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

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Richard Sydenham, Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly.

Briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Good afternoon.  It’s a pleasure to have Peter Hansen with us.  He is, of course, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, better known to you as UNWRA, and he’s in New York briefing the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly on the latest annual report of UNWRA, and he'll talk to you about his latest activities.  And I’d also -- in that context -– like to welcome the visiting reporters from the Middle East.

**Iraq

The Secretary-General, on his way into the Building this morning, was asked by a Reuters correspondent if cooperation by Iraq with the Security Council and UN weapons inspectors could avert military action.

The Secretary-General said:  “I think for the [Security] Council the issue is disarmament.  If Iraq cooperates and the inspectors can get that work done, I think the Council will be less inclined to think in terms of military action.”

We have the full transcript of his comments upstairs.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding further consultations this morning on Iraq. The latest draft resolution is in blue and it’s available in our Office.

At 3:30 p.m., the Council has scheduled consultations on Somalia.  Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast is scheduled to give a briefing on the Secretary-General’s latest report and the peace talks in Eldoret, Kenya.

**Kosovo

Yesterday afternoon, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean Marie Guéhenno, briefed the Security Council in an open meeting on the latest report of the Secretary-General on Kosovo, as well as on such recent developments as last month’s municipal elections.

Those elections, Mr. Guéhenno said, were marked by the same trend of voter fatigue seen in other recent Balkans elections, with an overall turnout of 54 per cent, and only 20 per cent participation by Kosovo’s Serb community.  He said the low turnout by Kosovo Serbs was to their detriment, diminishing their ability to participate in decision-making processes throughout Kosovo.

Mr. Guéhenno added that it is clear from recent events that more emphasis needs to be placed on reconciliation efforts, with Kosovo’s leaders having a responsibility to create conditions for improving intercommunal relations.

Council members then discussed Kosovo at length.  There was no resolution or statement adopted afterward.

**Roed-Larsen

Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, is in Damascus, Syria, today and he'll be there tomorrow, as well.  This morning, he briefed the Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouk Shara’a, on several issues central to the current and looming crises in the region.

With diplomatic activity particularly intense now, Roed-Larsen and Shara’a reaffirmed that UN resolutions must remain the basis for all attempts to address these crises.  In particular, Roed-Larsen briefed Shara’a on the activities of the Middle East Quartet.  This includes concentrated work to develop a detailed road map, backed by a broad international consensus, to bring peace to the region.   Roed-Larsen underscored that no peace can be lasting unless it is comprehensive and includes all parties to the conflict.

**Funding Shortfall Hampers Aid to Southern Africa

The United Nations is concerned that insufficient support is being provided for non-food aid needs in responding to the humanitarian crisis in southern Africa.  Funding shortfalls mean that UN agencies are stretching scarce resources and, thus, facing difficulty in responding fully to the needs of the people covered under the appeal.  You can read more about this in a press release in my Office.

**Afghanistan

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) today provided operating costs to the Constitutional Commission of Afghanistan, launched earlier this week by former King Zahir Shah.  The UNDP announced a programme of immediate assistance to the Commission worth $60,000, to cover the start-up costs for its drafting committee and to support its longer-term work to design an Afghan constitution.

The UNDP and the UN Mission in Afghanistan are also providing some $270,000 for the new Judicial Commission, comprising nine Afghan jurists and lawyers, that was formed by President Hamid Karzai last week.  We have a press release upstairs with more information.

In addition, the UNDP noted today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Afghan health officials and Kabul municipal officials to rehabilitate 30 hammams –- or public bath houses -- to be used by Afghan women, and the press release has more details on that, as well.

**Bosnia

The UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina today clarified its police reform efforts, saying in a press release, which we have upstairs, that the review process is an administrative process, similar to recruitment efforts, and is entirely independent from any judicial proceedings.  Police officers who meet strict requirements for professional competence and personal integrity are awarded with certificates, in a process designed to ensure that Bosnia will have a non-political, professional and democratic police force.

**New UNAIDS Ambassador

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today named a new Goodwill Ambassador -- Mohammed Yunus, a pioneering banker involved in the spread of micro-credit.

Professor Yunus, who is from Bangladesh, set up the Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide micro-credit loans for the poor in rural areas.  He will help bring the message of HIV/AIDS prevention and care to the world’s neediest people, and assist UNAIDS to document best practices and encourage private sector investment in HIV prevention programmes.  There's a press release on that.

**Reports on Racks Today

The Secretary-General’s report on assistance in mine action is out today, and it comes at the end of the first year of the implementation of the five-year Mine Action Strategy.  It looks at progress made over the last year on each of the six strategic goals, noting that mine action organizations need to integrate their activities into humanitarian and development programmes.

Also out on the racks is the Secretary-General’s report on international cooperation in humanitarian assistance.  The report acknowledges that the role of international organizations is essential in the transition from relief to development, but says that much more needs to be done to strengthen and clarify areas of collaboration.

**Other Press Releases

The governing body of the International Labour Organization begins its 285th session today in Geneva.  On the agenda will be forced labour in Myanmar, a fund for workers in the occupied Arab territories, and measures for employment creation and social policy.  The meeting will end on 22 November.

We also have a press release on the meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), taking place in Santiago, Chile.  Delegates are discussing ways to strengthen cooperation on gathering intelligence on the illegal trade in wildlife and targeting criminal organizations for prosecution.

**Wolfensohn

As Richard announced yesterday, World Bank President James Wolfensohn will deliver a keynote address tomorrow afternoon at 5, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, on the new multilateralism and its implications for development, and we have a media advisory upstairs on that.

**Budget

We have a couple of payments to highlight for you today.  The United Arab Emirates became the 114th Member State to pay its 2002 regular budget contribution in full, and that was with payment of over $2.2 million.  Also today, France made a payment of more than $60 million to the peacekeeping budget, and the United Kingdom recently made a payment of more than $13 million.

We make an effort to acknowledge large payments to the budgets, but we should also acknowledge those countries which may not have large contributions, but make them in time and in full.

**Press Conferences

Guest at the noon briefing tomorrow will be Eric Morris.  He is Director of the New York Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and he'll be here to talk about global refugee figures.

And this afternoon, at 12:45 in this room, Gerhart Baum, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, will be here to brief you on his work.

That's all I have for you.  Any questions before we go to Richard?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Do you have any information on when the Secretary-General will present his plan on Cyprus?

Spokesman:  No. Nor has he decided whether to present a plan.  He’s still considering his options.

Richard?

Briefing by the Spokesman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.  A lot of committee work to report on today.

In the Second Committee, draft resolutions are being introduced on globalization and interdependence, on implementation of the outcome of the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), on the third UN conference on Least Developed countries, and on training and research. 

       This afternoon, the Committee starts a general discussion on the agenda item:  permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources.  A note by the Secretary-General transmits the report of ESCWA on the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the Syrian Golan (A/57/63).

        The Third Committee hears an introductory statement and dialogue with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the report of the High Commissioner on questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions and discusses human rights questions and reports. 

       This afternoon, the Third Committee will take action on draft resolutions on elimination of racism and racial discrimination, right of peoples to self-determination, and human rights questions, including implementation of human

rights instruments.  In particular, decisions on draft resolutions will be taken on the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (A/C.3/57/L.30) and a United States amendment to the draft resolution (A/C.3/57/L.39) and other draft resolutions on this agenda item.

The Fifth Committee is in closed, informal consultations today.

        The Sixth Committee takes action on draft resolutions on the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, on measures to eliminate international terrorism, and the report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-fourth session.  The Sixth Committee will also take action on a draft resolution (A/C.6/57/L.24) on the international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings.  The effect of this draft resolution, when adopted, will be to defer further work on drafting an international convention to a working group to meet in September 2003.

            Tomorrow, the General Assembly plenary in the morning discusses draft resolutions on culture of peace, information and communication technologies for development, and takes up discussion on follow-up to the outcome of the twenty-sixth special session:  implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, report of the Secretary-General.

Any questions?  Thank you.

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