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 Jan Fischer, Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly.

**Afghanistan

Good afternoon, everyone.  The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, had an audience with Iranian President Mohammed Khatami this morning, for a little more than half an hour.  He also met today with the representatives of the United Nations agencies based in Tehran who are involved in the humanitarian effort in Afghanistan, and he reaffirmed to them that the humanitarian activities were currently his foremost concern.  During a press conference held at the Azadi Hotel, Mr. Brahimi indicated that he would stop in Rome on his way back to New York, we don’t have the dates for that visit yet, and that he hoped to meet with former King Zahir Shah, who is in Rome.  He also confirmed that he was preparing a paper offering suggestions on how to move ahead on a broad-based Afghan government.

The Special Representative stressed at the press conference the need for post-conflict reconstruction, saying that the international community for the first time has understood the importance of “a determined, serious, lasting effort to help the people of Afghanistan reconstruct themselves”.  He added, “We have been given very strong assurances that substantial resources will be made available for this effort”.  The United Nations, he added, is already trying to prepare the ground for reconstruction programs.  We expect to have a full transcript of his comments for you a little later.  In fact, it was already completed, they were just having difficulty faxing it or e-mailing it to us.  In the afternoon, Mr. Brahimi also met with a group of a dozen Afghan intellectuals in Tehran.

**Afghanistan Humanitarian

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kenzo Oshima, this morning told the Security Council in its consultations on Afghanistan that the distribution of food to local communities continues to be the United Nations’ biggest problem in that country.  It is likely, he warned the Council, that there will be a gap between the minimum aid required for Afghanistan and the amount that the United Nations can actually ship and distribute.  Increased fighting has left the United Nations unable to provide any food assistance to Kandahar for almost two months, and the security situation in other areas has also been volatile, he said.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said today that it is stepping up its new strategy of moving food straight to the most affected areas of Afghanistan, with WFP sending in more than 12,000 tons of food for the first five days of this month.  However, WFP still faces many problems in reaching all Afghans who need food aid, due to particularly bad security conditions that make it dangerous for aid workers to reach about half a million people

who will run out of food by the end of December.  We have more details in today’s briefing notes from Islamabad.

The second round of National Immunization Days to vaccinate children against polio began in Afghanistan today and is to continue through Thursday of this week.  The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have set a target to immunize five million children against polio during the three-day period.  Nearly all the five million doses of polio vaccine and Vitamin A tablets that are to be used for the Immunization Days are already in the country.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding morning and afternoon closed consultations today.  They started with Afghanistan, hearing a briefing by Kenzo Oshima.  I already gave you some details of what he said.  Following that, Berhanu Dinka, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region of Africa, will brief Council members on the situation in Burundi.  They were expected to discuss the Provisional Government, which was inaugurated on 1 November, as well as the meeting the Council will hold this coming Thursday with the Foreign Ministers of the Regional Peace Initiative.

The last item on the morning’s programme is the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Hedi Annabi, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, will brief Council members on latest developments in the Democratic Republic.  Council members are also expected to review their plans for the meeting they will have with the Lusaka Political Committee this coming Friday.  And then starting at 3:30 this afternoon, consultations will resume and Council members will take up the question of ad litem judges for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

**Warsaw Terrorism Conference

In a message to the leaders of Central and Eastern European countries meeting today in Warsaw on Combating Terrorism, the Secretary-General said that, "For the United Nations, it is essential that the global response to terrorism be truly universal and not divisive".  The unity born out of the tragedy of 11 September, he said, "should bring all nations together in defense of the most basic right, the right of all peoples to live in peace and security".  The text of the statement, which was delivered on his behalf by Vladimir Petrovsky, the Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, is available in my office.

      **Human Rights

Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented her annual report to the General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) this morning.  Even though the report was published before the events of 11 September, in her remarks the High Commissioner noted the effect of those events on human rights.  She said that following 11 September, there is a need to re-emphasize the responsibility of all governments to take appropriate measures to restore human security.

In the wake of these attacks, all states have made a commitment to try to eradicate terrorism, she said.  But efforts, she went on to add, “must be made to avoid innocent people from becoming victims of counter-terrorism measures, which require governments to be guided in those actions by international human rights law”.  In the speech, which is available upstairs, the High Commissioner went on to highlight the activities of her office over the past year.

**Kosovo

The head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Hans Hakkerup, signed an agreement with the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia yesterday, aimed at providing security and other guarantees for the Serb minority in Kosovo ahead of the elections in the predominantly ethnic Albanian province.  In briefing notes from Pristina that we put out yesterday, UNMIK said it was "extremely pleased with the decision by both Serbian and Yugoslav governments to endorse Kosovo Serb participation" in the 17 November elections.

      **Iraq

On Iraq, the estimated Iraqi oil export revenue for the present phase, Phase X of the United Nations oil-for-food programme, is now expected to reach only about $5.38 billion, at current prices and rate of exchange.

The entire forecasted budget for the purchase of humanitarian supplies and equipment in Phase X was set by the Government of Iraq at $5.5 billion.  Phase X ends at the end of this month, 30 November.  Iraqi oil exports slipped further in the week ending 2 November, to 14.6 million barrels, down from the previous week’s total of 14.9 million barrels.  The full text of the weekly update is available in my office.

Also on Iraq, the Norwegian mission informs us that a meeting of The 661 Sanctions Committee on Iraq will take place this afternoon at 3:30 p.m.  At this meeting, United States Admiral Charles Moore, Commander of the Multinational Interception Force currently operating in the Persian Gulf, will brief the committee.  Following that, members of the committee will discuss the sanctions violations allegedly committed by the tanker, TT Essex.

Immediately after, the committee wraps up its work today.  The Chair, Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby of Norway, will brief the press in Conference room seven.

**Sierra Leone

The seventh meeting of the Government of Sierra Leone, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) will take place in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, this Thursday.  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, will chair that meeting.  Among the issues to be examined will be the progress of disarmament activities throughout the country, a review of the peace process and issues relating to national recovery and stabilization.

**Signings

This morning, Tajikistan became the seventy-first country to sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.  The Convention has five parties with the ratification by Azerbaijan on 26 October.

      **Press Releases

Three press releases we’ll flag for you today.  First the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that more than 7,000 refugees huts in a camp in Kakuma, in northwestern Kenya, have been destroyed by four days of torrential rains and high winds.  This has left about a quarter of the camp’s mainly Sudanese population without shelter.  UNHCR is moving some of the refugees into schools and community centers as an emergency measure.  You can check the Briefing Notes if you want more on that.

Then, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today warned that the globalization of trade could lead to the globalization of epidemics of diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease.  Speaking at a meeting on Foot and Mouth Disease taking place during the FAO Conference in Rome, Director-General Jacques Diouf called on countries to develop a global plan to contain and control disease threats.  He suggested a Global Information and Early Warning System based on the one developed by FAO for food crops, and said that would help to reduce drastically the risk of spreading disease, such as Foot and Mouth.  We have more information in a press release.

The third press release is from WHO, and they have issued a revised fact sheet on Mental Health.  It not only defines mental health but also looks at mental health in children and adolescents, in the work place and in the ageing population.  We have copies of that fact sheet in my office.

**Press Conferences

Finally, we have two press conferences to announce.  At 11 o’clock tomorrow, Thoraya Obaid, the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will launch the “State of the World Population 2001” report.  It’s called “Footprints and Milestones:  Population and Environmental Change”.

And then at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow, Giandomenico Picco, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, will launch a new book entitled, Crossing the Divide.

Any questions before we go to Jan?

**Questions and Answers:

Question:  The paper that Mr. Brahimi is preparing.  Will it go before the Council next week or in front of the 6+2 Group?

Spokesman:  I assume it’s for the Secretary-General, who would share it with the Council.

Question:  Is there a specific date it will be presented to the Secretary-General yet?

Spokesman:  I don’t have a date now.  As we said, we expect him (Mr. Brahimi) to be coming back to New York for the General Debate, which starts this weekend.  Perhaps he’ll bring it with him and give it to the Secretary-General at that time.

Question:  Do you know the date he’ll be back?

Spokesman:  I don’t know.  He hasn’t given us a specific date.

Question:  The Afghan refugees who have nowhere to go, as reported a couple of days ago.  How come the United Nations has not been able to supply them with something that can stop their suffering more in this cold weather.

Spokesman:  The High Commissioner for Refugees has been working intensely with the Pakistan government, which, like the other governments neighboring Afghanistan, has refused to open its border, to at least allow the most vulnerable people to cross over so they can be taken care of in UNHCR camps inside Pakistan.  To the extent that we can get food and other aid to the people blocked on the Afghan side, we’re doing so.  But, as Mr. Oshima said today to the Council, there are gaps.  We’re not going to be able to meet our targets for looking after the food aid needs of all Afghans before the intensity of winter sets in in December.

Question:  You mentioned the delivery of five million doses of polio vaccine in Afghanistan.  Has polio been a problem in Afghanistan?

Spokesman:  It’s part of a worldwide immunization.  The idea is to be preventive, to inoculate children.  It’s part of a worldwide campaign actually to eliminate polio, and of course the most vulnerable areas are areas of conflict.  So the WHO and UNICEF were back and forth about whether to actually attempt this immunization.  In the end, they decided to give it a try.  They’ve got the vaccine in the country and they’re going to try and inoculate five million children in three days.

Question:  Have there been cases there in the past year or something?

Spokesman:  I’ll have to get those details for you.  I don’t have them in my head to let you know what the incidence of polio in Afghanistan has been.  (It was later announced that a handout on polio in Afghanistan was available in the Spokesman’s Office.)

Question:  Is there a report coming out addressing the situation in Colombia?  The last report of the Secretary-General was on Central America and Colombia was not part of it.

Spokesman:  Again I don’t know off the top of my head.  I’ll have to check for you and let you know after the briefing.

Question:  What you can tell us about the Secretary-General’s schedule of meetings during the general debate?

Spokesman:  He will have an intense programme of bilateral meetings starting Saturday.  They’ll go from early in the morning, like eight o’clock, to maybe rather late in the evening, maybe also eight o’clock, p.m., Saturday and Sunday.  And then in addition to the bilateral meetings, and attending the general debate itself, there are a number of formal meetings, including a 6+2 meeting on Afghanistan that he will attend.  So, it’ll be a rough week starting Saturday.  I don’t have any specifics yet.  It’s probably too early to give you the programme but as we get closer to the weekend, I’m sure we’ll be able to give you the details.

Question:  Which day is the 6+2?

Spokesman:  I don’t have a date for that either.

Question:  Would you check whether the Secretary-General will have a press conference this week ahead of the General Assembly?

Spokesman:  I’ll ask him.  There’s no plan for one now.

Question:  When might Mike McCann be briefing us on security?

Spokesman:  Jan has something on that.  I’m unaware of that.  Anything else for me?

Question:  Will Mr. Otunnu play a role on the situation of children in Afghanistan?  Because we don’t hear from him.

Spokesman:  If you like, I can ask him to brief you on his activities.  I’m sure Afghanistan is high on his agenda.  I mean, his responsibility is children and armed conflict, and in this case you’ve got children and you’ve got armed conflict, so I’m sure he’s quite active.  But if you’d like a briefing by him, I can arrange it.

Question:  I think we are concerned about the children in Afghanistan.

Briefing by the Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly

Well, to get straight to the point that you just asked me about, and you’re not the only one.  I’ve had several questions about that the last couple of days.  And it’s about arranging a briefing about security and access during the general debate.  I spoke yesterday afternoon with the Chief of Security, and he said that he had been in contact with the Media Accreditation with a view to arranging such a briefing.  He does not have a time yet but the moment that I have anything, I will give it to you.  If it comes out after the briefing, we’ll squawk it or something like that and we’ll put it up on the notice board.

Yesterday, I was also asked about a request from the President of the Economic and Social Council to have the Council’s report, and the role of the Council as such, discussed in plenary.  I responded that the request was being discussed and I only want to add now that it’ll be one of the issues that’ll be taken up by a General Committee meeting tomorrow at nine.  The Committee will also discuss the allocation of the agenda item on the administration of justice at the United Nations.

There’s no plenary of the General Assembly today but tomorrow the Assembly will meet at ten to elect 34 members of the International Law Commission for a five year term beginning on 1 January 2002.  The allocation of seats on that Commission is by region with nine nationals from African States, eight nationals from Asian States, three from Eastern European

States, six from Latin American and Caribbean States and eight from Western European and other States.  There are 45 candidates for the 34 positions.  The International Law Commission was established in 1947 with a mandate to promote the development of international law and its codification.

The Presidential summary of the high-level dialogue on international economic cooperation for development through partnership is out on the racks, I think as of yesterday, as document A/56/482.  And that’s what I have for you.  Do you have any questions for me?

**Questions and Answers:

Question:  Do you have an updated speakers list?

Spokesman:  The latest that I’ve seen was called provisional list number five.  I have not seen anything more up to date than that, but I would not be surprised if there is a further update as we get even closer to Saturday.

Question:  What was the date on that?

Spokesman:  30 October.  Okay, thanks very much.

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