DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20001002The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.
Briefing by Spokesman for Secretary-General
I'd like to welcome the participants in this year's DPI training programme for Palestinian journalists. They will be in New York for briefings by United Nations officials and training at Columbia University and here at Headquarters.
Our guest today will be Jean-Marie Guéhenno, the new head of the Peacekeeping Department. Today is his first day on the job, and its a get- acquainted session for you here, in a few minutes.
** Secretary-General in Geneva
The Secretary-General, as you know, is in Geneva today. And in response to questions put to him by journalists, as he entered the United Nations Geneva headquarters this morning, he said that he hoped the current violence in the Middle East would not derail the crucial peace talks. "The talks should go forward", he said. He added that he had been in touch with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to urge them to get the spiralling violence under control.
The Secretary-General later spent a half hour with the assembled staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), reminding them of his personal concern about the safety of humanitarian workers in war zones and assuring them he would take steps to enhance their security. "I can assure you", he said, "that we will do whatever we can in a determined and sustained manner to ensure that we have better protection in the field". We will have the full transcript of his comments to the staff later today.
Earlier this morning, he had addressed the Executive Committee of UNHCR, where he stressed the same points. He also paid tribute to the outgoing High Commissioner, Sadako Ogata, and said that he would nominate her replacement by the end of this month.
A short time ago, he met with Catherine Bertini, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), who is also his Special Envoy on Drought in the Horn of Africa. He congratulated her on leading a well-coordinated effort between the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations, which prevented the recurrence of famine in the Horn.
He then gave a press conference, and we had a live audio feed for you here at Headqarters.
His other meetings in Geneva today included with senior officials of the European Commission, the International Labour Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross. We a have a full and detailed report of his day in my office.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 2 October 2000
** Security Council
There is no meeting of the Security Council scheduled for today, although there is a possibility that the Council could convene later today to discuss the situation in the Middle East. We'll keep you posted if any meeting is called.
So far, however, the President of the Council for the month of October -- Martin Andjaba of Namibia -- is holding bilateral consultations with Council members to discuss the programme of work for this coming month. Mr. Andjaba has taken over from the Council President for last month, Moctar Oaune of Mali.
Tomorrow, the Council will be briefed by Mr. Guéhenno, as well as by the new Military Adviser to the Secretary-General, General Timothy Ford. The subject would be Sierra Leone, and that is in advance of the Council's mission to Sierra Leone, which is to leave next Saturday.
We also were expecting that the Secretary-General's report on a special court for Sierra Leone would be out on Friday, and that got postponed to today. Our hope is that it will be out by the end of today, or at latest, first thing tomorrow. And we'll squawk as soon as we get word.
New Special Representative of Secretary-General Appointment
The Secretary-General has written to the Security Council announcing his intention to name the Permanent Representative of Botswana to the United Nations, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, as the Special Representative to lead the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). We have copies of Mr. Legwaila's resume in my office. That letter, I believe, went to the Council very late on Friday, and I think they have 24 hours to raise any objections, should they have any. That is, 24 working hours, so I think, we probably have till the end of today before it becomes official.
** East Timor
Two peacekeepers from the Philippines serving with the United Nations force in East Timor were killed on Sunday when the military truck in which they were travelling overturned, just three kilometres east of Dili.
The two soldiers were among 16 personnel who were on a truck delivering military equipment, which overturned as a convoy of trucks was moving downhill. A preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle had developed brake failure. The driver swerved off the road when he realized he didn't have brakes and the truck turned over. In addition to the two soldiers sitting in the front seat, that were killed, the driver and four soldiers were injured and taken to the United Nations military hospital in Dili for treatment. A funeral service for the two deceased soldiers will be held at Dili airport tomorrow. We have more details in the daily report from Dili.
** Kosovo
Today's briefing notes from Pristina mention that three explosions were reported early this morning in Prizren, in a house under construction just behind the United Nations Mission's police station in that town. Two residents and four German military police sustained minor injuries, and three United Nations police cars and some windows in nearby houses were damaged. United Nations Police and Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops evacuated people in the neighbourhood, and have determined that the bombs which caused the explosions each contained three kilograms of TNT.
The United Nations Mission has also set up an emergency task force in Mitrovica to assist the Serb community there following a fire at the Zvecan smelter on Saturday night, which destroyed four electrical transformers there. The Mission is sending generators to essential facilities in Zvecan, and more are on the way. The Mission has determined that the fire was caused by arson, and a full investigation is underway. The fire was put out on Saturday night by KFOR and the United Nations Mission. During that fire, a small crowd gathered outside the smelter and burned the car of the United Nations press spokesman, Mike Keats, who was also assaulted. But, I understand he gave as full as he got. The situation there is reported as tense.
** Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
The United Nations Inter-Agency Appeal for Emergency Relief and Initial Rehabilitation today launched an appeal in Phnom Penh for $10.7 million to provide assistance to flood-stricken Cambodia. Some 2.2 million people (20 per cent of the population) have been affected and assistance will be provided in the form of food, shelter, health services, water and sanitation, education and agriculture.
** Guinea-Bissau
The Secretary-General's latest 90-day report on the United Nations Peace- building Support Office in Guinea-Bissau, covering events in that country through the end of September, is out on the racks today. In it, the Secretary-General said that Guinea-Bissau has continued to make progress in consolidating its democratic process, but he warns that the "ever-present threat of military intervention, the precarious border situation and the country's chronic poverty make the road ahead difficult". He urged the country's former military leaders not to interfere in the nation's political process. He also commended President Kumba Yala of Guinea-Bissau and President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal for their efforts to de-escalate border tensions between their two countries.
** UNIKOM
In the Secretary-General's latest report on the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), which is available on the racks today, he noted that, during the six-month period ending on 21 September, the situation along the Iraq-Kuwait border has remained generally quiet. The Mission, he said, has been able to carry out its tasks smoothly, and he recommends its maintenance.
World Habitat Day
Today is World Habitat Day, and in his message on the occasion, the Secretary-General called for an increase in the number of women leaders at all levels of governance and appealed to decision makers to address issues affecting poor women. World Habitat Day is observed annually on the first Monday in October and the theme for this years observance is Women in urban governance. Also, the United Nations Office in Afghanistan reports that women from all over Mazar-i-Sharif are gathering to attend a two-hour programme designed to reflect on the role of women as decision makers and the need to address urban issues of particular concern to women.
** World Investment Report
The World Investment Report 2000 published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will be released tomorrow. The report, which is the most authoritative source of statistics on international investment, projects that for the first time ever, the total world foreign direct investment will exceed $1 trillion in the year 2000. At 11 o'clock tomorrow, Georg Kell, a Senior Officer in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, will be in this room to present the report and to take your questions on it. His press briefing and the report are embargoed until 6 p.m. New York time tomorrow.
** World Chronicle
And, finally, the World Chronicle programme featuring Dr. A. Babatunde Thomas, Coordinator of the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa, will be shown today on in-house television channel 3 or 31 at 3:30 p.m. Welcome to Mr. Guéhenno. We'll get to you in a minute.
Any questions, before we go to Sue?
** Questions and Answers
Question: You mentioned that the Security Council might meet this afternoon. I wonder whether there had been any proceedings before the Council could meet, or whether there had been an appeal from one side of the conflict for a meeting?
Spokesman: I don't know the specifics. I have to assume that at least one member of the Council is exploring with the President the possibility of a meeting. The President is probably talking to the other members of the Council to see if they would agree. And if there's an agreement, we'll make the announcement.
Question: A report from the Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission says there was high-level activity on both sides of the DMZ involving oil production. Is there any more information on whether the Mission is going to be involved in monitoring there because of the accusations flying back and forth about theft of oil, and perhaps concerns about tensions on that issue.
Spokesman: I have to look into that. I don't know anything about that issue. Okay, Sue? [He later announced that at present there are no plans to change the mandate of UNIKOM.]
Briefing by Spokeswoman for Assembly President
Thank you. There's no plenary scheduled for today. I had mentioned on Friday that a discussion on AIDS would happen tomorrow, but it has now been postponed until a later date. We're not sure when; probably, next week. Instead, there will be informal discussions tomorrow afternoon on the issue of the special session on AIDS.
The First Committee began its general debate on disarmament issues this morning with a statement by the Under Secretary-General, Jayantha Dhanapala. The statement is available in the Spokesman's Office if you wish to look at it. There were 10 speakers listed this morning. They'll continue this discussion tomorrow afternoon. There are 9 speakers, so far, for tomorrow.
The Fifth Committee began its discussion on the Scale of Assessments for the regular budget. There were 22 speakers listed for today, and the list is upstairs in the Spokesman's Office. As you know, the list of speakers is not in the Journal. They will continue discussing this on Wednesday and Friday. The peacekeeping scale of assessment will be discussed tomorrow morning, Thursday morning, and Friday afternoon. So the discussion on the scale of assessments for both regular budget and peacekeeping will conclude on Friday. I have been asked when we expect a resolution on this, but we have no information about that, as of now. I do know that next week there will be informal discussions on this topic starting around 11 October.
The Second Committee began its general debate this morning -- both morning and afternoon. It will continue tomorrow and Thursday.
The Third Committee continued today its discussion on crime and drugs, and will meet on Wednesday to continue and finish this discussion. And on Friday, it takes up the issue of women.
The working group on international terrorism continues this week in closed session.
As Fred mentioned, today is World Habitat Day, and the President of the General Assembly observed that on this issue of women and urban governance, we need more women participating in decision-making roles of government, because women's perspective is a much needed reality-check for decision-making. You will recall that he had said in his acceptance speech, and has continued to emphasize, the need for women and girls to have educational opportunities. And he feels that these educational opportunities will come through having women in decision-making positions to make these opportunities possible through making the policy.
That's all I have. Thank you.
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