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.

We’ll have a statement regarding President Karzai’s election in a few minutes.  It’s not quite ready.

**Security Council

Meanwhile, the Security Council began its work today with an open briefing by the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, on the subject of Sudan.

Advance copies of the latest 30-day report on Sudan in English only were transmitted to Council members in advance of today’s meeting.

In his briefing, Prendergast noted that November was characterized by violence and marked deterioration in the security situation in Darfur.

The latest clashes, which threaten to plunge Darfur into chaos, are of great concern, he said.  Insecurity has reduced access to vulnerable people in need of urgent humanitarian aid.

He urged the international community to send an unequivocal message to all Sudanese parties that violence and hostile military actions are not an acceptable means to achieve political gains.

He referred to the Secretary-General’s call on the leaders of the parties to redouble their efforts to conclude a comprehensive peace agreement in Naivasha, which could provide a basis to address the demands of other marginalized regions of the Sudan, including Darfur.

Council members went into closed consultations on Sudan following that briefing.  A press statement is expected to be read out following the consultations by the Council President, Algerian Ambassador Abdallah Baali.

**Secretary-General on Sudan

The Secretary-General, in response to a question on Sudan, said the United Nations was doing whatever it can to protect the internally displaced persons and was working with the African Union to get in troops and monitors as quickly as possible.

The transcript of his brief encounter with the press is available in my office.

**Security Council – Other

Also on the Security Council agenda for today is the monthly working luncheon with the Secretary-General.

And at 3 p.m., Council consultations are scheduled on the latest report on the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq, which you know familiarly as UNMOVIC.

**Security Council - Documents

In addition, I want to draw your attention to a few Security Council documents.  Out on the racks today is the report of the Security Council mission to Central Africa, on which French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière already briefed.

Also out is a letter naming German Ambassador Gunter Pleuger as the chair of the new sanctions committee on Côte d’Ivoire for the month of December.  A press release on the committee’s first meeting is also available.

**UNDOF

Also out on the racks is the Secretary-General’s latest report on the United Nations Observer Mission on the Golan Heights, better known by its acronym, UNDOF.

In it, the Secretary-General notes that while the Syria-Israel sector has remained calm, the situation in the Middle East as a whole remains tense and is likely to remain so until a comprehensive settlement is reached.

Under these circumstances, the Secretary-General recommends that the Mission’s mandate be extended by a further six months until 30 June 2005.

**Secretary-General’s Remarks on Islamophobia

Islam should not be judged by the acts of extremists who deliberately target and kill civilians, the Secretary-General said this morning.

Addressing a seminar on Islamophobia, held by the United Nations Department of Public Information, he said that we must prevent the media from being used to spread hatred, while safeguarding freedom of expression.

He added that integration is a two-way street.  In countries of Christian tradition, Muslim immigrants must adjust to their new societies –- but societies must adjust too, he said.

Also at the seminar was Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies at GeorgeWashingtonUniversity, who delivered the keynote address.

We have the full text of the Secretary-General’s comments upstairs.

**High-Level Panel

The Secretary-General will address an informal meeting of the Plenary of the General Assembly tomorrow, to discuss the report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change.

This meeting was called for by the President of the General Assembly, Jean Ping, and provides the Secretary-General with an opportunity to brief Member States on the Panel’s report, which they received last Thursday.  The meeting will begin tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall.

**Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission

The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission is holding a meeting of its Demarcation Joint Technical Team today and tomorrow in Yaounde, Cameroon.

The Team -- composed of technical experts from Cameroon, Nigeria and the United Nations -- will examine preliminary maps that have been produced by the United Nations Cartographic Section.  It will also adopt a programme of work for the actual demarcation exercise.

The Commission was set up in the wake of a ruling by the International Court of Justice on a border dispute between the two African countries.

We have a press release with more information on that.

**Uganda - Humanitarian

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, met Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala today.

President Museveni welcomed the United Nations efforts to support the possible reintegration of fighters from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).  He also expressed his willingness to work closely with the United Nations in moving Uganda’s reconciliation process forward.

They also discussed the United Nations preparations for the potential return of Uganda’s 1.6 million internally displaced persons.

**Greece/FYROM Statement

We issued a statement late yesterday afternoon on a meeting between the representatives of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, held under the auspices of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Matthew Nimetz.

We have the full text of that upstairs.

**China - AIDS

The head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today said there has been an “impressive turnaround” in China’s anti-AIDS efforts in the past year, but says more work is needed if the epidemic is to be contained.

Richard Feachem, the Fund’s Executive Director, said that China over the past year has nearly quadrupled its resources to fight AIDS and TB.  The Global Fund has committed $113 million to China’s efforts to combat disease, including $56 million to help fight AIDS.

“It would be fantastic if China could show the world how to contain the epidemic”, Feachem said in Beijing.  “However, should we fail, the consequences would not only be catastrophic for China; they would be felt all over the world.”

**FAO Hunger Report

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will launch its annual hunger report tomorrow at 10 in the morning, in this room.

The report -- called “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004” -- focuses on the human and economic costs of global hunger.  It also measures progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of halving world hunger by 2015.

Florence Chenoweth, the Director of the FAO’s United Nations Liaison Office here, will be able to tell you more tomorrow.  And we also have more information on it upstairs.

**ILO Employment Report

Half the world’s workers are trapped in grinding poverty.  But this figure could be reduced if economic policies focus on improving labour productivity and creating jobs, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The World Employment Report 2004-2005 states that some 2.8 billion people were employed globally in 2003, more than ever before.  But of those, nearly 1.4 billion are living on less than two dollars a day and some 550 million are living under the one-dollar-a-day poverty line.

We have a press release with that upstairs.

**Human Rights

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, today launched the annual appeal for her Office, in which she asked for nearly $60 million in voluntary contributions to pay for some two thirds of her Office’s operating budget.

Arbour said her main goals would be to contribute to the strengthening of the rule of law, to pay special attention to the rights of the most vulnerable, and, as an immediate priority, to improve her Office’s ability to respond to emergency situations.  Arbour’s Office has some 570 staff worldwide.

**Guest at Noon Briefing

The Guest at the noon briefing tomorrow will be Anwarul Chowdhury, the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and SmallIslandDevelopingStates.  And he will be our guest at the noon briefing tomorrow to brief you on the Conference on Small Island Developing States, which will take place in Mauritius, from 10 to 14 January.

**Statement on Afghanistan

And I now have that statement that I meant to begin with regarding Afghanistan.

“The Secretary-General congratulates President Karzai on his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan.  This election, and the recently adopted Constitution the President swore to uphold today, are two key milestones in the building of a strong democratic State in that country.

“The Secretary-General wishes President Karzai and the people of Afghanistan success as they take on the multiple tasks of stabilization and reconstruction, including the preparation of the upcoming parliamentary elections.  He is gratified by the contribution that the United Nations has been able to make to the process of transition so far and pledges his full support to the completion of the Bonn agenda.”

That’s all I have for you.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Security in Iraq.  Do you have any update for us on security in Iraq?  Is it stabilizing –- anything from Mr. Qazi?

Spokesman:  You said –- Qazi.  I thought you were confusing Karzai.

No, we would not comment on the security situation in any specific detail because we don’t have personnel spread throughout the country and, therefore, we’re not competent to judge.  I have nothing new from Mr. Qazi, the Special Representative, today.

Question:  These four representatives of Brazil, Germany, India and Japan –- these are the people interested in Security Council seats.  They have contended for the expansion of the Security Council.  They are meeting the Secretary-General together this afternoon.  Can you please give us a read on that?  What they’re discussing together?

Spokesman:  I think the very presence of the four of them in one meeting suggests that Security Council reform is likely to be at the top of their agenda.  But we’ll see if we can get you a readout afterwards.

Question:  Jan Eliasson –- is it a courtesy visit?  Is there potentially a job for him in the future?  Do you know what that meeting is about with the Secretary-General?

Spokesman:  Well, if it did regard a job, of course I wouldn’t say anything about it.  And again, in the event there could be readout, we’ll give you one afterwards.

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