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.

**G8 Summit

The Secretary-General arrived in Kananaskis, Canada, about a half hour ago and should now be participating in a welcome ceremony led by Canada's Prime Minister, Jean Chretien. 

The Group of Eight leaders from the world's leading economic powers will, in a few minutes, sit down with four African heads of State and the Secretary-General to discuss the extent of their support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development, or NEPAD.  NEPAD is a plan developed by African leaders whereby they pledge to improve governance on the continent in exchange for the G-8 helping with aid, trade and debt relief.

At about 1:45 New York time, the G-8 leaders and the African heads of State will attend a press event to announce what they have agreed.  The Secretary-General will make remarks; we have distributed his text on an embargoed basis.  And just a few minutes ago we received a revised text.  So if you picked up the earlier one -- throw it away and go back to my office and pick up the latest one.  In those remarks, he is expected to say that NEPAD provides a framework for ending conflicts, for stemming the flow of refugees and displaced people and for improving the investment climate, which is a prerequisite for sustainable development.  You can view this press event live on UN in-house channels 3 or 31.  You can hear it also on the UN's MX phone system, on channel 702.  And you can also follow the webcast on the G-8 Web site.  Please check against delivery for the Secretary-General's comments.  There will be no questions and answers, as we understand it.

Afterwards, the Secretary-General will attend the official luncheon, and then depart for New York, arriving about 11 p.m. tonight.

He arrived in Calgary, Canada, yesterday, where he attended a reception hosted by the Canadian Minister of Health, Anne McLellan, and then attended a dinner hosted by Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson. 

Returning to his hotel after dinner, he was door-stepped by journalists.  He said he was extremely happy that African leaders had been invited to discuss with G-8 leaders how they might work together to improve the economic situation in Africa.  He said, "Once you create that enabling environment for investment to come in and open up trade, these governments will be able to trade and work themselves out of poverty rather than live on handouts. And that's what they would want", he added.

Asked if this is a threshold for Africa, he replied, "I think, yes, potentially it is a threshold, if all sides hold to the bargain and the understanding and the commitments we are making here".

** UNDP and UNICEF Report

Yesterday afternoon, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) produced a report, prepared at the request of the G-8 nations, that says that only 10 out of 45 sub-Saharan African countries are on schedule to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. 

The report says Africa has the highest number of poor people, with nearly half its people –- or some 300 million Africans -– living on less than a dollar a day.  If current trends continue, the report warns, “Africa will be the only region where the number of poor people in 2015 will be higher than in 1990”.

UNDP has a press release with more information.

** AIDS in China

“China is on the verge of a catastrophe that could result in unimaginable human suffering, economic loss and social devastation”, according to a UNAIDS report released today.

The report, drafted by the UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, warns that the world is now witnessing the unfolding of an HIV/AIDS epidemic of proportions “beyond belief”.  It has put the estimated figure of the people infected with HIV in China by the end of last year at around 1.5 million.  The report says that though the epidemic calls for urgent actions, many factors have hindered an effective response.  “They include insufficient political commitment and leadership at many levels of government, insufficient openness when dealing with the epidemic and insufficient resources both human and financial”, the report says.  “It can be feared that in the near future, China might count more HIV infections than any other country in the world”, the report warns.

The nearly 100 page report is available on the UNAIDS Web site.

** Security Council

This morning the Security Council is holding an open meeting to be briefed on the work of its Counter Terrorism Committee by United Kingdom Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who is the Chair of that Committee.  All Council members were expected to take the floor in addition to representatives of regional groups.

The full speaker's list is available upstairs.

This afternoon, Council members will meet in closed consultations to discuss the extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

** Democratic Republic of the Congo

There were grave violations of human rights in Kisangani on 14 May, and the following days, according to Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions.

Ms. Jahangir issued a statement and spoke to journalists today in Geneva following her fact-finding mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  She had been sent by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, to look into the events of 14 May in Kisangani.  There had been numerous reports of killings in the days that followed an attempted mutiny against the Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma (RCD-G) –- the de-facto authority in the town.

In this preliminary report, Ms. Jahangir says RCD-G authorities did carry out summary executions and extrajudicial killings of civilians, soldiers and the police, in reaction to the attempted rebellion.  Extra-judicial killings were also carried out by the mutineers.  While some deaths, she said, occurred as a result of indiscriminate gunfire, others lost their lives in what would appear to be targeted extra-judicial executions.

She reports that the situation in the town remains explosive and immediate preventive measures need to be taken to avoid more bloodshed.  Asked to give an approximate number of victims, the Special Rapporteur said the minimum would be 150, but added: “What does it matter if it is 100 or 150 or 200?  What is important is that lives have been lost.  The fact remains that a massacre has been committed, and it is a grave human rights violation”.  Ms. Jahangir, who was in the DRC from the 16 to 22 June, called for thorough investigations of all the reported atrocities that have been committed in the country.

We have copies of the statement upstairs.

** Lakhdar Brahimi Presented with Afghan Diplomatic Passport

In Kabul today, Afghan President Hamid Karzai presented the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, with an Afghan diplomatic passport, which Brahimi said was “an honour I value more than I can say”.

The UN envoy also joked that he was unaware if the United Nations would allow a national to represent the Secretary-General, but that, now that he had an Afghan passport, he would stand in the next Loya Jirga as a candidate.  Karzai, who helped to translate his comments, responded, “Your excellency, you will beat me”.

** Afghanistan

At a press conference today in Kabul, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative for Afghanistan, Filippo Grandi, expressed concern over the pressure that Afghan refugees are now facing in Pakistan.

Grandi said that since March, 1.1 million Afghans had returned from Iran and Pakistan under the assisted programme of UNHCR, and there were maybe 200,000 who had returned spontaneously.  “There is a lot of pressure on Afghans to return from Pakistan”, he said, “local authorities, local police authorities, and even local communities putting pressure in a difficult political and economic situation in Pakistan for people to return.  This pressure is mounting and is very serious”, he said.

UNHCR has brought up the issue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, and has asked him to intercede with local authorities to diminish this pressure. 

** Kosovo

More than half of Kosovo’s population lives in poverty, with 12 per cent living in extreme poverty, according to a Human Development Report for Kosovo commissioned by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The report adds that Kosovo nevertheless is ranked at a medium level of development internationally, and it calls for the strengthening of democratic institutions and greater participation by the people of Kosovo in their government institutions.

It also calls for steps to deal with continuing discrimination against Kosovo Serbs and other minorities.

** Tribunals

Yesterday in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) granted the provisional release of two former senior Yugoslav officials –- Dragoljub Ojdanic and Nikola Sainovic –- although their actual release has been stayed pending an appeal by prosecutors.  We have a press release with more information.

There is also a press release from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda noting that the Tribunal’s appeal chamber next week will sit in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, to hear appeals in two cases:  that of a Rwandan mayor who had been acquitted of all charges against him and of an Interahamwe leader sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity.

** WHO/FAO Meeting on Acrylamide

The Joint WHO/FAO Global Expert Consultation on Acrylamide in Foods ended today in Geneva.  Acrylamide is a chemical used in water purification and the manufacture of plastics which can be found in certain starchy foods cooked at high temperatures, such as French fries, potato chips, cookies, cereals and breads. 

The consultation found that the average intake of the chemical by consumers is below the level which can produce nerve damage, but said the problem of acrylamide in food was a major concern because it is a potential cause of cancer in humans.  The consultation urged further investigation of the possibilities for reducing the levels of acrylamide in foods by changing formulations and processing techniques. 

We have a press release with more details.

** Press Releases

Some other press releases for today.  First, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that the Fund for International Development of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) signed an agreement for the first in a series of HIV/AIDS initiatives.  The agreement will provide $8.1 million to fund WHO projects in 12 of the hardest hit sub-Saharan countries  -- Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia.  In these countries, the proportion of adults living with HIV/AIDS ranges from 6 per cent in Togo to nearly 20 per cent in Zambia.

Then the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the arm of WHO operating in the Americas, today announced the winners of their Centennial Poster and Essay Competitions.  The poster competition was won by a 10-year old Jamaican girl for her poster entitled Healthy Living.  The essay contest was won by a 17-year old boy from Peru for his story of a humble shoemaker in a shantytown who unites his community to build a health post and water and sewer lines.  Both winners received $500, a computer and a certificate.

** Stamps

The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) today launched a set of 12  stamps and a souvenir card to commemorate the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which will take place at the end of August in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

The stamps were designed by world-renowned artist, Peter Max, who created sets of stamps to commemorate both the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, and the Earth Summit +5 review conference in 1997.  There are four stamps in each of the three currencies of the UN Postal Administration, as well as First Day Covers, on sale at the UNPA booth in the Secretariat Lobby and at the Visitors Centre.  A special souvenir card depicting the stamps and carrying a statement by the Secretary-General is also available and will remain on sale for three months while supplies last.

** Iraq Delegation

Finally, there was a question yesterday.  Mohammed asked me about the composition of the Secretary-General's delegation to the Iraq talks in Vienna next week.  We did send an official list to the Iraqis the day before yesterday.  There are, in addition to the Secretary-General, four senior officials plus support staff.  The four senior officials are Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC; Mohammed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Yuli Vorontsov, High Level Coordinator on Iraq.  And the last one that I have not mentioned so far is Hans Corell, the Legal Counsel.  So those are the four principals, and then each of those people of course has experts and other support staff.

That is all I have for you.  Oh, and then the bottom of that story is that we have not yet received from the Iraqis their delegation list.  Yes.  Irwin?

** Questions and Answers

Question: Does the inclusion of Yuli Vorontsov mean that the topic of missing Kuwaiti people and property has been added to the agenda of the talks?

Spokesman:  There was at the last round of talks an announcement by the Iraqis that they had a certain amount, a substantial amount, of the Kuwaiti archives that they had discovered and were willing to return to Kuwait.  So at that time, the Secretary-General said we will discuss the mechanism for doing that.  At this meeting, that mechanism is expected to be finalized.  Missing persons is also within Mr. Vorontsov's remit, but whether it will come up or not, we can't say.  But we would of course be prepared to discuss that should the Iraqis wish to discuss it.

Question: Is the Secretary-General concerned that this might cause the possibility of diversion from the task of concentrating on the return of inspectors?

Spokesman: At the end of the last round he saw this announcement on the archives as a step forward, something that can improve the climate in which these talks are taking place.  So I think he sees it as a positive sign as opposed to a diversion.

Question: Fred, could you remind us how the four African States that are presently meeting with the G-8 were selected?  Also, apparently there was some dissension amongst smaller, perhaps less prosperous countries.  Has the Secretary-General had anything to say about that?

Spokesman: No, I think you would have to ask the African leaders themselves how they came up with these four.  As you know, President [Olusegun] Obasanjo of Nigeria and President [Thabo] Mbeki of South Africa were the two leading figures in the formulation of the NEPAD initiative.  But I can't speak for them and to my knowledge the Secretary-General had no role in this selection.

Question: So they might have been selected by the Organization of African States?

Spokesman: I don't know who selected them and how they came up with these four.  Yes, Mohammed?

Question: Apparently the Secretary-General, in his message to OIC Foreign Ministers, spoke of lifting the embargo against Iraq in the near future.  When would this near future be?

Spokesman:  That is dependent on the full implementation of the Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq.  So the Council has laid out the path for the lifting of sanctions and that is the path that the Secretary-General is asking Iraq to take.  How long it will take to get down that path is anyone's guess.

Question: Will the issue of pricing mechanisms and the oil-for-food programme be on the table of discussion?

Spokesman:  As far as I know, it is not our intention in this session to get into those issues.  Thank you, Irwin.

Question:  One more question on the Secretariat's preparation of the report on what happened in the Jenin refugee camp.  Originally the deadline for that was to be about six weeks, which would be about now.  Could we get a progress report on that?

Spokesman:  We currently, don't hold me to this, expect it to be finished a little later.  We are looking now at mid-July.  But there is no specific date for its release, but that is what it looks like to us now for it to be completed. 

Thank you very much.

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