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.

** Secretary-General in Austria

Good afternoon.

I am going to start with the Secretary-General's programme in Austria where today in Vienna he started his official visit to that country.  This morning he had a joint press briefing with Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, in which he was asked about the situation in the Middle East. 

He told reporters, “I think we have tended to focus too much on security only”.  He said that security should be linked with improvements in the conditions of the Palestinians and with the political prospects of bringing the parties to the table and discussing a settlement.

He called President Arafat “the leader of the Palestinian people”, and added, “by being isolated and virtually being under house arrest makes it difficult for him to lead.  He is in an extremely difficult situation.  He’s being asked to stop the violence.  He’s being asked to lead and yet, as a leader, he and his institutions are under so much pressure that I really do not see how that is going to help, how he is going to go about delivering what the international community is asking him to do”.

In response to another question, this time on whether Israel should allow Chairman Arafat more liberty, the Secretary-General said that Arafat needs to be able to move around and talk to his people, adding, “he must be given the space and the political time to act”.

The press briefing had been preceded by an hour-long meeting between the Secretary-General and the Austrian Foreign Minister, which, in addition to the Middle East, including discussions of Afghan reconstruction and security, tensions between India and Pakistan, Iraq, Central Asia, Cyprus and the Balkans.

Earlier in the morning, the Secretary-General had met one-on-one with Austrian President Thomas Klestil.  He said at a brief press encounter afterwards that their discussions had focused on Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Balkans.  He also told reporters at that encounter that he hoped the United States, as the country that both parties are looking to for mediation, would retain its contacts with both the Israelis and the Palestinians “because that’s the only way the mediation would be most effective”.

The transcripts of both press encounters are available upstairs as well as on our Web site. 

At midday, he returned to the Chancellery for a lunch hosted by President Klestil.

After lunch, the Secretary-General went to the Parliament to meet with the leadership, including Parliamentary President Heinz Fischer.  They discussed the

Middle East and Afghanistan, and, talking about the Tokyo donor’s conference on Afghan reconstruction, the Secretary-General said that while the pledges were generous, “it was as if the Afghans were offered cake tomorrow when they needed bread today”.  They also discussed the fight against international terrorism, Security Council reform, tensions between India and Pakistan and, finally, the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s bid for observer status at the United Nations.

At the end of the afternoon, he was to join the Foreign Minister to open an exhibition of UN posters titled “For a Better World”.  The Foreign Minister was then to host a dinner in honour of the Secretary-General.

** Afghanistan

In Kabul today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, addressed the first session of the Special Independent Commission for the convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga.

The 21-member Commission, as you will recall, was announced last Friday when the Secretary-General was visiting the Afghan capital.

According to the Bonn Agreement, which spells out the political process for the future Afghanistan, this Commission has the final authority to determine the procedures for and the number of people who will participate in the Emergency Loya Jirga.

Two working sessions were held today.  The formal inauguration of the Commission is expected to take place when Hamid Karzai, Chairman of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan, returns to Kabul.

And about Karzai’s programme at UN Headquarters tomorrow -- we have been told that he is expected to arrive at the Delegates’ Entrance of Headquarters at 9:05 a.m. tomorrow, and he will be addressing the Security Council at 9:15 a.m.  He is expected to depart from the Delegates’ Entrance at 10:05 a.m.  We would suggest that you try to be around that area if you wish to talk to him. 

** Afghanistan -- Humanitarian

World Food Programme Executive Director Catherine Bertini is in Kabul today and has started a three-day visit to Afghanistan.  Her programme today included a visit to a women’s bakery project and an orphanage.  She plans to go to Herat and Jalalabad during her stay.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that thousands of Afghans have crossed into Pakistan in recent days.  Mainly ethnic Pashtuns, the new Afghan refugees are from cities in northern Afghanistan like Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat and began filtering across the border beginning late last week.  While some say they are leaving Afghanistan due to a lack of food aid, most of the fresh refugees say their main reason for fleeing was concern for their safety.

** Security Council

Here in New York this morning the Security Council met for an hour in a private meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Léonard Shé Okitundu.

The Foreign Minister discussed with the Council issues pertaining to disarmament and demobilization of armed groups in his country. He also spoke of security issues between the DRC and its neighbours.

Immediately afterwards, Council members began their open meeting on the situation in Africa.

In her address to the Council, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette welcomed the Council's focus on Africa and said that an average of 36 per cent of its time is devoted to African issues at a moment when many people’s attention is focused elsewhere.

She also noted the increased effort at cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity as well as a number of subregional organizations.  Such cooperation, the Deputy Secretary-General said, “must involve cooperation not only in the areas of politics and security but also across a wide range of issues, such as human rights, humanitarian relief, the struggle against HIV/AIDS, and economic and social development”

She concluded by invoking the events of 11 September.  Those events, she said, “reminded us all of the danger to international order that can arise when structures of governance anywhere break-down, and a State or region becomes a zone of anarchy and refuge for outlaws”.

She added:  “Since the risk of this happening is as great in Africa as anywhere, it would be doubly wrong to allow these events to distract us from Africa’s problems”.

The full text of her speech is available upstairs.

Both meetings today are being presided over by Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Mauritius.

Yesterday, following closed consultations, the President of the Council, Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul of Mauritius, spoke to journalists to express the Council’s concern over the current unrest in Madagascar and its potential for undermining peace and stability in the country and the region.

** Liberia

Still on Africa, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today expressed its deep concern about reports of the forced displacement of internally displaced persons at Sawmill in Liberia.  On 27 January, armed men believed to be dissidents reportedly told the inhabitants of the temporary internally displaced persons camp to leave.  Shots were fired into the air, causing 10,000 people --most of them women and children -- to flee.

UN agencies and NGOs were able to quickly assess the conditions of about 25,000 newly displaced persons at Klay town on 27 January, but have since been denied access to IDPs there.

OCHA urged on the Government of Liberia to take the measures necessary to protect civilians in armed conflict.

** Liberia UNHCR

UNHCR, commenting on the displacement of thousands of people fleeing fighting in Liberia's Sawmill area, says those on the move include also Sierra Leonean refugees who had sought refuge in Liberia.

** Goma

The UN Children’s Fund said today that Radio Goma has started to help the agency to unite some 600 unaccompanied children between the DRC and Rwanda with their parents.  These children had been separated from their parents in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption.

Radio Goma had begun broadcasting the names of the missing children, and UNICEF hoped that this would speed up the reunification process. 

So far, 31 children on the Rwandan side had been reunited. 

UNICEF was appealing for $660,000 to ensure the identification, tracing and reunification of these children

According to WFP, since the beginning of this crisis a total of 346,831 people have received assistance, both in the DRC and in Rwanda.

** Iraq

Moving to Iraq, Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme yesterday concluded his seven-day visit to the three northern governorates of Iraq, which are Dahuk, Erbil and Suleimaniyah.

During his stay in the north, Mr. Sevan, who was accompanied by other top UN officials in Iraq, met with local authorities as well as local representatives of UN agencies.

The discussions centred on how to accelerate and improve the implementation of the programme.  The discussions also focused on measures to further strengthen cooperation with the local authorities, as well as to remove the bottlenecks being faced in expediting the delivery of humanitarian supplies and equipment provided under the programme.

Mr. Sevan is now back in Baghdad where he continues his visit.  We expect him back in New York around 10 February, at which point he is expected to brief the Security Council on his trip.

For more information, please pick up the press release upstairs.

** Office of the Iraq Programme

Also on Iraq, according to the weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme, the volume of Iraq’s oil exports under the UN’s oil-for-food programme rose for the second consecutive week, averaging 2 million barrels per day in the week ending 25 January. 

The week’s exports totalled 14 million barrels, generating an estimated $200 million in revenue.

In the current phase eleven of the programme, which ends on 29 May, Iraq has so far exported 78.5 million barrels of oil out of the approved amount of 263 million barrels, which have netted about $1.2 billion in revenue.

Sorry about all these numbers, but you can get all of them in writing upstairs with the full note from the Iraq Programme.

** Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Yesterday and today there was the first meeting of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  This has been taking place in Geneva.  We hope that later in the afternoon, we will be able to tell you the name of the Chair of the Global Fund, which was to be decided in the meeting today. 

[It was later announced that Crispus Kiyonga of Uganda had been elected Chairman of the Board, and that Seiji Morimoto of Japan had been elected Vice-Chairman of the Board.]

** East Timor

An initial group of 62 UN Volunteers who will work as international District Electoral Officers for East Timor’s first-ever presidential election, which as you know is scheduled for 14 April, arrived in Dili yesterday.  The volunteers are the first of 150 international electoral officers who will be placed in charge of half of the nation’s 300 district polling offices, with East Timorese running the other half.

The UN Volunteers began a week-long training programme shortly after arriving in Dili.  They will be deployed to their polling offices on Friday, 1 February.

We have more details in today’s briefing notes from Dili, which we have available upstairs.

** Habitat

We have a press release upstairs from UN-Habitat,which calls for urgent action to address water and sanitation crises.

UN Habitat has joined forces with the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council to ensure that safe water and adequate sanitation for the world’s unserved populations get top billing at the upcoming Johannesburg WorldSummit for Sustainable Development.

** Budget

We have two more payments in full to the UN regular budget for this year, with Luxembourg paying more than $888,000 and Monaco paying just over $44,000.  So far, 38 Member States have paid their dues in full for this year.

** UNDP/UNV

There is a note from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Volunteers, who will cooperate in carrying out a two-year programme.  It is a $554,000 project to mobilize volunteers to help prevent delinquency among young people in Madagascar's capital city, Antananarivo, where 28 per cent of the population lives in poverty.  UNDP says that violent acts in the capital have doubled in the past five years.

The project is to take place in two districts, and will station 27 national UN Volunteers from Madagascar, along with two international UN Volunteers, to work with young people and set up activities to offer alternatives to help discourage delinquency.

There are more details on the UNDP Web site.

** World Chronicle Programme

DPI tells us that World Chronicle programme number 848 with Anna Kajamulo Tibaijuka, Executive Director of United Nations Habitat, will be shown today at 4:30 p.m. on in-house channel 3 or 31.

** Press Conferences

At 1:30 p.m. Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of the Republic of Mauritius, and Mr. Amara Essy, Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, will discuss the OAU's role in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa, the transformation from OAU to African Union, and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.  That is here in this room, at 1:30 p.m.

At 3:45 p.m., also in this room, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs is sponsoring a press conference on the Round Table on Sustainable Energy, to be held on 30 January.

Tomorrow at 10:30 the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will brief on its work during the twenty-sixth session.  Speakers will be Angela King, the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Charlotte Abaka, Chairperson of the Committee, and Savitri Gooneskere, an expert from Sri Lanka.

I should also add that tomorrow, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia is expected at the Council stakeout at about 11:30 in the morning.  As you know he will be in the Council for the East Timor meeting.   

Any questions?

** Questions and Answers

Question: Do you know how much funds are involved in the Fund on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria?

Answer: I believe the latest figure was about $1.9 billion, but I can check, let me see if I have it here.  No, I don't have it here, but I will let you know as soon as I get upstairs. 

[It was later announced that according to figures from December, the Fund had in excess of $1.7 billion.]

Question: How will the Chairman of the Board be selected?

Answer: The Board will elect the Chairman.

Question: Has the Secretary-General's appeal for the lifting of the restrictions on Arafat been conveyed to the Israeli authorities?

Answer: The Secretary-General conveyed his views today publicly and he has been in regular contact, as well as his representative Mr. Larsen, with all those concerned.  So I think his views are well known by all those who should know his views.

Question: The Indian Foreign Minister will be in New York for the World Economic Forum.  Are there any formal meetings planned with the Secretary-General.

Answer: No, the Secretary-General will not be in New York until next week.

Thank you very much.  Have a pleasant afternoon.

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