DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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.
**SG in Geneva
The Secretary-General said “it’s up to all of us to build an information society”, as the World Summit on the Information Society opened in Geneva. He said, “An open, inclusive information society that benefits all people will not emerge without sustained commitment and investment”. He urged all those participating in the Summit to recognize that “we are embarked on an endeavour that transcends technology. Building an open, empowering information society is a social, economic and ultimately political challenge”.
The Secretary-General started his day at the site of the World Summit on the Information Society by sending an e-mail message to children in more than 80 countries on the original World Wide Web server. The computer he used was the one that Time Berner-Lee, the inventor of the programs that sparked off the World Wide Web, used to write the software in 1990. In his message, the Secretary-General wrote, “At that time, no one could have dreamt that within a few years the Internet would connect millions of people all over the world in the blink of an eye”. His message concluded, “May this World Summit help us see the world as a domain we all share”.
He met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before hosting a luncheon for the heads of State and Government participating in the Summit. Following that meeting, the Secretary-General, together with Mubarak and the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union, Yoshio Utsumi, signed and transmitted an e-mail message inviting governments, business sectors, NGOs and the international community at large to support African development through their active participation in “Telecom Africa 2004”, which is to be held in Cairo next May. Other bilateral meetings scheduled included those with the Saudi Foreign Minister and the Presidents of Tunisia, Romania and Ghana.
**Nane Annan
In the afternoon, Mrs. Nane Annan cut a symbolic electronic ribbon to launch a Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI), a joint venture of the United Nations, Ireland, Sweden and Canada. “We need”, she said, “to ensure that men and women can participate fully in society, empowered with choices and opportunities. And having met so many young ones, their eyes glittering with hopes and dreams, I feel we have to do everything we can to help them turn those dreams into reality”.
**World Summit on Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society differs from previous UN conferences because, instead of focusing on a global threat, it concentrates on how best to use a new global asset, the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Shashi Tharoor, told reporters today. The Summit, he said, was not merely a gathering to discuss technological issues, but a chance to set policy in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Nitin Desai, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser dealing with the Summit, added that contentious issues surrounding it had been “thoroughly discussed and happily resolved”.
We have a press release from the Summit with more details.
**Iraq
A short while ago, you were extensively briefed on the Secretary-General’s latest report on Iraq by Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieren Prendergast, so I won’t repeat his every point. In his report the Secretary-General stresses that the rebuilding of Iraq must succeed. For that to happen it must be recognized that the current insecurity problem cannot be solved by military force alone: there must be a representative and fully inclusive political process. There must also be a broader regional and international engagement in the Iraqi issue.
Regarding UN involvement, until circumstances permit a full deployment of the UN international staff to Iraq, the Secretary-General says he will build up the UN mission incrementally outside of Iraq. The bulk of the staff will be located in Nicosia, Cyprus, with a small office in Amman, Jordan. The UN’s current Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ross Mountain, has been chosen by the Secretary-General to be his acting Special Representative. In just a few minutes in Geneva, the Secretary-General will present Ross Mountain to your colleagues there. We also expect the Secretary-General to take a few questions.
**Lebanon
Yesterday, the Israeli Defence Forces reported to the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon that it had shot and killed two armed men crossing the Blue Line from the Lebanese side who were approaching the technical fence near the village of Ghajar. The Israelis recovered the bodies, which were turned over to the Lebanese authorities through the UN today. The two men were Lebanese civilians who reportedly had been carrying hunting guns. The UN’s Force Commander, General Lalit Tewari, expressed anguish and sorrow over the unfortunate incident and urged all parties to exercise caution and prudence in the charged atmosphere prevailing along the Blue Line.
The full statement from General Tewari is available upstairs.
**Roed Larsen
The presence of both Israeli and Palestinian officials in Rome is the most powerful expression yet that both parties have a renewed desire to engage, said the UN’s Middle East Envoy Terje Roed Larsen, at the opening of a donor’s conference in Italy. Nevertheless, he cautioned, this optimism should not lead to ignoring the divisions that remain between the parties, and even within Israeli and Palestinian society, as well as within the international community itself.
“So I would like to emphasize, even plea”, Roed Larsen went on to say, “that now, when hands are outstretched, is not a time for slapping faces. Instead, let us avoid deepening divides, and use the opportunities before us to bridge them”.
Roed Larsen said the economic challenges facing the Palestinians were enormous. Economic losses between 2002 and 2004 reached $5.4 billion. Sixty per cent of the population is living below the poverty line. The full text of his statement is available upstairs.
**UNDOF
In his report to the Security Council on the UN Observer Mission in the Golan Heights, the Secretary-General notes that the ceasefire in the Israel-Syria sector was disrupted by an Israeli air strike on a target north-west of Damascus on the 5th of October. At that time, the Secretary-General strongly deplored the raid.
The mission’s actual area of operation was relatively quiet though, except in the Sheba Farms area where there was an increase in activity. While tensions have remained high in the Israeli-Syrian sector, the Secretary-General in this report, urges both parties to respect international law and exercise restraint. And in conclusion, he asks the Security Council to extend the force’s mandate until the 30th of June next year. We have the full report available in my office.
**Security Council
There are no Security Council meetings or consultations scheduled for today.
**Human Rights Day
The cause of human rights lost a major defender this year when High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello was killed in Iraq, the Secretary-General says in a message to mark Human Rights Day. But we must all be human rights defenders, he adds, and a good place to start is to defend those who champion human rights.
The General Assembly today held a meeting at which Vieira de Mello received a posthumous award, and the winners of this year’s UN Human Rights prizes also received their awards. The prizes, awarded every five years, went to Enriqueta Estela Barnes de Carlotto of Argentina; the Family Protection Project Management Team of Jordan; Pufang Deng of China; Shulamith Koenig of the United States; and the Mano River Women's Peace Network in the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
**Kosovo
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, Harri Holkeri, and Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi presented a document setting out the standards that have been set to prepare Kosovo for final status.
The 10-page document, called “Standards for Kosovo”, describes a society in which people of all communities are respected, are free to travel, to work and to use their own languages, and enjoy justice and security, Holkeri said. We have copies of the document and an accompanying press release upstairs.
**Côte d’Ivoire
At the end of her visit to Côte d’Ivoire, the UN’s Humanitarian Envoy to that country, Carolyn McAskie, noted that important humanitarian issues remained. She urged the Government and the Forces Nouvelles to work to resolve these problems.
While some displaced persons are returning to their home areas due to improved security, many also feel pressured by their overstretched host communities to return, she said. Another concern was the involvement of child soldiers in the conflict.
However, McAskie did observe some signs of progress during her visits to the field. In Bouaké, for example, electricity is still being provided from the south, and armed roadblocks are decreasing. She also saw that humanitarian agencies enjoy full access here.
McAskie also called on the international community to support the humanitarian effort in Côte d’Ivoire. And more information is available upstairs in a press release. And McAskie will be in this room tomorrow, as my guest at the noon briefing, to brief you on her visit.
**Liberia
We also have available upstairs the full text of a statement attributable to the Spokesman on Liberia, in which the Secretary-General expresses his concerns about recent disturbances following the launch of the disarmament programme just outside of Monrovia. The Secretary-General wishes to stress that the leaders of the armed factions are responsible for the behaviour of their combatants and calls upon them to cooperate fully with the UN Mission in Liberia. He appeals to Member States to make available in a timely manner the troops pledged for that Mission, in order to allow it to create the necessary security environment in the country.
The UN Mission in Liberia reports today that the situation around Monrovia, where disturbances had been reported following the start of the disarmament process this week, is quieter. It says that combatants are turning in weapons at Camp Schieffelin in an orderly manner. The Mission confirmed that one peacekeeper from Benin suffered minor injuries from shots fired in the area of Paynesville yesterday afternoon.
**UNEP Report
Natural disasters, the majority of which were weather-related catastrophes, cost the world over $60 billion in 2003, which is up $5 billion from the last year, according to a report by experts with the Finance Initiative of the United Nations Envrionment Programme (UNEP). UNEP is calling on governments, business and industry to back emerging emissions-trading markets as one way of tackling the crisis. The full report carried out by re-insurance company Munich Re, is expected to be published on the company’s Web site at the end of the month.
**Climate Change
In Milan today, the Secretary-General told countries dealing with the Framework Convention on Climate Change that the Kyoto Protocol’s entry into force is of the utmost importance. Already, he says, in a message delivered on his behalf, we may well be seeing some of the impacts of climate change, with a heightened frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and associated natural disasters. We have copies of the message upstairs.
**UNICEF
UNICEF will launch tomorrow its annual flagship report, “The State of the World’s Children 2004”. The report presents girls’ education as one of the most crucial issues facing the international development community. It also argues that the standard approach to development has focused on economic growth, rather than on human welfare.
UNICEF’s executive director, Carol Bellamy, will lead the launch from Geneva, with simultaneous launches being held elsewhere around the globe.
**Press Conference Tomorrow
Press conferences —- one tomorrow besides Carolyn McAskie here with me at the noon briefing and that will be at 11:15. Ambassador Mohammed Bennouna of Morocco will be joined by others to brief you on the Group of 77’s South-South Cooperation Meeting, which will be taking place in Marakesh from the 15th to the 19th of December.
**DPI Press Service
And, as a practical matter, I’ve been asked to tell you that the Information Department’s press service here on the second floor has just informed me that they have a major problem with their reproduction facilities. These will not be repaired before Friday. So, until that time, only press releases on the Secretary-General’s activities and statements and meetings coverage will be printed. And all other releases will have to be found online until Friday when we get the system up to full production.
Thank you very much.
Questions and Answers
Question: (Inaudible)
Spokesman for the Secretary-General: What information centre is that?
Question: (Inaudible)
Spokesman for the Secretary-General: I think it’s the physical production of paper that’s impaired, so it’s what you see on the racks on the 3rd floor.
Okay, thank you very much.
* *** *