DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE 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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General and Michele Montas, Spokeswoman for the General Assembly President.

     Associate Spokesman:  Good afternoon.

     **Guest at Noon

     Catherine Bertini, the Under-Secretary-General for Administration, will be joining us today to brief on the United Nations budget.  She should be back in about 10 minutes.

     **Secretary-General on Turkey Bombings

     The Secretary-General told reporters this morning that, once again, we all woke up to another piece of shocking news, with terrorist bombings taking place in Istanbul, Turkey.

     He said he condemned the latest terrorist attacks totally, and offered his condolences and sympathy to the Governments and peoples of Turkey and the United Kingdom.

     He added, “I grieve with the loved ones of those who lost friends, relatives, and also those who have been injured.  But of course those who carried out these attacks have no respect for human life and we should condemn utterly their actions.”

     We expect an official statement to be issued on this subject in a short while, and we will announce that when that is ready.

     When he spoke to reporters this morning, at the Security Council’s stakeout microphone, the Secretary-General also made some other comments to reporters.

     He said that diplomats at the United Nations have shown their understanding of the dangers in today’s environment, and are willing to address them by considering better resources to improve security.

     Asked whether the terrorist threats were affecting UN plans to bring more staff to Iraq, he said that the security situation was being monitored on a daily basis.  Meanwhile, he said, the United Nations is doing as much as it can with its staff inside Iraq, and is considering a flow of staff back and forth across the Iraqi border to ensure that the needed work gets done.

     Asked about whether a conference for Iraq’s Government, similar to the Bonn talks for Afghanistan, would be considered, the Secretary-General said, “How we move forward is something that the Iraqis must have a big say in.”

     He noted that one idea is to have assembly hall meetings in the 18 Iraqi regions, to determine who will be in the next Government.

     We have a transcript of his comments to the press available upstairs in the Spokesman’s office.

     Also on Turkey, the Security Council President this morning expressed the Security Council’s heartfelt sympathy to the Turkish and United Kingdom Governments and peoples for the innocent lives lost in today’s attacks, which the Council strongly condemns.

     **Security Council

     The Security Council is holding an open meeting on the Great Lakes region.

     In his statement at the Security Council, the Secretary-General spoke of the International Conference on the Great Lakes region as “a long-standing idea” which was long overdue.  He referred to recent positive developments in the region, such as the peace processes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, and there was now a “new dynamic” on which all players should capitalize so that the Conference could proceed as planned.

     The Secretary-General’s report on the Great Lakes came out as a document yesterday and we have his remarks delivered today upstairs.

     Other speakers at the Council meeting included Francisco Madeira, Minister of the Presidency for Parliamentary and Diplomatic Issues of Mozambique, who represented the Presidency of the African Union.

     A presidential statement is expected to be adopted at the end of the meeting on the Great Lakes region.

     **Security Council/Oil for Food

     Then this afternoon at four, the Secretary-General will address the Security Council to mark the end of the UN’s administration of the Oil for Food programme (for Iraq).

This will be an open meeting.

     The Programme’s Executive Director, Benon Sevan, updated the members of the Security Council on the phasing out procedures during closed consultations yesterday afternoon and spoke to you afterwards.

     The programme, the largest such humanitarian undertaking ever managed by the United Nations, will no longer be administered by the United Nations as of 12:01 Saturday morning.  From 1996 to the onset of war in March of this year, the Oil for Food programme achieved wide-ranging improvements in health, education and public infrastructure.

     Fact sheets on the programme were made available to you yesterday and are available still upstairs.

**Security Council -- Other

     At 3:00 this afternoon, there will also be a Security Council troop contributors’ meeting on the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.

     And for the record, the Security Council yesterday, after the noon briefing, adopted two presidential statements.

     One was on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in which members condemned the continuing exploitation of that country’s natural resources.  It urged all concerned States to take the appropriate steps to end these illegal activities.

     The Security Council also adopted a presidential statementon mine action, and urged UN Member States to support projects to clear landmines and other unexploded ordnance from countries emerging from armed conflicts and to help rehabilitate landmine victims.  The Council urged countries to provide "adequate and sustained" financial assistance to support mine clearing.

     **Iran

     Turning to Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has made a good start in Iran, but it needs to stay the course, the Agency’s Director-General, Mohamed ElBaradei, said today as he opened a meeting of its Board of Governors.

     He presented his agency’s report on Iran’s nuclear programme, and said the Agency had found that Iran for years had tried to conceal material, facilities and activities that were required to have been declared under its nuclear safeguards agreement.  In addition, he said, until recently, the Agency’s verification process had been “slow, frustrating and piecemeal”.

     Since mid-October, however, Mr. ElBaradei said, “a new chapter of implementation of safeguards in Iran seems to have begun, a chapter that is characterized by active co-operation and openness on the part of Iran”.

     He noted Iran’s agreement to sign on to an additional protocol on nuclear inspections, and added his hope that Iran’s new policy of active cooperation will continue.

     He also told the Board that any future settlement in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea must include the return of the non-proliferation regime there, and that the Agency’s Security Council mandate in Iraq still stands.

     **Afghanistan

     On Afghanistan, the World Bank expressed its deep concern over recent attacks against aid workers in Afghanistan, saying such attacks underscore the urgent need to expand the international peacekeeping presence outside Kabul.

     In a statement issued in Kabul, the World Bank says that the continuing deterioration of security could lead to the disruption or even the stalling of reconstruction and development work in Afghanistan.  Putting the necessary security arrangements in place, it says, will enable the country to move forward with rebuilding and development.

     The World Bank statement is included in today’s briefing notes from Kabul.

     **Africa Industrialization

     African industries need to improve their effectiveness and competitiveness to meet the challenge of “going global”, the Secretary-General says in a statement to mark Africa Industrialization Day.

     In his message, the Secretary-General says that African countries need to diversify from long-standing trade patterns.  But for that approach to succeed, he warns, market access is critical, and the subsidies and tariffs that are stifling the abilities of poor countries to compete must end.

     **Children

     And today is the fourteenth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy seized the occasion to call on world leaders to put children at the heart of their development agendas.

     She said, “Although the world has made tremendous progress since 1989 to see that children’s rights are universally accepted and realized, we are not there yet.”

     We have a press release on this subject upstairs.

     **Ralph Bunche

     Then at 1:00 this afternoon, the Department of Public Information is sponsoring a programme to mark the centenary of Ralph Bunche’s birth, which will explore the future of peacekeeping and mediation.

     The discussion called “From Ralph Bunche to Lakhdar Brahimi”, will feature David Malone, the President of the International Peace Academy, as keynote speaker.

     He will be joined by Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore and the former head of the UN Mission in Angola, Dame Margaret Anstee.

     You’re all invited to attend.

     **Global Compact

     And tomorrow morning at 9:30, major investors who represent over a trillion dollars in assets will gather with senior Wall Street fund representatives at the United Nations to examine the risks of climate change to their portfolios, and to determine further action.

     The Secretary-General is expected to make remarks at that gathering.

     Among the other speakers at the event are Phil Angelides, the Treasurer for the State of California, and Alan Hevesi, the New York State Comptroller.

     The event is to be held in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, and key participants in the event will brief the press in Room 226 at 1 p.m.

     The UN Environment Programme and Global Compact Office are supporting the meeting.

**WFP/Kenya

     In less than six weeks, 1 million vulnerable Kenyan children will no longer receive free meals in school unless donations for the World Food Programme school feeding programme are made immediately.

     The WFP needs a total of $15 million to continue the programme, which involves some 4 thousand primary schools in the poorest areas of Kenya.

     We have a press release if you want more details on that.

     **World Chronicle Programme

     And finally to flag you, the World Chronicle Programme number 917 with Mary Chamie, Chief of Demographic and Social Statistics Branch, DESA, will be shown today at 4 p.m. on in-house television channel 3 or 31.

     Let me just welcome Catherine Bertini.  Please take a seat up here.  That’s all I have for you, before we turn to Catherine I would like to turn to Michele, do you have any questions?  Mr. Abbadi?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Marie, regarding the international conference on the Great Lakes region, the report of the Secretary-General says that the United Nations/African Union would encourage the regional African groupings to contribute to this conference and he mentions eight of them, East, West, Central, and South.  But the report does not mention the Union of Arab Mahgreb States, are there any reasons for this omission?

Associate Spokesman:  I don’t know off the top of my head, but I will look into that and get back to you right after the briefing.  [The correspondent was told that the report covers the organizations that Special Representative Ibrahim Fall has consulted with so far in the first few months of his activities in the region.]

Question:  Any information when the UN will be involved in the Iraqi problem?  They are going to have some more personalities to go to Iraq to solve the problem?

Associate Spokesman:  Maybe you missed the beginning of the briefing.  The Secretary-General spoke at the stakeout this morning.  He was asked about the question of Iraq return.  I would like, because of the shortage of time, to refer you to the transcript that we just made available, and he answers that question in terms of the security situation.  If there are no more questions, I’m going to turn quickly to Michele before I go to Catherine.

Spokeswoman for General Assembly President

     Thank you, Marie, and good afternoon.

     The President of the General Assembly this morning chaired a meeting of the General Committee to hear Ms. Louise Fréchette, Deputy Secretary-General, on United Nations staff security.  On everyone’s mind today were the attacks in Istanbul, and President Julian Hunte expressed his condolences to the Turkish and British Governments at the meeting this morning.

     Today the United Nations family observes Africa Industrialisation Day.  On this occasion, President Hunte underlined the progress made.  The NEPAD programme recently established by African countries themselves, he said, is a “clear demonstration of their commitment to alleviate poverty, combat marginalization, build global partnerships for investment and technology promotion, diversify the export base and gain access to international markets”.

“The strategy for industrialization and market access is critical”, he said, “considering that that Least Developed Countries have neither surplus capacity of exportable products nor production capacity to take immediate advantage of new trade opportunities.”  UNIDO, he said, is to be commended for its continued commitment to address these issues and to promote Africa’s integration into the global economy.

     The General Assembly is now holding a closed meeting to pursue the open-ended informal consultations of the plenary on revitalization of the work of the General Assembly.  It is chaired, of course, by the President of the General Assembly.  The second informal note, and elements for consideration for working texts on revitalization of the General Assembly, is now available, as I said yesterday, on the Web.  I will try to brief you tomorrow on the discussions that are going on right now.

     It is unlikely that the Third Committee will finish its work as scheduled for tomorrow, Friday.  Twenty-four draft resolutions on the table, at this point, have to be voted on.  Among those drafts on human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedom, is an Israeli text on children; some amendments have been introduced to that text by nine Member States.  Both texts are available.

     President Hunte is to meet this afternoon with Ambassador Martin Belinga-Eboutou, Chairman of the Third Committee, on the work of that committee.

     This is all I have for you, thank you.

     Associate Spokesman:  Any questions for Michele, if not let me turn to Catherine Bertini, thank you for your time.

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