DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT
| Press Briefing |
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
AND THE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT
Following is a near verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Michele Montas, Spokeswoman for the General Assembly President.
Spokesman for the Secretary-General
Good afternoon. As you can see, we have the big changeover today for the Spokesman of the President of the General Assembly. It’s Michele Montas, or perhaps she prefers to be called spokeswoman, I’ll leave that up to her.
**Noon Guest
Our guest at the noon briefing was to have been Ross Mountain, the Special Humanitarian Coordinator for Liberia. He is still in Security Council consultations, and we’re not sure he’s going to make it by the end of this briefing, so we may have to squawk when he will be free to come to this room to speak to you, in the event that he doesn’t make it.
**Security Council-Liberia
On the Security Council, they began their work today with an open briefing on the Secretary-General’s report on Liberia by Special Representative Jacques Klein. Council members then moved into consultations on Liberia. In his briefing, Klein talked about an obligation to assist in putting an end to this cycle of brutality, violence, corruption and instability that has destroyed the social fabric of society and has also spilled over the borders of Liberia, profoundly affecting the region.
He said that the multinational force that is now presently in Liberia, with Security Council approval, will be replaced by a United Nations Force on
1 October. This UN Force, he said, must be credible, well trained and fully equipped. Its leadership must be focused, impartial and experienced and professional. He went on to say that one of the major challenges will be the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of all ex-combatants. Therefore, it must be stressed, adequate and secure financing for the programme is critical.
In the report, the Secretary-General recommends that the Council authorize deployment of a multidimensional peacekeeping operation in Liberia, under
Chapter VII of the Charter, with troop strength of 15,000 and up to 875 civilian police officers and an additional five armed formed units [of police] each comprising 120 officers. Copies of the report which detail key elements for the mission, Klein’s statement and highlights from the report are all available in my Office.
**Security Council-Middle East
The Security Council is also scheduled to hold consultations this morning on the Middle East, following yesterday afternoon's consultations in which Syria presented a draft resolution on which it is seeking a vote.
Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council also issued a press statement condemning the coup in Guinea-Bissau.
**Democratic Republic of Congo
The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo informed us that during an aerial patrol today, a UN helicopter spotted a truck carrying armed militias heading towards Bunia. When the patrolling helicopter saw that weapons were pointed at it, it fired shots at the truck in self-defence. Two militia members were hit.
Yesterday, firings erupted in Bunia after the UN Ituri brigade began conducting cordon and search operations to ensure that the town was weapon free by 10 a.m. local time. The UN peacekeepers went to the compound used by the Union of Congolese Patriots (or UPC) and found and confiscated a stockpile of arms and ammunition.
Demonstrations organized by UPC supporters then took place in different locations across the town to protest the UN-led operation. The Ituri brigade proceeded to disperse the demonstrators, but at no time did it open fire on the civilian population. In the course of the afternoon, UPC militiamen opened fire on UN soldiers, however, prompting an immediate riposte by the peacekeepers.
In the past 24 hours, the UN Mission arrested about 100 people, including some top UPC military officials. The situation in Bunia remains tense.
**Timor-Leste
At a ceremony today held in Baucau, the second largest city in Timor-Leste, UN Police handed over the security in the city to the country’s police force.
The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Timor-Leste, Sukehiro Hasegawa, in his remarks at the ceremony, reminded Timor-Leste Police officers that their newly-acquired authority comes with great responsibilities. He also pledged that the UN Mission would continue to work closely with the Government and the district administration, adding that nine UN Police Technical Advisers will remain in the district.
Baucau is the 12th district where policing responsibilities were handed over from the UN to Timor-Leste. Only Dili District now still remains under UN Police and the handover is scheduled to take place in January.
Also on Timor-Leste, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) issued an appeal for emergency food aid for 110,000 impoverished people, as a result of a two-year drought stalking the highlands of Timor-Leste. In order to prevent further deterioration in their health, WFP will give some 24,800 rural families a
55-kilogram monthly ration of maize or rice and beans for four months starting in November. We have a press release with more details on that.
**Secretary-General Report on Sierra Leone
The 19th report of the Secretary-General on the UN Mission in Sierra Leone is out on the racks today. The report observes that further progress achieved towards peace consolidation and the overall security environment in the country have enabled the UN Mission to continue the progressive drawdown of its military component.
While noting encouraging developments, such as progress made in the reintegration of ex-combatants, the report flags areas where serious challenges remain, such as enhancing the capacity of the Sierra Leone police and army and ensuring control of diamond mining in the country.
The Secretary-General recommends that the Security Council extend the mandate of the UN mission in Sierra Leone for a further period of six months, until the 31st of March of next year, given the need to continue the gradual drawdown without jeopardizing the security situation.
**Central African Republic
The Security Council President, British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, in a letter to the Secretary-General, accepts a one-year extension, until the 31st of December of next year, of the UN Peace-building Support Office in the Central African Republic.
**HIV/AIDS Commission
The Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa, chaired by K.Y Amoako, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), will be officially launched tomorrow in Addis Ababa. With its secretariat at the ECA, the Commission’s mandate is to study the impact of HIV/AIDS on State structures and Africa’s Economic Development. We have a press release with more details.
**Prayer Service
Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General attended the annual prayer service held at the Holy Family Church in New York that takes place before the start of the General Assembly every year, and he said that, following last month’s “brutal and barbaric” bombing in Iraq, “We need the comfort of sharing our grief with friends.”
Yet, he added, as the work of healing begins, “we must learn to draw strength and purpose from this experience”, and he asked for prayers for the United Nations and the staff it had lost, and also to pray for Iraq and the whole family of nations. His remarks are out as a press release today.
**Ozone Layer
The Secretary-General today observed the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer with a message in which he notes that recent findings by atmospheric scientists show that the level of chlorine in the upper atmosphere is at or near its peak, and we are now seeing the first signs of the recovery of the ozone layer.
However, he warns, “we cannot be complacent”. Even greater political commitment and further action is required to ensure full compliance with the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer. We have copies of his message upstairs.
Also today, the UN Environment Programme warned that every year ultraviolet radiation from the sun, one of the consequences of the depletion of the ozone layer, results in between 2 million and 3 million cases of non-malignant melanomas and more than 130,000 new melanoma skin cancer cases worldwide.
**Human Rights
On human rights, four independent experts appointed by the Secretary-General to follow up on the 2001 World Conference against Racism are meeting today for the first time in Geneva, to begin three days of discussions on how they will carry out their mandate. The experts –- Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, Edna Maria Santos Roland of Brazil, Salim Ahmed Salim of the United Republic of Tanzania, and Hanna Suchocka of Poland -– will also discuss cooperation with the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
**Hammarskjöld
Tomorrow at 10 a.m., the Secretary-General will lay a wreath in the Visitors’ Lobby outside the UN Meditation Room to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the death of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld.
Then, this Friday, also at 10 a.m., the Secretary-General will participate in the annual ringing of the Peace Bell in the Japanese Garden, and will deliver a message of peace in advance of the International Day of Peace, which will be formally held this Saturday.
**UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today said that, while over the last two weeks schools have been opening again worldwide for the start of the new school year, some 123 million school-aged children are currently being left out. The UNICEF also said that, globally, girls make up the majority of this group, with 66 million girls of school age not in school. There’s a press release with more details.
**General Debate Security Arrangements
I was asked a bit earlier this week when the Chief of UN security, Mike McCann, would brief you on the special arrangements for this year’s general debate, and it will be tomorrow at 12:45 p.m., and he’ll go over all the rules that you have to follow as you cover the general debate period, which, of course, is a time of maximum high security here at the UN.
**Tomorrow’s Noon Guest
And finally, the guest at the noon briefing tomorrow will be UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, who will be joined by the Secretary-General’s Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, Adolph Oggi. They will be briefing you on the report of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport and Development for Peace, which they will be presenting to the Secretary-General sometime tomorrow morning.
That’s all I have for you. Any questions?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Yesterday the Secretary-General expressed regret at the inconclusive character of the discussions at Cancun. What does he think should be done now?
Spokesman: I think if you look at the statement we issued yesterday, he mentioned that one of the positive elements of Cancun was the way the developing countries had effectively banded together and presented their case, and I think he said he hoped that all parties to that conference would go home, rethink, and come back ready to negotiate once again in good faith to try to get a trade agreement in the next year or so. Of course, 2005 was the self-imposed deadline by the World Trade Organization to complete negotiations on a new trade agreement.
Question: Do you have any further information about the situation in Cyprus?
Spokesman: To my knowledge, nothing new on Cyprus. The Secretary-General has indicated that he would once again get actively involved if he received from the parties some serious and credible expression of their willingness to once again negotiate [on the basis of his plan, but that commitment is not in place from all parties at this time].
Question: Do you have any details on the coup in Guinea-Bissau?
Spokesman: We do have an office in Guinea-Bissau. I’d have to see what details, if any, they may have reported to UN Headquarters. The Secretary-General’s statement of yesterday, and the Security-Council’s press statement of last night, both condemned the coup, which, of course, is consistent with the African Union’s position that there should be no change of government in Africa except by constitutional means. But, whether we have any actual details on the coup, I don’t know, I’d have to check for you.
Question: You also mentioned that the Secretary-General is going to lay a wreath for Dag Hammarskjöld. What about the others that died with him?
Spokesman: Don’t take me too literally on that. The Secretary-General goes down to the meditation room every year at the beginning of the General Assembly. It’s, of course, a special memorial for the Secretary-General, but it is in no way intended to diminish the grief that we also share for his colleagues that died with him.
Michele. Welcome to your first briefing.
Spokeswoman for the General Assembly President
Thank you Fred, and good afternoon.
I would first like to say that I am looking forward to working with you during the 58th session of the General Assembly.
As you know, the 58th session will open this afternoon with an address by the new President of the Assembly, Senator the Honorable Julian Robert Hunte, Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation of Saint Lucia.
Mr. Hunte has extensive experience in the multilateral process and a keen interest in the issues of regional cooperation. He was Saint Lucia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1998 to 2001. At the regional level, Mr. Hunte has provided leadership for standing bodies of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), where he served as Chair of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations in 2002 and 2003.
In his country, Saint Lucia, President Hunte has a long career from trade unionist to business executive, from Mayor of the capital, to head of Saint Lucia’s opposition Labor Party, to Senator. You can find his biography in the press kit. It is now available right here and on the 3rd floor.
Endorsed by CARICOM heads of government, and later by the Latin American and Caribbean Group at the United Nations, President Hunte was elected to lead the
58th session on 6 June 2003. You should note that Saint Lucia is the smallest Member State to accede to the presidency of the General Assembly.
The priorities of this 58th session are to highlight development issues and to provide effective leadership on UN reform and questions of international peace and security.
President Hunte feels strongly that we must reassert the authority of the General Assembly as a principal policy-making organ of the United Nations.
The General assembly should, in particular, be at the centre of the unfolding socio-economic transformation of the world and ensure coherence in the system.
It is a challenge for many developing countries to disentangle the rules of the system while they confront other serious economic problems, including mounting debt, falling commodity prices, increasing poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
President Hunte also feels that the international community must deliver on the promises made at Monterrey and in the Millennium Development Declaration. He attaches particular importance to the high-level plenary meeting planned for next week, 22 September, on HIV/AIDS and the one on financing for development to be held on 29 to 30 October.
President Hunte will be available this coming Friday to answer the questions you might have. His press conference will be here in room 226, 11 a.m. Friday.
During the last three months, Mr. Hunte and his CARICOM cabinet have held extensive consultations on revitalization efforts to firmly re-establish the General Assembly as the premier policy-setting body of the United Nations. The Government of Saint Lucia and the President have assembled a cabinet from among senior diplomats and professionals from several CARICOM countries, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Any questions?