DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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.
**Guest at Noon
Our guest today will be Vincent McClean, the New York representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. He will brief you on the World Drug Report 2004, which was released on Friday. He was meant to be our guest at Friday’s briefing, but as you know, the briefing was pre-empted by the Secretary-General’s press conference.
**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman
I have a statement on behalf of the Secretary-General on the situation in Iraq:
“Today, the Secretary-General welcomes the State of Iraq back into the family of independent and sovereign nations. He calls upon all Iraqis to come together in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, through a process of open dialogue and consensus-building, to lay down secure foundations for the new Iraq. Their first duty is to assist their Interim Government to establish security for the population so that the difficult process of return toward normalcy can commence.
“The Secretary-General commits the United Nations to do everything possible, as circumstances permit, to help the Iraqi people in this challenging yet vital process.”
Copies of the statement are available upstairs. We do expect the President of the Security Council to come out with a statement on Iraq, as well on behalf of the Council.
**Secretary-General
The Secretary-General just landed in Dubai a few minutes ago. This is the first leg on a trip which will take him to Doha, Qatar, to the Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Thailand and Austria.
We expect the Secretary-General to give a press conference tomorrow in Doha, Qatar. And as soon as we have the time and location of that press conference we will pass that on to you.
**Sudan
Turning to the Sudan, donor countries and key humanitarian agencies have increased deliberations with the Government of Sudan to lift current restrictions on access to the Darfur region, as new agencies enter the country to fill in colossal gaps in humanitarian assistance. The agencies already on the ground are gearing up to avert a deterioration of the crisis during the rainy season.
However, although substantial improvements have occurred, particularly regarding travel to the Darfur region, clearance of goods and registration of new non-governmental organizations, those procedures remain bureaucratic and inconsistent and some delays continue to be reported.
The international response to the Darfur crisis has been dramatically increased in the past few weeks, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Currently, around 20 international NGOs are operational in Darfur and an additional 10 agencies are in the process of starting up operations there.
Protection remains an overriding issue in all the three Darfur states. Despite an official request from the Government to all governmental organizations to curb armed militias including the Janjaweed, no major changes have been reported.
**Afghanistan
Turning to Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, the head of the UN Mission in that country, voiced his outrage at the deadly attack on Saturday against female Afghan electoral workers just outside the city of Jalalabad. Two women were killed, while three others, as well as a boy, were in critical condition, following the bombing of a mini-bus.
Arnault sent his deepest condolence to the families, friends and colleagues of those who were killed. The UN Mission sent a team of doctors and nurses from Kabul to support the JalalabadHospital staff who are taking care of the wounded.
As a temporary precaution while security conditions are being assessed, the electoral authorities are restricting the movements of the Afghan electoral body’s female staff. The registration of women voters will continue wherever possible.
And we have further information in a statement from the Mission in Afghanistan available upstairs.
**Security Council
Turning to the Security Council, the Security Council members are discussing in today’s consultations the UN Observer Mission in Bougainville, whose mandate expires at the end of this month.
The Mission has won praise for its work in support of Bougainville’s peace agreement, under which more than 80 per cent of the weapons in the areas had been destroyed by the end of April.
Geir Pedersen, Director of the Asia and Pacific Division in the Department of Political Affairs, was the briefer to the Council. A six-month extension of the mandate was discussed.
**Security Council Mission
Meanwhile, the Council’s mission to West Africa continues. The delegation led by Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry of the United Kingdom is scheduled to travel today from Guinea-Bissau to Guinea, the last stop of its seven-nation mission to West Africa.
Council members noted dramatic progress in Guinea-Bissau, where the mission teamed up with the ECOSOC delegation led by South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo. The new Government of Guinea-Bissau, following the successful holding of legislative elections in March, has made notable steps in public finance and governance, but it requires urgent support, especially in the area of restructuring the armed forces and developing its economic and institutional capacity.
We have a press release issued by the mission today, as well as updates from its programme over the weekend.
**OCHA/Democratic Republic of Congo
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs -– or OCHA -– reports that 20 aid agencies lost an estimated $1.5 million in humanitarian supplies, equipment and vehicles due to recent looting by military and civilian demonstrations.
OCHA, which also had three of its offices destroyed, says funding to compensate for these losses is urgently needed.
Almost 200 staff from more than 30 UN agencies and aid organizations have been relocated to safer areas, and it’s estimated that approximately 2.6 million people have been affected by the reduction of humanitarian activities in the DRC.
We have more on the humanitarian situation in that country in a press release available upstairs.
**ECOSOC
The Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, today addressed the opening of the High-Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council. She said that for the people in the world’s least developed countries, no UN issue is as important as achieving real progress toward the Millennium Development Goals.
She noted that, based on current trends, very few of those countries are likely to achieve the poverty reduction goals contained in the Brussels Programme of Action and the Millennium Declaration. Among other things, she called for the quantity and quality of overseas development assistance to be stepped up, and for more attention to be paid to the crippling debt burden of many poor countries.
**North Korea
The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, Maurice Strong, said following his recent trip to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, that the six-party talks in Beijing had been an important step forward. Strong said he was “moderately pleased” that, following those talks, there was now the prospect of a freeze in the country’s nuclear programme.
Talking to reporters Friday afternoon while visiting New York, Strong said that it was becoming apparent that there could be no settlement of nuclear issues without a significant economic package. The United Nations is working together with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and other interested parties on economic measures that would need to be taken as part of a settlement.
**Secretary-General/Transnational Crime
The full implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime is an important part of international efforts to meet global threats today -– especially as countries in post-conflict situations are especially vulnerable to the threats posed by such crime.
That was part of the Secretary-General’s message to the first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which began today in Vienna and ends on 9 July.
**WHO/Codex Alimentarius
The Codex Alimentarius Commission –- an international food standards-setting body established by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization –- convened its twenty-seventh session in Geneva today, one year ahead of schedule.
In its programme of work, it’s expected to formally approve work to revise the 23-year-old Recommended International Code of Practice for Foods for Infants and Children, with particular attention paid to issues related to contamination of infant formula.
The Commission used to meet once every two years, but it’ll now meet yearly in response to calls for it to speed up its work and adapt to the demands of member countries.
**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman
Lastly, in response to questions following the Secretary-General’s press conference on Friday, as well as in an article published in the New York Sun today, I have been authorized to say the following:
“As Head of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, Mr. Dileep Nair has been carrying out his tasks with energy and dedication. As regards the issues raised in a recent resolution of the Staff Council concerning personnel matters in OIOS, the Secretary-General has instructed the Department of Management and the Office of Human Resources Management to clear them up as quickly as possible. He trusts that they would prove to be without foundation.”
Mr. McClean, if you’d like to join us? And before we turn to our guest, any questions? Yes, Liz, go ahead.
Questions and Answers
Question: Is there any statement on behalf of Annan on the handover and any thoughts on the UN role at this point?
Associate Spokesman: Yes, Liz, that was the first item I read out, if you’d been on time.
Question: Maybe once again with feeling, I don’t know...
Associate Spokesman: No. There was a statement. As for the role of the United Nations, we will continue to work closely with the Iraqi Interim Government in their effort to organize free, fair and open elections early next year. And on the humanitarian front, working from our base in Amman, we continue to work with our Iraqi national staff and NGO partners in Iraq to help with the development and reconstruction issues. And obviously, as circumstances permit, we would send international staff back in. Go ahead.
Question: On Iraq, I am just wondering, is the Interim Government planning to send any representatives to the UN and has the UN heard anything on that?
Associate Spokesman: No, I have not. That would be a question addressed to the Iraqi Mission here. Go ahead.
Question: Last Friday the Secretary-General said this week he will name his new special adviser to Iraq; so could you talk more about this?
Associate Spokesman: I think what he said to you on Friday is that he would name that person within a week. And that’s last Friday. So, today being Monday, I have no announcement for you yet. Yes, Serge?
Question: The mission in the DRC is collapsing. The UN mission in the DRC.
Associate Spokesman: Is that a question?
Question: This mission is..., because by what you’ve been saying here, things are very, very bad in DRC. What is the UN going to do about it?
Associate Spokesman: Well, I think the Secretary-General has been in touch with a number of the regional players, as well as the Government in Kinshasa in order to...(interrupted).
Question: Can you explain to me; how come, in the 60s we were able to authorize 50,000 troops in the DRC, and now we can’t even do that?
Associate Spokesman: Well, Serge as you know, the troops that the UN is able to deploy through peacekeeping missions are supplied by Member States. Maybe you would want to turn that question to them. Yes, go ahead, Akram.
Question: A group of employees of the UN is supposed to go to Iraq to prepare the voting system for next year. Are they now in Iraq?
Associate Spokesman: No, there are no electoral workers in Iraq today. But we are continuing to work with the Government on the election issues and UN staff will go in as circumstances permit and as needed to continue the system with the elections.
Question: So, there is no...(interrupted).
Associate Spokesman: As of today, no. But as you know, we just finished working with the Mexican Government on the training programme in Mexico for the Iraqi electoral workers.
Question: Stéphane, Indian and Pakistani high-level officials –- foreign secretaries from both countries –- met yesterday in Delhi. I’m wondering if the SG has any thoughts on the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan?
Associate Spokesman: No, I don’t have any guidance on that issue, but I’ll see what I can get you after the briefing. Yes, go ahead.
Question: Do you have any comments on the security condition in Iraq now? Can you tell us when they will authorize UN staff to go back there and when will the UN office be opening there?
Associate Spokesman: Well, the UN staff, first of all, they’re national staff, continue to work there. As for international UN staff, they will go in once we feel that circumstances on the ground are safe enough for them to go in. So these are things that we look at constantly on a daily basis and that assessment is made daily. But I can’t give you a target date for when we’ll go back.
Mr. McClean?
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