DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Noon Guest

The guest at today’s briefing will be the Special Envoy for Myanmar, Razali Ismail, and as soon as he comes in I think we’ll probably invite him to begin.

**Secretary-General Leaves Cyprus

The Secretary-General concluded his visit to Cyprus today.  In a statement, he said he was "sobered" by the challenge of helping the two sides reach agreement, "but even more deeply convinced that this is the time to press on."

He added, "I come away from Cyprus with the commitment of both leaders to go about this effort in a genuine spirit of give and take.”  He said he was convinced that the core issues -- governance, security, territory and property -- could be resolved by the end of June.  And he called on the two "motherlands" -- Greece and Turkey -- to provide "sustained and constructive support."

In a question and answer session, he said he was aware that Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, had indicated that June was too soon.  He said, "I think it can be done if the will is there."  He then said that when he had visited the line dividing Cyprus, he saw in the eyes of the people on the street that they would want to see peace on the island.  "It was interesting," he said.  "I had come to encourage them, but wherever I went they were encouraging me and praying for peace."

The Secretary-General then flew from Cyprus to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from where he'll get an overnight commercial flight to Jakarta via Singapore.  He met in Dubai a short time ago with senior Government officials.

This morning in Cyprus he visited the UN peacekeeping force there, UNFICYP, where he was briefed by the military and the police and chatted with civilian staff.  He then toured the UN Protected Area, including a stop at the closed Nicosia Airport, and then walked around the old city.  He also was escorted on a 40-minute walking tour along the section of the buffer zone known as the Green Line, which divides the old city.

He is probably in the air now, scheduled to arrive in Jakarta late tomorrow morning.

We have the transcript of his statement at Larnaca Airport and we expect very shortly to have the transcript of the subsequent Q & A that followed.

**Security Council

The Security Council’s scheduled program for today is a little bit complicated.  It started with Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno briefing in an open meeting on developments in Kosovo over the past three weeks, including the calming down of the situation in Mitrovica and the rescheduling of municipal elections, to October 26.  The one-month rescheduling of those elections, he said, resulted from a delay in approving the election budget.

Guéhenno noted the quick response to the earthquake that damaged the Gnjilane region on April 24, in which an emergency fund, for which 500,000 euros has been allocated, was set up.  He said, "The response is a good example of every level, both local and international, pulling together for the benefit of those affected from all communities," and added it was an example that all sides should heed in finding common ground solutions to Kosovo's problems.

After that, the Council went into closed-door consultations.  The first item on the agenda was on Georgia, where members heard a spot briefing by Joachim Hutter, the Director for Europe and Latin America in the peacekeeping department.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno then briefed on developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the last 24 hours.  On Kisangani, he reported the situation as calm, but tense, and I’ll have more on that in a second.

They then discussed East Timor, during which a draft resolution establishing the successor mission was introduced for adoption on Friday.  A draft presidential statement to be adopted on the day of East Timor’s independence was also discussed.

A draft resolution on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda was introduced with a view to adoption, also on Friday.

Copies of the Kosovo briefing are available in my office.

I know Mr. Razali is pressed for time.  So I would like to interrupt my briefing and turn it over to him to talk to you about Myanmar.  Welcome to the briefing, Sir.

Mr. Razali:Sorry to disturb you.

Spokesman:  It’s quite all right.

(The Spokesman resumed the briefing after Mr. Razali’s, which has been issued separately.)

**MONUC

We’ll now go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from Myanmar.  The UN mission there reports the situation in Kisangani is calm, but tense.  And I think we’d already mentioned that.  In a statement issued this morning in Kinshasa, the mission’s spokesman said that the ongoing events in Kisangani are of concern.  The mission calls on all parties to exercise restraint and to respect human rights.

Meanwhile, UN officials on the ground, led by the Deputy Force Commander, General Roberto Martinelli, and including political and human rights officers, met last night with the Governor of Kisangani to stress the need for the situation to be resolved peacefully without use of force.  The full statement is available upstairs, only in French.

**Angola

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, who is in Angola, says that he was stunned by the quantity of war-displaced persons who are in an extremely serious situation in the provinces of Moxico and Bie.

He said the displaced lack basic items like food, medicine and clothing.  He said he gave guarantees to the Angolan authorities of the UN’s readiness to help Angola face this situation, which affects mostly the young, and acknowledged the efforts which are being undertaken by the Angolan authorities in order to cope.

Nevertheless, he added, such efforts are not enough to deal with the dimension of the present problems.  Otunnu made these statements to the press after being received in audience by the Minister of External Relations, João Miranda.  In the audience with the Angolan Minister, Mr. Otunnu discussed, among other matters, the donors’ Conference that the Government is planning to host and the country’s urgent social matters, including its reconstruction.

The UN diplomat said the organization is ready to engage itself in the success of the humanitarian initiatives, which, in short term, will contribute to the social reintegration of UNITA’s former soldiers and in the long term will help the national reconstruction of the country.

Next month, UN Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator Ross Mountain is scheduled to lead an inter-agency mission to assess the emergency needs of the country.

**Afghanistan

Preliminary results of the United Nations survey of Kabul’s primary schools shows that the return to education by youngsters following the start of the new term in March has exceeded all expectations.  According to a rapid appraisal of half of Kabul’s 200 schools, there has been a 34 per cent increase in primary age enrollment, according to the UN mission there.  In grade one alone, there was a  68 per cent jump in school attendance.

There were also positive trends in the enrolment of girls, as the survey showed 100,000 of the 202,000 primary school-age students attending classes in the 100 schools surveyed were female –- 42 per cent more than anticipated, according to spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva.  More details are in the briefing notes from Kabul today.

We also have a press release from the UN Development Programme that says the Governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to pursue a joint partnership for development, economic cooperation and trade. The United Nations Development Programme will act as a facilitator for this regional approach to the long-term development of Afghanistan.

**East Timor Independence

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, today visited the First Battalion of the East Timor Defence Force, stationed in the Lospalos District.  The battalion had replaced the Korean Battalion of the United Nations peacekeeping force earlier this year.  In his farewell call, Vieira de Mello said the Defence Force would play an important role in the success of East Timor’s future by maintaining a secure and stable environment.  We have more in the Briefing Notes.

To mark the independence of East Timor, the Department of Public Information will host an exhibit, which will open formally on Monday.  Included in it are photographs, official documents, sculptures and other items of cultural and historic interest.  You are all welcome to attend the event, which begins at

5 o'clock on Monday afternoon.

In addition, DPI has prepared a press kit with background information on East Timor.  We have copies of the kit upstairs and it is available on the Web site.

**Human Rights

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson today addressed the 28th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva, and briefed the Committee on the recent meetings of the Commission on Human Rights, which she described as “one of the most challenging sessions in the Commission’s history.”

During that time, she said, the Commission adopted a significant number of resolutions on economic, social and cultural rights, notably one on the right to health, which approved the appointment of a new special rapporteur to deal with that topic.

She said she was glad to note that many of the statements made by governments at the Commission session “also emphasized that the legitimate and necessary security response to terrorism can and must be compatible with international human rights law.”  We have the text of her full statement upstairs.

**DSG Visit

The Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette is in Washington, D.C. today and she will stay there through tomorrow, for a discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.  This afternoon she will meet with Managing Director Horst Kohler of the International Monetary Fund, as well as other officials.  And then tomorrow, she will meet with World Bank officials, including Managing Director Shengman Zhang, and Vice President for External and UN Affairs Mats Karlsson.

The purpose of her visit is to have an exchange of views on strengthening the United Nations, especially looking at the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and the follow-up to the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development.

**Signings

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants received three more signatures today when Chad, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia signed.  There are now 136 signatories.

**Press Releases

And finally, a press release to signal.  The United Nations Children's Fund has warned that the food crisis developing in southern Africa is affecting women and children disproportionately and could turn into a major humanitarian

catastrophe if there is not an immediate and adequate response.  A rapid assessment of children in Malawi undertaken last month shows there are some

45,000 children facing severe malnutrition and the situation is likely to get worse.  There are more details in a press release.

That’s all I have for you.  Going, going, gone.  Thank you very much.

* *** *