-shared values and practices that reflect global social needs, and that all the world's people share the benefits of globalization".
The Secretary-General will talk to you here in room 226 at about 1:00 p.m. at the end of the session this morning about that meeting, and then immediately afterwards there will be two panel discussions involving participants in the meeting. So those two discussions should start around 1:15 p.m. The Secretary-General will take your questions just on the Global Compact from 1:00 to 1:15 p.m.
We have copies of his opening comments to the meeting this morning, as well as an executive summary of the discussion. The summary notes that the companies present today have pledged to advocate the Compact and post on the Global Compact Web site specific examples of the progress they have made in implementing its principles. The companies also intend to join with the United Nations in partnership projects to assist developing countries.
**Lebanon
In Lebanon today, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy, Mr. Terje Roed Larsen, along with the Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) once again toured the "line of withdrawal" in Southern Lebanon.
Following this inspection, which was conducted both by air and by road, Mr. Roed Larsen and General Sreenan, the Deputy Force Commander, met with the head of the Israeli army's northern command, General Gabriel Askanazi. That meeting lasted more than two hours. Mr. Roed Larsen said afterwards that he had received a strong commitment from the Israeli side that they would immediately begin rectifying any
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violations that had been found today. Furthermore, they agreed to fix any future violations reported to them by the United Nations force.
A number of UNIFIL teams are still out on the line of withdrawal and they're expected to report back shortly on any other problems that may have been found. Mr. Roed Larsen remains cautious but he still hopes to be in a position to report back tonight to Lebanese President Emile Lahoud that all the outstanding violations have been resolved.
If this is the case, deployment of UNIFIL units as well as Lebanese Government security forces can begin either late tonight or tomorrow.
**Secretary-General to Visit Ghana
The Secretary-General will leave this Friday evening, 28 July, for Ghana, where he will be greeted on Saturday morning by President Jerry Rawlings and the First Lady of Ghana as well as other officials.
On Tuesday of next week, he will begin his first official visit to his home country as Secretary-General.
He will lay a wreath at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, that's on Tuesday. He'll also call on President Rawlings and then in the evening, at a banquet hosted by the President, he will receive Ghana's highest national honour, the Companion of the Order of the Star of Ghana.
On Wednesday, he'll break ground for the construction of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre. That will take place at the Staff College of the Military Academy. And then in the afternoon on Wednesday, he'll receive an honourary degree from the University of Ghana.
Starting on Thursday, the Secretary-General, his wife and his two children will begin a week's holiday in Ghana.
**Security Council Debate on Children and Armed Conflict
This morning, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette opened the Security Council's open debate on children and armed conflict by asserting that "the abuse of children in armed conflict, as everywhere, is unacceptable. We can and we must do much more to make our world safer for all of them."
She noted that the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child dealing with children in armed conflict has finally been adopted and opened for signature. Also, child protection advisers have been deployed in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, she added, "the task ahead is still enormous".
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Olara Otunnu, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, then presented the Secretary-General's recent report on that topic. Otunnu noted that in recent years, public awareness of the problems children face in armed conflicts has risen, but he added that countries should make any assistance to parties to armed conflict contingent on their adherence to standards to protect children.
Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), then urged the Security Council to consider supporting education efforts for traumatized children and demobilization programmes for child soldiers, among other measures.
The Security Council's open debate today, in which 36 speakers have been inscribed, will not include the adoption of a Presidential Statement or a resolution. However, the Council is considering a draft resolution on children and armed conflict, which it may discuss over the coming week.
**Humanitarian Agencies Criticize International Community
In Geneva today, United Nations humanitarian agencies criticized the international community for not doing enough to save lives and give a chance to 35 million people in the most vulnerable regions of the world.
Of the $2.2 billion appealed for by the United Nations for humanitarian crises around the world during this year, only 36.6 per cent of the required needs have been met. At this time last year, donor response was just below 50 per cent.
Funding in response to the appeals range from a paltry 8.6 per cent for Uganda to 48.5 per cent for the Northern Caucasus, and then 52.4 per cent for the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
While Southeastern Europe so far attracted contributions for $225 for every person in need, Sierra Leone received only $18 per person and Somalia, $11.
Disparities were recorded among the United Nations agencies. The World Food Programme (WFP) has received 48.6 per cent of its requirements, whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) has only received half of that amount, or 22.7 per cent.
The Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ross Mountain, appealed to the governments represented at a mid-year review of the Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeals to do more to resolve the alarming cash flow problem faced by all humanitarian agencies, and to do the utmost to correct the slowing trend of humanitarian assistance - a phenomenon which is even less justified at a time when world economies are expanding.
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A press release issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on the occasion of this review, and a separate one issued by the WHO on the poor response to health needs are available upstairs in my office.
**East Timor
Tomorrow in East Timor, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and United Nations Force Commander Lieutenant General Boonsrang Niumpradit, will attend a memorial service in honour of Private Leonard William Manning of New Zealand, who was killed near the West Timor border on Monday.
The service will take place in Motael Church in Dili. Today, the body of the 24-year-old soldier was returned to New Zealand after being flown from Darwin, Australia.
United Nations police are coordinating the investigation into his killing, and the New Zealand contingent to the United Nations peacekeeping force is also investigating.
The threat level in Suai, where the shooting took place, is assessed by the United Nations as "medium", as it has been for months. The United Nations peacekeeping force regards the shooting incident as an isolated case.
We have additional details in the briefing notes from Dili.
The Secretary-General's report to the Security Council on East Timor, which we had mentioned was due out yesterday, is now expected to be issued as a document tomorrow.
**Sierra Leone Force Commander to Arrive in New York Today
Major-General Vijay Kumar Jetley, the Force Commander for the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), is arriving in New York later today.
Jetley will be the guest at our noon briefing here tomorrow (Thursday).
Among the meetings he has scheduled here in New York is one with the Secretary-General, another with troop contributors and then a town hall meeting with a group of Sierra Leoneans living in New York. And that will take place on Thursday evening.
**Iraq Programme
Late yesterday, the Secretary-General approved the distribution plan for phase eight of the humanitarian programme for Iraq.
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The summary of the distribution plan, along with a copy of the letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council and the letter from the Iraq Programme's Benon Sevan to Iraq's Permanent Representative, will be issued as a Security Council document and will be posted on the Iraq Programme's Web site later this afternoon.
And finally, Carlos Fortin, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will launch the UNCTAD Report on Capital Flows and Growth in Africa at a press conference. And that will be at a press conference in this room, tomorrow, Thursday, at 11:15 a.m.
The report says that "jump-starting" African economies with "important" aid now will reduce the continent's "aid dependence" in a decade. Under this plan, African economies would generate national savings and attract private flows that would eventually eliminate the need for official flows.
The report is under strict embargo until 27 July, tomorrow, at 22:00 hours GMT, which is 6:00 p.m. New York time.
That's all I have for you. Any questions? We'll have the Secretary-General in here at about 1:00 p.m. as I said. Yes?
**Questions and Answers
Question: General Jetley's town hall meeting is that public and where is that going to be?
Spokesman: We'll try to get those details for you. I would assume it is public. [The reporter was later informed that the meeting was open for the press.]
Question: And in the building or some other location?
Spokesman: It's here or outside. We'll have to find out for you -- we'll let you know. We'll squawk it. [The Spokesmans Office squawked that the meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Sierra Leone Mission to the United Nations.]
Question: Now that the Democratic Republic of the Congo has refused to let United Nations forces in, what is the next course of action?
Spokesman: That's a very good question. The planned United Nations Mission for the Democratic Republic of the Congo has, as you know, met repeated obstacles to its deployment from the beginning. There have been complaints about the neutral facilitator's role, the inter-Congolese dialogue has broken down, and now they have denied us the right to deploy armed peacekeepers. So this is a mission that appears to be blocked on just about every front.
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The Secretary-General has been meeting this week with his senior advisers, and I have nothing more to say at this time expect that we're reassessing our position in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, most likely, will be reporting to the Security Council.
Question: It is rather ironic that while the Least Developed Countries are meeting downstairs in the basement, 50 national corporations are addressing the meeting on the first floor. Does the Secretary-General intend to say a word about the plight of the people in the basement?
Spokesman: I would just correct you a bit. The corporations that are participating in the Global Compact meeting are from both developed and developing countries. So I don't think we should see it as a North- South divide. But, he'll be here at 1:00 p.m. and you can put that question to the Secretary-General directly. Thank you very much.
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