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.

**Guest at Noon Briefing

With us today is Michael Doyle, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser, to comment on the Secretary-General's report on the Millennium Development Goals, that we put out yesterday.  This report will be going to the General Assembly next month and I think you'll probably have to look at it again.  I thought it might be useful for you if Michael summarized its contents.

Before we do that though, we'll do the regular briefing, starting with the Secretary-General's tour through southern Africa.

**Secretary-General’s Travels

Before leaving Angola this morning to travel to Botswana, the Secretary-General issued a statement to voice his worries about the deteriorating food situation in southern Africa.  He noted in particular that the UN system is already fully engaged in a comprehensive humanitarian effort to ensure adequate food supplies in Zimbabwe, as well as its neighbours.

Turning specifically to Zimbabwe, he said that, as the risk of famine looms, a successful, sustainable land reform programme that will benefit all the people of Zimbabwe, especially the landless poor, is more important than ever.

He said, "There can be no lasting solution to the current problems unless the Government of Zimbabwe implements a phased and fully funded land reform programme."  That programme, he emphasized, should be one that is run according to the rule of law, that allows for proper training and adequate support to new small farmers and compensation to displaced farm workers and commercial farmers.

Such a land reform programme, he added, is urgently needed in order to minimize the negative effects of the current situation on food production and the overall economy in Zimbabwe.  It would also ensure the engagement and future support of the international community.

We have the full text of his statement upstairs.

The Secretary-General this afternoon arrived in Gaberone, Botswana, becoming the first Secretary-General to visit that country.  He and Nane Annan first went to the Princess Marina Hospital to visit the AIDS project there, in a country where nearly 40 per cent -- and I repeat that number 40 per cent -- of adults are infected with HIV, and one out of every eight children is born HIV-positive.

Despite such problems, the Secretary-General said he was inspired by the work being done at the hospital, and said that he considered the fight against AIDS to be a personal priority.  He underscored that governments alone could not

defeat AIDS, saying, "We need to work in partnership and we need to pool our efforts if we are going to stand a chance to defeat this disease."

The Secretary-General then met with the UN country team and staff in Botswana, and, in talking to them, again focused on AIDS.  He praised the women of Botswana for their courage in coming forward to seek treatment for AIDS and encouraged the nation's men to do the same.

He then met briefly with Botswana's President, Festus Mogae, to talk about the nation's International Trade Fair, and then he attended the official opening of the fair itself.  He said at the opening that Botswana's impressive economic achievements were an eloquent demonstration that "Africa can overcome the problems of hunger, disease and war".  But he warned that the country still faces great challenges in dealing with poverty, unemployment and the devastating consequences of AIDS.  He then looked around the exhibition stalls at the fair.

Later today, the Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with the facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, former Botswanan President Ketumile Masire, before attending a dinner in his honour hosted by President Mogae.

Yesterday afternoon, while in Angola, the Secretary-General met with the leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), General Paulo Lukamba Gato, who thanked the UN for its humanitarian assistance and asked for the Security Council to lift the sanctions remaining on UNITA.  The Secretary-General said he would bring the issue to the Council's attention and pledged continued UN assistance, particularly in dealing with internally displaced persons and demining.

Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General had a one-on-one meeting with Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos before attending a dinner that the President hosted in his honour.

At that dinner, the Secretary-General discussed Angola's humanitarian crisis, with one of every three Angolans internally displaced; the problems caused by landmines; the need to demobilize former combatants; and the enormous challenge of rebuilding Angola.

He told the Angolans, "I am encouraged by your plans to hold general elections within the next two years, and believe the most inclusive approach will yield the best results."  The United Nations, he added, stands ready to assist in that effort.

This morning, he talked to journalists upon leaving Angola, reading out the statement on Zimbabwe that I just told you about and also noting President

dos Santos's concerns about AIDS in Angola.  He said he informed the President that UNAIDS, that is, the Joint UN Programme against HIV/AIDS would work to help the Angolan Government in its fight against the disease.

We have copies of his toast available upstairs, and will be putting out transcripts of his public comments in Botswana later today.

**World Summit on Sustainable Development

In Johannesburg, the World Summit on Sustainable Development entered its

second day today with negotiations on the major outcome document for the World Summit on Sustainable Development continuing to make progress.

You will recall that 75 per cent of the document had been agreed on by the end of the preparatory meeting in Bali.  There has now been agreement on 40 more paragraphs, bringing the total agreed on to 82 per cent. There are still 116 paragraphs outstanding in the final document.

Today, plenary sessions have been held on agriculture and globalization,

among other issues.  In the session on agriculture, the impact of agricultural subsidies on both developed and developing countries was discussed.  The session also addressed market access for the products of developing countries and support for small farmers.

We have a press release on this session and expect one on the session on globalization sometime this afternoon.

Also in Johannesburg today, the United Nations Environment Programme announced that last week's meeting of High and Supreme Court justices adopted an action plan to strengthen the development use and enforcement of environment-related laws.  The full text of the Johannesburg Principles on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development is available in a press release in my office.

**Cyprus

The direct talks in Cyprus between His Excellency Glafkos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader, and His Excellency Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, resumed today in the presence of the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto.

Today's meeting was the fiftieth face to face meeting between the two men since the direct talks began on 16 January.

The two leaders will meet again this Friday, 30 August, and next Tuesday,

3 September, prior to travelling to Paris to meet the Secretary-General on

6 September.

**Security Council

This morning the Security Council met in closed consultations to discuss Afghanistan.

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Danilo Tûrk provided the

briefing, which updated Council members on security, human rights and humanitarian affairs in Afghanistan.

The President of the Security Council, Ambassador John Negroponte of the United States, reported to Council members on his meeting yesterday with Dr. Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq.  That, of course, was the regular monthly meeting that

Dr. Blix has with the President of the Council.

**Afghanistan

In Afghanistan itself, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, spoke to the press today and shared his impressions on President Hamid Karzai's Government, saying that it is struggling but adding, "The new younger breed that has joined the government are really working extremely hard." He warned that there is no room for complacency in Afghanistan, saying, "I don't think peace is firmly established."

Brahimi was asked about the possibility for an investigation into mass grave in northern Afghanistan, and he said that, as far as he knows, no active investigation is going on now.  The Afghan Government, he said, has said it would like to investigate, but he added, "I don't think they have the capacity to do so."  He reiterated his concern to protect potential witnesses before an investigation, and to keep the gravesites protected until then, which, he added, is being done by repeated visits to the sites by people from the UN Mission.

He said, "We will definitely do our utmost to follow this up", but he also emphasized, "We cannot take a risk of putting anyone's life in danger."

Asked about Afghanistan's stability, he said he was encouraged by the work being done to prepare for a national police force and army, and believed that, within two years, "we are going to have enough soldiers and enough policemen for the country to stand on its own two feet."

We have the full transcript of his press briefing upstairs.

**Iraq

The weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme shows that the level of Iraqi oil exports declined from last week's high of 7.2 million barrels, to a total of 5.3 million barrels during the week ending 23 August.  The exports yielded an estimated $137 million in revenue.

With the implementation of the new procedures for processing contracts, some $107 million worth of supplies under 61 contracts previously on hold by the Security Council's 661 sanctions committee, have now been re-assessed as not to contain Goods Review List items and, therefore, approved by the Office of the Iraq Programme.

These include a contract for 16 oxygen plants for the production of medical oxygen valued at $58 million, which had been on hold for almost a year because of "military dual use" concerns.

We have the full text of the OIP weekly update in my Office.

**Myanmar

The UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention today issued its first comprehensive survey of opium poppy production in Myanmar, saying that production estimated for this year of some 828 metric tons of opium is less than last year's estimated production. Last year, Myanmar was the world's biggest opium producer, with an estimated production of 1,097 metric tons.

Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the Office, said, "This decline is a step in the right direction."  But he added that concerns remain about production in Myanmar, and the United Nations will strengthen its investment in alternative development projects.

The survey's findings also indicate that some 80,000 people in Myanmar, or about 1.6 per cent of its total population, are smoking opium on a daily basis.

We have a press release with more information, and the full text of the Myanmar survey is on the Drug Control Web site.

**Cyber School Bus

We wanted to flag a new feature on the UN's Cyber School Bus Web site. It's called “Ask an Ambassador”.

As part of its extensive electronic resources for Model United Nations groups, every month one UN ambassador will answer questions e-mailed by students.

Ambassador Sergei Lavrov of the Russian Federation has kindly agreed to be the first.

Once submitted to the Cyber School bus Web site, the questions will then be grouped and forwarded to Ambassador Lavrov.  The questions and answers will then be posted on the Web site.

This is not a live Internet chat, so there will be some time lag between the time the questions are submitted and the answers are posted.

The Cyber School Bus Web site is visited by over 20,000 people each week.

**Signings

We have a number of signings taking place this afternoon.  Among the treaties being ratified is the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be ratified by Mexico, Denmark, the European Commission and Austria, and the Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict will be ratified by Denmark.

**Sustainable Development Feature

Finally, our sustainable development feature for today…We've been working through the WEHAB acronym [water, energy, health, agriculture and bio-diversity] We did water yesterday and today it's energy.

In this case, I'd like you to imagine a world in which energy use could be cut back in a way that helps improve the health of city dwellers:  by having "car free days" in cities, where cars sit idle and people use bicycles, or their feet, to travel.

The Division for Sustainable Development of the UN Department of Economic and Social Policy has been promoting the cause of car-free days in recent years, with Europe holding its first Car Free Day on 22 September, 2000, and the first Earth Car Free Day, with events taking place in dozens of cities around the world, being held on 19 April, 2001.

As cities from Bogotá, Colombia, to Bilbao, Spain, participate in car-free days, the people living in those places have started to notice the benefits of fewer cars on the streets.

This past June 13, when several counties in north-east England participated in what they called "Leg It Day," they drew attention to studies saying that heart disease rates would drop by 5 to 10 per cent if just one third of all short car journeys were made by bicycle.  They added that research has shown that a

10 per cent increase in the number of people cycling regularly would lead to a

4 per cent reduction in the number of people with heart disease.

The people of Fremantle, West Australia, meanwhile, have promoted the idea of an annual "Shed Your Car Day" in which the community is brought together to participate in considering alternatives to car traffic.

So that should give you something to think about as you walk home. The UN Car Free Days Programme also has its own Web site (www.uncfd.org).

Any questions before we go to Michael?

**Questions

Question:  Does the Secretary-General have any plans to try and assist the Afghan Government so that they would be able to carry out an investigation of these allegations about hundreds of Taliban fighters being suffocated?

Spokesman:  I think the UN's view was expressed by Mr. Brahimi today as I read it out.  It is a matter of security, of resources.  I think his basic position is that the UN is prepared to help the Government once the Government feels it is capable of carrying out an investigation -- with the proviso that a witness protection programme is in place first.

Question:  The subject of Zimbabwe and land reform is likely to come up at the Johannesburg Summit according to some reports.  The Secretary-General's statement seemed to come pretty close to saying that the Government was responsible for the food crisis in Zimbabwe.  Is there any reason for the timing of that statement? And is that a fair reading of the statement?

Spokesman:  I'll let you interpret the statement.  I think that it is probably pretty widely acknowledged that the land reform crisis had had an impact on food production in Zimbabwe and therefore in a time of crisis, triggered by drought and other factors, yes, it has aggravated the crisis.  I wouldn't read anything more into the timing of the statement, except, of course, that it comes as he is making a swing through southern Africa highlighting issues of concern in southern Africa, one of which is the major food crisis.

Question:  Following up on the previous question -- When Mr. Brahimi said "they" were unable to investigate the mass graves, whom did he mean -- the Government of Afghanistan or the United Nations?

Spokesman:  He was commenting on the Government's views of its own capabilities on this matter.  The Afghan Government has said it would like to

investigate but he added "I don't think they have the capacity to do that."  So he is talking about the Government.

Question:  Can they not get any assistance from the UN to help them because it will be too late afterwards?

Spokesman:  I don't think I have anything to add to what I have already in response to Edie's question.

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