DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000816The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Afghanistan
Good afternoon. The Taliban authorities in Kabul have today forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to close its 24 women's bakeries. The bakeries are run by 360 women workers who provide subsidized bread for 7,200 very poor families comprising over 42,000 predominantly women and children. The women and children who benefit from this programme are among the poorest and most vulnerable people in Afghanistan. The loss of the support will result in increased poverty and possibly the loss of life and health of women and children.
The authorities have accused the WFP of violating an edict, issued in July, banning the employment of Afghan women by United Nations agencies and non- governmental organizations except in the health sector.
The Emergency Relief Coordinator deplores this development which adds further to the discrimination and suffering of Afghan women. Social economic conditions in Afghanistan continue to be dire. The priority for United Nations humanitarian agencies in Afghanistan remains the provision of much-needed assistance to the 4 million Afghans whose lives will be seriously threatened by the current drought and the rapidly approaching winter.
**Democratic Republic of Congo
The Secretary-General, in a letter to the President of the Security Council which is out on the racks today, has asked the Council for a one-month interim extension of the United Nations Observer Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), which is currently set to expire at the end of this month.
The next report of the Secretary-General on the Mission would be due by 24 August, but in the letter, which was sent on Monday, the Secretary-General asked the Council for sufficient time to assess the impact of recent developments, including the summit meeting which ended in Lusaka yesterday.
In the letter, he noted the "adverse climate, which has so far prevented the deployment of MONUC". In particular, he underscored persistent, large-scale fighting in much of the country; severe restrictions on the Mission's movement imposed by the Government, as well as its refusal to permit the deployment of armed United Nations troops; and a "sustained campaign of vilification" conducted against the Mission and its staff.
In the letter, he wrote, "The role MONUC can play under current circumstances remains unclear."
In other Congo news, a five-member United Nations team is leaving today for Kinshasa to begin a brief visit to Kinshasa and Kisangani. The team intends to provide an assessment of the damage caused by fighting in Kisangani, in accordance with paragraph 14 of Security Council resolution 1304, which requested such an assessment from the Secretary-General.
The team is led by Omar Bakhet, Director of the Emergency Response Division of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and is expected to travel to Kisangani within the next few days. It is scheduled to return to New York on 26 August and to report to the Secretary-General shortly afterward.
**Security Council Consultations
This morning, the Security Council is being briefed in closed consultations by Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Danilo Türk on the latest developments in the Somali peace process. The Djibouti peace initiative for Somalia has entered an important milestone of forming a transitional government following the recent inauguration of the Somali Transitional National Assembly last Sunday in Djibouti.
Mr. Türk is also scheduled to brief the Council on the security situation in Haiti, specifically on the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of Garfield Lyle, a United Nations employee in Port-au-Prince.
The Council is then expected to receive a joint briefing by Under-Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet and Mr. Türk on the ongoing Burundi peace process and its implications for the United Nations.
**Kosovo
The Kosovo Transitional Council issued a statement today expressing outrage over the death -- in unclear circumstances -- of two Kosovo Albanians held in Serbian jails. The Transitional Council repeated its demand that all Kosovo Albanians incarcerated in Serbia be immediately handed over to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. The Council said, it was alarmed at reports of worsening detention conditions for Kosovo prisoners held in Serbia.
A full copy of the statement is available upstairs.
Also today, the Transitional Council heard a briefing on the Kosovo Protection Corps, given by the two heads of the Department of Civil Security and Emergency Preparedness, and by the Corps Commander, Agim Ceku.
Details of that briefing are in a press release, also available in the Spokesman's Office.
**East Timor
The Cabinet of the East Timor Transition Administration decided today to advance East Timor's time by one hour. The time change, which will be permanent, with no seasonal adjustment, will happen at midnight this coming Saturday, 16 September. The decision is to promote energy saving and to bring East Timor in line with the regional time zone.
**FAO Reports on Sub-Saharan African Food Supply
The latest report by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on food supply and crop prospects in sub-Saharan Africa says that food shortages in eastern Africa will affect 20 million people, an increase of 3 million since April. Continuing drought, as well as war and civil strife, has severely limited farming activities in many areas of the region.
The report also shows some bright spots: in southern Africa the overall cereal production for this year is expected to be above normal and the food supply in western Africa is described as stable with above average crops in most of the region.
The full press release is available upstairs.
**Secretary-General Report on Procurement Reform
Among the documents you will find on the racks today is a report by the Secretary-General on procurement reform. This report details the initiatives taken by the Secretariat in increasing transparency and evaluation objectivity in the bidding process, while encouraging greater participation by vendors from developing countries and countries in economic transition, as well as increasing the cost-effectiveness of the Secretariat's procurement activities.
"The Secretary-General remains committed to ensuring that these positive developments in procurement reform are sustained and advanced", the report states. For those interested, the reports symbol is A/55/127.
**UNIFEM Reports on Women's Role in Burundi Peace Process
Available on the racks today is a press release from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which notes the role that Burundian women played in crafting proposals for the peace process. Those recommendations were made at a conference held last month in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, which was organized by UNIFEM and by the facilitator of the Arusha process, former South African President Nelson Mandela.
A release is available with more details.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Is there any consideration of the United Nations pulling out as a result of the decision by the Taliban regarding the bakeries and the women?
Deputy Spokesman: I have not heard anything in that direction.
Question: What is the United Nations reaction to allegations by the Kosovo Serbs of ethnic cleansing through the closure of the lead smelter there?
Deputy Spokesman: You know why that was done. The levels of lead in the atmosphere were beyond acceptable levels -- 200 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) sees as acceptable. The people who work there are also being paid and it is all part of a larger project. Of course, it takes time to modernize and make that entire complex more productive within modern norms of environmental protection. So I dont see any grounds for those allegations.
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