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.

Good afternoon.

Sorry for the delay.  Our guest at today’s briefing is no stranger to you.  He is Stephen Lewis, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and he’ll brief you on a trip to southern Africa he undertook recently with James Morris, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Humanitarian Crisis in Africa.  Also, the report they did to the Secretary-General is out today.  Unofficially, we have some copies on the table there, and you can get more copies in my office.

** Iraq -- Security Council

The President of the Security Council, Ambassador Gunter Pleuger, yesterday announced that the Security Council decided that tomorrow’s briefing on Iraq by Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), and Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will be an open one.  The briefing is scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m.

Members of the Council will have a chance to speak in an open meeting, to be followed by a closed meeting for the members of the Council in the formal chamber.  A short break is expected between the end of the open meeting and the start of the closed meeting.  A speaker’s list is not yet available, and at least 10 foreign ministers are expected to attend.

Upon request of the Non-aligned Movement, Security Council members adopted a proposal to hold an open debate on Iraq on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 at

10 a.m.  Non-members of the Council will get the floor first, and a limit of

five to seven minutes per speaker was agreed upon.

**Security Council

The Security Council began its work today with an open briefing on the Middle East by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, who warned that violence between Israelis and Palestinians has continued unabated over the past month, while the humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory is worsening.

He welcomed reports about a private meeting last week between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmed Qurei, which he said would hopefully mark the beginning of a renewed dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority toward reaching a ceasefire understanding.  Mr. Prendergast also noted the meetings of the envoys of the “Quartet” -– which brings together the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union –- in London from 18 to 20 February.  The Council then went into consultations to discuss the matter further, and it’s just concluded now.

**Security Council -– PM

At 12:15, Council members are scheduled to go to the Secretary-General’s conference room, where he is to brief them informally on the status of UN Secretariat humanitarian contingency planning for Iraq.  After that briefing, at approximately 1:15, we expect that Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kenzo Oshima, will brief you in this room on that subject.

And when that session in the Secretary-General’s conference room is over, we’ll squawk it.  Mr.Oshima will be down here about 15 minutes after the end of the session upstairs.  I understand he’ll also have a hand-out, a kind of fact sheet to give you at that time.

This afternoon, at 3:30, the Council will reconvene, and will first adopt a resolution condemning the violence in Bogota.  Then it will hold an open meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Affairs, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, will update the Council on the work of the UN Mission in the DRC and on the military situation in the north-east of that country.

High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, will also brief the Council on his visit to the country last month and on the alarming human rights situation there, including sexual violence against women and girls, especially in rebel-controlled territories, and the impunity of perpetrators of gross human rights violations.

**Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman, concerning the incident in Bolivia:

“The Secretary-General is concerned about the violent incidents that took place in Bolivia yesterday and deplores the loss of life.

“The Bolivian people and their leadership have worked hard and made sacrifices to modernize the economy while preserving and strengthening their democratic institutions.  Yet, much remains to be done to reduce inequity and poverty.  The Secretary-General appeals to the Government and to the people of Bolivia to seek solutions to their problems through dialogue and full respect for the institutions of democracy.

“The Secretary-General also appeals to the international community to demonstrate flexibility and understanding in helping Bolivia find solutions to the difficult problems it confronts”.

**Secretary-General

The Secretary-General will be travelling this weekend.  I can give you a few details.

On Monday evening, he has been invited by the President of the European Union, Costas Simitis, who is the Prime Minister of Greece, to join a meeting of heads of State and governments of the European Union, to examine the latest developments in Iraq and the Middle East.

On Tuesday, he will fly to Rome where he will have lunch with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and then in the evening, he will have an audience with his Holiness, Pope John Paul II.  On Wednesday, still in Rome, he will address the twemty-fifth anniversary session of the Governing Council of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development.  He leaves for Paris that evening and on Thursday morning, meets with President Jacques Chirac before addressing the Africa-France Summit, which will be taking place over the next two days.  He will have a number of bilateral meetings in the margins of that Summit, which he will attend through Friday. 

He is also planning visits to Ankara, Turkey and Athens, Greece, starting on Monday.  And in that connection, the Secretary-General has concluded consultations on Cyprus with his Special Adviser, Alvaro de Soto.  Mr. de Soto today telephoned His Excellency, Mr. Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader, and His Excellency, Mr. Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, to inform them of the Secretary-General’s intention to visit Cyprus at the end of February, following visits to Ankara and Athens.  The Secretary-General's trip to the region will be with a view to bringing the search for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem to a decisive conclusion by 28 February, as foreseen in his revised proposal of 10 December 2002.  Details of the Secretary-General’s itinerary will be announced shortly.

Mr. de Soto is returning to Cyprus today and will host the next scheduled meeting of the two leaders tomorrow afternoon, 5 p.m. at the United Nations Protected Area in Nicosia.

**UN Relations with Civil Society

The Secretary-General, in a statement that we have available upstairs, announced today the establishment of a Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations Relations with Civil Society, and the appointment of former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso as his Special Adviser and Chairman of the Panel.  He said he would look forward to receiving the panel’s report and recommendations within the next 12 months.

In his statement, the Secretary-General says, “The goals of the United Nations can only be achieved if civil society, as well as governments and international agencies, are fully engaged”.

He added that he would look to the panel, under Cardoso’s able chairmanship, to take stock of the United Nations work with civil society and to recommend how it can be improved.  He added, “Such improvement can only benefit the peoples in whose name the United Nations was founded”.  We have the full statement available upstairs, which also lists all of the panel members.

**Western Sahara

We also have a statement issued today from the UN mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara welcoming the announcement by the Frente POLISARIO of its decision to release 100 Moroccan prisoners of war to mark the day of Eid-al-Adha.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General William Lacy Swing welcomes this announcement, which responds to Security Council resolution

1429 (2002), and expresses his hope for an early release of all remaining prisoners of war in full compliance with international humanitarian law.  The Special Representative also calls on the parties to continue to cooperate with the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross to resolve the fate of all those unaccounted for since the beginning of the conflict.

**Côte d’Ivoire

The Secretary-General’s new Special Representative for Côte D’Ivoire, Albert Tevoedjre, has taken up his duties in Abidjan.  Yesterday, he held the first follow up committee meeting of the agreement reached among the Ivorian parties last month in France.

**Literacy Decade

The United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012) was launched this morning here at UN Headquarters.  The theme of the Decade is “Literacy is Freedom” and it aims to bring more visibility to the worldwide effort to reduce the high rates of illiteracy. 

At the launch, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette noted that one adult in five cannot read or write and two-thirds of those are women.  “There is no time to lose”, she urged, “if we are to meet the goal agreed by the world’s governments to increase world literacy rates by 50 per cent by the year 2015”.

She underscored the importance of female literacy:  “We know from study after study”, she said, “that there is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls and women.  That is why the first two years of the Decade will be focused on ‘literacy and gender’.”

This evening, the Secretary-General will speak at a launching ceremony for the Decade at the New York Public Library, where Mrs. Laura Bush and Mr. Natsag Bagabandi, the President of Mongolia, will be among the guests, as will Nane Annan, the Secretary-General’s wife.  In his remarks, the Secretary-General will stress that literacy is a human right and the fact that 20 per cent of the world's adults are deprived of it should fill us all with shame.  He will appeal to the world’s governments to translate into reality their pledges to increase global literacy rates by 50 per cent by the year 2015.

Travelling in Kenya today, Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund, noted that the majority of illiterate adults are female and emphasized that girls’ education is key to reducing adult illiteracy in future generations.

**UN-HABITAT

This afternoon, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme

(UN-HABITAT) will have a briefing on the Global Partnership on Urban Youth Empowerment in Africa.  This initiative aims to improve the lives of those living in slums by addressing the issues of crime and delinquency, employment generation and sustainable livelihoods.  Among the key participants is entertainer Harry Belafonte, and you are all invited to go down to Conference Room 2 for the briefing which begins at 2 p.m.

**UNDP

Mark Malloch Brown, the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is on an official visit in Ottawa, Canada, today to discuss the Millennium Development Goals and further develop a partnership between UNDP and the Government of Canada in reaching those goals.  This morning he met with the Canadian Minister of Development Cooperation, Susan Whelan.  This afternoon, he is scheduled to meet with the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Parliament.

**Press Releases

In Geneva today, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization launched a trust fund to help the world’s poorest countries to participate in Codex Alimentarius, which sets food standards to protect the health of consumers.  The trust fund aims to raise $40 million and is expected to run for 12 years and will provide assistance to 120 developing countries and countries in transition.  We have a press release with more details on that.

**Budget

Budget news today -- three more payments in full for the regular budget.  Czech Republic with a payment of more than $2.7 million, the Maldives paid over $13,000 and Namibia more than $94,000.  There are now 45 Member States paid in full.

**Press Conferences and Arrangements

I mentioned Mr. Oshima’s press conference at approximately 1:15 p.m.  Press arrangements for tomorrow:  Please be advised that the Media Accreditation Office will stay open today until 9 p.m. and will open tomorrow at 7 a.m. to serve the journalists who will be accredited for the Security Council.  The Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit on the second floor has 100 tickets for the Security Council gallery which will distributed this afternoon, starting at

5 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis.

And, finally, for the Security Council stake-out, the Accreditation Liaison Unit will distribute 250 tickets for journalists, photographers and TV cameramen –- 250 tickets for the stake-out area.  Resident correspondents will have access to that area without any additional passes or tickets.  I have also been asked to tell you that there will be only one stake-out camera which will be the one outside the Security Council Chamber.  [He later said there would be a second stake-out at the Delegate’s entrance.]

That’s all I have for you.  We’ll go to Stephen in just a minute.

Questions and Answers

Question:  Ankara is not all that far from Baghdad.  At least, they’re in the same time zone. Any chance of a visit there by the Secretary-General?

Spokesman:  I think the Secretary-General answered that question quite emphatically last week when he said that he has no plans to go to Baghdad. He still has no plans to go to Baghdad.

Question:  Is he discussing this with the Security Council?

Spokesman:  It depends on whether the Council brings it up.  He’ll not.

Question:  Why are there no specific dates for Cyprus?

Spokesman:  We said we’ll give those details when we are ready, in another day or so, perhaps beginning of next week.  This trip is still being finalized, so we don’t have programmes at every stop.

Question:  Had the phone calls been made before or after the meeting the Secretary-General had today with Sir David Hannay (Special Representative of the United Kingdom for Cyprus) and Ambassador Weston (US Coordinator for Cyprus)?

Spokesman:  I’ll have to check with Mr. de Soto’s office.  I assume that it was after, but I can’t say whether there is any connection between the two events.

Question:  Also, what at this point is the main obstacle for the parties to agree on the revised plan?

Spokesman:  I don’t want to get into the details of this process.  It’s a very complex operation -– operating under very tight time constraints.  The Secretary-General is weighing-in personally to try to wrap it up by the 28^th, and I don’t want to discuss the particulars.

Question:  I want to ask about security in New York City.  Is Headquarters also under highest alert security?

Spokesman:  I don’t know about New York’s alert level.  I was told that nothing has changed in New York security.  I said a few days ago that our security, of course, is always responding to national or New York City alert levels appropriately, but we won’t discuss the details.

Question:  Is there any concern that a second resolution supporting a conflict in Iraq will result in this building being seen symbolically as a target for supporting a war in Iraq?

Spokesman:  I don’t want to speculate about that. Okay.

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