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 Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General

We have a fairly crowded room today, not the usual briefing crowd.  So I guess it’s for the special briefing afterwards.  Welcome.  The guest at the end of our briefing today will be Shashi Tharoor whom you all know and who is the interim head of the Department of Public Information (DPI).  He will be launching here, a new Web site called UN Works.  He will be joined by Carmel Mulvany, Project Manager of the UN Works Campaign and Mahbub Ahmad, Chief of DPI’s Information Technology Section.

**Mary Robinson

As you may have followed in the news today, Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, announced this morning in Geneva that she would not be seeking a second four-year term.

I have a statement attributable to the Secretary General himself which reads as follows.

“I learned, with great regret, of Mary Robinson's decision not to seek a second term as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.  She has been a staunch and fearless spokesperson for human rights throughout the world.  She has demonstrated admirable courage in speaking up for those who are voiceless. She rightly has placed the emphasis on understanding human rights in their broadest sense -- economic and social as well as civil and political.  In doing so, she has made a critical contribution to giving human rights a central role in the United Nations system.”

“Mary Robinson leaves the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva a significantly more highly evolved institution than the embryo she took over in 1997.  As I told her when she informed me of her decision”, the Secretary-General continues, “I am most grateful to her for the vital work she has done for the United Nations.  I have no doubt that, even after completing her United Nations assignment, she will continue to make a valuable contribution to the promotion of human rights in the community of all nations.”

The text of the Secretary-General’s statement is available in the Spokesman’s Office.

[After the briefing it was announced that at this morning’s opening session of the Commission on Human Rights, the Commission elected Ambassador Leondo Despouy of Argentina as its chairman, replacing Ambassador Shambu Rem Simkhada of Nepal who provided over the fifty-sixth session.]

**Secretary-General’s Travels

The Secretary-General, whom as you know was in South Asia last week, arrived back in New York Sunday afternoon.

He is working from his residence today, and a few minutes ago, he was to have started a meeting with his Special Representative for Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup.

Now a bit about his last day during this trip.  Before leaving New Delhi on Saturday morning, the Secretary-General was visited by former South African President Nelson Mandela, who was in town to receive the Gandhi Peace Award. Their talks which last about half an hour, focused almost exclusively on the Burundi peace process, for which Mandela is the Facilitator.

The Secretary-General then flew to Hyderabad in southern India.  There he met with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shambrababu Naidoo, before attending a luncheon meeting with industry leaders.  There he was briefed on the explosive economic growth of the state of Andhra Pradesh of which Hyderabad is the capital -– thanks to a dynamic information technology sector.  The Secretary-General addressed the group calling Hyderabad “one of the success stories of the digital revolution”.  He expressed concern over the digital divide that separates information haves from have-nots, and that risks excluding the world’s poor from the knowledge-based economy.

The Secretary-General then traveled to high tech city, a modern office complex that houses the offices of a dozen of the world’s leading information technology companies.  He visited a number of display booths in the lobby.  He then went to Hyderabad’s public gardens where women self-help groups had their handicrafts on display.  He and his wife Nane bought a number of items before they were escorted onto a stage in front of some 6,000 women who were members of the Self-Help Movement.

The Secretary-General and Mrs Annan then both addressed the women, praising their initiative and their contribution to Andhra Pradesh’s economic boom.  At the Hyderabad airport, before leaving, the Secretary-General addressed the press.  His visit with the self help group he said “gave me hope that women in this state, I think within time, will become full partners and bring their ingenuity and energy to bear on the development efforts in this society”.

“In fact as I drove away”, he added, “I had a feeling that if I come back in 20 to 25 years, I shouldn’t be surprised if the Chief Minister is a woman”.

**Security Council  

Here in New York, the Security Council will this afternoon resume its closed meeting on the situation in the Middle East including the Palestinian question.  This is a continuation of the meeting which began last Thursday morning.

Tomorrow the Council is expected to take up the situation in Burundi during closed consultations.  I think the meeting this afternoon is not closed, although my notes say it is.  I think it is open and is a resumption of the one that started last week but had to be interrupted because of lack of time and is being resumed this afternoon.  I think we have about eight speakers left from the original list.  More may be added though.

*Sierra Leone

United Nations missions, now.  Sierra Leone.

In the latest report to the Security Council on Sierra Leone, which is out on the racks today, the Secretary-General says that the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone has managed to consolidate its positions in its current areas of responsibility, paving the way for the forward deployment of United Nations troops.

For that formal deployment to be carried out in sufficient strength, the Secretary-General recommends that the Mission's authorized strength be increased, and noted his earlier recommendation that the Mission would require up to 20,500 military personnel to assist the Government in regaining control of key areas of Sierra Leone.

The Mission currently has more than 10,000 personnel deployed in Sierra Leone, and can expect to have a total military strength of some 17,500 troops, once new contingents that have been offered arrive in Sierra Leone.

The report says that the situation in Sierra Leone has remained relatively stable since the signing last November of the Abuja Agreement, although the Secretary-General noted the continuing reluctance of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to disarm and to allow Government authority to be set up in rebel-held areas.

The report also notes the escalation in fighting along the Sierra Leone-Guinea border, particularly since January, and the Secretary-General welcomes an initiative by Guinea and Sierra Leone to set up a joint military body to ensure that Guinean operations against the RUF avoid causing civilian casualties.

The Secretary-General also recommends to the Council that the Mission, the current mandate of which expires at the end of this month, be extended by six months until the end of September.  The Council expects to discuss Sierra Leone in its consultations next week.

**Kosovo

Moving on to Kosovo.  The United Nations Mission in Kosovo reports that, because of the continued fighting between Government forces and Albanian extremists in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the supply of food, fuel and other essential materials from the FYROM to Kosovo continues to be a problem.

Border crossings between the FYROM and Kosovo remain closed, which the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Hans Haekkerup, has said is unacceptable.  Although some necessary materials continue to reach Kosovo by alternative routes, the delay in the delivery of medical supplies has left the hospital in Pristina with only two days of oxygen supplies.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that there continues to be movement of people to and from the city of Tetovo, where FYROM forces and Albanian extremists have been clashing, although there are no firm figures on those movements.  On Saturday night, some

480 people with FYROM identification crossed into Kosovo, while the Office of the UNHCR in Albania reported the arrival of more than 1,600 people with FYROM passports over the past three days.

The Office of the UNHCR adds that all the people displaced by the current fighting have expressed the wish to return to their homes as soon as possible.

For further details, the briefing notes from Pristina are available in our Office.

**Ethiopia-Eritrea

Still on missions, the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) reports today that an ammunition accident injured three Canadian members of the Mission this morning at Camp Dunn in the Mission’s Central Sector.

The three soldiers suffered injuries from shrapnel and from an initial blast when a 25mm round accidentally discharged inside the turret of a light armoured vehicle.  The turret sits on top of the armoured vehicle, where the gun is located.  All were given medical attention at their unit's Medical Station in Camp Dunn, and two of them were then evacuated by air to receive further medical care at Camp Groesbeek in Dek’emhare, Eritrea.

They are reported to be in "very stable condition" with "non-life-threatening injuries".  The Mission intends to investigate the incident to identify the cause of the accident and ways to prevent recurrences in the future.

**East Timor

Moving now to East Timor.  A week after the incident in Viqueque, in the eastern region of East Timor, the overall security situation is reported as calm and life is back to normal.  No further violence was reported in the district. However, peacekeepers and the Civilian Police Rapid Response Unit continue to patrol the road to Viqueque.

Around 200 displaced people who have lost their houses during the riot of 12 March are at the Viqueque Church compound.  All East Timorese who had sought refuge in the mountains have returned to Viqueque town and most have moved into their houses.  No displaced people are staying at PKF headquarters anymore.  In addition, all United Nations staff have moved back to their houses.

The District Administrator in Viqueque started yesterday an information campaign on the implementation of a “zero tolerance” policy against violence.

This is similar to the one that has been in place in Dili since April last year.

More details in the Briefing Note from Dili.

Deputy Secretary-General Speech

We have today the Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, in Helsinki, where she delivered a speech to the Paasikivi Society on the United Nations role in peacekeeping activity, in which she noted the more complex peacekeeping operations that the United Nations has undertaken in recent years.

She said that "the most successful peace operations are those that help a society build the institutions, social infrastructure and economic capacities it will need in order to prevent a recurrence of conflict".  As a result, she added, the United Nations now appreciates the importance of acting sooner to build peace, even before the guns have fallen silent.

Copies of her speech are available in the Spokesman's Office.

**Small Arms Committee Session

The third and final session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Small Arms opened this morning at 11 a.m., in Conference Room 1.  The third session was opened by the Chairman to the Committee, Ambassador Carlos Dos Santos of Mozambique.

Following the opening, the Committee will hear briefings on the United Nations Vienna Firearms Protocol, which seeks to curtail the illicit manufacture of, and traffic in, firearms; and about the work of a group of Governmental Experts on the issue of arms brokering.  Various United Nations agencies will also make statements on small arms over the course of the day.

**Reports

On the racks today is the report of the Secretary-General on world population monitoring, 2001:  population, environment and development.  The report notes that while the world’s population grew from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 6.1 billion in 2000, with about 85 percent of the growth in the developing world, the portions of the world that were already more advanced at the turn of the last century have experienced the most economic progress since then.

The report concludes:  “Population and development policies -– especially those relating to the size, growth and distribution of population -– are necessary and vital components of the constellation of actions needed to ensure sustainable development and to safeguard the environment during the twenty-first century and beyond.”

**Israeli Prime Minister

I was asked on Friday about the visit to Headquarters by the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.  I can confirm that he will be here on Wednesday and will be meeting with the Secretary-General that morning.

**Upcoming Events

And as I’m approaching the end of this briefing, I wanted to bring to your attention an upcoming event linked to the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is this coming Wednesday.

On that day, the United Nations and MTV Music Television will be joining forces to help young people find ways to combat racism and promote tolerance in their lives.  Four hundred teenagers will participate at a special event, being held at United Nations Headquarters in Conference Room 1, to discuss how to fight intolerance in their communities.

There is a press release with more details on this event.

**Press Releases

Other press releases available in our Office are from the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization who will jointly host a workshop on affordable drugs in early April.  The workshop will bring together 50 experts in drugs, financing, pricing and trade policy from both industrialized and developing countries.

And from the United Nations Environment Programme comes news of a three-day High-Level Meeting on Environment, Sustainable Development and Trade, which begins tomorrow in Berlin.

Both press releases are available in our Office.

**Signings

Bulgaria this morning became the fortieth country to sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

**Press Conference

And finally immediately following the noon briefing today, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is sponsoring a press conference by the International Action Network on Small Arms to discuss the international trafficking of guns.  So that’s today following the briefing.

Do you have any questions before we go to our special guest?

Question:  Did Mary Robinson give any indication of why she wasn’t seeking a second term? 

Deputy Spokesman:  I can tell you what she said.  She said that she felt that she could do more outside a multilateral organization.  We have the exact text of what she said in our Office.

Question:  My question relates to Sierra Leone and also to the Secretary-General’s wish to open up to the poor the knowledge-based economy.  You said that the Secretary-General congratulated Mary Robinson for her emphasis on thesocial and economic aspects of human rights but the political aspects of human rights are left out with good reason.  How can anyone connected to bringing United Nations resolutions to success operate without the political aspect to human rights?

Deputy Spokesman:  I’m not sure I understand your question, but I think you have touched on the greatest challenge that we face as we carry out operations in the field.  You cited the example of Sierra Leone.  Now this is a country which has gone and still going through a very difficult economic, social, political situation and the United Nations mission is on the ground.  And after a period of a degree of inability to move, it is now moving ahead with necessary contacts and spreading the peacekeepers throughout the territories. This is the beginning of a process but it is going as it should.  With regard to the Secretary-General’s statement on Mary Robinson’s decision, he really highlighted the emphasis that she has put on human rights bringing all of its dimensions together, the economic, social, civil and political.  I think that addresses some of the points you raised.  Any other questions?

Question:  Do you know the number of casualties in the Balkan clashes?

Deputy Spokesman:  Do you mean regarding the situation in Macedonia?  No I do not have any figures on that.

Question:  When is Mary Robinson’s term up?

Deputy Spokesman:  September.

Question:  Is there any indication whether the Prime Minister of Israel will meet with the press after meeting the Secretary-General?

Deputy Spokesman:  They have not told us his intentions with regard to meeting the press.  I would suggest you contact the Israeli mission on that.  It would be up to them.

Question:  Any idea when the Secretary-General will hold his next press conference?

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes, it looks like its going to happen this week.  We are hoping for Thursday.  The Secretary-General does want to do it but his schedule is extremely tight this week.  But we are working towards that, and will confirm as soon as we have the final word on it.  If there are no other questions, its my great pleasure to welcome Shashi Tharoor, the interim head of the Department of Public Information and I understand that he will be accompanied by Carmel.  Shashi will be talking about the UN Works Web site.

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