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’m sorry I’m a little late.

**SG in Kenya

In Nairobi today, the Secretary-General met with the Kenyan negotiators dealing with Sudan and with Somalia.

After that, the Secretary-General met one-on-one with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, followed by an exchange with their full delegations.  At a press encounter afterwards, the Secretary-General thanked the Government of Kenya for the support it has been giving to the two peace efforts for Sudan and Somalia.

The Secretary-General added that he and the President had also talked of the challenge of HIV/AIDS.  “Today, AIDS has a woman’s face in Africa”, he went on.  “Each and every one of us must take on the challenge.”

After that, the Secretary-General went outside Nairobi to talk to some 500 delegates at the Somali peace talks, and urged them to do all in their power to establish an inclusive government structure by 31 July.  He told them, “Somalia cannot afford another false start”, and added, “Your people have the right to look to a better tomorrow.  And tomorrow begins today”.  These remarks are available upstairs.

He then left Kenya, and is in Doha this evening.

**Sudan

Turning to Darfur, Sudan.  As you recall, yesterday, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, was quite blunt on the implications if the security conditions do not improve in Darfur.

From the field today, here is a brief update.  Fighting is ongoing in South Darfur, this is with the Janjaweed against the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and other skirmishes.

The humanitarian coordinator is concerned about continued activity of highwaymen, and attacks on roads and on convoys by unknown elements.  Violence against civilians is ongoing.

The Government has pledged to send some 6,000 police to Darfur.  And it is understood this deployment will take some time, but the United Nations in Sudan is following up on this.

As for humanitarian assistance, one key priority remains the provision of sanitation, especially in large camps.  In one camp in West Darfur, for example, where there are 60,000 internally displaced persons, the sanitation situation has not improved for weeks.  The Government prevented a non-governmental organization (NGO) working in the sanitation sector from establishing offices in this camp, and the humanitarian community is now seeking alternative capacity for providing the service there.

**Security Council

Here at UN Headquarters, the Security Council held consultations today to discuss a draft resolution on Bosnia and Herzegovina, concerning the extension of the mandate of the NATO Stabilization Force, known as S-FOR, in that country until the end of the year.  Council members expect to vote on that draft resolution tomorrow.  There are no other meetings or consultations scheduled today, but I understand that experts will be meeting on the draft Sudan resolution this afternoon at 3 p.m.

**UNMIK/Assembly

Turning to Kosovo, the UN Mission there says that proposed changes by Kosovo’s Assembly to the Constitutional Framework are outside of its competencies.

The Mission’s statement follows the Assembly’s discussions today on amendments to the Framework.

The Mission says any changes must be in line with the guidance given by the Security Council and expressed in the Standards for Kosovo.

And, it adds, that a different approach would divert time and energy from urgent work in the run-up to the review of Kosovo’s status in the middle of next year.  We have copies of the full statement available upstairs for you.

**Afghanistan

Turning to Afghanistan, the head of the UN Mission there, Jean Arnault, today voiced his distress and concern at the news that a female voter registration worker was killed this morning, south of Jalalabad.  That killing took place when a vehicle transporting four Afghan voter registration workers was hit by an explosive device, in the province of Nangarhar.

Arnault expressed his deep sorrow at the killing, and once more appealed to the local authorities and international forces to provide registration workers with the protection they deserve.  We have a statement from the Mission upstairs.

The Mission also mentions in its briefing notes from Kabul the appointment of Ameera Haq, a Bangladeshi who has worked for UN Development Programme, as one of the two Deputy Special Representatives for Afghanistan.

**Electoral Training

We have available upstairs a press release from the Electoral Assistance Division, which will give you more details on the recent training seminar for members of the recently-created Independent Electoral Commission for Iraq.

The two-week session, which concluded on 6 July, was run by the United Nations in partnership with Mexico’s Federal Institute of Elections, which also hosted the participants.

The training, which was conducted by staff of electoral institutions from around the world, UN experts and staff from other international organizations.

Among many other issues, the seminar focused on standards and principles of credible elections, roles of political parties, civil society and gender equity issues, as well as tabulations procedures.

This intensive training stage has been the first step in assisting the Iraqi Electoral Commission for the many crucial decisions that lie ahead to prepare for elections.

**Brahimi

The Special Adviser of the Secretary-General, Lakhdar Brahimi, is in Munich, Germany today to receive the Dag Hammarskjöld Honorary Medal from the German United Nations Association.

In a message on this occasion, the Secretary-General said Brahimi possesses a unique combination of talent, skill and experience, and perhaps even more important, a sense of dedication and self-sacrifice, that mark him out as one of the finest mediators and negotiators the United Nations has been privileged to call one of its own.

The full text of that message is available upstairs as well.

**FAO/West Africa Locust

Just a few press releases:  The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says desert locust swarms are threatening parts of West Africa with its worst plague in 15 years.

Donors have so far pledged only half of the $17 million that FAO appealed for in April to help run an existing control programme.

FAO says the swarms are expected to spread to Niger, Chad and possibly Darfur.  We have more on this upstairs.

**Malawi

UN-HABITAT says that Malawi will need increased investment in its rural areas to stem rapid urbanization.  Malawi, is the fastest urbanizing country in the world, it says, with about 44 per cent of its population expected to live in urban centres by 2015.  In the capital, Blantyre, some 71 per cent of residents currently live in squalid, unplanned settlements, according to HABITAT.

**UNODC/Lao People’s Democratic Republic

And the United Nations has confirmed that opium cultivation in Laos this year has dropped by almost half in comparison to last year.

Antonio Maria Costa, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, is on an official visit to Laos and will launch tomorrow the results of the survey.  We have an embargoed press release with more details on the survey’s findings upstairs.

**SG/Arab Regional Conference

The Secretary-General said today that it’s heartening to see that the status of women is being addressed on almost all regional and national reform initiatives in the Arab world.

That was part of a message delivered on his behalf to the Arab Regional Conference, being held in Beirut from today until Saturday.  We have copies of that message upstairs.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Yesterday, late afternoon, we did issue a statement attributable to the Spokesman on the death of the Austrian President Thomas Klestil.  And the UN flag is being flown at half mast today in his honour.

**World Chronicle Programme

And finally, the World Chronicle programme hosted by Tony Jenkins of Expresso, will be shown today at 3:30 p.m. on in-house television channel 3 or 31.  The guest is Luis Gallegos, Chairman of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Convention on Disabled People.

Discussions focused on the World Health Organization’s estimate of 600 million people in the world living with disabilities –- roughly one in 10 people and how the United Nations can help them fight discrimination.

And that’s all I have for you today.  Richard?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Can you confirm that it’s the OIOS report on Ruud Lubbers that indeed is in the Secretary-General’s hands awaiting his action?

Associate Spokesperson:  That’s correct.

Question:  Do you know any timetable?  Will it wait till he gets home?

Associate Spokesperson:  I can’t give you any further information than that.

Question:  And in Washington today a group of Congress women and men held a news conference to call for UN observers to help monitor the US presidential election.  Is that something that’s possible, in the UN’s view?

Associate Spokesperson:  I can confirm that the United Nations has received a letter from a group of Congress people requesting observation.  The policy and practice is that the United Nations responds to requests made by national governments, and not the legislative branch.  And in the case of observations, observations must be mandated by the General Assembly as the activity also affects the sovereign jurisdiction of that country.

And just for your background, most of the operations we’re involved in now are on the technical assistance level.  There are dozens of operations that the Electoral Assistance Unit is running.  All are technical assistance to commissions, although there have been observation missions in the past.

Question:  So, will the UN write back and say “Sorry, good luck at the Supreme Court”?

Associate Spokesperson:  The letter has not gone out.  It’s being written now.  But I am just giving you a general policy of the United Nations regarding electoral assistance.  Yes?

Question:  (Inaudible) ...that the UN is training the election people for Iraq in Mexico City.  So, can you give some more information about that election preparation in Iraq and can you give some information about the SRSG to Iraq?

Associate Spokesperson:  On your latter question, we have nothing to announce as of yet.  And on your first question, we have a press release upstairs outlining in much more detail than I gave about the training programme for the Iraqi electoral commission that just took place and finished in Mexico City.  So, I’d urge you to pick a copy up.

Question:  Do you have any idea when the Security Council will vote on the draft resolution about Sudan tomorrow?

Associate Spokesperson:  As I mentioned, the Security Council is taking up the draft resolution at an experts group level this afternoon at 3 p.m.  So, until they discuss the resolution there, I think it’s a bit too early to tell.  But let’s follow up with them after their meeting.  I’ll let you know.  I’ll announce it if anything is scheduled for tomorrow.  Mr. Abbadi and then back to Richard. Yes?

Question:  Marie, in the message you mentioned of the Secretary-General to the German UN Association, the Secretary-General speaks in very largesse terms about Mr. Brahimi and describes his qualities in contributing to peace and compares him to Dag Hammarskjöld.  Would the Secretary-General be prepared to recommend his candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize?

Associate Spokesperson:  I think the message today stands as it is.  He’s paying tribute to, as he says, a very skilled diplomat and international civil servant and I think that’s what he intended to say.  Yes, Richard?

Question:  This may be out of Vienna, but does the UN here as the chief office, agree that the US took uranium stockpiles out of Iraq without proper notification from Washington, as it was first announced by the Energy Department that we hauled all this out and we told the UN all about it?

Associate Spokesperson:  We announced yesterday that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)... there was a document out yesterday in which the IAEA reported that the US had notified them of this action and it was out on the racks as of yesterday.

Question:  But they weren’t happy about it.  Of course it was not mentioned in the statement.

Associate Spokesperson:  The document simply stated that they were notified of the transaction and the date which it occurred.  And I haven’t seen anything further than that from the IAEA.  But we can check for you.  [The correspondent was later informed that the IAEA had issued nothing further on this matter.]

Question:  But I wonder what grounds...  But anyway, where is RossMountain these days?  Is he in Amman?  Is he in Baghdad?

Associate Spokesperson:  Well, as you know, the security situation in Baghdad is such that the United Nations does not have a substantive international presence there.  The security liaison team continues to work there to monitor the conditions on the ground.  As far as I know, RossMountain is in Amman, but I can again check that and get back to you where exactly he is today.  Yes, Mr. Abbadi?

Question:  Yes, Marie, on the oil-for-food programme, did Mr. Volcker suggest that the US Congress should not pursue the investigation of this issue, or did I misunderstand some press reports?

Associate Spokesperson:  You probably have to ask Mr. Volcker whatever his views are on this.  I do know that he had an op-ed piece yesterday in the Wall Street Journal.  So, I recommend that you take a look at that and follow up with his office.  We have a number for his office upstairs.

If there are no other questions, have a good afternoon.

* *** *