DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokesperson for the General Assembly President.

Briefing by Spokesman

To the newly adorned press briefing room -- the purpose of these curtains with the logos that go full left, full right is that when we have more than one person briefing up here and the camera pans to the left or the right, you always have the United Nations logo behind the person, so you always know where the briefing is coming from.

This is the United Nations.  Good afternoon.

** Mideast Parties Urged to "Dwell on the Positive"

The Secretary-General met for nearly two hours with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat at about midnight last night in the margins of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

After that meeting, the Secretary-General told reporters, "now that we are moving forward, I would urge that we all dwell on the positive and build on it, rather than focus on some of the negative aspects".

The transcript of his press encounter is available in my Office.

Among his bilateral meetings on the subject of the Middle East over the weekend, he also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Moussa on Saturday and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Sunday.

In his speech on Sunday to the plenary session of the World Economic Forum, the Secretary-General appealed to business leaders to join the Global Compact he launched two years ago in Davos aimed at getting the private sector to play a more responsible role.  He warned, "if we cannot make globalization work for all, in the end, it will work for none".

Copies of that speech were made available on an embargoed basis.  The transcript of a brief question-and-answer session following the speech is now available in my Office.

He then announced the appointment of Goran Lindahl of Sweden, who recently stepped down as the chief executive officer of ABB (Asea Brown Bovery), a Swiss-based industrial firm, as a special advisor on the Global Compact to lead the corporate recruitment effort.

In Davos, he also met with, in order:  President Vicente Fox of Mexico;  President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria; and President Vojislav Kostunica of Yugoslavia.  He also saw John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco Systems.

On Saturday evening, he was a guest at an off-the-record dinner with media leaders, organized by the Forum.

The Secretary-General left Davos Monday afternoon for a two-day visit to Stockholm, Sweden.

** Secretary-General in Stockholm

He is in Sweden now, and within the next hour he is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson's dinner for the Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance.

In his speech, copies of which are available in my Office, the Secretary-General emphasizes the importance of teaching tolerance to the young and the need for the European Union not to lose sight of the duty enshrined in international treaties to protect refugees and asylum-seekers.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, also addressed the Stockholm Forum earlier today, and she similarly noted the need for leadership in Europe on the issue of refugees and asylum-seekers.  In her speech, copies of which are available upstairs as well, she said that "a multicultural Europe is inevitable.  Europe has no alternative but to embrace tolerance and diversity".

She also warned that the Internet could be used to spread hate, saying, "a technical advance which has a great capacity to enlighten and entertain us becomes, in the hands of some, a weapon of racism".  She urged high-tech companies and the media to become more involved in the fight against racism.

** Security Council

The Security Council held a private meeting this morning to hear a briefing by the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania, Mircea Geoana.  He discussed topics on the agenda of both the OSCE and the UN.

Following the private meeting, Council members went into consultations to take up the latest report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.  Hedi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, briefed the Council on the latest developments in Lebanon.

Council members are also expected to discuss a letter they received over the weekend from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Goran Svilanovic, on the violence in Southern Serbia.  The letter called for a meeting of the Security Council on that issue.

** Cyprus

Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Cyprus, wrapped up his work on the island today by meeting separately with both Glafcos Clerides and Rauf Denktash.  This was the second meeting for both since de Soto arrived in Cyprus on Thursday night.

In a press conference this afternoon, de Soto told journalists that he could not report any breakthrough on the talks he had just held, but he hoped it would be possible to find a way to continue his efforts.

“I am not discouraged” de Soto said.  "I have always taken the long view.” De Soto compared his work to that of a long-distance runner who has to pace himself during a race.

Of the parties involved in the talks and of the nature of the discussions, de Soto said:  “No one disagrees with the general goal of a comprehensive settlement.  I would like to believe, and this is the closest I will come to a note of optimism, that the reason we are in this difficult spot just now is precisely that we are on the way to facing a moment, or several moments, of truth.”

De Soto will travel to Ankara early tomorrow morning to meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem.

** Earthquake in India

Following last week’s earthquake in India, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that its five-member United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team is on the ground in Ahmedabad and also in Bhuj, assisting the Government’s Disaster Management Group.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has mobilized more than $700,000 to supply medical supplies, blankets and plastic sheeting, as well as chlorine tablets for water purification.  An initial shipment worth over $100,000 has already arrived in the disaster area and an additional

$600,000 worth is being coordinated for the second delivery later this week.

The World Food Programme, meanwhile, has released $200,000 in emergency funds and is providing 300 metric tonnes of high protein biscuits from sources in India to feed 100,000 people for the next 15 days.  Both agencies are working closely with state emergency authorities and other United Nations agencies in assessing the needs of those affected by the earthquake.

We have more information in the latest Situation Report from OCHA and a press release in my Office.

** Budget

Budget news:  Croatia became the thirty-third Member State to pay its regular budget contribution in full with a payment today of more than

$400,000.  At this time last year, we were in slightly better shape with

37 Member States paid in full.

** Press Conference

Press Conference tomorrow -- Nitin Desai, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, will launch the Secretary-General's report on Financing for Development at a press conference here at 11:15 a.m.  The report presents a comprehensive set of recommendations on how to meet the world's development financing needs.  Advance copies of the report and a press release are available in my Office.

Our guest at the noon briefing tomorrow will be Kenzo Oshima, the new Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.  Today is his first day on the job, and we would just like to introduce him to you. 

That's all I have for you. 

Questions and Answers

Question:  Would the United Nations would be able to help the Albanians in meeting their demands?

Spokesman:  The United Nations Mission is dealing with Kosovo only.  The more recent security incidents have happened in southern Serbia and the NATO troops have been talking with the Yugoslav Government about ways of increasing security in southern Serbia, where there have been attacks on Serbian police.  So, what is happening in southern Serbia is not a matter for our peacekeeping Mission; it could be an issue that the Security Council may want to address. 

As I mentioned previously, there was a letter from the Foreign Minister of the FRY to the Council, which came in over the weekend, and the Council put it on their "other items" agenda for this morning. 

Question:  The parties had been saying all along that the United Nations was not really doing its part to resolve the issues.

Spokesman:  Where the United Nations could come into play would be in securing the boundary between Kosovo and southern Serbia.  That is a long boundary, a mountainous one, and frankly, not one which I think any military operation could fully control.

There have been efforts by KFOR, working under the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, to increase patrols along that border, but the main security threat seems to be inside Serbia, so that is really something that does not involve the United Nations Mission directly. 

Question:  Is there any word on the release of a report on sanctions, due out in December, but delayed to this month?

Spokesman:  No, I would have to look into that.  [He later said that Bangladesh, which is chairing the working group on sanctions, is continuing its efforts to complete its report.  No date has been given.]

Spokesman:  On the subject of child labourers, in the "Q & A" with the Secretary-General after his speech -- he took a question on that, and I think his answer is kind of interesting so I recommend you take a look at it.  That's it.  Thanks very much.

Briefing by Spokesperson for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

This morning, the President of the General Assembly spoke at the opening of the Preparatory Committee meeting for the special session on children.  The special session will be held in September this year, and this is the second substantive session of the PrepCom.

He said, at the PrepCom, that the General Assembly special session on children is one of the tools for the implementation of the Millennium Declaration -- and a successful outcome is one step towards meeting our Millennium commitments.

He noted that the Millennium follow-up is "an overarching theme", which links the different conferences together in a "meaningful and holistic way".  You will note that we have four or five different major conferences this year, and they are all looking at the Millennium follow-up in terms of the commitments in the Declaration.

The meeting this morning was opened in the General Assembly Hall by the PrepCom Chairperson, Ambassador Patricia Durrant of Jamaica.  The President of the General Assembly spoke after she had opened it, and he particularly welcomed the children and young people who are participating in some of the delegations.  There are also some 3,600 non-governmental organizations invited, according to UNICEF. 

Also speaking this morning were the Executive Director of UNICEF, Carol Bellamy, and the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Kul Gautam.  The list of speakers for this morning is available upstairs, and we will issue this afternoon's list as soon as we get it.  You will note from the list this morning that there are a number of Ministers and other high-level dignitaries who are participating.

This afternoon, the meeting will continue in Conference Room 1; it was held in the General Assembly Hall just for the opening this morning.  It is not being broadcast on in-house television, but you can see it either in person or in Conference Room 3, which is having an overflow broadcast.  There are sound tapes available, I am told.  Also, of course, DPI will be issuing press release coverage of all the meetings.

The purpose of the special session, I think, is quite clearly indicated in a note that you can get from the side of the room that UNICEF issued:  it is a review of progress of the end-of-decade goals; a review of the draft outcome document; and organizational arrangements for the special session itself.

The annotated agenda and all the documents are available on the racks, and there is a Web site address that UNICEF says can be checked for daily updates.  It is www.unicef.org/specialsession/.  That is fairly easy.  That is all I have.  Thank you.

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