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

AND 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.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Good afternoon,

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

We’ll start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman regarding the situation in Ukraine:

“The Secretary-General is concerned about developments in Ukraine, where a tense situation has emerged following the run-off presidential election held on 21 November.

“While the United Nations is not in a position to comment on the conduct of the election, the Secretary-General believes a credible electoral process is critical to overcoming the current impasse.  He calls on all sides to exercise maximum restraint and to adhere to democratic principles, vital for the consolidation of democracy in Ukraine and the unity of the nation.”

**Statement on Georgia

On 23 November, the Secretariat met with representatives of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General for Georgia at the United Nations in New York.

The Secretariat briefed on the recent contacts between the Special Representative there, Ms. Tagliavini in Sukhumi and Tbilisi.  The participants exchanged views and discussed the next steps in support of the Georgian-Abkhaz peace process and confirmed their intention to hold a meeting of senior representatives of the Friends, under UN chairmanship, on 13-14 December 2004 in Geneva.

The participants expressed their hope for an early resumption of the dialogue between the two sides in order, among other things, to prevent instability and to build mutual confidence.

**MONUC - Rwanda Strike on DRC

You may have seen reports of a threat by the Government of Rwanda to carry out a strike against rebels based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  A high-ranking senior Rwandan official directly informed Ambassador William Swing, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the DRC last night.

Today, the UN Mission there, known as MONUC, said that Rwanda’s announcement seriously threatens the transition process in the DRC and in the region.  The Mission says it’s concerned that this kind of action is aimed at undermining the credibility of the International Community’s effort to pacify and stabilize the DRC, and isn’t acceptable.  Rwanda must respect international law and the authority of the Security Council, which is still present in the region, the Mission says.

The UN Mission has just begun the deployment of an additional MONUC brigade to North Kivu, which will give additional security to that region.  The Mission’s mandate includes preventing the DRC peace process from being derailed by spoilers from within and outside the DRC.  The Mission says Rwanda should fulfil its commitments by making use of newly established mechanisms -- the Joint Verification Mechanism and the Tripartite Commission -- to verify any alleged security threats.

**Security Council - Central African Republic

The Security Council mission to Central Africa is in Bujumbura today, where they have been meeting this afternoon with the President of Burundi, Domitien Ndayizeye.  The mission, led by French Ambassador Jean Marc de la Sablière, also met with the country’s Vice-President and President of the Transitional Senate, as well as with other leaders and with members of civil society.

The Council mission’s message to all parties is that the country needs to hold elections as scheduled next year, and to implement key reforms in time.  Among the reforms that are needed are a referendum on the Constitution and the electoral code, and the restructuring of the armed forces and the police.

The Council mission is also studying the situation between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and may have a statement on that later today.

**Secretary-General’s Travel

The Secretary-General left Sharm El Sheikh this morning and touched down at N’djamena, Chad, where he met with Prime Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat.  And he is currently in the air en route to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where he will meet this evening with President Blaise Compaoré, after which he will attend a state banquet hosted by the President.  He is considering cutting short his programme by a day or so in order to return to New York late tomorrow to deal with pressing business here in New York.

**Sudan

The Joint Implementation Mechanism dealing with Sudan met today at the request of the Sudanese Government to consider the recent developments in North Darfur, particularly the fighting in the Tawilla area.  The Mechanism includes the United Nations, the Government of Sudan, and several regional and donor countries.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, who co-chairs the mechanism, expressed concern at the recent fighting and noted that the Sudanese Liberation Army’s responsibility for the latest violence had been clearly established.  Pronk also urged the Sudanese Government to exercise restraint and to order the militia and the Janjaweed to avoid any action that would lead to further escalation.  He also called on the Government to avoid aerial bombing.  Sudan’s Foreign Minister denied reports of Sudanese Government bombing in the Tawilla area and said the Government was ready to investigate the matter.

Tomorrow, Pronk is to head to Cairo for two days to meet Egypt’s Foreign Minister and the Secretary-General of the Arab League, among others.  He will discuss the deteriorating situation in Darfur and the Naivasha peace talks.

**Syria

The Secretary-General’s Middle East envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, met today with President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus for about an hour and a half.  Roed-Larsen described their talks as “warm, creative and constructive”.  He said that the Syrian President had an out-stretched hand to Israel and that he is willing to go to the negotiating table based on the relevant Security Council resolutions and the principle of land for peace, without conditions.

After his meeting with the President, Roed-Larsen attended a luncheon in his honour hosted by Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara, which was also attended by other senior Syrian officials.

**Security Council

The Security Council this morning is holding consultations on Haiti.  Juan Gabriel Valdes, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Haiti, is briefing the Council on the Secretary-General’s latest report on that country.  In that report, he asked for an 18-month extension of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti and called on countries contributing troops and personnel to the mission to do so by the deployment schedules that have been agreed to.  Once Valdes finishes in the Council, he intends to speak to you at the stakeout position.

Also today, Council members will meet with the countries that contribute troops to the peacekeeping missions in Haiti and in Burundi.

**OCHA - Côte d’Ivoire Update

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that a small number of UN humanitarian staff returned to Abidjan yesterday.  Today, more UN humanitarian staff or those working on emergency-related programmes are scheduled to return.  If conditions permit, rapid assessment missions will go to various areas, including Guiglo and Bouake.

The UN relocated most of its staff to Accra, Ghana, on 10 November, due to the seriousness of the situation in Abidjan and other parts of the country.  OCHA says the return of the staff will allow the resumption of humanitarian operations in all parts of the country –- although there are still serious concerns that the crisis could worsen.

**Afghanistan

The three UN staff members released yesterday in Kabul, Afghanistan, after being held by kidnappers for 27 days today met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whom they thanked for the Afghan authorities’ efforts to secure their release.  Karzai also presented the three –- Annetta Flanigan, Shqipe Hebibi and Angelito Nayan -– with carpets and said he was grateful that they had been returned safe and sound.

The three later read out a statement, saying that, since they were released, they have learned of the many statements of support and expressions of solidarity by Afghan personalities and ordinary men and women, some of whom even offered to take their place as hostages.  “We are humbled and very, very grateful for this”, they said.

They added that the solidarity the Afghan people had shown during their 27-day captivity “just strengthens our commitment to support Afghanistan in its transition to peace and democracy”.  And we have copies of that statement available upstairs.

**Kosovo – SG Report

The Secretary-General’s report on the UN Mission in Kosovo is now out on the racks.  It notes that six months after the violence, Kosovo is getting back on track towards fulfilling the standards that the international community set out for it.  But, although there has been progress in the area of reconstruction and reform, certain key areas -- such as return and reconciliation efforts, security conditions, and freedom of movement for minorities -- remain sources of concern.

The report states that the critical challenge for Kosovo’s political leadership remains to ensure that progress in meeting standards translates into benefits for all of Kosovo’s population.

**FAO – Right to Food Guidelines

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has adopted a set of voluntary guidelines related to the right to food, after nearly two years of tough negotiations.  The guidelines are meant to provide practical guidance to help countries implement their obligations concerning national food security.  We have a press release on that upstairs.

**Elimination of Violence against Women

Tomorrow is not just Thanksgiving.  It’s also the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.  And to mark that day, the Secretary-General has issued a message, envisioning a world in which women everywhere enjoy as many rights and freedoms as men.  And we have the full text of that message available upstairs.

**World Economic Survey Tease

For those of you who may not be here on Friday, and I hope that will be very few, here is a heads-up that the UN’s flagship publication on economic and social issues -– the UN World Economic and Social Survey 2004 –- will be launched next Monday.

The report charts trends in migration flows and policies ranging from the use of immigration in countries with ageing populations to the threat of a “brain drain” on poor countries.  The launch will be in this room at 11 a.m.

Those presenting the report will include José Antonio Ocampo, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and Joseph Chamie, Director of the UN Population Division.

**UN TV

And finally, the UN TV programme “World Chronicle”, focusing on funding the Millennium Development Goals, will feature Professor Anthony Atkinson of OxfordUniversity, as guest.  And you can see that today on in-house television channels 3 or 31 at 4 o’clock this afternoon.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, did the UN send any observers to the Ukraine elections?

Spokesman:  I don’t know what the situation is on that.  I’ll have to check for you and let you know after the briefing.  [He later confirmed that there were no UN electoral observers in Ukraine.]

Question:  Fred, a follow up.  Does the UN share the view that there should be another run-off in the Ukraine?  Or there should be just recounting of the votes?

Spokesman:  In my statement, I said we were not in a position to judge the fairness of those elections.  So, I don’t think we would be in a position either to recommend that other elections take place.  So, I think we’re neutral on that question.  Mark?

Question:  Is the UN confident that no money changed hands to secure the release of the hostages in Afghanistan?

Spokesman:  That is our understanding.  It is our stated policy that we do not pay ransom and we don’t negotiate ransom for the release of any of our personnel.  And it is our understanding in this case that no money was paid by anyone.

Question:  As a follow-up to that, in terms of the reforms of the security system, are we going to see an appointment of a new chief of security soon?

Spokesman:  I can’t predict when that might happen.  The search has been intense.  But, as your question suggests, it has also been prolonged.  And I am not aware that we have been successful in identifying a suitable candidate.

Question:  And last on that one.  What are the criteria that applied to the identification of that candidate?  Is it purely professional competence or is it also political considerations?

Spokesman:  I don’t know that political considerations are significant in this case.  What is different this time is that we want a person with professional security credentials.  In the past, it was a part-time job.  Eventually it was elevated to a full-time job, mainly as a manager and an administrator taking advice from the professional security personnel working under that person.  But we feel that, at this stage of our development, we need a high-level, highly-qualified security professional in this position.  And that’s the kind of person we’re looking for.

Djibril, do you want to come up and talk about the General Assembly?

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Many of you have called my office regarding the draft resolution on the situation of human rights in the Sudan.  Yesterday, by a recorded vote of 92 in favour to 62 against with 12 abstentions, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved a motion that action on the draft resolution on the situation of human rights in the Sudan be postponed until today, following action on the draft regarding human rights in Zimbabwe.  This motion was also in accordance with the rule that action should be taken on draft resolutions in the order in which they were formally submitted.  After the vote on the motion to postpone, two delegates were invited to speak in favour of the motion and two against.

As you have been following on the monitor, discussions are going on in the Third Committee today in context of the fifty-third and fifty-fourth meetings.  The agenda of today’s meeting includes implementation of the outcome of the Beijing Conference, the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and human rights questions.

On the Beijing Conference, the fifty-eighth session of the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report annually to the General Assembly, to ECOSOC and to the Commission on the Status of Women on the follow-up to, and progress made, in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The item on elimination of racism and racial discrimination was first introduced on the agenda of the General Assembly way back in 1965, when the General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.  The Convention came into force on 4 January 1969.  At its fifty-eighth session, the General Assembly called upon Member States to put together a plan for comprehensive implementation of, and follow-up to, the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, in consultation with national human rights institutions, and to provide the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights with such action plans. 

Another item on the agenda being considered today, this has to do with the Second Committee (Economic and Financial), includes special economic assistance to individual countries or regions, which is a sub-item of the agenda item called “strengthening of coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including economic assistance of the UN”.  This is agenda item 39.

Another agenda item being considered is eradication of poverty and other development issues.  This is again within the framework of the implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, 1997-2006.  The Decade, by way of background, was proclaimed by the Assembly in 1995 and last year’s Assembly, the fifty-eighth, requested the Secretary-General to submit, to the Assembly at its current session, a report on the resolution of the fifty-eighth session.  This is also the Committee that is considering the observance of 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit.  An item on women and development focuses on the requests made to the Secretary-General by the fifty-eighth session to update the world survey on the role of women in development, with special reference to selective development issues that had an impact on the role of women in the economy and at the national, regional and international levels.

Yesterday, the General Assembly concluded its discussions on the preparations for the 2005 high-level review of the Millennium Summit.  It also adopted a resolution, without a vote as orally amended, on enhancing capacity-building in global public health.  That’s all I have for you.

Any questions?  Thank you.

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