DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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.
Good afternoon.
**SG to visit Ukraine, RussiaThe Secretary-General will leave a week from tomorrow on a trip that will take him on his first visit to the Ukraine. From there, he will travel to Moscow, Geneva and Rome.
He will arrive in the Ukraine on Sunday the 2nd of June for an official programme that will last through Tuesday.
His programme in Moscow will then go from Tuesday through Thursday morning.
He will then go to Geneva to receive an honorary degree on Friday from the University of Geneva, where he did graduate work in economics in 1961 and 1962.
His last stop will be Rome, where he will arrive on Sunday 9 June. And then on Monday, he will address the five-year review conference of the 1996 World Food Summit.
He will return to New York on Tuesday.
**Secretary-General/DisarmamentThe Secretary-General welcomes the signing today by the United States of America and the Russian Federation of a treaty to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear weapons substantially by the year 2012.
You will recall that in a statement issued on May 14, we said that the signing of the treaty constituted a “positive step in the direction of nuclear disarmament and contributes to the fulfillment of the obligations of the two countries as nuclear-weapon States under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.”
**Security CouncilSecurity Council consultations are being held on Somalia.
Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, gave an update on political and security matters and the recent activities of the Secretary-General’s Representative Winston Tubman.
The Singapore Mission Web site has posted a fact sheet on Somalia with bullet points on political developments, the so-called IGAD (the "Intergovernmental Authority on Development") peace process, the UN Political Office for Somalia, as well as the security, humanitarian and economic situations there.
Under other matters, Kosovo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the subjects expected to be discussed.
In the afternoon at 3 p.m. the Security Council has scheduled a closed meeting of troop contributing countries to the UN Observer Mission in the Golan Heights, known as UNDOF.
At 10 a.m. this morning, at the invitation of the Chairman of the African Group and the Permanent Observer of the Organization of African Unity, the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore made a statement this morning at a special meeting of the Africa Group that began at
10 a.m. to commemorate Africa Day, which falls on 25 May.
On behalf of the members of the Security Council, the Council President expressed the Council's solidarity with Africa. He reiterated the Council's strong message of support as well as its solidarity with Africa in the management of the challenges and the opportunities that face the continent.
**Secretary-General’s Message on Africa DayThe Secretary-General, in his message on the occasion of Africa Day, welcomes the launching of the African Union, which he described as a grand project of integration with the potential to provide the framework, tools and common purpose needed for the continent to achieve its goals.
He also notes another dynamic initiative –- the New Partnership for Africa’s Development –- known as NEPAD -- which is taking shape.
He goes on to say that the struggle for democracy, development, human rights and good governance in Africa may well be reaching what has been called a “tipping point.”
And he says that Africans are confronting the scourge of AIDS with innovative programmes and relentless campaigns of public education –- often led by the very men, women and orphans who are victims of the disease.
Every year on 25 May, Africa Day marks the anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity.
**Secretary-General AppointmentThe Secretary-General has decided to appoint Nafis Sadik, the former Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), as his Special Adviser, with additional responsibilities as Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia.
As Special Envoy, Dr. Sadik will be responsible for promoting throughout Asia the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, which was adopted by the General Assembly in July 2001 at its Special Session on AIDS. She will meet with high-level government officials to promote key issues and encourage celebrities and other influential persons to get involved in the fight against AIDS. In carrying out these functions, she will work closely with UNAIDS, which is the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Sadik was the first woman to lead a major UN voluntarily-funded program, heading UNFPA from 1987 to 2000. Before joining the United Nations, she had been Director-General of the Central Family Planning Council in Pakistan. We have a biographical note with more data in my Office.
**DRC Panel ReportThe illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is continuing with disastrous effects on the civilian population, according to a tentative assessment by the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the DRC.
Following two months of fact-finding within and outside the Great Lakes region, the panel issued a preliminary report on its findings, which the Council is scheduled to discuss today.
The panel said it’s gaining a better understanding of the varying roles of the different foreign armies and armed groups –- both foreign and Congolese -– in the exploitation of resources and in the continuing war in the country.
The humanitarian toll of this exploitation is widespread, especially in the eastern part of the DRC, where panellists focused their work in the past two months. “Local populations,” they write, “including children, are being conscripted and used as forced labour in the extraction of resources by some military forces in different regions.”
In some cases, armed groups have destroyed the infrastructure for agricultural production to force people to participate in the extraction of resources. This has led to, among things, increased food insecurity.
The report is available upstairs.
**Secretary-General/Indigenous ForumThe Secretary-General this morning addressed the first session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is wrapping up two weeks of work today, and said that with the Forum’s inauguration, “indigenous issues assume their rightful place -– higher on the international agenda than ever before.”
He said that a new chapter in the history of indigenous people had begun at the UN, adding, “It is entirely appropriate that as victims of discrimination, and as some of the world’s poorest of the poor, indigenous peoples have a platform where they can raise their concerns.” Indigenous peoples, he noted, make up an estimated one out of every 20 persons in the world.
We have copies of his speech upstairs.
At 1:15 today in this room, we will have a press conference on the expected outcome of the Permanent Forum, and the Chairperson of the Forum, Ole Henrik Magga -- of the Saami people of Norway –- and other Forum members will speak to you.
Then, at 1:45 in Conference Room A, the last living speaker of the Eyak language –- which had been spoken in Alaska -– will talk to any interested press. After Chief Marie Smith Jones of the Eyak Nation, who is 84 years old and the last living speaker of the Eyak language, talks to the press, there will be a video presentation, “More than Words”, on her inauguration as Chief, and on activities of the UN regarding language preservation.
**AfghanistanAn international conference on recovery and reconstruction in Afghanistan, jointly hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of India, ended in New Delhi today.
The Conference attracted high-level participation from nearly 50 countries, largely from the developing world. The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other UN organizations also participated.
UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown said that “mending Afghanistan is a task for all of us, North and South –- a historic wrong to be put right and an opportunity for a common solidarity.”
The conference focused on matching Afghanistan’s needs and priorities, as defined in the Afghanistan Interim Administration’s National Development Framework, with the supply of skills and assistance available from the developing world.
For example, Bangladesh offered its experience in micro-credit. India offered agricultural skills. Malaysia offered its information technology knowledge. Mozambique offered its demining experience. Vietnam brought forward its experience in institution-building. And India offered its expertise in information technology and agriculture.
**UNHCRIn recent days, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says it has received a disturbing number of complaints from Afghan refugees in the Pakistani capital Islamabad and the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi about police harassment, forced evictions and extortion.
Upon hearing these reports, the Interior Secretary of Pakistan acted immediately to set up a special Government task force, including UNHCR representation, which will meet twice a week. The first meeting took place yesterday, and UNHCR says it welcomes the central Government's swift response to the concerns UNHCR has raised.
You can read more about this in today’s UNHCR briefing notes from Geneva.
The UNHCR also reports that the first organized refugee return convoy from camps in Ethiopia to north-west Somalia, known as Somaliland, took place yesterday. The refugee agency also reports tensions rising in the north-eastern Kenyan border town of Mandera where some 3,500 Somali refugees have gathered.
**Press Briefing Note
We have a press briefing note from UNICEF on Afghanistan that says that the next round of polio immunization will take place from Monday May 27 through May 29. The UNICEF is providing 6.9 million doses of vaccines as well as more than
16,000 vaccine carriers and 1,500 cold boxes.
The numbers of children targeted: 5.8 million under the age of five.
**Press ReleasesWe also have a press release from the United Nations Volunteers saying that they and the Government of Luxembourg have signed an agreement for a five-year project to support poor young people living in urban areas of Burkina Faso. The project will provide educational and vocational counselling and support to street children and other marginalized young people. You can see the press release on that.
**New United Nations Postal StampsThe United Nations Postal Administration today launched 12 stamps to commemorate the International Year of Mountains being observed this year. The stamps, four in each of the currencies of the Postal Administration, feature photographs of mountains in Kyrgyzstan, Tanzania, the United States, Chile, Switzerland, Japan, Antarctica, India, New Zealand, Canada, Pakistan and Nepal.
We have more information on the stamps and some colour contact sheets available in my office.
Week Ahead at United NationsAnd finally, we have the Week Ahead, which starts on Tuesday because Monday, of course, is a holiday.
That’s all I have for you. Yes, Mr. Barish?
**Questions and Answers
Question: You said that the Secretary-General’s going to Ukraine and then to Moscow.
Spokesman: Yeah.
Question: Could you tell us, we would like to know, who he is visiting in these two countries?
Spokesman: What the programme is? You want the details? I can’t give them to you right now. Probably Tuesday, the beginning of next week. We’ll do our normal, sanitized version of the programme without specific times.
Question: Is it in connection with (Inaudible)
Spokesman: He has intended to visit Ukraine for years, and for one reason or another, it hasn’t been able to be scheduled. So it’s a long-standing project of his to go to the Ukraine. It will include visits with the President, the Foreign Minister, Parliamentary leaders, NGOs, -- the usual programme for a formal visit of this kind. Yes, Jim?
Question: A couple of small details. Are there any plans for a formal meeting of the Council on the charges and counter charges between Somalia and Ethiopia?
Spokesman: I don’t know. We’ll have to see whether the President of the Council has any more information on that. Check with me after the briefing.
[He said later that the Council President says that there are no plans at present to hold such a meeting.]
Question: The other thing is the letter from Pakistan concerning what they call the deteriorating situation in South Asia. Is there going to be any further action taken in response to the request in this letter?
Spokesman: I believe, correct me if I’m wrong, that the President of the Council said at the stakeout yesterday in response to a question, that the Council was not going to take up this issue. And he said that at that time he had no formal request. We’ll have to check with him to see if anything has come up this morning. [It hadn't.]
Question: One last one. Have you made any headway on plans for the international conference on the Middle East? A few weeks ago the idea was that there would be consultations among the various parties. Is there any progress on that?
Spokesman: The Secretary-General stays very close to the other members of the Quartet. But there is nothing to announce at this time about plans for an international conference.
Thank you very much.
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