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 this morning began an open meeting concerning the International Criminal Court, starting with a debate before a vote is expected later today on a draft resolution that would renew a request, for another year, to defer any investigation or prosecution by the Court involving current or former personnel from a State that is not party to the Court’s Statute, over acts or omissions relating to a UN-established or UN-authorized operation.

The Secretary-General, who opened this morning’s debate, said that, although he accepted that Council members are acting in good faith to make it possible for peace operations to continue, he does not believe that the request being made to the Court is necessary.  Last year, when the Security Council first asked the Court for a 12-month deferral into the sort of investigations that today’s resolution also deals with, the Secretary-General felt it was a reasonable thing to do, to allow member States more time to study the way the Court is to work.

But, he added, “Allow me to express the hope that this does not become an annual routine.”  If it does, he warned, the world may interpret that as a sign that the Council wishes to claim absolute and permanent immunity for people serving in the operations it establishes or authorizes, which would, he said, “undermine not only the authority of the ICC but also the authority of this Council, and the legitimacy of United Nations peacekeeping”.  We have the copy of his remarks upstairs.

The meeting today stems from a request made in a joint letter from Canada, Jordan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand and Switzerland.  In addition to the Secretary-General, there are 18 non-Council members on the speakers’ list.  The vote is scheduled following the public meeting.  Security Council members are expected to speak immediately before and after the vote.  The list is now also available in my office.

**Guinea-Bissau

The Secretary-General’s report on the developments in Guinea-Bissau and the activities of the UN Peace-building Office in that country is out as a Security Council document today.

In it, the Secretary-General says that the situation in that country has worsened.  He says, “There is now consensus that Guinea-Bissau, which had seemed so promising following the ending of the 1998-1999 armed conflict and the holding of free and fair elections is now once again embarked on a downward course.”

He goes on to say that the forthcoming legislative elections are widely seen as a crucial test of Guinea-Bissau’s young democratic process.  He says the United Nations is providing technical assistance in that process, but adds that “should the United Nations determine that conditions are not conducive for free, fair and credible elections, the organization could reconsider its assistance”.

The Council is scheduled to discuss Guinea-Bissau next Thursday.

**Liberia

Reports from Monrovia today indicate that it is relatively “quiet” in the Liberian capital.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that an inter-agency assessment mission visited areas in Monrovia where displaced persons have congregated in large numbers.  Mission members visited five sites, including the sports complex, where an estimated 30,000 people are living under extremely difficult conditions.  In all locations, the priority needs are water and sanitation, food, shelter, medical services and protection.

Efforts are being made to assist some 300 Ivorian and Sierra Leonean refugees who have congregated at the UNHCR offices in Monrovia.

On the political front, the Liberia peace talks bringing together the Government of Liberia and Liberian parties were expected to formally get under way today in Akosombo, Ghana.  The Secretary-General is represented there by his Representative for Liberia, Abou Moussa.

**Security Council Mission

We reported to you that the Security Council mission to Central Africa was scheduled to be in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today to meet with the UN mission, the multinational force and the members of the Ituri Pacification Commission, as well as representatives of all the Iturian communities.

We have a write-up in French of a press encounter held yesterday in Kinshasa by Jean-Marc de la Sablière, the French ambassador to the United Nations, who is leading the Council mission.  He insists on the necessity of accelerating the implementation of a transitional government in the DRC.  We hope to receive a report on today’s activities from the mission spokesman shortly.  We also have a statement in French from the UN Mission in the DRC, expressing its concern at the intensified fighting in North Kivu.

**Iraq

From the humanitarian briefing in Baghdad we learn that the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, that’s UNESCO, the UN Children’s Fund –- better known to you as UNICEF -- working with the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Ministry of Education, are coordinating efforts to ensure that yearly exams take place for 6 million Iraqi students, countrywide.  These exams are scheduled to happen at the start of next month.

The exams will start the beginning of July and one issue that UNESCO had to deal with was that some examination centres were occupied by coalition forces.

The UNICEF, in an effort to prevent the spread of disease among children, has been sending out teams of workers across Baghdad to fix blocked sewage lines and to clean up the piles of refuse building up in many areas of the capital.  With work done so far, a total of 1.5 million people are now living in much safer, cleaner homes and neighbourhoods.  For more information, you should pick up the briefing notes from Baghdad.

**Afghanistan

The UN Mission in Afghanistan said that demining work has resumed along parts of the Kabul-to-Kandahar road after extra security measures were put in place.  The situation continues to be assessed and further demining will resume if conditions are considered safe enough for the demining teams. 

Also on Afghanistan, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that the country is expecting to have probably its best harvest in 25 years.  Sustained and good precipitation and increased land utilization are the main reason behind the good news, the FAO said.

The FAO and the World Food Programme will also launch a comprehensive crop and food supply assessment in the whole country on 16 June.  You can find more details in the Kabul press briefing note available upstairs.

**Special Court for Sierra Leone

Doctors say that Foday Sankoh, the Revolutionary United Front leader indicted earlier this year by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, urgently needs to travel outside of Sierra Leone for a medical assessment and treatment; the obstacle is finding a country to accept him temporarily.

Sankoh was in a catatonic state when he was first taken into the custody of the Court in March.  According to the Court’s Medical Officer, Donald Harding, he is incapable of walking, talking or feeding himself, and his condition is deteriorating.  In a press release, which we put out yesterday, the Court appealed on humanitarian grounds for help from the international community in dealing with Sankoh’s condition.

Also this week, the President of the Special Court, Justice Geoffrey Robertson, wrote a letter to the Secretary-General that included a request for a Security Council resolution, with Chapter VII authority, which would obligate member States of the UN to cooperate with the Court.

**Colombia

“In Colombia, civilians are not only caught in the crossfire, they are also directly targeted as part of a strategy to control land and access routes”, said Kenzo Oshima, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and that at the end of his trip to that country.

The UN estimates that some 2 million persons were forced to flee their homes because of fighting, one of the highest such totals in the world.  The UN has put in place a plan to reduce poverty among conflict-affected populations.  $80 million are required to implement the Plan.  So far, the donor community has provided $27 million.  We have a press release with details.

**Kosovo

We have copies upstairs as well of the remarks made by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, Michael Steiner, at a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the Kosovo Force’s arrival in Kosovo, in which he says that KFOR can be “justly proud of what it has achieved” in creating the safe and secure environment that exists today.

**UN Information Centres

In an essential step in his reform process aimed at streamlining the work of the United Nations, the Secretary-General has decided to proceed with his plan to close UN Information Centres in Western Europe and replace them with a regional information hub.

Nine centers will, therefore, close down by the end of this year.  They’re located in Paris, London, Rome, Madrid, Bonn, Lisbon, Athens, Copenhagen and Brussels.  The Information Services at the Headquarters locations of Geneva and Vienna will be maintained.

The new Information Hub, covering the countries in the European Union, is expected to be located in Brussels, and negotiations with the Government of Belgium are at an advanced stage.

The Secretary-General wishes to pay tribute to the loyal staff of these nine centres for their remarkable work over the years and their contribution to enhancing European understanding of the United Nation’s goals and achievements.  He is taking a personal role in seeing that their interests will be protected as the offices close.

**UNICEF

Today is World Day Against Child Labour.  Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of UNICEF, said today that efforts to end the worst forms of child labour would not succeed unless nations cooperate in fighting the trafficking of children and women within and across national borders.

According to UNICEF, children are seen by traffickers as commodities since they are more easily manipulated, they’re on high demand, and they can be exploited over a longer period.  The UNICEF also pointed to estimates that global trade in human beings is beginning to rival the illicit trafficking of arms and drugs.

“We can no longer simply look at the worst forms of child labour as a shame.  We have to see it as one part of an inhuman and criminal trade that must be stopped”, Bellamy said.

In other UNICEF news, Bellamy called on African leaders, at the African Economic Summit in Durban, South Africa, to use the well-being of children and child-centred standards as the primary measure for progress across their continent, and to invest their limited resources in health, education, equality and protection for children.  We have a press release on that.

**Global Compact

Today at UN Headquarters, the Global Compact is convening a dialogue session dealing with management and partnership practices along the supply chain, in which over 200 participants, including representatives from more than 100 companies (including Citigroup, Microsoft and General Motors) are participating, along with labor groups and non-governmental organizations.

**FAO/WFP

Finally, according to the findings of the joint assessment missions in southern Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme, food aid needs in southern Africa remain substantial, despite an overall regional improvement in food production.  Over the next year, six southern African countries will need to import nearly 2.5 million tons of food to meet their minimum food needs.  We have more information in a press release.

That’s all I have for you.  Mohammed?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, the 89 speakers that you referred to, do you think that the Security Council could be able to wrap up its debate for today?

Spokesman:  I think the expectation is that it will.  We, I think, said that there are 18 non-Council members on the speakers’ list, not 89.  So, that means the chances of our finishing today are good.

Thank you very much. 

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