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.

Well, today this really is a noon briefing.  First time ever, I think. 

**Statement Attributable to the Secretary-General/Climate Change

The Secretary-General welcomes the Bonn agreements reached after a marathon negotiating session as they give a strong signal to the global economy that, early in this century, emission limitation must become part and parcel of production and consumption processes.  It recognizes the need for more financial and technological support for developing countries to engage in a global strategy against climate change.  It provides a solid political basis for industrialized countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and bring it into force in time for the Johannesburg Summit in September 2002.

The Secretary-General appreciates the hard work and spirit of compromise shown by all delegations and the unflinching leadership of Mr. Jan Pronk, Conference President.  He fully shares the sentiment of Mr. Pronk that the Bonn agreements are proof that "multilateral cooperation in the UN framework does make good sense".

That statement is available upstairs.

**Climate Change Convention

The 180 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, now meeting in Bonn today, reached a broad political agreement on the operational rulebook for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

We have copies of the document, on core elements for implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action on greenhouse gas emissions, in my Office.

The document had been introduced by the President of the current session of the talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, that's Jan Pronk, and he did that on Saturday evening, and it was the subject of marathon negotiations through the weekend, ending this morning.

This afternoon, the document was adopted by standing ovations and cheers by delegations and observers.  It is to be adopted in a plenary session this Friday, when the current climate change talks in Bonn are to conclude.

Under the agreement, a special climate change fund and a fund for the least developed countries will be established under the 1992 Convention to help developing countries adapt to the impact of climate change and limit the growth in their emissions.

The Protocol also includes a compliance mechanism.  Compliance with the Protocol will be overseen by a Compliance Committee, which will have an

enforcement branch.  For every ton of gas that a country emits over its target, it will be required to reduce an additional 1.3 tons during the Protocol’s second commitment period, which starts in 2013.  Additional compliance procedures and mechanisms will be developed after the Protocol enters into force.

**Small Arms Conference

Those of you who were here over the weekend know that, in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday, the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects reached consensus on a Programme of Action.

Then, shortly after noon, the closing meeting of the Conference took place and the report of the Conference was adopted,as orally amended.  Conference President, Ambassador Camilo Reyes of Colombia, undertook to finalize the report for submission to the General Assembly.

In a statement issued by this Office on Saturday, the Secretary-General warmly welcomed the news that consensus had been achieved and praised the steps agreed to as essential in building norms and in implementing collective measures against this global scourge.

The Secretary-General also called upon all the peoples of the United Nations to support and encourage their leaders in Government both to consolidate the gains made at the Conference and to take additional steps to address the threat of small arms.

He noted in particular the great potential benefits for all States from improved controls over both the uncontrolled private ownership of military-standard weapons and, even more critical, the transfer of such arms to non-State groups.  He looks forward to the implementation of the agreed measures and the follow-up to the Conference, in which the United Nations will play a major role.

We have the full text of the statement available in my Office and it is also on the Web.

And, then available on the racks today is the draft report of the Small Arms Conference.  The final text of the Programme of Action is not out yet; it is expected later today.

**Secretary-General in New York

The Secretary-General is back in New York, having returned from the Group of Eight (G-8) Summit in Genoa, Italy, over the weekend.  Today, he will be having his monthly luncheon with the members of the Security Council.

After that luncheon ends, he will be coming into UN Headquarters, where he will have a few appointments this afternoon, beginning at 3:30 p.m.  We are trying to get a stakeout set up in the lobby in case any of you want to ask him some questions on his return.  We'll keep you informed as to whether he'll be coming in the front door and whether we can have this stakeout in place.

There are no other Security Council meetings today.  Tomorrow, the Council will hold a formal meeting to discuss the situation in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

**Report on Lebanon

In his latest report on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is out on the racks today, the Secretary-General says that the situation along the Blue Line has been generally stable, but that there have been attacks across the Line in the Shab'a Farms area, in direct breach of the decisions of the Security Council.

The Secretary-General says that Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace have created additional tension, and he also says that the Government of Lebanon has continued to let Hezbollah operate close to the Blue Line.  He asks the Lebanese Government to take more steps to ensure the return of its effective authority throughout southern Lebanon.

The Secretary-General reiterates the need for all parties to respect the Blue Line, and once again, appeals to both sides to keep the situation calm.

In the report, he also mentions the controversy that arose over a videotape made by UN peacekeepers of vehicles that might have been used in the abduction of three Israeli soldiers last October, and notes that Israel and Lebanon have been offered the opportunity to view the tape, with the identities of non-UN personnel obscured.

Under-Secretary-General for Management Joseph Connor has been charged with leading an investigation into the internal handling of this matter, and Connor is in Naqoura, Lebanon where the UN Mission in southern Lebanon is based.  He is meeting with UNIFIL staff as part of his investigation, which he expects to wrap up by the end of the month.

The Security Council intends to hold consultations on Lebanon on Wednesday. In the current report, the Secretary-General asks for a six-month extension of the Mission, until the end of January 2002.

**Report on Georgia

The Secretary-General's latest report to the Security Council on the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is out on the racks today, as well.  And, it notes that killings and hostage-takings have interrupted negotiations several times recently, including a spate of incidents two weeks ago.  Consequently, he says, the overall peace process remains fragile, with meaningful negotiations on Abkhazia's status within the State of George yet to begin.

In the most recent incident, on July 8th and 9th, six people were killed and two taken hostage northwest of the Kodori Valley, just before negotiations were to begin in Tbilisi.  In the report, the Secretary-General calls on both sides to work together to release the hostages still being held and to bring the perpetrators to justice.  He adds, "attempts to hold the peace process hostage to political demands are a cause for concern."

He also urges the parties to follow up on a Programme of Action of confidence-building measures to which they agreed at Yalta last March, and warns that the ongoing violence is a constant threat to the peace process.

The Secretary-General also recommends a six-month extension of the mandate of the UN Mission, until the end of next January, and the Council expects to consider that when it holds consultations on Georgia on Wednesday.

**Report on Assistance to the Palestinian People

The report of the Secretary-General on Assistance to the Palestinian people is out on the racks today.  This report states that the Gross Domestic Product in the Palestinian territories declined 51 per cent since the beginning of the conflict.  The estimates for March 2001 set the number of unemployed workers in the Palestinian territory at 297,000, or about 26.1 per cent of the workforce, and the poverty rate is expected to rise above 40 per cent by the end of this year. 

In the report, the Secretary-General says that “much work needs to be done to repair the extensive negative effects of the crisis on the Palestinian economy and society”, and calls on the international community to provide resources for the assistance programmes and, in particular, to the latest appeal from United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, which provides vital services to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

**Peace Process in Burundi

The Burundi peace process appears to have advanced another step today in Arusha, Tanzania, where former South African President Nelson Mandela won agreement from the Governments attending the regional initiative summit for his formula to have the current President of Burundi, Pierre Buyoya, serve the first 18 months of a three-year transitional government.  A Hutu would serve as Vice President and then serve the second 18 months as President.

Berhanu Dinka, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for the Great Lakes region, attended the summit, which has four core country members:  Uganda, as Chair, Tanzania, as Vice Chair, Kenya and Rwanda.  A number of other countries were also present in Arusha.

**AIDS in Africa

The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, arrived over the weekend in Nigeria on the final leg of a three-country fact-finding trip that began in Kenya and continued last week in Rwanda.

While in Rwanda for a four-day visit, Lewis met at length with President Paul Kagame and other officials, including the Minister of Health and the National AIDS Commission.  He emphasized, in his meetings with President, the need for an up-to-date survey on AIDS prevalence rates, since Rwanda's present figures are based on data from 1997.  They also discussed how Rwanda could gain access to the Global Fund for AIDS and Health and how it could deal with the problem of AIDS orphans.  President Kagame pledged his commitment to continued leadership on these issues.

**General Assembly Provisional Agenda

You've all been waiting for this document -- the Provisional Agenda for the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly.  It is out on the racks today.  This is not the thick document, the annotated agenda, but the provisional one, and that session is due to begin on Tuesday, 11 September.  This provisional agenda contains 185 items, and that is up from 171 last year.

**Budget

One budget payment today, from Albania, which became the ninety-eighth Member State to be paid in full for its regular dues for this year.  And, that was with a payment of more than $31,000.

There are no press conferences scheduled for today, and, so far, none for tomorrow.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  The Secretary-General was originally not coming in today, and now he has a 3:30 meeting.  Is that urgent?

Spokesman:  Well, he is having lunch with the Security Council, so it was never really going to be a day off for him.  So, I think he rested a bit this morning and then, after the lunch, he is seeing Jan Egeland, his representative in Colombia, and then he'll probably have a few internal meetings.  So, it is a light day, but a workday.

Question:  Any reaction to events in Indonesia?

Spokesman:  The Secretary-General has been following that issue, obviously.  I can say that he hopes that the political process will continue to be peaceful, which is vital both for Indonesia and the region, and that constitutional norms and principles will be respected.  The UN will continue to support the consolidation of democracy in Indonesia, based on full respect for human rights.

Question:  Any sign of satisfaction or judgement about the AIDS Fund, specifically commitments up to $3 billion to $4 billion?  During the AIDS Conference, he had heard that it was necessary to collect $7 billion to

$10 billion for the first year. 

Spokesman:  You are a lot further along than I am in the numbers.  If you check the Spokesman's Office Web site, we keep you updated.  And, the latest figure I saw was just under $1.2 billion.  But, the Secretary-General never said that the $7 billion to $10 billion would go into this Fund, but that that was the level of expenditure needed to deal with HIV/AIDS in moderate income and poor income countries.  So, that's the level of expenditure that's required. 

The Fund is expected to facilitate programmes in the poorest countries, in particular.  And, what he said at the time was that it is a good beginning, but much more is needed. 

Question:  Apparently, Rauf Denktash said in Ankara that he is going to meet with Secretary-General Annan and was considering re-entering participation in UN-Cyprus peace talks, but he hasn't yet said when this might happen.  Do you have any details?

Spokesman:  I saw that report but I did not get a chance to check on it.  Let me check on it right after the briefing and see if (a) we have a date, and (b) we can confirm his message, which, if confirmed, would be welcome.

[The Spokesman announced, shortly after the briefing, that it is well known that efforts are under way to get the talks back on track, and the Secretary-General hoped, soon.  In that context, his Special Advisor, Alvaro de Soto, has been in contact with Mr. Clerides and Mr. Denktash in the last few days, but he is not yet in a position to make any concrete announcements.] 

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