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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

I hope all of you were able to have a nice, long weekend here.

**SG Travels

The vision of an African Union is imperilled by the persistence of deadly conflict in Africa -– particularly the horrific situation in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, that’s what the Secretary-General told African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa earlier today.

Addressing the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, the Secretary-General said that he’d just seen the ruined villages and sick and hungry women and children of Darfur.  Without action, he warned, “the brutalities already inflicted on the civilian population of Darfur could be a prelude to an even greater humanitarian catastrophe –- a catastrophe that could destabilize the region”.

He noted that he’d signed a joint communiqué on Saturday with Sudan’s Foreign Minister, which was a welcome development, and he said its terms must now be implemented.

He also voiced concern at the recent upsurge in violence and human rights abuses in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo; the continued instability in Côte d’Ivoire; and the tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea.  We have copies of his statement upstairs.

After delivering that speech, the Secretary-General attended the signing ceremony between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea of an agreement to resolve their border dispute peacefully.  The Secretary-General said the signing was one of the rare occasions when two African leaders came to resolve their differences peacefully, and he added it could be an example to other leaders.

In addition to bilateral meetings, the Secretary-General this evening convened a mini-summit on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  On Monday, he addressed a high-level seminar at the Summit on innovative approaches to meeting the Millennium Development Goals on hunger.  Also yesterday, he had bilateral meetings on the margins of the Summit with a number of leaders, which we can give you the list later.

He also met with the Eritrean President Afwerki to review the peace process between those two countries, and cited the intelligent way that Nigeria and Cameroon are handling their dispute as a model that Ethiopia and Eritrea might follow.

**UN-Sudan Agreement

I just mentioned the agreement that the Secretary-General and the Sudanese Foreign Minister signed on Saturday before the Secretary-General left Khartoum.  That communiqué, which is available upstairs, commits the United Nations to do the utmost to alleviate humanitarian need, to help with the quick deployment of African Union ceasefire monitors and to assist with mediation efforts.

Sudan pledged, among other things, to implement a moratorium on restrictions on humanitarian workers; to suspend restrictions on the import of assistance materials; to deploy a strong, credible police force to Darfur; to start immediately to disarm the Janjaweed militia; and to resume political talks in the shortest possible time.

The two sides agreed to form a high-level mechanism to deal with the implementation of the agreement, led by Sudan’s Foreign Minister and by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Jan Pronk.

**Sudan - Humanitarian

While humanitarian agencies are encouraged to increase their work in Darfur, reports of violence and insecurity have persisted from the region over the weekend.

The number of checkpoints erected on some strategic routes by both the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) has increased, preventing the smooth operation of humanitarian traffic, according to agencies working in the area.  In addition, in west and north Darfur, clearly marked humanitarian convoys have been stopped and attacked, by uniformed men, military personnel and unidentified persons.

In South Darfur, tribal conflict -- with support from the Sudanese Government, Arab paramilitary groups and the SLA -- has reportedly caused widespread displacement.  Acts of violence committed by the Janjaweed are also still being reported.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme are both reporting new population displacements.  You can read more about that in the briefing notes from the two agencies in Geneva.

**Quartet

Turning to the Middle East, representatives of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet -- US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield, UN Special Coordinator Terje Roed-Larsen, European Union Special Representative Marc Otte and Ambassador Alexander Kalugin of Russia -- met in Jerusalem today.

Continuing their recent talks in Taba, Egypt, the envoys reiterated their strong support for Egyptian efforts to assist the two sides in bringing the Israeli initiative to withdraw from Gaza to a successful conclusion.  They also discussed the humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza in light of the recent World Bank report.

**UNAMSIL/Helicopter Victims Named

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone has released the names of the 24 victims of last week’s helicopter accident.  We have copies of the list available upstairs.  Also, the Mission yesterday held a wreath-laying ceremony in Freetown in honour of the victims who were killed in the crash.

A message was delivered on the Secretary-General’s behalf.  In it, he paid tribute to their work, and expressed his condolences to their families and friends.  We have copies of that message upstairs.

**Security Council

And here at Headquarters, there are no meetings or consultations of the Security Council scheduled for today.

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General is scheduled to speak by videoconference to the members of the Security Council, to discuss his current trip to Africa.  This will be in closed Council consultations.  The Council has scheduled consultations tomorrow also on the Central African Republic, and I believe that’s in the afternoon.

And out on the racks today is a letter from the Secretary-General to the Council President, appointing five people to the Panel of Experts dealing with Liberia sanctions.  That Panel will be chaired by Atabou Bodian of Senegal.

**UNAIDS/2004 Report

The number of people living with HIV continues to grow -– from 35 million in 2001 to 38 million last year.  Five million people were infected last year and one in each four new infections occurred in Asia.  These findings are in the 2004 UNAIDS Report of the global AIDS epidemic, which has been released today in advance of the XV International AIDS Conference, scheduled in Bangkok from 11 to 16 July.

**ILO/AIDS

While on the subject of AIDS, the International Labour Organization (ILO) will release a new global report analysing the impact of HIV/AIDS on the work place.  The report will be presented at the International Conference on AIDS.  And that report will cover 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and two developed regions.  The report is embargoed until next Sunday.  I guess they just want to flag that report.

**UNICEF/H&M/AIDS

Also today, UNICEF announced a new partnership with fashion company H&M, which has donated $1.5 million toward UNICEF girls’ education programmes worldwide and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in Cambodia.  The donation will be given over a three-year period.  There is a press release with more details on that.

**ICTY

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today adjourned Slobodan Milosevic’s trial until 14 July, after noting his recurring health problems.  You can read more about that in the press release from the Tribunal upstairs.

**FAO - Africa Report

We also have a press release on 23 countries in sub-Saharan Africa facing food emergencies for the summer season.

**FAO/Locust Swarms

And finally, there is another press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization, which is urgently calling for more international assistance to fight desert locust swarms in north-western Africa.

**UNFPA

And a reminder that the UN Population Awards for 2004 will be presented to demographer John C. Caldwell, and to Dr. Catherine Hamlin of the Addis AbabaFistulaHospital today.  The Award ceremony will take place at the Trusteeship Council from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.  Also, the award recipients will be here to talk to you right after the noon briefing, and they are here already.

That’s all I have for you.  Do you have anything for me?  Yes, Edie?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Marie, two questions:  First, what’s the status of the announcement on a new Special Representative for Iraq?

Associate Spokesperson:  We’re not there yet.

Question:  Next question.  There seems to have been some published reports expressing concern about the security of UNMOVIC’s files since it has moved out of this building, apparently rather suddenly.

Associate Spokesperson:  The move... Yes?

Question:  No, I just wondered whether there was any comment on the security of their files.

Associate Spokesperson:  We have no official comment.  The move was part of routine space management, and that’s all I have on that.  Yes, Mr. Abbadi and then...

Question:  The Secretary-General in his statement to the African Union said he is establishing a panel of advisers for international support in (inaudible).  Is there a list of such panellists at this stage and what kind of international support is he seeking?

Associate Spokesperson:  I’d have to find out more details on that.  If he’s just mentioned and highlighted it, we probably flagged it in the speech, and I’ll try to get some more for you after this briefing.  Yes?  [The correspondent was informed later that the composition and terms of reference of the panel will be announced soon.]

Question:  Will the SRSG for Iraq post only be named after the Secretary-General returns?  Can we rule it out for the next two seeks so we can plan our lives?

Associate Spokesperson:  I don’t think you should rule anything out.  Yes?

Question:  Is the security situation in Iraq right now safe enough for the UN to return should it stay at this level?

Associate Spokesperson:  First of all, I don’t think I can comment on such day-to-day security fluctuations.  As the Secretary-General has said we’re watching that security situation very, very closely.  And if and when the security conditions are deemed safe enough to return, then the UN is poised to do so.

Question:  Did Secretary-General Annan promise refugees in camps in Sudan or Darfur that they would have security?  Did he say that, and what exactly was he referring to?  African Union troops?  Peacekeepers still to be approved?

Associate Spokesperson:  Well, as you know, peacekeepers here is not an issue that has come up.  At the moment the African Union does have unarmed monitors.  There are reports today coming out that they are seeking to increase their presence in the region.  I think the Secretary-General is hopeful that the Sudanese Government has signed this joint communiqué over the weekend in which it promises to take a number of concrete steps to make the situation in Darfur better.  And at the moment, as I mentioned to you, the communiqué outlines a number of things, including the improvement of access of humanitarian supplies, as well as workers.

So, what I understood was that the joint mechanism that is supposed to oversee this set-up by the Sudanese Government and the UN went to work immediately on Saturday night.  So, this is something that we’re working on.  The United Nations has a humanitarian plan to try to reach 1 million people, given that they have access and the donor funding kicks in, et cetera.  So, the Secretary-General at this moment, as I mentioned, is hopeful.  But he is going to brief the Security Council tomorrow, as you know, and we’ll see what the Council also has to say.

Question:  Will this be a videoconferencing thing?

Associate Spokesperson:  He will be doing a videoconference into consultations tomorrow morning.

Question:  He won’t see them; they will see him?

Associate Spokesperson:  Hopefully, it will be a two-way, but I don’t know the exact details.  I can find out.

Question:  Does the UN have any comment on the assassination of the gentleman who appeared to be the leader of the Iraqi supreme audit board on “oil-for-food”, though I know it... a lot is in Volcker’s hands?  It’s still a major story.  What is the UN response?

Associate Spokesperson:  I have nothing on that.

If there are no other questions, I’d like to end the briefing and turn over to the next briefing.

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