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. We’re going to start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman on the subject of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire.

**Côte d’Ivoire

“The Secretary-General has noted that the extraordinary session of the National Assembly convened by President Gbagbo on 11 August 2004 to consider the draft legislation envisaged under the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement ended yesterday.  Observing that an important deadline of the Accra III Agreement would not be met, he expressed regret at the very limited progress made during this session in the adoption of legislative reforms that are key to progress in the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire.  He once again urged all Ivorian political leaders and parliamentarians to implement fully and in a timely manner all provisions of the Accra III Agreement in the interest of ensuring the restoration of normalcy and stability in Côte d’Ivoire.”

**Sudan

On Sudan, Jan Pronk is currently in Brussels to meet with European Union officials at their invitation.  Discussions with them focused on the situation in the Sudan, support for an expanded African Union monitoring mission in Darfur and urgent humanitarian assistance needs.

The UN mission in Khartoum reported today that no security incidents have been reported during the last couple of days.  However, incidents in Darfur, including attacks by the rebel SLA on Government and military and police camps, continued to be reported during the past two weeks.

The mission also reported an incident on 23 September in which a recent gathering of approximately 3,000 people was cleared by the police who loaded the protesters into trucks and drove them to different locations.

An inter-agency visit on 27 September to some of the areas where the gatherers were returned, received reports that militias, suspected to be Janjaweed, continue to harass and intimidate them. 

You can read more about this in the report from the ground in today’s briefing from Khartoum.

**Sudan - Security Council

Here’s a preview of the Sudan-related items in the Security Council in the next few days.

Consultations on the just-concluded mission to Sudan by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, and Juan Mendez, the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the prevention of genocide, are now scheduled to take place at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow.

Louise Arbour has agreed to speak to the press at the stakeout microphone following those consultations.

The Secretary-General will also attend that session.

His Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, is arriving here tomorrow.  He is expected to brief the Council next Tuesday on the Secretary-General’s second 30-day report on the progress, or lack thereof, by the Government of Sudan towards meeting the requirements of Security Council resolution 1556 to restore security in Darfur.  The Security Council is expected to receive that report on Monday and we’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, a progress report on the UN mission in Sudan established under Resolution 1547 is expected to be issued on Friday.

**Iraq

In a statement we issued yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General welcomed the news of the release of the Iraqi, Egyptian and Italian civilian hostages in Iraq.

He, once again, called for the immediate release of all the remaining hostages in the country.  He strongly condemns all hostage-taking, which no cause can justify, and appeals to all parties to adhere strictly to the fundamental precepts of human rights and respect for human life.

**Iraq - WFP

Also on Iraq, the World Food Programme today said that 6.5 million people in that country remain highly dependent on food rations.

According to a WFP survey, some 2.6 million Iraqis are so poor that they have to resell their food rations to buy basic necessities, including medicines and clothing.  Another 3.6 million Iraqis would become food-insecure if the rationing system were discontinued.

The study adds that around 27 per cent of all Iraqi children below the age of five are chronically malnourished.  That number would increase dramatically without the rationing system.

**Haiti

On Haiti, the UN continues to provide assistance to the flood-ravaged city of Gonaïves.  According to Force Commander Ribeiro Pereira, five protected food and water distribution points have been established so far.  Helicopters with supplies are making some 10 to 15 flights per day and up to two protected convoys are making their way from the capital to Gonaïves each day.

Meanwhile, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations is making extraordinary efforts to expedite the arrival of additional peacekeepers to Haiti.  These are contingents which have already been pledged to the UN and which are currently pending arrangements for transport of troops and heavy equipment.

The launch of the United Nations Flash Appeals in response to the recent natural disasters in Grenada and Haiti will take place this Friday, 1 October, from 10:30 to 11:30 am in the ECOSOC chamber and Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, will be here to brief you on the subject after the noon briefing on Friday.

**Security Council

The Security Council held consultations this morning on Guinea-Bissau.

Tuliameni Kalomoh, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, gave an update on recent developments there and a press statement is expected to be issued afterwards.

Council members are now discussing “other matters.”

**Myanmar

On Myanmar, starting at 3:00 this afternoon, the Secretary-General will hold informal consultations on the subject in that country with a group of interested nations, as well as with the World Bank and the UN Development Programme.

The Member States present for that meeting will be Australia, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Viet Nam.  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Myanmar, Razali Ismail, will also attend.

**NAM Speech

The Secretary-General today told the Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement that the work of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change should help refashion our notions of collective security.

He said that our era is one of accelerating interdependence, which demands effective collective policies and institutions.  But he noted that some countries may emphasize one set of threats over another, adding that the United Nations cannot do this.  He expects the Panel’s analysis to focus on the issue of collective action.

And we have the texts of his remarks available in my office.

**WHO - Maternal Deaths

Every minute of every day, at least one woman in a developing country dies in childbirth -- adding up to more than half a million each year.

In response to this, the World Health Organization and the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health are intensifying support to countries around the world to ensure that a woman doesn’t die while giving birth to her child.

The aid will come in various areas -- from training skilled birth attendants who can help a woman give birth safely, to the basic issue of recording the cause of a woman's death.

And there’s more in a WHO press release, on that, upstairs.

**UNICEF - Child Sex Trade

From UNICEF, that is the United Nations Children’s Fund, they are calling for better enforcement against child traffickers and more cross-border cooperation by governments in South Asia.

UNICEF says that it seems that more and more women and children are leaving countries like Nepal and Bangladesh and many are ending up being abused in a highly lucrative sex trade.

UNICEF’s comments come on the sidelines of a three-day meeting in Sri Lanka to review efforts to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children in South Asia.

**UN Reports Released

The UN Conference on Trade and Development has released its debt report, entitled “Debt Sustainability:  Oasis or Mirage.”

It argues that debt servicing at any level is incompatible with attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals -- and calls for a total cancellation of Africa’s debt.

UNCTAD’s acting Secretary-General, Carlos Fortin, will be available for interviews on the report, so please contact UNCTAD’s New York office if you’re interested.

And the UN Economic Commission for Africa has released its flagship publication, the “Economic Report on Africa 2004.”

And we have copies of these reports upstairs in my office.

**Press Conferences

Finally, press conferences today in this room.  The Permanent Mission of the CzechRepublic will be sponsoring a press conference by representatives of two NGOs on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.  And then at 5 o’clock the Foreign Minister of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos Horta, will be holding a press conference following his address to the General Assembly.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Besides the UN is there any other organization who is helping the Iraqi people because a few times some other organizations tried to [inaudible].

Spokesman:  I’m sure multiple governments, multiple specialized agencies are participating in the aid effort in Iraq, through non-governmental organizations, both in Iraq and internationally, to carry out its aid efforts.  But I haven’t heard the problem you’re referring to.  Lee?

Question:  Will there be a list of governments that will participate in the Myanmar discussions at 3 o’clock.  You’ll have that upstairs?

Spokesman:  Yes. We can give it to you.

Question:  Is there something you could tell us about the meeting the Secretary-General had this morning with the Colombian President?

Spokesman:  I don’t have a read-out on that now.  I mean we can try to get one for you if you like.  You can check with my office afterwards.  Sylviane, did you have a question?

Question:  Do you know if Mr. Larsen is coming before Friday to New York?

Spokesman:  I’ll have to check for you.  I know the Secretary-General spoke with him by telephone this morning and we’ll check whether he’s coming to New York.

Alright, I’ll ask Djibril Diallo to come up and brief you on the General Assembly.

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.  The fifteenth plenary meeting of the General Assembly continued today and the Assembly heard an address by H.E. Alvaro Uribe Velez, President of the Republic of Colombia.  And that statement was followed by addresses from Foreign Ministers for the following countries:  the Czech Republic, Guyana, Benin, Myanmar, Belarus, Armenia, Sierra Leone, Hungary and the ObserverState of the Holy See.

Regarding the ObserverState of the Holy See, this is historic.  It’s the first time that the Holy See is addressing the General Assembly following resolution A/RES/58/314, which was adopted during the fifty-eighth session as Agenda item 59, the operative part of which is as follows:  Acknowledges that the Holy See, in its capacity as an Observer State, shall be accorded the rights and privileges of participation in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly and the international conferences convened under the auspices of the General Assembly or other organs of the United Nations, as well as United Nations conferences as set out in the annex to the present resolution.

And the annex, inter alia, says that the Holy See shall be given the right to participate in the General Debate of the General Assembly; that without prejudice to the priority of Member States, the Holy See shall have the right of inscription on the list of speakers under Agenda items at any plenary meeting of the General Assembly after the last Member State inscribed on the list; the right to have its communications relating to the sessions and work of the General Assembly issued, and circulated directly and without intermediary, as official documents of the Assembly.

The resolution also mentions that seating for the Holy See shall be arranged immediately after Member States and before the other observers when it participates as a non-MemberState observer.  And operative 10 of this annex says the Holy See shall not have the right to vote or to put forward candidates in the General Assembly.

As I said, this is resolution A/RES/58/314.

The general debate, as you may recall, was supposed to end on 1 October.  It’s ending by lunchtime tomorrow, 30 September, following which the President of the General Assembly, Jean Ping, will offer his summary of key issues during the almost two-week period of the general debate.  I have arranged for him to address you, tomorrow, 30 September at 3 o’clock at the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club so that you can have the chance to speak with him directly on key issues arising out of the general debate.

On the appointments of the President of the General Assembly, he addressed this morning the annual meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Trusteeship Council.  In his statement, he said, among other things, the following:

“In the wake of the sixtieth anniversary of our Organization, during which there will be an analysis, an evaluation of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals as well as a review of the follow-up of major conferences under the aegis of the Untied Nations, it is more important than ever before to have the Non-aligned Movement continue to provide its contribution to the attainment of the Goals that we all set ourselves as Member States.”

The President, recalled the fact that at its Durban meeting, last August, the Non-aligned Movement reaffirmed the central role of the General Assembly and also reaffirmed the need to reinforce international cooperation as a tool, not only to reach the Millennium Development Goals but also to equip the United Nations with an efficient strategy to enable the Organization to accomplish its mission.

A final quote in this connection.  The President said that during the general debate he noted with interest that a large majority of Member States ardently wished to see the reform of the United Nations in order to make sure that we have at our disposal a reinforced United Nations, which has adequate means to carry out the functions that it sets itself.

The meetings that the President held include the following:  the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cameroon; the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; the Foreign Affairs Minister of Mauritania; the Minister for Foreign Affairs of China; and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mauritius.

The President also will attend a reception offered by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo of the Vatican.  He is the Secretary for Relations with States.  This is on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Mission of the Vatican, and the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly.

I have an updated list of speakers available, for those of you who would like to have it.

Questions please?  If not, thank you very much.

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