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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Goma

Overnight, the Nyamuragira volcano erupted.

A survey was conducted during the night and a team of UN volcanologists are planning to go up in a helicopter to get a better assessment of the situation.

A preliminary assessment shows that the lava flows are heading towards the Viruga National Park where extensive damage is expected.

However, there is no immediate threat to the population in Goma and no roads have been cut.

As you’ll recall, a volcano in the same range erupted in January of this year causing extensive damage to the town of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

**Kosovo

The Secretary-General, in his latest report on the UN Mission in Kosovo, which is on the racks today, notes the progress made on a number of fronts, including an encouraging overall trend in the security situation, progress in building local law enforcement, and a climate over the past few months that appears conducive to promoting inter-ethnic dialogue and the possibility of returns.

The report notes a modest increase in minority returns, with nearly

1,000 internally displaced people returning to Kosovo in the first half of this year –- about four times the number of people who left Kosovo during the same period.

The Secretary-General also notes that the situation in Mitrovica remains a challenge to the implementation of Security Council resolution 1244, with the UN Mission seeking to stabilize the situation on the ground by doubling the number of UN police in northern Mitrovica and continuing a dialogue on the matter with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

He says that the Mission will face demanding challenges in the coming months, including the implementation of a budget reduction that will necessitate the transfer of responsibility to the provisional institutions earlier than planned. The amount approved for the Mission by the General Assembly for this year and next was reduced by $61 million.

He adds that it is essential that the UN Mission exercise its authority throughout the whole of Kosovo, and that strengthening the rule of law throughout that area remains a high priority.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, Michael Steiner, will be in town next week, when he will brief the Security Council in an open meeting on Tuesday about recent developments there.

Steiner, by the way, today thanked Germany for its offer of 5 million euros to the UN Mission in Kosovo, to rehabilitate Kosovo’s power sector after its main power plant was damaged by lightning a week ago.  We have a press release upstairs on that.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding consultations this morning on Western Sahara.

William Lacy Swing, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Western Sahara, gave an update on developments on the ground to Council members before the debate on a draft resolution got underway.

The mission’s current mandate expires the 31^st of this month.

**Drought in Eritrea

Today’s briefing notes from the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea draw attention to a drought alert in the region.

The mission says that the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission notes that the long delay in the onset of the main rainy season has prevented the planting of the major short-cycle crops and has had an adverse affect on grazing lands.

Although it has been raining in the last couple of days, there is growing concern that the rainy spell came too late and that agricultural production in many areas will be significantly affected.

The northern parts of Ethiopia bordering Eritrea -- as well as Eritrea itself -- have had poor rains throughout this year.  Ethiopia has already issued several alerts concerning the looming drought situation.

**Chemical Weapons

The States parties to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, in a special session convened yesterday in The Hague, appointed Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter of Argentina by acclamation to be Director-General of the Organization.  He will serve a four-year term, effective immediately.

He replaces Jose Bustani, whose term as Director-General was cut short by a vote in a special session of the States parties on 22 April.

Pfirter was Under-Secretary for Foreign Policy at the Argentine Ministry of External Relations prior to his appointment.  He thanked the delegations for their unanimous support and said the Organization “serves as a model for the global disarmament of weapons of mass destruction”.

We put out a press release yesterday with more details.

**El Salvador and Refugees

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today welcomes the approval by El Salvador's National Assembly of the Law on Refugee Status Determination.  The legislation approved a week ago is now pending signature by the President.

UNHCR says the passage of the law is a clear sign of the will of El Salvador to fully comply with its commitment to refugee law and the human rights of asylum seekers.

The new statutes establish clear procedures under which refugees could request asylum and have their cases reviewed by national institutions according to the standards established in the 1951 Refugee Convention and the

1967 Protocol.

**Human Rights

Today in Geneva, High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson addressed the start of the first session of the Social Forum, which brings together diverse experts to exchange views on social issues, starting today with a discussion on the right to food.

Robinson told the Forum that the fight against hunger depends on the sustainable management of natural resources, and suggested that its discussion of the issue should focus on “how we can ensure that the upcoming Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development contributes to addressing responsibilities for food security at the international level.”

We have copies of her statement upstairs.

**UNICEF Tetanus Vaccination Initiative

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today began a campaign to vaccinate women in hard-to-reach communities against tetanus in an effort to save the lives of thousands of women and their newborn children.  The project, which starts in two remote districts in Mali, introduces a new pre-filled syringe called Uniject, which delivers a pre-determined dose of the tetanus toxin and can be administered by lay people, making it easier to vaccinate women in remote areas. 

Traditional birth attendants, teachers and community workers have been trained to support health workers in immunizing women in areas without health centres or clinics.  Three doses over a one-year period are needed for full protection.

“Our goal,” said Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of UNICEF, “is the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus by 2005, and reaching women in remote areas is essential to succeeding.”

Tetanus claimed the lives of 200,000 newborns and 30,000 women in

57 developing countries last year.

We have a press release on that.

**Afghanistan’s Minister of Women’s Affairs

The new Afghan Minister of Women’s Affairs, Habiba Sarobi, signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Fund for Women, or UNIFEM, a short while ago.  According to the agreement, UNIFEM will assist the Ministry in restoring the rights of Afghan women and girls and improving their legal, economic, political and social status.  UNIFEM has approved $1.4 million for technical and organizational assistance and to strengthen outreach to women and women’s groups in the provinces.

We have a press release with more details.

**Press Releases

The United Nations Children's Fund announced today a gift of $10.8 million by the government of Japan for the education of displaced and refugee children returning to their homes in Afghanistan.  The funds will be used for educational programmes in Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad to meet the increased needs of children returning to these areas.

**Week Ahead at United Nations

And we have the Week Ahead for you, which we hope will start with the Secretary-General coming down to 226 to introduce his new appointment for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello.  We haven’t firmed that up yet.  We’re hoping to do that very early next week.  And we’ll announce to you on Monday morning, I think, the final date and time for that.

Questions and Answers

Question:  Concerning the Children’s Fund.  Is this going through the Government of Afghanistan or are they going to allow a certain amount to go through other means?

Spokesman:  You’d have to check with UNICEF how those funds are going to be disbursed.  It’s not clear from what I have here.  Serge.

Question:  Fred, I don’t know, does the Secretary-General intend to make any statement about the human development programme of the UNDP that was presented here two days ago?

Spokesman:  I don’t believe he has any formal statement to make.  I mean, the fact that we brought one of the authors and a senior UNDP official to explain the basic thrust of the report, I think implies a strong endorsement by the Secretary-General.

Question:  It’s now coming that some countries are complaining that because of the embargo imposed on them by the international community, their regress on their index, Haiti, for example, regressed from 132 to 146.  Twelve

points.  I mean, it seems to me they have the compliant that the embargo imposed on them by the international community is responsible for this situation.  Will the Secretary-General address this question, since this is an open complaint?

Spokesman:  I’m sorry you didn’t address that question to the two UNDP officials who were here earlier this week.  I think the question of the methodology of the report… (Interrupted by questioner).

Question:  I did address it.  I did address the question to the effect that poverty and democracy are not co-habitable.  He did not answer the question.  But I did address it.

Spokesman:  You are now asking whether an international… (Interrupted by questioner)

Question:  …because as the custodian of the Charter, Fred, he is responsible for the embargo.  There was a resolution at the Economic and Social Council.  He was mandated to do a long-term programme.  He did not do anything.  As a matter of fact, this programme has been closed without any reason by the Economic and Social Council.

Spokesman:  You’re in the level of specificity that is over my head right now.  So, either we’ll have to ask UNDP or the Haiti Desk Officer for the Department of Political Affairs to answer your question.  I don’t have the answers.

Thank you very much.

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