Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

 

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Djibril Diallo, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Good afternoon.

**Sudan - Arbour/Méndez

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, concluded her visit to Sudan over the weekend by saying in a press statement issued in Khartoum the vast numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur continue to live in a climate of fear, with no confidence in the authorities to protect them from ongoing abuses.

The High Commissioner and Juan Méndez, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the prevention of genocide, spent a week in the western Sudanese region and in Khartoum to explore what further immediate action could be taken to improve the protection of all civilians in Darfur, paying particular attention to the most vulnerable, especially the internally displaced.

They will submit a report with recommendations to the Secretary-General and are expected to address the Security Council.  A date has not yet been set.

The High Commissioner and Mr. Méndez said their assessment revealed a considerable gap in the perception of the situation between the authorities on the one hand and the internally displaced, international agencies, and national and international non-governmental groups on the other.

**Sudan - Lubbers

Visiting camps for internally displaced people in western Sudan’s Darfur region, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers called for a complete end to violence and for the Government to work with international agencies to rebuild confidence in the region.

UNHCR also reports that at one camp that Lubbers visited on Monday, displaced people said up to three Darfurians had been killed by militiamen outside the camp over the past few days.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding consultations today on Côte d’Ivoire.  And a press statement is expected.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Côte d’Ivoire, Albert Tevoedjre, is briefing Council members on the latest report and on recent developments.

Also out today as a document is the third report of the Tripartite Monitoring Group, made up of the United Nations, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) established under the Accra III Agreement.  And that report covers the period 1 to 15 September.

It says that “Judging by the proceedings in the National Assembly, it is self-evident that the timetable set by the Accra III Agreement for the passage of the legislative texts envisaged under the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement might not be met by 30 September.  This should come as no surprise, as the legislative procedures and power play in these matters all too often demonstrate.”

The report concludes that it is now also time to see what other demarches could be undertaken to get the four major political leaders, President Laurent Gbagbo, former President Henri Konan Bedie, Alassane Ouattara and Guillaume Soro, to meet with a view to taking another critical look at what political formula can be found to resolve the outstanding issues.

**Burundi

The UN’s Operation in Burundi today extended its condolences to the family of a UN Volunteer, of Senegalese nationality, who was shot to death in Bujumbura over the weekend.

The mission says it continues to investigate the circumstances of his murder and urges the Burundian authorities to do everything within their capacity so as to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of this act.

**UNRWA

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, issued a press release today in which it expresses its deepest sorrow at the death of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl.

She died from injuries after having been hit by Israeli gunfire while sitting at her desk at an UNRWA-run school in Gaza on the 7th of September.  Full text is available upstairs.

**Afghanistan

As election day approaches in Afghanistan, the UN Mission in that country is reporting greater momentum in the collection of heavy weapons.  So far, it says, more than 1,900 heavy weapons have been collected, close to half of all the operable and repairable such weapons in the country.

We have more details in yesterday’s briefing notes from Kabul, which also mention the efforts to register out-of-country Afghan voters in Pakistan, starting this Friday.  We also have a UNICEF press release on polio vaccination efforts in Afghanistan.

**Haiti Update

The UN Mission in Haiti has placed the latest death toll from tropical storm Jeanne at 1,330, with 1,056 people still missing and close to 300,000 badly affected by the floods.  According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there is still an urgent need for shelter materials, beds, tools and fuel, and the risk of the spread of water-borne diseases remains high.  Humanitarian agencies are providing relief where possible, but are hindered by damaged roads and the threat of looting. 

UN peacekeepers are providing security for food distribution, with an additional 140 troops assigned to do this over the weekend.  Argentine troops are also distributing food and water-purification tablets.

Over the past few days, UN humanitarian agencies and their NGO partners have distributed more than 120 metric tonnes of food as well as basic medicines and household materials.  NGOs are delivering clean water by tanker truck.  As floodwaters recede and access opens up, humanitarian agencies are discovering that flooding has killed hundreds and affected thousands more in the towns and villages north and west of hard-hit Gonaives.  Further information is available in a press release from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

We also have a media advisory on the upcoming travel to Haiti by the Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund -- that’s UNICEF -- Carol Bellamy.

Finally, we have a press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization about a project to assist countries in the Caribbean and some parts of Latin America affected by the devastating, ongoing hurricane season.

**FAO - Bird Flu

The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health have called the avian influenza -- or “bird flu” -- epidemic in Asia a "crisis of global importance" that will continue to demand the attention of the international community.

The two organizations say that recent outbreaks in China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand show that the virus continues to circulate in the region and probably won’t be eradicated in the near future.

They say major investments are required to strengthen veterinary services, more research is urgently needed on the role of wildlife, domestic ducks and pigs in transmitting the virus among animals -- and a permanent threat to animal and human health continues to exist.

FAO has published guidelines to review the factors that should be taken into account in designing and implementing control programmes for the virus.  We have more upstairs in a press release.

**UNEP - LimpopoRiver

The UN Environment Programme is funding a multimillion dollar project to reduce the impacts of flooding on the lower LimpopoRiver in Mozambique.  The initiative is in response to the devastating loss of life and livelihoods which recently occurred in the region.

You may remember the television images of villages and homes washed away in the year 2000 by the worst floods there in living memory, and particularly, the plight of one woman who gave birth to her daughter up a tree, as the floodwaters swirled around her.

The project aims to improve the way land along the river is managed, boost the ability of governments, local authorities and communities to respond to extreme flooding events and establish early warning systems.  We have more in a UNEP press release on that.

**UNU - Trade Report

Also, we have upstairs a release from the UN University’s research arm, on its study of the impact of the World Trade Organization regime on developing countries.

The study evaluates the prospects and challenges of trade-led growth for these countries, and provides policy recommendations.

The study will be presented by the study’s director and one of its contributors at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library auditorium this Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.

**S-G’s Meetings Last Week

The unexpectedly high number of heads of State and government attending this year’s General Debate in the General Assembly has also put additional pressure on the Secretary-General’s schedule.

We did a count of his meetings last week, and found that he managed to see 49 heads of State or government, 14 foreign ministers and three other high-ranking officials.  Friday was the most intense day, when he had 20 high-level appointments.  We’ll keep track of those figures and give you the final total when the general debate ends this Friday.

**Press Conferences this Afternoon

One press conference to announce:  at 12:45 in this room today, Ambassador Mihnea Motoc of Romania, the Chairman of the Security Council’s Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 of 2004, which is on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.  He’ll brief you on the work of that Committee.

Any questions before Djibril comes up to report on the General Assembly? Liz?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, you mentioned the gap in perception that Louise Arbour and Méndez had found regarding the Sudan.  Can you expand a little bit on that, explain what you mean?

Spokesman:  I’d prefer if she did that.  She’s coming here on Wednesday of this week and I was already asked at the end of last week if I would bring her before you, and we will do that.  Or, we’ll give you the number of her press spokesman and we’ll see if he can.  I’m just not in touch with her and so I can’t go any further than I already have.

Question:  So that’s what they gave you?

Spokesman:  Yes.  Nothing else?  Djibril, come on up.

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Thank you, Fred. Good afternoon.

The General Assembly, or rather, the general debate, continued today, and the Assembly heard addresses by several leaders, including the Prime Minister of Malaysia; the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic; the Minister for Foreign Affairs of China; and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia.  The General Assembly also heard the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and His Royal Highness Prince Saud al-Faisal, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia.

At the end of the general debate last week, there were about 90 statements that were made.  Among them it is noteworthy to mention the theme that emerged regarding the Africa region, for instance, that was brought out, especially by President Olusegun Obasanjo.  I’m picking him out in particular because he is speaking on behalf of the African Union.  He’s the Chairman of the African Union.

Issues of concern regarding the increasing poverty in the African continent were raised, and speaking at a high-level meeting of the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board, President Obasanjo said on Thursday that the African continent would require more than $65 billion in annual investment to meet the Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty by half by the year 2015.  The current AU Chairman said that there was no programme designed to promote stability, peace, growth, development and democracy in Africa other than NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.  And I quote President Obasanjo:  “Hence it is possible to state categorically that the realization of the MDGs is tied closely to progress and implementation of NEPAD.”

The Nigerian leader also sought increased support for Africa in the areas of agriculture, conflict resolution and management, water and sanitation, health -- particularly the fight against HIV/AIDS -- education, energy and infrastructure.

A second item of my briefing:  the general debate is supposed to end on the 1st of October, but in all likelihood it will end on the 30th of September.  And for your own planning purposes, I would like to give you items which will be considered in the near future.  This is the schedule of plenary meetings, as part of the work of the General Assembly.

On Monday, 4th of October, the General Assembly will take jointly two items as part of its debate.  One item, which is agenda item 52, will be on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly.  The second one is, part of agenda item 54, which is the strengthening of the United Nations system.  These are telegraphically referred to as the reform issues.

On Thursday, 7th of October, there will be a report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization, agenda item 10.  And, as part of the maintenance of international peace and security, organizational, administrative and other matters, the General Assembly will consider on Monday, 11th of October, an item called Notification by the Secretary-General under Article 12, paragraph 2 of the Charter of the United Nations.

And on that day, also, that is, Monday, 11th of October, the other item on reform will be reviewed, that is, the report of the Security Council, especially to do with questions of equitable representation and an increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters.

Under the item, an agenda item called promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and recent United Nations conferences, commemoration and observance, the plenary session will review, on Thursday, 14^th of October, item 45, called commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development.

There will be the election of the five non-permanent members of the Security Council on the 15^th of October, and so on.

A third item has to do with the appointments of the President of the General Assembly.  Mr. Jean Ping, President of the fifty-ninth General Assembly, met this morning at 8:30 with His Excellency Salim Salim of Tanzania, who is a former Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and a former President of the General Assembly.  The President of the General Assembly also met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and he will attend a reception this evening offered by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia on the occasion of the fifty-ninth anniversary of Indonesia’s independence.

And the update of the list of speakers remains the same.  So I’ll just put it at your disposal without necessarily going through it.

Thank you.  Any questions? Yes, go ahead, please.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  You said 15 October is the election of the five non-perms of the Council.  What was the date for the report on the increase in membership?  The report of the Council, you said, on the increase in membership of the UN?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Yes, that will be on Monday, 11th of October, in the morning.

Question:  And that’s the report to the committee?  Or, what exactly is that?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  It’s the report of the Security Council.  Item 11 of the agenda.  This is all, by the way, contained -- I should have mentioned this earlier -- in document A/INF/59/3.

Question:  And this is in regard, explicitly, to the governing of the Security Council or reforms?  What’s the name of the document?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  It’s called the report of the Security Council, question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters.  Item 53. Yes, go ahead, please.

Question:  I’ve been unable to find out exactly how, if they want to increase the number of people on the Security Council, how that starts.  It starts in the General Assembly, and then goes to the Security Council, where it can be vetoed by the perm five?  One of them? In other words, that’s the end?  Is that true?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Well, I think that many of you have followed this issue for a long time, and what is coming out is the following.  First of all, among the issues raised with the President of the General Assembly, reform of the Security Council and the strengthening of the role of the General Assembly, is coming very high.  Even if this issue is not brought to complete conclusion during this session of the General Assembly, it’s an issue which has been given very, very high priority.  And you’ll remember, in my last briefing, I was giving you different statistics between membership of the Security Council at the inception of the Security Council, and membership today, versus membership of the General Assembly, and so on.  So that it’s an item which has been considered as such by the General Assembly, and obviously, in full consultation with members of the Security Council, who are members of the General Assembly.

Question:  Do you expect that they’re going to vote this time, this fall, or that they are going just to develop discussion then vote?  What’s the dynamics of this?  And, if they vote, can that be killed in the General Assembly, or could it be killed in the Security Council if they don’t agree on the issue?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Okay.  Two items here:  one is, this is the discussion at the plenary level.  As you know, there will be working groups, committees that will be looking at these issues following the plenary discussions.  So this will be, for this time, the first time that it will come as an agenda item in the plenary meetings themselves.  And then we have, starting possibly around -- I don’t want to say too much, but I think around the second week of October or thereabout -- we have the various committees that will start meeting.  But I can check that and get back to you.  One of you, for instance, showed me a report on this very item.  But that was a report of the fifty-eighth session, you see, that will now have to be borne in mind when we are considering the fifty-ninth session.  Yes, please.

Question:  Could you please tell us exactly when the high-level report on UN reform will be out?  Is it the end of November or the beginning of December?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  It’s interesting that you should raise this because I guess you’re referring to the report of the high-level panel appointed by the Secretary-General.  Is that correct?

Question: Yes.

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Okay, this has come out very strongly in the statements of the delegations.  I would say, off the top of my head, of the 90 statements, about a third have raised this item.  Now, as to the timing, as you know, this is a report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, so I’d rather defer to Fred in terms of the timing and so on, because it’s a report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, which will then be picked up from there.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  It’s expected on 1 December.

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  It’s expected on 1 December. Thank you, Fred.  Yes, please.

Question:  Do you anticipate that this will be solved this year, or is it going to drag again to the next year and the year after, and so on?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Well, obviously it’s very difficult, the UN being an intergovernmental organization, the resolution or non-resolution of a particular issue or topic depends on the Member States themselves.  But from the Office of the President of the General Assembly, there is a definite sense of urgency to bring this matter to a close in the near future.  If not in this session, certainly in the sessions in the near future.  Yes?

Question:  So, I’m sorry, but back to this item 11, on the report of the Security Council on the increase in the membership of the Council and other bodies, are we expecting to see speeches?  What does it look like when they do this item 11 on the 11th of October?  Do they introduce the item, and then there are speeches?  Is there any sort of motion passed?  What happens then?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  As you know, the agenda is shared with Member States before the General Assembly starts.  And when a programme like this is distributed to the Member States, the President of the General Assembly calls for speakers to come and determine statements vis-à-vis the point.  So that you will have different delegations who will intervene according to the different agenda items, having had the chance to think them over, since the agenda was distributed way before they came to the current General Assembly session.  Yes, please.

Question:  For how long could that go?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  I’m sorry?

Question:  For how long could that go?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  I don’t understand your question.  I’m sorry.

Question:  I mean, when they start to speak, and everything, the dynamic of that would be for how long?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Well, according to this document, we have Monday, 11^th of October, and then Thursday, 14^th of October, is the item on the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, so I will check for you whether that means that the item will be debated between Monday, 11^th of October and Wednesday, 13^th of October.  I can double-check that and get back to you.  Yes, please.

Question:  Will there be any changes or discussions about the Charter of the United Nations, and the need for change?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Okay, I will check on that and get back to you.  There is an item on the notification by the Secretary-General on the Charter of the United Nations, so I think we’ll double-check that and get back to you.  Thank you.

Question:  But, surely, any discussion on the recasting of the Security Council will call for a change in the Charter of the United Nations?  Because the Charter mentions, firstly, the size of the Security Council, and then they had an amendment that changed it to 15.  And now they want to talk about 22 or 24 to 26, or 25, or 6, or more, you know, you hear these numbers.  So any one of those, if it comes to a vote, and is not vetoed by one of the perm 5, then it becomes a change in the Charter, surely?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Okay, I’ll double-check it and get back to you.  I don’t want to say it for sure, because I’m not absolutely certain.  I mean, it makes sense to me what you’re saying, but I’d rather double-check and give you the correct information.  Yes?

Question:  Still with the reform of the Security Council, last week, a number of delegations issued a declaration, the Italians, the French, in which they expressed certain preoccupations, and certain ideas, regarding reform of the Security Council.  How does the President of the General Assembly read this declaration?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  The President of the General Assembly has taken note of statements, individually and collectively, by Member States regarding reform of the Security Council.  Since you are in the media, you know that certain groups of countries have also got together and have made statements vis-à-vis the Security Council.  Certain regions have made statements.  Like, if you take Africa as a region, there has been a statement by certain African countries regarding membership of the Security Council.  The main concern of the President of the General Assembly is to try to move the process forward in such a way that it reflects the concerns of the membership.  But this issue has been debated for quite some time, and it needs to be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.  So, from where I sit, next to the office of the President of the General Assembly, I see a lot of statements, from different countries, from different regions, from individual countries, from groups of countries, and so on.  But what it all indicates is that this is becoming one of the main items for the agenda of the fifty-ninth session.  Together with the other items that we have mentioned here earlier, that is, the revitalization of the General Assembly, the stopping of the erosion of the Assembly’s authority, because after all, this is the only forum where all countries of the world, from the smallest to the largest, can discuss issues of common concern, and can provide global solutions to the global problems that we all know about.  Yes?

Question:  There has been competition concerning the issue [inaudible], but who is going to decide actually, the whole membership or a group of people?  How are they going to resolve this issue?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Again, with all due respect, I wouldn’t want to pre-empt the results of the discussions at this point.  We’re in the hands of the Member States.  Yes?

Question:  Anything about cloning in the calendar?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Not yet.  I’ll let you know as soon as it comes forward.  Thank you.

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