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.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding an open meeting on Iraq.

Members heard reports from Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), and a representative of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on their programme of work.  Blix noted that on the day that UNMOVIC’s programme of work was given to Council members -– Monday -– UNMOVIC and other UN agencies received the order to withdraw from Iraq.

He said:  “I naturally feel sadness that three and a half months of work carried out in Iraq have not brought the assurances needed about the absence of weapons of mass destruction or other proscribed items in Iraq, and that no more time is available for our inspections and that armed action now seems imminent”.  Concerning a number of unresolved issues, Blix told Council members that Iraq had recently provided further information.  “These efforts by Iraq should be acknowledged”, Blix added, but “the value of the information thus provided must be soberly judged”.  UNMOVIC experts, Blix went on to say, “have found so far that, in substance, only limited new information has been provided that will help to resolve remaining questions”.

Five of the 15 Council members are represented by foreign ministers –- Germany, France, Russia, Syria and Guinea.

The Secretary-General is expected to deliver a statement after all the Council members have spoken.  He is expected to focus on the plight of the Iraqi people, who have been through two major wars, internal uprisings and conflicts and more than a decade of debilitating sanctions.  The imminent conflict can only make things worse, he is expected to tell Council members.  While the responsibility under international law for protecting civilians in conflict falls on the belligerents and the welfare of the population on the occupying power, the Secretary-General is expected to pledge that the United Nations will do whatever it can to help the Iraqi people.

**Staff Security

The operation to withdraw all UN international staff from Iraq is now complete.

The last five international staff, all with the Saybolt company, who were monitoring Iraqi oil exports, were evacuated from an oil platform at the Iraqi port of Mina al Bakr with the full cooperation of the Iraqi authorities.

Arrangements were made for the transfer of these five individuals to an Iraqi tugboat, which took them from the platform, and eventually they were transferred to an American ship in international waters, and they’re now on that ship sailing for a port in the Gulf.  This happened in the middle of the night here, for us in New York.  And until we can contact these people to get further details, we can’t sketch in much more of what happened last night.

The nationalities of the five are Danish, Portuguese, Filipino, Estonian and Russian.

**Humanitarian briefings

As of tomorrow in Amman, Jordan, the UN humanitarian agencies will begin briefing journalists on a daily basis at 4:15pm local time.  And if I can count on my fingers, I think that works out to 8:15 a.m. New York time.

The UN Humanitarian hub in Cyprus is now staffed and working under the leadership of Ramiro Lopes da Silva, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.  There are over 100 UN humanitarian staff now in Cyprus.

**Security Council -- Middle East

At 3:30 p.m., the Security Council has scheduled an open briefing by UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process Terje Roed Larsen, who will call for the opening of a peace front in a region that stands on the brink war.  Security Council members will move into closed consultations then to continue the discussions after his briefing.

**Security Council -- Note

In consultations on Iraq yesterday evening, Security Council members agreed that a two-point note by the Council President be issued.  And it is out as a document today.

In it, Council members take note of the decision by the Secretary-General to suspend for security reasons the work of the UN humanitarian personnel in Iraq.  They also said they stand ready to consider as soon as possible proposals being prepared by the Secretary-General on how to meet the humanitarian needs of the people of Iraq, taking into account the urgency of the humanitarian situation there.

**Security Council –- West Africa

At the end of yesterday's open meeting on small arms and West Africa, Council members adopted a resolution containing a declaration calling for a halt to the flow of small arms to the region.

**United Nations Children's Fund -- Iraq

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today issued a stark warning that the most vulnerable of Iraq’s children may not have the strength to survive the impact of war.  UNICEF has delivered therapeutic food to more than 400,000 malnourished children and immunized almost all children under five years of age against measles, but it was not possible in the short time available to immunize six- to 12-year-olds who missed measles immunization when they were younger.  The Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, said the days and weeks ahead would be difficult for the children, who make up half of the Iraqi population.

“Malnourished children, unimmunized children, children who are displaced from their homes”, she said, “all these children are at very high risk”.  We have a press release with more.

**Afghanistan

In another press release today, UNICEF urges further investment in girls’ education and women’s health in Afghanistan.

Preparing for millions of children to return to school next week in the country’s second Back to School campaign, UNICEF said that though one-third of the 3 million students who showed up for school in last year’s campaign were girls, the enrollment of girls remains unacceptably low, particularly in primary schools.  In this year’s campaign, UNICEF is focusing on renewing efforts to increase the rate of girls’ enrollment and to reduce the risk of girls dropping out or being pulled out of school.

UNICEF says that while all priorities to improve the learning environment are common to both boys and girls, other obstacles present particular difficulties for girls, such as the need for separate and decent sanitation facilities within schools.  Less than 40 per cent of Afghanistan’s 7,000 schools have adequate sanitation facilities.  We have a press release on that.

**Human Rights

In a statement issued today, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, welcomed yesterday’s decision by an Egyptian court to release Dr. Saad El Din Ibrahim, Director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in Cairo, and his co-defendants.

The Court’s judgment declaring the defendants innocent of all charges brought against them by the Supreme State Security Court, in two earlier trials, is an important and significant verdict demonstrating its commitment to justice, he said.  The High Commissioner also underlined that emergency and security measures must be applied in a manner consistent with fundamental human rights norms and the principles of proportionality and justice.

**Sierra Leone

The Secretary-General’s most recent report on the UN mission in Sierra Leone is out as a document today.  In it, he calls for the extension of the mandate for a further six months until September 2003.  The Secretary-General flags the deteriorating situation in Liberia and warns that the security and stability of Sierra Leone cannot be fully ensured while the conflict in Liberia persists.

**SARS update

The World Health Organization in Geneva issued their third update yesterday on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), reporting 26 outbreak sites in 21 countries.

The WHO statistics indicate that from the period of 1 February to

19 March, there have been more than 260 cases, including nine deaths.  An overwhelming majority of cases was reported among health workers and their families who have had close contact with SARS patients.  Heightened awareness and strict measures are expected to decrease transmission to health staff and to reduce the risk of spread to others.  More information on SARS, including the WHO fact sheet, is available in my office.

**Milosevic

The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has informed us that the trial of Slobodan Milosevic will reconvene on Tuesday, 25 March 2003, at

9 a.m, local time in The Hague.

**Water

In another statement, this one addressed to the World Water Forum in Kyoto Japan, Sergio Vieira de Mello said water is an essential but limited resource, crucial to the pursuit of a dignified life and to the realization of many human rights.

The High Commissioner emphasized the need to promote the right to water in the work of the Forum, and encouraged delegates to include an explicit reference to water as a human right in the ministerial declaration to be adopted during the Conference.  We have the full text of his message available upstairs.

**Press Releases

Two press releases to highlight.  The first from the United Nations Environment Programme, which today launched its “Atlas of International Freshwater Agreements”.  The Atlas, compiled in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization, is a study of more than 3,600 water agreements and treaties going back to 2,500 B.C.  The study highlights the need for vigilance in ensuring cooperation is maintained and extended to the 158 river basins not yet covered by any agreements.

In the second press release, the United Nations Population Fund cites population growth as a driving factor in the world’s growing water crisis.  The UNFPA released its “Global Population and Water” report today in Kyoto, Japan, at the World Water Forum, saying that under the current trends two-thirds of the world’s population will face moderate to high water shortages by the year 2025.  The report says slowing the population growth rate can reduce water insecurity.

**Budget

Finally, budget news for today, Yemen became the sixty-second Member State to pay its 2003 regular budget contribution in full, and that with payment of more than $81,000.

You all want to get back to the Council, eh?  Okay, thank you very much.

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