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.

**Briefing by Olara Otunnu

Good afternoon.

Our guest today will be Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, who will brief you on the coming into force today of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which outlaws compulsory recruitment of children under the age of 18 by both government and non-government armed forces.

**Slobodan Milosevic Trial

The trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for alleged war crimes committed during the 1990s in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo began in The Hague today at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Milosevic is the first head of State to be put on trial for war crimes committed while in office.

Carla Del Ponte, Prosecutor of the Tribunal, declared in her opening statement, “Today, as never before, we see international justice in action”.

She said, “ We should pause to recall the daily scenes of grief and suffering that came to define armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia.  The events themselves were notorious.  A new term, ‘ethnic cleansing,’ came into common use in our language.  Some of the incidents revealed an almost medieval savagery and a calculated cruelty that went far beyond the bounds of legitimate warfare”.

She went on to say, “The Tribunal is one of the measures taken by the Security Council, acting for all Member States of the United Nations, to restore and maintain international peace and security.  That is our purpose and our unique contribution is to bring to justice the persons responsible for the worst crimes known to mankind".

Del Ponte’s opening statement, which is available upstairs, was followed by that of her senior trial attorney, Geoffrey Nice, who outlined the case against Milosevic during the 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. session.

The opening statement is expected to continue tomorrow.  Once the prosecution finishes, Milosevic is expected to make his opening statement.

**Secretary-General

Now, don't get mad at me for the short notice, but the Secretary-General is going to Washington, D.C., tomorrow for an informal discussion on the global impact of AIDS with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at the invitation of Committee Chairman Joseph Biden and ranking member Jesse Helms.  The

Secretary-General will open with brief comments, the text of which we hope to give you on an embargoed basis no later than tomorrow morning.

He will have a few other appointments while he's in Washington, but as the programme is still being finalized we will not be able to give you these details until later today.

**Palestine

This morning the Secretary-General addressed the opening session of the 2002 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

He told the delegates that the deterioration of the situation on the ground had reached unprecedented levels with a death toll which exceeds 1,100 and with up to 20,000 wounded on both sides, though overwhelmingly Palestinian.

“The peace process is going through an extremely trying period”, he said.  “Indeed, it is in distress.  It has lost momentum and badly needs a renewal of energy and conviction.  The parties should recommit themselves to the principles of Madrid and Oslo.”

He added that any negotiations cannot be based on security issues alone.  Political and economic issues must also be addressed.  He said, “We have seen in the past that extremists can be isolated and security improved once there are renewed prospects for negotiations and the climate of mistrust, frustration and despair is eased”.

He outlined the many efforts of United Nations agencies and representatives for much-needed humanitarian relief for the Palestinian people, 50 per cent of whom now live below the poverty line.  The Secretary-General also outlined the active involvement of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed Larsen, in the political sphere.

"I too have been engaged in these efforts", he said in conclusion, “and I assure you that I will continue to work with all parties until a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the question of Palestine is achieved, based on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and the principle of 'land for peace'".

We have the full text upstairs.

**Deputy-Secretary-General

The Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, today addressed the Special Committee of 24 at the opening of its 2002 session this morning. 

In her remarks, she noted that another achievement in the decolonization movement would be marked when East Timor joins the ranks of sovereign States in May, and she expressed the hope that ways would be found to address the long-standing issue of the remaining Non-Self Governing Territories.

We have copies of her remarks upstairs.

**Peacekeeping

The two-day general debate portion of the annual review by Member States of United Nations peacekeeping policy is ending today with Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno answering questions from members of the Committee at the end of the general debate.

Thirty speakers are on the list to speak at the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations taking place in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.  A press release summarizing the first day of the Committee’s proceedings and Guehenno’s opening statement delivered yesterday are available.

The statement touches on such topics as improving the Department’s management culture, enhancing rapid and effective deployment, as well as outlining challenges in peacekeeping operations.  Success stories, such as the United Nations Mine Action Programme in Kosovo and bringing East Timorese women into the political and decision-making process, were cited.

**Madagascar 

The Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahima Fall, is expected to arrive in Madagascar tomorrow.  The Secretary-General decided to send him there following phone conversations with President Didier Ratsiraka and opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana.

Mr. Fall will meet with both and explore ways in which the United Nations might assist in overcoming the impasse, particularly in assuring that the second round of the elections are conducted in a peaceful climate.

**Weapons Collection Mission in Sri Lanka

In response to a request from the Government of Sri Lanka, a small evaluation team led by the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs (DDA) is currently visiting Colombo on a week-long mission to develop a proposal for a weapons collection programme.

The team is lead by Joao Honwana, Chief of the Conventional Arms Branch in DDA, and includes representatives from the Department for Political Affairs, and the Department for Economic and Social Affairs.  The purpose of the mission is to develop a proposal for the United Nations to assist the Government of Sri Lanka in the collection of excess or illegal weapons that are located in the south of the country.

Building upon an earlier United Nations weapons collection effort in Albania, the mission offers another example of how the United Nations is working to assist in the implementation of the Programme of Action adopted last July at the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.

**Liberia

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today said that thousands of panicked Sierra Leone refugees living in Liberia, as well as Liberian nationals, had crossed into the neighbouring country since the outbreak of fighting last week between Liberian rebels and Government forces.  They had assembled in the border town of Jendema on the Sierra Leone side of the frontier, where UNHCR by Monday had registered more than 3,000 Liberian refugees and some 2,000 Sierra Leoneans.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) expressed concern about the situation in Liberia in which it expressed fear of re-mobilization of former child soldiers.  There were some 15,000 child soldiers during the civil war, with only 4,319 officially demobilized. 

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it was preparing food distribution to persons displaced by the renewed fighting.

**Afghanistan

The High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the final convoy of Afghans left the makeshift refugee site near Peshawar, Pakistan, ending a three-month UNHCR-government operation to empty the squalid site.  In all, 45,000 Afghans were transferred from Jalozai since last November to five new UNHCR camps where refugees could get adequate help and shelter.

UNICEF said that a nationwide measles campaign for Afghanistan had been launched since the beginning of January, with the goal of reaching more than 10 million children for measles vaccination by April of this year.  By the end of January, more than 1 million children, aged six months to 12 years, had already been vaccinated.  The campaign, which started in Kabul, was now rolling out to other major cities and smaller towns.

**Somalia

Following a visit to Somalia, the United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie, held a press conference in Nairobi this morning.  Thanks to the cooperation of Somali communities and authorities, she told journalists, United Nations agencies are currently able to access large areas of the country and carry out a wide range of humanitarian and development assistance in Somalia. 

“In our view", she said, "the time is right for the international community to invest in Somalia as a test case for building long-term peace through investment in communities”.

While in Somalia, Ms. McAskie and her team, which included Randolph Kent, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, visited various United Nations projects and also met with local officials.  She emphasized that in carrying out its work in Somalia, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations depend on the peace and security provided by local administrations as well as the population at large.

We have a press release upstairs on that.

**Oil-for-food Programme

According to the weekly figures from the Office of the Iraq Programme, Iraq exported 11.5 million barrels of oil in the week ending 8 February.  This was a 2 million barrel drop from the previous week’s total.  The estimated revenue earned from the week’s exports was $196 million.

So far, in the current phase eleven of the Programme, which ends on 29 May, Iraq has exported some 103 million barrels.  We have the full text upstairs.

**United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA)

We also have upstairs the text of the speech delivered yesterday by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of Mission in Guatemala, Gerd Merrem, to the Consultative Group for Guatemala, which is meeting in Washington, D.C.

This is the first time this group, which is organized by the Inter-American Bank, is meeting since 1998.  The membership is comprised of interested donor States, the Guatemalan Government, the United Nations system as well as non-governmental organizations.  This year’s two-day meeting was attended by the Guatemalan President, Alfonso Portillo.

Merrem said, “The holding this new Consultative Group for Guatemala more than five years after the signing of the Peace Agreements provides the opportunity to encourage signatories, especially the Government, to finally turn into reality the benefits, which appropriate implementation of the Peace Agreements should mean, for the entire Guatemalan population”.

We have the full text of his remarks upstairs.

**Economic and Social Council

Finally, leading education experts will join together with education ministers and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) ambassadors in a round-table discussion on "Education and Development", taking place on Thursday, 14 February, in the ECOSOC Chamber from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  The event is in preparation for this year's ECOSOC high-level segment, whose theme is "The Contribution of Human Resources Development, including in the areas of health and education, to the process of development".

Led by the President of ECOSOC, Ivan Šimonovic (Croatia), the round table will be attended by the ministers of education of Egypt, El Salvador, Gambia, Pakistan and Uganda, as well as education experts from the public and private sectors.  We have more details and a full list of participants available upstairs.

Olara, do you want to come and we'll get to you in just a minute, after I've had a few questions, if there are any?

**Questions and Answers

Question: On Madagascar, is the United Nations considering sending election monitors?

Spokesman: I think that depends on the date of the elections.  Under the constitution, I think the run-up was to happen very quickly, in which case the United Nations physically couldn't get monitors into the country.  There has been talk of postponing the election date.  If that were the case, I think we could think of considering sending monitors, should the Government request it.  But that's not a decision on our part -- it's really hypothetical at this point.

Question: It seems that various governments were notified, somewhat last minute, as to the United Nations decision to pull out [of the Cambodia talks], and perhaps were not very happy with it.  Is there any discussion underway to possibly provide talks or is Annan speaking with any Member States about this decision, or where does this stand?

Spokesman: What you have to remember is that the United Nations was in regular consultation with a certain number of key governments that had a keen interest in seeing this court established throughout the four and a half years that we were negotiating with Cambodia, and particularly throughout the last two

years.  As I said yesterday, the decision on our part was not taken lightly and the Secretary-General stands by it.

Question: The Secretary-General has a meeting with [United States Ambassador John] Negroponte today.  Is there anything you can tell us about that?

Spokesman: I can't tell you anything before the meeting.  I don't know even whether the Secretary-General asked for it or the Ambassador asked for it.  But, as usual, we'll try to get a read-out for you if you ask for one.

Question: A minor piece of housekeeping.  I understand that the heat in the building was turned down yesterday and my office, for one, is freezing.  I've come down here to warm up.  I've been sitting in my shawl trying to use my computer with gloves.

I did try calling building maintenance, but they said they've had so many calls that they haven't gotten around to me yet.  I wondered why this was done right in the middle of winter on the coldest days of the year.

Spokesman: If it got you into the briefing room, then I'll have to say our strategy worked.  Do you have gauges, can you adjust the heat?

Response: What's happening is that I've got heat coming up and then I've got this cold blast of air conditioning coming from the ceiling.

Spokesman: Oh, there's a hole in the wall.  All right, I'll have to see if buildings management can do anything about that.

Question: On the Global Fund for AIDS, the Secretary-General is going to Washington?  How much money is involved there?

Spokesman: I think there's about $1.9 billion now in the Fund.  There also has been a significant increase over the past year in the amount of government spending on AIDS programmes.  You'll remember from the beginning that we said the Secretary-General's intention was never to have all the money needed for AIDS programmes go through the Fund.  We're quite pleased at the response of governments over the past year to the call for increased attention to the HIV/AIDS problem.

As I said, we'll try to get the text of the Secretary-General’s opening comments to the Foreign Relations Committee tomorrow -- if not by the end of today, then by tomorrow morning.

Question: Since an administrator was designated for the Fund, will he be accompanying the Secretary-General to Washington?

Spokesman: I could be wrong, but I thought that there hadn't yet been the selection of someone to administer the Fund.  I think that's being discussed, but let me check on it and get back to you after the briefing.

[The Spokesman's Office later announced that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Global Fund against AIDS had not yet been selected, although the Chairman of the Board of the Fund, Chrispus Kiyonga of Uganda, was announced earlier this year.  Correspondents were reminded that the Fund was not a United Nations Fund, and no representative for the Fund would be accompanying the Secretary-General to Washington.]

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