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

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Hua Jiang, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Afghanistan

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi briefed the Security Council this morning.

He told the Council that the peace process was on track and there were a few critical factors that give cause for cautious optimism.  “The people of Afghanistan are truly tired of fighting,” he said, and “no one has, so far, opted out of the peace process.”  However, he underscored that despite the achievement, there were still countless challenges and problems.  “In many regions of the country, the security situation remains precarious”, he warned, and this was likely to discourage donors from investing in the region.

Mr. Brahimi emphasized that the real key to the restoration of security lies in the creation of a national army and a national police force.  He also said that the UN continued to believe that the expansion of International Security Assistance Force would have an enormous impact on security, and this “could be achieved with relatively few troops, at relatively little cost and with little danger”, he said.  Mr. Brahimi also appealed for more funds to help the Afghan Government to meet the humanitarian needs of its people and to support sustainable recovery and reconstruction efforts.

As we speak, the Council is still in session and there are altogether

29 speakers in today’s meeting.

**African Letters

I’d like to draw your attention to three senior-level appointments and an announcement regarding Africa made by the Secretary-General.  They are contained in exchanges of letters with the Security Council and are out on the racks as documents today.

In a letter dated July 16, the Secretary-General announces the appointment of Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah as his Special Representative for West Africa.  Mr. Ould-Abdullah of Mauritania is currently the Executive Director of the Global Coalition for Africa, a Washington-based intergovernmental forum.

In another letter dated July 16, the Secretary-General informs the Council of his intention to appoint Ibrahima Fall, former Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, as his Special Representative for the Great Lakes region. In that letter, the Secretary-General also notes the reassignment of Berhanu Dinka as his Special Representative for Burundi, which was announced in a letter earlier this month.

We have bios of the three gentlemen upstairs.  There is also an exchange of letters on the extension of the mandate of the UN Office in Angola for a period of one month until 15 August.

**UNDP/Middle East

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People signed agreements this week with Palestinian community organizations to set up 35 summer camps for youths across the West Bank and Gaza.  An estimated 5,000 youth are to participate in the camps during July and August.

Timothy Rothermel, the UNDP Special Representative for the Programme of Assistance, said, “Getting youth off the streets during these difficult times of military closures in the occupied Palestinian territory” is consistent with UNDP’s human development agenda.  We have more details in a UNDP press release upstairs.

**Otunnu in Afghanistan

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, will visit Afghanistan from 22 to 28 July to assess first-hand the impact of the years of war on children.  During his mission, Mr. Otunnu will travel to Kabul and other regions, including Kandahar and Mazar-i Sharif, and will visit children in camps for internally displaced persons.  He will meet with civil society groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), both national and international, national authorities and United Nations humanitarian and development personnel.

On 28 July, Mr. Otunnu will address an international conference on “Building a Peaceful Future for Afghanistan:  A Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines”.  About 35,000 children have been victims of land mines in Afghanistan, the most mine-contaminated country in the world.  We have a press release with more details upstairs.

**Colombia

Dato Param Cumaraswamy, the Special Rapporteur dealing with the independence of judges and lawyers, today expressed grave concern over what he described as the undermining of the rule of law resulting from the escalation of the armed conflict in Colombia.  He said, “Recent actions by armed groups are seriously undermining the ability of the judiciary to dispense justice.”  He said attacks on the judicial system are “particularly shocking” and have no legitimate military objective.

Colombia’s Supreme Court recently reported that 368 municipal courts in Colombia have come under threat during the recent escalation in violence, resulting in many court closures.  We have more information in a press release.

**ICTY

Next week, the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Judge Claude Jorda; its registrar, Hans Holthuis; and its prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, will visit New York, where on Tuesday, they will brief the Security Council on their plans for the completion of the Tribunal’s work.

Judge Jorda will be available for press interviews on Tuesday afternoon, for those of you who are interested; please contact my office.  Farhan can take down your names.  And also, by the way, the Tribunal has a press release out today noting the results of the Tribunal Judges’ regular summer plenary session, which took place last week.

**Global Compact

Five of the leading companies in Ghana, along with several other organizations, have signed on to the UN Global Compact, which challenges businesses to embrace nine principles upholding human rights, labour rights and environmental standards.

Ghana’s Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, said that “the Government’s concern for the common good makes the Global Compact an ally,” and he urged businesses to pursue their enlightened self-interest by signing the Compact, as social responsibility emerges as a major criterion in investment and purchasing decisions.

We have more in a note today from the UN Development Programme.

**United Nations Children's Fund and McDonald’s

The United Nations Children's Fund today announced plans to team up with the McDonald’s fast food chain to raise money for children all over the world.

The initiative will be part of McDonald’s World Children’s Day, which will be observed for the first time on 20 November this year, the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  On that day, the chain’s restaurants in 121 countries will raise money through a variety of activities for local children’s organizations.  In select countries, McDonald’s will also support the “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" programme by distributing the well-known orange collections boxes through its restaurants.

The Secretary-General will meet with the Chief Executive Officer of McDonald’s, Jack Greenberg in a short while to discuss the initiative.

**Press Releases

On press releases:  The Pan American Health Organization, the arm of the World Health Organization operating in the Americas, said yesterday that a survey has revealed that the price of AIDS drugs has dropped 54 per cent in the region.  The survey compared the prices of drugs purchased between May of 2001 and May of 2002 by the ministries of health of 14 countries, for the two most common combinations of antiretroviral therapies.  The press release has more details.

**The Week Ahead

And we also have "The Week Ahead" available upstairs for you.

That’s all I have for you today.  Any questions?  Yes, please.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Did the legal advisor express any opinion on the legal objections that were raised by four Member States to the Security Council resolution that was adopted last Friday as 1422 pertaining to immunity from prosecution of peacekeepers?

Deputy Spokesperson:  I am not aware of that.  So, I will check that for you after the briefing.

[The Legal Counsel later said he had no comment to make.]

All right, have a very nice weekend.  Thank you.

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