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.

Welcome to the students from the San Joaquin Delta College, California.  Nice to see you here.

We’re going to start a special briefing here at noon sharp today for broadcasters.  We start at 12:00 sharp with the Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette, to brief you on the flash appeal for Iraq.  She’ll be joined by Mark Malloch Brown, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund, Kenzo Oshima, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator and Benon V. Sevan, the Executive Director of the UN Office of the Iraq Programme.

**Secretary-General on Iraq

The Secretary-General, on entering the building this morning, said that he expected that the Security Council will pass a resolution today adjusting the “oil-for-food” programme for Iraq.

Asked about the first practical steps in implementing that resolution, he said that some work is already being done to review the contracts received by the programme and to determine what Iraq’s urgent needs are. “We will need to move very quickly”, he said.

In response to a question about the UN role in Iraq down the line, he said that would be an issue for discussion in the Security Council and noted certain “red lines” for the Council about the parameters of a UN role.  He said, “In my discussions with Council members, they do not want to see any situation where the UN is subjugated to the authority of a country or several countries”.  He added that some are also concerned about any actions that could appear to legitimize the military action after the fact.

He added, “Obviously, if the UN is going to be on the ground, we will have to determine the relationships between the UN, occupied Iraq and the occupying power”.

We have the transcript of his comments upstairs.

**Security Council

As for when the Security Council might vote on the oil-for-food draft resolution, following work at the experts level on that draft that went into blue last night, it’s still hard to determine whether a vote would take place at the end of this morning’s proceedings, or whether the Council will wait until it holds closed consultations this afternoon, starting with consultations at 3:30 p.m. on Côte d’Ivoire.

After a vote, whenever it takes place, Ambassador Gunter Pleuger of Germany will come to Room 226 here to speak to you.

The Security Council began its work today with a briefing on Bougainville by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Danilo Turk, who said that the implementation of an action plan for weapons collection there seems to be proceeding well.  Despite the existence of possible spoilers, he said, confidence remains that the Bougainville Peace Agreement can be fully implemented before the end of the year, allowing the UN to end its Political Office by that time.

After the open briefing on Bougainville concludes, the Council expects to hold formal meetings to consider resolutions that would extend the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan by 12 months from today, and to extend the one for the UN Mission in Sierra Leone by six months, until the end of September.

**Humanitarian

In Amman, Jordan the spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said local authorities in Sulaymaniyah have appropriated

10 United Nations vehicles -– six mini-buses, two ambulances and two pick-up trucks.

The UN’s concern is that these vehicles might be used in local conflicts by the authorities.  If this happens, then the safety of UN staff and of the UN’s humanitarian effort will be seriously compromised.

Also in the north, UNICEF staff launched a new scheme to monitor what is happening to children caught up in the crisis.  National staff are working with children from different communities whose situation can be regularly monitored over the next few weeks.  Some have been uprooted from their homes; others are at home but facing disruption to their lives.  The monitoring should provide not only a snapshot of how children are coping but also early warning of any emerging crisis that may require intervention.

UNICEF calls on authorities controlling areas to ensure that any aid being delivered to civilians is done in a way that ensures that the most vulnerable people are reached, that needs of those in institutions are met and that distributions take place in a way that ensures the human dignity of beneficiaries.

Teams from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, accompanied by Iranian authorities, have visited several areas along the border to look into reports of groups of displaced Iraqis, mainly from northern Iraq, who have fled towards border areas near Iran.

Iranian authorities tell UNHCR that so far there have been no attempts by displaced Iraqis to cross the border into Iran.  The Iranians have maintained that their borders are sealed, but Iraqis whose lives are in danger would be allowed to enter the country.

For more information, you can pick up the notes from the Amman briefing.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman of the Secretary-General

The Secretary-General was appalled to learn of the brutal killing yesterday of Richard Munguía, a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan.

Mr. Munguía, a 39-year old water and shelter engineer, was shot by unidentified assailants while en route to the town of Tirin Kot, near Kandahar, where he was assigned to improve the water supply.

The Secretary-General finds it reprehensible that humanitarian workers committed to help people in need are targeted.  He expects the authorities to make every effort to find and detain those responsible for this criminal act.

The Secretary-General wishes to extend his deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Munguía and to his colleagues in the ICRC.

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

The second draft statement does involve Liberia.  The Secretary-General is deeply concerned over fighting near the town of Zwedru, Liberia, in which thousands of civilians are reported to have been displaced from their homes.  He is further concerned about the safety of a number of humanitarian workers from United Nations and non-governmental agencies who had been assisting populations in the Zwedru area, and have been out of contact with their respective organizations since yesterday.  Some have escaped to safety in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, but we are still awaiting news of the others.

The Secretary-General urges all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilian populations caught in fighting, including humanitarian workers.  He calls on all parties to the conflict to respect the provisions of international humanitarian law that oblige combatants to ensure the safety of humanitarian personnel.

**Secretary-General letter to staff

The Secretary-General today wrote to staff conveying his appreciation for the devotion and loyalty they continue to show during trying times.

He said he does not accept claims that the United Nations has failed because it could not prevent war or that it is doomed to irrelevance.  “The world’s people -– including the people of Iraq –- are looking to the United Nations”, he said.  “The Iraqi people urgently need our help, and we must make every effort to bring them humanitarian relief and assistance as soon as possible”.

He added that people everywhere will still look to the United Nations to carry on the daily struggle to prevent conflict, to promote development and human rights, to defeat poverty, protect the environment and fight global scourges that afflict mankind.

“The months ahead”, he wrote, “promise to put our Organization to new tests.  But what has never failed us in the life of our United Nations is the commitment of all of you, the staff…”.

**SARS update

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday recommended new measures, related to international travel, to reduce the risk of further international spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The tougher travel recommendations include screening of air passengers departing from the affected areas.  WHO also issued detailed recommendations to airlines on steps it should take if a suspected case of SARS is detected in flight.

Despite the earlier discovery of two viruses associated with the outbreak, recent findings shared by the WHO network labs increasingly point out the corona virus as the primary cause of this disease.

As of yesterday, 1,408 cases including 53 deaths have been reported from 13 different countries.

**The Week Ahead at the United Nations

We have ‘The Week Ahead’ to help you plan your work next week.

That’s all I have for you.  We have eight minutes until we start our special briefing on the flash appeal.  Do you have any questions?

Good, we’ll get ready for the flash appeal.  Thank you very much for your attention.

* *** *