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.
**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
We are going to start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning Libya:
“The Secretary-General welcomes Libya's decisions to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). He considers these decisions as positive steps that can help strengthen global efforts to prevent the spread and use of weapons of mass destruction in both these deadly categories. He urges all States to accede to all disarmament treaties, and to implement them in full.”
**Security Council
On the Security Council today, Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz this morning briefed the Security Council, in an open meeting, in his capacity as Chairman of the Sanctions Committee dealing with Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
He reported on the trips he had undertaken as Chairman of that Committee, the reports presented by the Member States, and the evaluation by the monitoring group of the implementation of the sanctions by Member States.
The ambassador pointed out that about half the Member States had not yet submitted reports as mandated by the Council. He also drew attention to the difficulties encountered in implementing the sanctions, in particular the arms embargo.
Ambassador Muñoz is expected to speak to reporters at the stakeout microphone following the meeting.
**Afghanistan
The UN Mission in Afghanistan says that so far women comprise 22 per cent of the more than 320,000 Afghans who have registered as voters.
As the voter registration process continues, the mission is also pushing ahead with civic education to raise awareness about that process, with nearly 20,000 face-to-face meetings already having been conducted.
We have more details in today’s briefing notes from Kabul.
**Bam Update
Earlier this morning here at Headquarters, Jan Egeland, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, highlighted the recent flash appeal for Bam to representatives of the donor community.
Egeland discussed the importance of supporting the appeal, especially as the story of the devastating earthquake fades from the front pages of the newspapers.
A list of attendees at today’s meeting is available in my office.
Also, at 1:15 p.m., in this room, Egeland, along with Deputy Permanent Representatives from Iran and Belgium, will brief you on today’s proceedings.
**Liberia
We reported to you on Friday that UN peacekeepers in Liberia rescued a ship in distress carrying Liberian refugees returning to the country from Ghana.
As the 225 Liberian refugees, including children born in exile, arrived back home Saturday as planned, family members and friends were on the beach to welcome them. The UN refugee agency received the returnees and trucks were waiting to bring them home.
**Great Lakes
Representatives of seven African countries are meeting today in Addis Ababa to prepare for the International Conference on the Great Lakes region.
The representatives of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, are reviewing the calendar for the International Conference, which is to promote peace, security, democracy and development in the region.
The meeting is chaired by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative Ibrahima Fall.
**International Year against Slavery Launched in Ghana
The International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition was officially launched on Saturday in Cape Coast, Ghana, historically one of the most shameful centres of the slave trade, and today, a World Heritage site.
Speaking at Cape Coast, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, noted that this act represented a duty to remember the victims of a terrible injustice, but also a duty of concern towards those who still do not enjoy basic rights and freedoms.
The full text of Mr. Matsuura’s address is available upstairs.
**CEDAW Meets in New York
The 23 experts who make up CEDAW, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, have begun a two-week session today in New York.
So far, the Convention has been ratified by 175 States, making it the second most widely ratified human rights treaty after the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
At this session, the experts will be reviewing reports from Belarus, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Germany, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Nigeria.
**WHO
The World Health Organization is today co-hosting a meeting of health ministers in Geneva that is designed to create the basis for a new global alliance against violence, which, WHO says, causes 1.6 million deaths a year.
WHO Director-General Lee Jong-Wook says that “interpersonal violence kills 1,400 every day and causes untold injuries and suffering”.
In response, today’s talks are to lay the foundation for the Global Interpersonal Violence Prevention Alliance, and to determine ways to implement the recommendations of a 2002 WHO report on violence.
**FAO/Mad Cow Disease
The Food and Agriculture Organization has called on governments and industry to strictly apply six precautionary measures to reduce the risk of “mad cow disease”.
FAO says that many countries still don’t have enough control measures for mad cow disease and many countries aren’t applying the recommended measures properly.
FAO adds that the recent discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the US highlights the need for strengthened measures.
FAO’s recommended measures include a ban on feeding meat and bones to farm animals and a ban on mechanically removed meat. We have more details upstairs.
**UNCTAD/FDI
Global foreign direct investment flows remained virtually flat last year, at $653 billion, slightly higher than the $651 billion from 2002, according to estimates released today by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Foreign direct investment flows to developed countries and to the Asia-Pacific region increased marginally last year, while inflows to Africa rose by 30 per cent to $14 billion.
Latin America and Caribbean was again the most negatively affected region in the developing world with inflows falling for the fourth consecutive year.
UNCTAD predicts that foreign direct investment flows will rebound next year, boosted by factors such as the improving global economy and growing investor confidence.
We have a release on that.
**UNFPA/Forum
The causes and consequences of low fertility in Europe, universal access to reproductive health services and the health challenges facing Central and Eastern Europe, these are some of the issues up for discussion at the European Population Forum 2004, which began today in Geneva.
**SG Message
We have the Secretary-General’s message to the Summit of the West African Economic and Monetary Union marking the tenth anniversary of its creation.
He says that the full implementation of the Union’s vision is an important factor for the economic and social development of the region, and for the realization of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals.
**ICC
The pace of ratification for the treaty setting up the International Criminal Court needs to be stepped up in some regions, the Secretary-General said in a message to a regional conference on democracy and human rights delivered yesterday in Yemen.
Democracy, justice and accountability matter in all parts of the world, he said, but are particularly vital in the Middle East, “where deficits of freedom, women’s empowerment, education and knowledge continue to impede the creative potential of societies”. We have the full text of that message upstairs.
**Burns Lecture
Tomorrow evening, the Secretary-General will deliver the inaugural Robert Burns Memorial Lecture at a gala dinner in the Delegates’ Dining Room, and he will discuss “the Brotherhood of Man”.
The lecture is an initiative of the British Executive Service Overseas, which will use funds raised from the event to help send more Scottish volunteers on assignments to share their experiences and skills in developing countries.
We will also have a background briefing on the substance of the lecture, tomorrow, immediately after the noon briefing.
**SG Lecture Series
Starting at 1:15 this afternoon -– and this is my last item for this morning -- in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, Professor Eric Wieschaus of Princeton University, who won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, will deliver a lecture on “Designer Genes: The Ethics of Modern Genetics”.
The lecture is the latest in the Secretary-General’s lecture series, and the Secretary-General, in his introductory remarks, will note how advances in the field of genetics have raised important ethical questions. He will inquire where the line should be drawn between what is feasible, and what is ethical.
That’s all I have for you. Richard?
Questions and Answers
Question: Can you confirm the story that was written by the man sitting next to me regarding Lakhdar Brahimi? Will the Secretary-General appoint him an adviser now on the Iraq situation?
Spokesman: Mr. Brahimi is in the air, I believe, on his way back to New York right now. He’ll be seeing the Secretary-General at mid-week. He is, I think, tired, even exhausted, from his efforts in Afghanistan. Let the two of them talk and then we’ll see if we have any statements or announcements to make after that meeting takes place. Mohamed?
Question: Fred, do you have any information about the name of the US representative in the governing council and the Secretary-General’s (inaudible)?
Spokesman: Any news on US representation at that meeting on the 19th, is that that your question?
Question: Yes.
Spokesman: No. The last thing we had on that was late Friday afternoon when Ambassador Negroponte spoke at the stakeout after meeting with the Secretary-General. I think he said the US would be represented at an appropriate level. I am not sure those were his exact words, but we have no names. They haven’t given us any specific names yet. Edie?
Question: Fred, is there any sort of agenda for how the 19th is going to work out as the meeting is going to be in the morning now?
Spokesman: Tentatively, we’re planning it for the morning. It will be in a conference room. I think the Secretary-General’s conference room will probably be too small. But that’s about all I can give you right now.
Question: And I assume it’s going to be closed?
Spokesman: Yes. And we haven’t worked out the press arrangements for the meeting yet. We assume there will be a lot of you here and we have to work out the logistics of that. Yes?
Question: Did the Secretary-General send any letters to Cyprus; to the parties?
Spokesman: Yes, he sent a letter to the Greek-Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopolous and, as you can probably guess, the content of that letter is consistent with his long-standing position on that issue.
Question: Did he send to the other parties on Cyprus?
Spokesman: We’re not aware of any other letters besides that one. Richard?
Question: Who else for the meeting between the Libyan ambassador and the Secretary-General and will that be -– unless he discussed it earlier –- what will that be about? Will it be regarding the weapons...?
Spokesman: The Libyans asked for that meeting and you’ll have to ask them why they asked for it. I’ll see if after the meeting we can get any kind of a readout for you. But I think the Libyans should be the primary source of what the meeting was about. Edie?
Question: Fred, after the Secretary-General’s meeting with Ambassador Negroponte on Friday, was he encouraged about any possible outcome from this January 19th meeting? Did they back and forth some ideas about some future UN role?
Spokesman: He felt that it was a good, wide-ranging meeting. They touched on all the essential questions. But it was really just the beginning of a process. He is expected to have additional contact by telephone or otherwise with representatives of the US Government. And I think what everyone is trying to do is nail down as much as they can before the 19th so the meeting is as productive as possible. Yes, Serge?
Question: There is a Latin American summit meeting in Mexico today. Did you say anything about it; and if not, why not?
Spokesman: Let me look into that and get back to you. I have nothing on that right now, Serge.
Question: Was the Secretary-General invited?
Spokesman: I don’t know. I’ll find out for you and tell you after the briefing. Richard? [The Spokesman later said that the Secretary-General had not received an invitation to the summit.]
Question: Did the Secretary-General watch last night’s “60 Minutes” report on Paul O’Neil’s comments about President Bush? Does the Secretary-General report similar instances where a meeting with the President of the United States is more of a monologue and that the president was disengaged?
Spokesman: He did not and he did not. Mr. Abbadi?
Question: Regarding the preparations for the conference on the Great Lakes region, will all the African regions be represented? Do you know?
Spokesman: I don’t know. Check with me after the briefing, we’ll find out for you. Yes? [The Spokesman later noted that membership of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region was currently limited to the seven he had mentioned: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Other countries such as Angola, Congo and the Central African Republic had applied to become core members but the criteria on admissions were still being clarified.]
Question: To come back to the letters. Can we guess this is a reply of the Secretary-General to previous letters by Mr. Papadopolous?
Spokesman: Yes, it is but I have no further details than what I have given you. Yes?
Question: I just wanted to ask you Fred. Where can we find this Secretary-General’s lecture of brotherhood of man and when?
Spokesman: We will have advance copies -- I thought you’d asked me “where can we find Radovan Karadzic”! Tomorrow when we do this background briefing by one the speechwriters we’ll have advance copies for you.
Question: Why, did I scare you with that question?
Spokesman: (Laughter) No. No. It’s only a matter of time. Yes?
Question: When the Secretary-General met with the ambassadors on Friday, is his mind set on the way the UN might increase the level of its participation in Iraq before June 30th or after June 30th primarily?
Spokesman: He wants clarity on the role for both phases. The period leading from now to the 30th of June and then the period after the 30th of June when the UN would be dealing with, in principle, with a sovereign Iraqi Government.
Question: But he hasn’t ruled out at all a role prior to the 30th?
Spokesman: No, not at all. It’s not clear what that role would be and it’s not clear what security conditions would permit him to do though.
Thank you very much.
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