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 Hua Jiang, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good Afternoon.

**Noon Guest

We will be joined this afternoon by Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme, who will brief you on the “oil-for-food” programme, and I have already put some fact sheets by the entrance.

**Africa Malaria Report

Today is Africa Malaria Day, and a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that the death toll from malaria remains outrageously high, with more than 3,000 African children dying daily.  It also stresses that new effective anti-malarial drugs are not yet accessible to those who need them, and that only a small proportion of children at risk of malaria are protected by highly effective insecticide treated nets.

The Africa Malaria Report gives a continent-wide picture of the struggle against malaria and highlights the urgent need to make effective anti-malarial treatment available to those most at risk.  WHO and UNICEF call for the international community to step up momentum by increasing investment to support programmes in countries where malaria is endemic and for these countries to give higher priority to malaria on health agendas.  The report also says that greater private sector involvement is needed in the supply and distribution of quality antimalarial drugs and insecticide treated nets.  It has been proven that the use of insecticide treated nets can reduce the transmission of malaria by as much as 60 per cent.  We have a press release with more details.

**Iraq Humanitarian Notes

There was no humanitarian briefing in Amman today, but we nevertheless have a few items for you.

Iraqi children must be allowed to resume their schooling without delay, the Executive Director of UN Children’s Fund, Carol Bellamy, said today.

The UNICEF chief praised what she called “the innate wisdom” of Iraqi parents and educators who are pushing for the prompt resumption of classes throughout Iraq.  They must be “supported, encouraged, lauded, and imitated” for the speed with which children have already begun to return to school throughout the country.

In recent days, UNICEF has been approached by senior Ministry of Education administrators, teachers, and parents who are anxious to open schools in Baghdad immediately.  UNICEF will support the return of Iraqi children to school with

emergency education supplies for children and teachers, emergency repairs to water points and toilets, and sports kits.  Psycho-social programmes for children will be grounded in a classroom context.

In Geneva, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it was now shifting its primary focus from contingency preparations for a possible influx of Iraqi refugees into neighbouring States to laying the groundwork for the eventual return of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who have been living in exile for a decade or more.  As part of its planning process, UNHCR has developed a preliminary plan for the repatriation and reintegration of up to 500,000 Iraqi refugees, out of an estimated 900,000 living in the immediate region and beyond.  The return of Iraqis from abroad will be among the major challenges in post conflict Iraq.  More information on these two items is available upstairs.

**Security Council

There are no Security Council meetings or consultations scheduled for today.

On Monday, the Security Council has scheduled consultations on Liberia in the morning and a public meeting on Timor-Leste in the afternoon.

**Liberia

The Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council on Liberia, which will be discussed Monday, is out on the racks today.

In it, the Secretary-General notes that the security situation has deteriorated so badly that it has become extremely difficult to reach internally displaced persons and third country refugees who have fallen victim to abductions, conscriptions and various gross violations of human rights.

He says, “Whatever decision the Council may take in response to the present report, it must not lose sight of the urgent need to find an early solution to the conflict in Liberia, whose deleterious effect is fast spreading throughout an already troubled subregion”.

The Secretary-General notes that there is a “glimmer of hope for the search for peace” and says he is encouraged by the decision of the Security Council to visit Liberia and its neighbours next month.  He urges that every effort be made to persuade Liberia and the rebel movement Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to listen to the pleas of the Liberian people, renounce violence and give peace a chance.

**Timor Report

The Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council on the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) is out on the racks today.

He notes that since his last report dated 6 November, 2002, the most striking development was the change in the security environment, with a disturbing number of security-related incidents in recent months.  “The search for a solution”, he said, “to these immediate problems should, however, be viewed in the context of the long-term process of establishing a viable independent State”. 

He also appeals to the Council “to once more demonstrate its commitment to completing the tasks that have been advanced so far in Timor-Leste by extending the mandate of UNMISET for a further year”.

Also on Timor-Leste, today the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific unanimously decided to admit Timor-Leste as a full member bringing its membership to 62, comprising 53 members and nine associate members.  We have a press release upstairs.

**Greece

We also have available upstairs a statement on the meeting between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia under the Secretary-General’s auspices.

**Côte d’Ivoire -- Humanitarian

Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy for the Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, left Abidjan to visit the towns of Man and Guiglo in the western part of that country to assess the impact of cross-border conflict on affected populations.  The western part of Côte d’Ivoire is hosting tens of thousands of internally displaced persons.

Since the emergence of two new rebel groups in western Côte d’Ivoire in late November 2002, and subsequent fighting there, access to populations in need of humanitarian aid has been hampered.  Humanitarian organizations are also concerned that delivering food and other supplies to those in need could turn them into targets of armed elements.

**Madagascar -- Drought

The World Food Programme says thousands of people are leaving the drought stricken southern part of Madagascar in search of food, water and work.  About

80 per cent of the harvests have failed and people are resorting to selling livestock and cooking utensils to buy food.  The Government estimates

600,000 people are in need of food assistance and WFP has already targeted

175,000 of them as part of the emergency appeal that was launched last November.  Because of the shortfall in funding, the agency has only been able to assist 55,000 of the most vulnerable people.

WFP is calling for a better response from donors in order to get food to the people in need now, before more are forced to leave their homes and before malnutrition rates rise.  We have a press release with more details.

**Ethiopia -- Drought

The World Food Programme, in an update on an appeal launched last week for $205 million, says that the number of people affected by the drought and in urgent need of food aid in Ethiopia had reached 12.6 million, up from 11 million.

**Chief Executives Board

The spring meeting of the UN system’s Chief Executives Board, representing the executive heads of all UN agencies and programs, began today in Paris.

In place of the Secretary-General, who we informed you yesterday had decided to cut short his trip to Europe and who is now back in New York, Juan Somavia, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization, will chair the meeting.  Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette traveled to Paris on Wednesday to attend the meeting, but, contrary to what we told you yesterday, she will not chair it.

**Chernobyl

Tomorrow will mark the 17th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl power plant in the former Soviet Union, and the Secretary-General wants to mark the occasion to make a special plea to the international community to remember the victims of Chernobyl, who have suffered long-term consequences to their health and welfare.  We will put out a statement tomorrow commemorating the Chernobyl accident, and advance copies of that statement are available upstairs.

**World Chronicle television programme

And World Chronicle no. 895 with Eveline Herfkens, the UN’s Executive Coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals, will be shown today at 3:30 p.m. on in-house television channel 3 or 31.

**Week Ahead at United Nations

And we have the Week Ahead for you to pick up in the office.  Any questions before Mr. Sevan joins us?

Questions and Answers

Question:   Is the Secretary-General coming in today or not until Monday?

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General:      We were told that he wouldn’t come in today -- unless he changes his mind sometime this afternoon. 

All right, Mr. Sevan would you like to join us up here?

* *** *