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 Stéphane Dujarric, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon. 

**Secretary-General in Brazil

On the last day of his stay in São Paulo, Brazil, the Secretary-General is visiting an innovative educational project in a poor district on the outskirts of the sprawling city of 17 million people.

There, he and Nane Annan are now visiting the educational centre, which aims to bring education, culture, sports and art, to the community of nearly 200,000 in Campo Limpo, where a tenth of the people live in shanty towns.

They are escorted by the Mayor of São Paulo, Marta Suplicy, who initiated the project.

Before the visit, the Secretary-General delivered opening remarks at the High-level Panel on Innovative Sources of Financing for Development, part of the ongoing UNCTAD Conference in
São Paulo. (See Press Release SG/SM/9367–DEV/2475–TAD/1989)

Yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General spoke to the press in São Paulo, telling them that he is convinced that the crucial role of the United Nations to provide a framework for international solutions is needed today more than ever.  The successful UN contribution to the establishment of the Iraqi interim government, he said, was a case in point.

Asked about the security situation in Iraq, he said that “the signs we are seeing now are not very good.  The indications are that the violence will continue.”

He added that UN remains committed to helping Iraq, subject to security conditions.  We have the transcript of his comments posted on the web.

The Secretary-General is expected to be back in New York tomorrow.

**Iraq

And just one note on Iraq, Carina Perelli, (the head of the UN Electoral Assistance Division) will be here tomorrow, at around noon, to brief you on her work and the electoral programme in Iraq.

**Western Sahara

On Western Sahara, Security Council members received on Monday a letter from the Secretary-General, saying that James Baker, his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, has turned in his resignation.  Mr. Baker said that he believed he had done all he could do on that issue.  The Secretary-General accepted the resignation with deep regret, and also voiced regret that the parties did not take better advantage of Mr. Baker’s assistance.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Western Sahara, Alvaro de Soto, will continue to work with the parties and with neighbouring countries in pursuit of a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution.

**Security Council

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

**UN Consolidated Appeals

The United Nations needs 2.25 billion dollars until the end of the year to address the critical needs of close to 50 million people affected by 25 crises in Africa, Europe and Asia.

This is the message from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as it conducts its mid-year review of the progress since the Consolidated Appeal was made last November.

At that time UN humanitarian agencies and their NGO partners appealed for some 2.95 billion dollars to reach vulnerable populations around the world during 2004.  To date, less than 700 million dollars has been received.

According to Jan Egeland, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, “The response so far is too little too late for millions of victims in forgotten emergencies.”

He adds that timely and increased funding is essential for an effective humanitarian response.

And we have more information available upstairs. (See Press Release IHA/919)

**UNICEF - Bellamy in Darfur

Carol Bellamy, the Director of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, today ended her three-day visit to Darfur, Sudan, with a call for greater efforts to avert a humanitarian disaster.

Bellamy urged the government of Sudan to remove all bureaucratic hurdles that could slow down the humanitarian relief work, and called on the world community to respond quickly to calls for urgently needed funds.

Along with Sudan’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, UNICEF is currently in the middle of a mass measles vaccination campaign intended to reach over two million children.  And we have copies of Carol Bellamy’s statement available upstairs.

**Southern Africa

In Southern Africa, James Morris, the head of the World Food Programme and the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for humanitarian needs in that region, today led his fourth mission to the region, to review achievements and take stock of Southern Africa’s future aid requirements.

Mr. Morris, who is accompanied by a team of senior UN staff, is in Malawi today, and will also travel to Mozambique, Swaziland and Namibia.

However, he will not be visiting Zimbabwe, because officials from that country’s Government were unavailable for meetings.  And we have a press release upstairs with more details.

**UNICEF – School Enrolment Campaign

Today is the Day of the African Child, and to honour that day, the UNICEF officially launched a child-powered project in Ethiopia to account for children not in school and to accelerate the enrolment of all children.

Called the Child-to-Child Survey, it involves teams of school children who interview out-of-school children to find out the reasons why they are not enrolled.  An estimated 121 million children are out of school worldwide.  The majority of these children are girls, according to UNICEF.

Carol Bellamy said the Fund wants to start a chain reaction, whereby the children and their teachers will not only identify those out of school but will also commit authorities, communities and parents to getting the children enrolled and helping them succeed in school.

Kenya, Malawi and Chad will be launching their own surveys, and plans are under way to take the project global, starting later in the year with South Asia.

And we have more information upstairs.

**UNODC - Afghan Experts

Experts from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime recently provided assistance to Afghan officials in Kabul on the legislative measures needed against terrorism and transnational organized crime.

The two-day workshop was attended by, among others, representatives from various ministries, including the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

And we have more information available on that upstairs.

**St. Petersburg Forum

The Secretary-General today commended a meeting of policy makers, industrialists, bankers and international representatives that began today in St. Petersburg, Russia, saying that much work remains to be done to improve the quality of life in the Commonwealth of Independent States.  He added that the CIS has been one of the most dynamic regions of the global economy for the past four years.  And we have copies of the message, which was delivered by the head of the UN Office in Geneva to this meeting in Russia.

**FAO - Cereal Stocks

Turning to food issues, global cereal stocks are forecast to fall in the new 2004-2005 marketing season, a fifth consecutive annual decline, according to forecasts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.  FAO says the fall comes despite an expected increase in cereal production for 2004.  And we have more details upstairs.

**ILO

Improving the safety and working conditions of some 35 million people who work in the global fishing industry was at the forefront of the discussions of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) annual conference in Geneva today.  The ILO estimates that fatality rates for fishermen are higher than those for firefighters and police officers in many countries.

But some 90 per cent of fishermen around the world are not covered by existing work conventions.  And we have a press release on that upstairs.

**Black Box

I realize it may be a little late, but if any of you are interested in getting more information on the Black Box investigation, please let me know and we can arrange for you to speak to someone from OIOS; if you come and see me after the briefing.

And that’s it. Carina Perelli I already told you about.  So, if you have any questions for me, let me know.

**Questions and Answers

Question:   Is there any update on the powder found at the UN yesterday?

Associate Spokesman:    No.  It will probably take a couple of days for the NYPD and the FDNY to do their analysis of the powder.   

Question:   So you expect they will call back within two days?

Associate Spokesman:    A couple of days, a few days.  As soon as we have something we’ll let you know.  We all want to know.  Edie?

Question:   Steph, a couple of weeks ago the Staff Union sent a letter, another letter to the Secretary-General asking for an independent investigation of OIOS.  I wondered if there had been any response to that letter?

Associate Spokesman:    The Secretary-General was made aware of the allegations regarding appointments and promotions of staff within OIOS and that was done from a letter by the president of the Staff Union.  We’ve asked Mr. Nair to respond and he is in the process of doing just that.

It’s normal procedure for the Secretary-General to request information before deciding on any further course of action.

Question:   Can you update us on the status of the effort to replace
Mr. Holkeri as SRSG in Kosovo?

Associate Spokesman:    We do expect an announcement soon.  So, as soon as I have one, I will be able to share it with you.  Mr. Abbadi?

Question:   How did Secretary of State James Baker communicate his resignation to the Secretary-General?  Was it...(interrupted)?

Associate Spokesman:    In a letter.

Question:   ...orally, or in writing?

Associate Spokesman:    No, no.  In a letter.

Question:   Is the letter available?

Associate Spokesman:    No.  It was a private letter to the Secretary-General.  In the Secretary-General’s letter to the Security Council he takes some of the points from the letter.  But Mr. Baker’s letter in itself has not been released; either publicly or to the Security Council.

Question:   Stéphane, less than two weeks to the transfer of power to the Iraqi Government, suicide bombings and terrorism are on the rise.  My question is, how do you predict the period between now and June after...(inaudible)?

Associate Spokesman:    I think it would be dangerous to do any predictions.  I think, as the Secretary-General said, obviously the security situation on the ground is worrying.  There have been a number of terrorist acts, as you have seen.  We’ve condemned these acts as we do anything that would harm the peaceful transition in Iraq and anything that would affect negatively the transition in Iraq.  There is hope that once Iraq regains its sovereignty, that we would see these security incidents lessen.  David?

Question:   Just a phone-in question.  The transfer of Saddam Hussein; the possible transfer and his status after 30 June; has the UN or the SG said anything about how they believe that Saddam should be treated after the transfer of sovereignty?  Should he be transferred?  What’s the status of it?

Associate Spokesman:    No, I haven’t seen anything.  Mr. Abbadi?

Question:   What is the latest on the Oil-for-Food Programme?

Associate Spokesman:    Mr. Volcker’s investigation is under way.  I think they’ve opened up their new web site today.  So, I think they will be able to post information on that. They’ve been provided with the initial budget to begin their work.  We await from them a fuller budget to see what sort of financial needs they will have.  But, you should talk to them.  But I believe they’re up and running and they’re getting things started.  But I can’t speak for them.  But they’re beginning their work.

Thank you very much.

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