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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Venezuela

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman regarding the Venezuela referendum.

The Secretary-General is keeping abreast of developments in Venezuela and notes that preparations for the referendum have proceeded in accordance with the constitutional process.  He welcomes the role played by international observers, particularly the Organization of American States and the CarterCenter.

The Secretary-General wishes to remind the Government of Venezuela and all political sectors that, when his Special Adviser visited Caracas from 20 to 24 July, all sides committed themselves to resolving issues relating to, and deriving from, the referendum of 15 August through consultations and dialogue.  The Secretary-General remains convinced that only thus will Venezuelans ensure a successful outcome of the referendum and prevent further polarization of their society.

The Secretary-General reiterates the commitment of the United Nations to continue supporting Venezuelans in their search for a constitutional, democratic solution to their political differences.

**Sudan

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, and the Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail met today in Khartoum to co-sign a transmittal letter to the Secretary-General and to President Omer Hassan Al Bashir, officially presenting to them the Darfur Plan of Action.

You will recall that the Plan of Action was signed on 5 August by Mr. Pronk and the Foreign Minister, and subsequently approved by the Sudanese Cabinet on Sunday, 8 August.  Both the cover letter and the Plan of Action were sent today to both their recipients.

Mr. Pronk also discussed with the Sudanese Foreign Minister the preparations for the forthcoming meeting of the Joint Implementation Mechanism which will take place the day after tomorrow.  This meeting will focus on the status on the implementation of the 3 July Joint Communiqué and the Darfur Plan of Action.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is expressing concern that in West Darfur the local authorities and Government of Sudan are continuing to put pressure on displaced people to return to villages that are not safe and do not offer any possibility of a decent life, since most of the crops and homes have been destroyed by rampaging militia.  In South Darfur, the Government has said it intends to move tens of thousands of displaced people now living in Kalma camp and Kas town, both near Nyala.  More details are available in the briefing notes from Geneva that we have upstairs.

**Security Council

There are no Security Council meetings or consultations scheduled for today.

Tomorrow, the Council will hold an open briefing, followed by consultations, on the Middle East.  Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast will brief Council members on the latest developments concerning Israel and the Palestinians.

Then, in the afternoon, the Council has scheduled consultations to discuss the Secretary-General’s report on the UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which Council members received late last week.

**Southern Lebanon

The Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon, Staffan di Mistura, today called on the Israeli authorities to bring an end to ongoing breaches of the Blue Line.

De Mistura expressed his dismay at numerous Israeli air violations that have taken place over the last 36 hours.  He said there were four air violations of the Blue Line yesterday, and a further six recorded today.

The Personal Representative said that these air violations disturbed the relative calm that had returned to the Blue Line since the events of 20 July.  He reminds all parties that one violation cannot justify another.  We have copies of his statement upstairs.

**Côte d’Ivoire

The UN Mission in Côte d’Ivoire (MINUCI) reports that Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo yesterday signed a decree providing specific new details concerning the powers conferred on the Prime Minister, Seydou Diarra.

The language of that decree was worked out with the Secretary-General’s help at the recent summit in Accra, Ghana on the subject of Côte d’Ivoire.  Its signing is a welcome development in line with the “Accra III Agreement” signed at the end of that summit.

**Kenya

The United Nations today launched a flash appeal for almost $97 million for food and basic supplies for Kenya’s drought-affected population.  The appeal, launched with the Kenyan Government and other partners, covers the six months from now until next February.

Currently, an estimated 2.3 million Kenyans need emergency relief assistance, and the total food needed for the next six months is about 166,000 metric tons.  We have more information upstairs in a press release from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

**World Health Organization/Afghanistan

The World Health Organization (WHO) is taking part in an emergency initiative which should dramatically reduce the incidence of leishmaniasis in Kabul, Afghanistan, in less than two years.  Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a disabling disease transmitted by the bite of a sand fly.  It leads to disfigurement, usually on the face and hands, and social stigma, particularly for women and children.  We have more on that upstairs.

**World Food Programme/Angola

The World Food Programme (WFP) says an acute funding shortage is seriously hampering international efforts to resettle tens of thousands of people who fled their homes in Angola during the long civil war.

WFP has received only $45 million, just 18 per cent, of its appeal for $253 million to feed 1.4 million returning refugees and displaced people until the end of next year.  This has forced it to slash cereal rations by half, and unless there are immediate new donations, no cereals at all will be distributed in September, which is when the lean season starts.  We have more on that from WFP upstairs.

**Locust Plague in West Africa

Last week, we mentioned the locust problem plaguing parts of West Africa.  It’s already caused serious crop damage in Mauritania, Mali and Niger -– and has spread for the first time now to Chad.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the locusts have entered Chad because of winds -- and aid workers are concerned that these winds will eventually take them on into Darfur, Sudan.

Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that aid pledged by donors at a recent locust-control meeting in Algiers is starting to trickle in.  At the same meeting, government officials from various West African countries appealed to the international community for at least $58 million to help step up locust-control activities.

**United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

Finally, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says we may be seeing the possible emergence of a new geography of international investment flows.  It says that foreign direct investment from developing countries to other developing countries seems to be growing faster than that from developing countries to developed countries.  We have more on this in an UNCTAD press release.

That is all I have for your.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  What is the difference between Prendergast and Larsen?  They seem to be giving reports all the time.

Spokesman:  Well, one is the head of the Political Affairs Department here in the Secretariat in New York, and Mr. Larsen is the Special Envoy operating out of, well, his office [is] in Gaza.  I think he might have relocated some of his people from that office as a result of the security situation there, but he is based in Gaza.

Thank you very much.

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