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.

**Guest at Noon

Our guest today is Mr. Georg Kell, the Executive Head of the Global Compact.  He’s already with me now.  He will talk about the Global Compact’s annual report on progress and activities.

**Liberia

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that a lull in the fighting in Monrovia has allowed the national staff of humanitarian agencies to resume some basic relief activities.  Their efforts, however, continue to be constrained by an uncertain security environment and a shortage of relief supplies.

Humanitarian needs in Monrovia remain critical as most aid distributions had stopped during intense fighting last week, and shortages of water and sanitation facilities make the further outbreaks of communicable diseases highly probable.  Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees are especially vulnerable, as they are unable to receive sufficient amounts of aid and are often targeted for harassment by armed groups.

If security conditions allow, the distribution of food to some of Monrovia’s most vulnerable groups may resume by the end of this week.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) plans to supply food distribution to an estimated 70,000 IDPs at the national stadium, and to other IDPs in irregular shelters around Monrovia.

Monrovia’s hospitals, meanwhile, continue to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of patients.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that preparations for the emergency evacuation of Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia got under way in the capital, Monrovia, on Wednesday, as UNHCR staff in neighbouring Sierra Leone rushed to finish its work to equip the ship, which sets sail on Wednesday evening to rescue thousands of stranded refugees in the besieged Liberian city.

**Security Council Mission

The Security Council mission to West Africa left Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, this morning for Accra, Ghana, where it began with a briefing on the status of the Liberian peace talks by the Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, Abou Moussa.

The mission was also to meet with representatives of the Government of Liberia, the LURD and MODEL rebel forces, political parties and civil society organizations.

It will also be briefed by members of the International Contact Group on Liberia; Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, ECOWAS Executive Secretary; and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, ECOWAS mediator for Liberia, on the peace talks being held in Ghana.

The mission will fly this evening to Conakry, Guinea.

Yesterday, the mission spent the day in Abidjan holding discussions with a range of actors, including President Laurent Gbagbo, Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, the military and civilian leadership of the “Forces Nouvelles”, political parties, and civil society, to urge full implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis peace agreement, signed in January 2003, and respect for the ceasefire.

The head of the mission, Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock (United Kingdom), speaking at a press conference yesterday, said that during the course of the day’s discussions, the mission imparted a simple message.  “We are here to help in the implementation of Linas-Marcoussis because we recognize that there are a lot of difficulties in this country in doing so on both sides.”

We have a complete note on the mission available upstairs.

**Security Council

The Security Council President, Ambassador Inocencio F. Arias of Spain, just briefed you on the programme of work for the month of July, which was approved during this morning’s consultations.

The Council also heard a briefing by Julian Harston of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer force.  A draft resolution was introduced and will be voted on tomorrow.

The Council President also read a press statement on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

**Iraq

From Baghdad today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, met with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.  They discussed the current situation in the country, the UN role and the best ways to implement resolution 1483, protection of human rights, and how to give the Iraqis the chance to establish their own democratic institutions as soon as possible.

Also today, Vieira de Mello sat down with a group of human rights activists who had participated in the recent workshop on transitional justice.  The main theme of the meeting was what is going to happen next, where we go from here, and what should be the next practical step regarding human rights.  Vieira de Mello said that human rights institutions should be proposed and implemented by Iraqis themselves.  He also recommended the immediate return to the country of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iraq. 

More on the Special Representative’s activities is available upstairs.

**SARS

The World Health Organization (WHO) today has removed Toronto, Canada, from its list of areas with recent local transmission of SARS.  The last probable case was detected on 12 June and immediately isolated.  The chain of transmission is considered broken since twice the incubation period of SARS has passed without detection of a new case.

We have a press release with more details upstairs.

**Timor-Leste

In a press release, the UN Mission in Timor-Leste gives a public account of the actions that have been taken by UN Police, together with the Timorese judicial authorities, on investigating and preventing the sexual exploitation of women and prostitution in Dili.

The Mission says that in April, UNPOL raided an establishment in the Timorese capital and detained a man and a woman, as well as 23 Thai women aged between 15 and 45, and six clients. Subsequently, UNPOL also detained two Timorese citizens and found seven Indonesian women on the premises of another establishment it raided.

More recently, another man was arrested at a Dili hotel for exploitation of women.

The Mission’s press release is available in the Spokesman’s Office.

**Secretary-General’s Message to CARICOM Meeting

In a message to the 24th gathering of heads of State of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) in Jamaica, the Secretary-General says that the United Nations will continue to work in partnership with CARICOM on a range of challenges affecting the people of the Caribbean, including international trade and HIV/AIDS.

He also notes that the region will gain a high profile in the United Nations with the election of Saint Lucia’s Minister of External Affairs as President of the upcoming 58th session of the General Assembly.  And we have, again, copies of that message available upstairs.

**International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia confirmed that Veselin Sljivancanin, a former colonel in the Yugoslav Peoples Army, was transferred into the custody of the Tribunal’s detention unit yesterday.

He is charged with two counts of grave breaches of the Geneva Convention, two counts of violations of the customs of war, and two counts of crimes against humanity.

His initial hearing will be announced in due course.  We have a press release on that.

**Budget

And on budget, Gabon made a payment yesterday of more than $476,000 to the UN regular budget, becoming the 90th Member State so far this year to pay its regular budget dues in full.

**World Food Programme

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today in Geneva appealed for $308 million for food aid in southern Africa, due to the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS and continuing substantial food needs.  The appeal will be used to fund close to 540,000 tonnes of food, enough to feed 6.5 million people until June of next year.

**UNESCO

And the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today has withdrawn three sites from the List of World Heritage in Danger at the meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Paris.

The sites are the Srebarna Nature Reserve in Bulgaria, which was endangered due to the progressive destruction of the bird populations’ freshwater habitat; Yellowstone Park in the United States, endangered due to the adjacent mining operations; and the Natural and Cultural-Historical Region of Kotor in Serbia and Montenegro, which was seriously damaged by an earthquake in 1979.

**Press Conferences Tomorrow

At noon tomorrow, we will be joined by Ambassador Kuniko Inoguchi of Japan, Chair-designate of the -– it’s a long name again -– the biennial meeting of States to consider implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.  Ambassador Inoguchi will brief you on the aims of the weeklong meeting, which will begin on Monday, 7 July.

Also tomorrow, Michael Steiner, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Kosovo, will be briefing you here in this room around 1 p.m. after his briefing to the Security Council.

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions before we move on to our guest?

All right, Mr. Kell, it’s all yours now.

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