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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  We had expected Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, to be here at the top of the briefing.  But, unfortunately, he has been delayed by a meeting.  He should be joining us in a few minutes -- probably around 12:15 -- and we can immediately turn the floor over to him.

And then following Mr. Egeland’s briefing, we are hoping to have Ambassador Mayoral of Argentina in his capacity as Security Council President.  He will have three press statements to read for you here.  And then he will brief you on the programme of work for January. 

So we have a little bit of a busy briefing schedule the next hour or so.

**Secretary-General in Jakarta

The Secretary-General, meanwhile, today arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia –- actually he arrived last night New York time, which is already today over there -- where tomorrow he will launch a flash appeal to respond to the needs following the earthquake and tsunami that affected countries from Indonesia to Somalia.

Before arriving in Jakarta, the Secretary-General told CNN in an interview that the response by governments and the public had been “marvellous”.  He noted that “there was clear leadership at the beginning and everyone accepted the United Nations leadership”.

His message to those affected by the disaster, he added, is that “the international community is with you.  You’re not alone”.

Upon his arrival in Jakarta, the Secretary-General met with Indonesian Defence Minister Juwarno Sudarsono, with whom he discussed relief efforts in Aceh, one of the hardest-hit provinces.

He then had an internal planning meeting this afternoon with UN Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch Brown and UN Deputy Emergency Coordinator Margareta Walstrohm, who has been leading the United Nations relief efforts in South Asia over the past week.

He afterward met with more than 300 assembled United Nations staff in the country, and offered condolences for the enormous losses that Indonesia suffered in the natural disaster.  Later, he conferred with heads of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes involved in the relief effort, on their progress in coordinating operations.

**Tsunami -- Agency Involvement

As I mentioned, Mr. Egeland should be here to give you an overview and an update on the UN relief operations for the tsunami victims.  But just to give you a flavour for what kinds of activities the agencies are involved with:

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent millions of water purification tablets to the tsunami-hit areas, but says that clean water is still in short supply in Aceh and eastern Sri Lanka.  WHO is also concerned about the general conditions of 1,500 pregnant women in the Maldives, who are expected to deliver within six months.  So far, the agency has provided health emergency kits for more than 2 million people in the region, and surgical equipment for operations for more than 15,000.

Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warns that increased security and better design of humanitarian assistance are urgently needed to minimize attacks on women in hard-hit areas.  The warning comes one day after a Sri Lanka-based women’s group reported rape and physical abuse of displaced women and girls since the tsunami hit.

In other news, a flight carrying about 100 tons of relief supplies from UNHCR’s -- the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees -- central warehouse in Copenhagen, landed in Jakarta today.  And in Somalia, the World Food Programme (WFP) has distributed food aid to 12,000 Somalis affected by the tsunami.

We have more information, as I mentioned, on all of these activities upstairs.

**Iraq

Turning to Iraq, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Ashraf Qazi, today met with Jordanian Prime Minister Faisal Al-Fayez in Amman.

Their discussion focused on the current situation in Iraq, including security, efforts to advance the political process, and preparations for the upcoming Iraqi elections to be held on 30 January.

Qazi stressed that the United Nations will continue to support the Iraqis during the transitional process.  They also discussed the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Iraq's neighbouring countries which will be held in Amman tomorrow.  And Qazi will attend that meeting.

Qazi met earlier today with the Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister for similar talks. 

**Security Council

And here at United Nations Headquarters:  Starting at 10 a.m., the Security Council began consultations and finished consultations, I should say, on its programme of work for January.

On behalf of the Council presidency, Argentine Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa led a moment of silence for the tsunami victims at the beginning of consultations.

Then, in addition to the January programme, Council members also approved the list of chairs and co-chairs of the subsidiary bodies of the Security Council for 2005.  And those include the various sanctions committees.

Argentina, which holds the Council presidency, will brief you here immediately after this briefing, and Mr. Egeland’s briefing, to present the programme of work.

And I had mentioned, Ambassador Cesar Mayoral of Argentina will read out press statements on Sudan, the tsunami victims and the upcoming Palestinian elections.  And that should be after Mr. Egeland.

**Sudan

And finally, turning to Sudan:  the United Nations is dispatching an assessment mission to an area in Sudan’s North Darfur province to evaluate the conditions under which a large number of refugees are to return.

Officials from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and their partners, non-governmental organizations, travelled to the camps of Tawila and Dali, also in North Darfur, this week to assess the possibility of resuming humanitarian activity there.

Displaced persons in those camps expressed a number of concerns, including the doubling of prices of some commodities and a lack of drugs and health services.  They also voiced their fear of potential new attacks in the area.

**Mine Funding Shortfall

United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations working in 30 countries affected by landmines are facing a funding shortfall of close to $300 million this year for projects designed to eliminate the threat of landmines and assist victims.

This is one of the findings of a report released today by the United Nations Mine Action Service, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNICEF.  There are copies of the report available at the table near the door and upstairs in the Spokesman’s Office.

And that’s all I have for you.  Any questions for me before Mr. Egeland comes down?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  The Iraq elections -- the President yesterday said that the United Nations should consider postponing them.

Answer:  We commented yesterday when we were asked here at the noon briefing about the reported comments made by the President in a wire service report, and we mentioned that we had not gotten any official request by the President, and that the Iraqis were going to be responsible for making that final decision.

Question:  On the delegation accompanying the Secretary-General to Indonesia.  Is the United Nations involved in the discussions concerning the establishment of an early warning system in the Indian Ocean?

Answer:  The Secretary-General’s delegation, we generally do not publicize the entire delegation.  But as he himself told you at his press briefing before his departure on Monday, he is travelling with Mark Malloch-Brown, in his capacity as the UNDP Administrator, and his usual delegation of his support team. 

On the ground, he will be joined by, as I mentioned, Margareta Walstrohm, who is carrying out the humanitarian coordination activities.  He’s linked up with her, and has met with the United Nations country team in Jakarta. 

I’m sure he’ll be meeting up with various United Nations officials and their partners when he travels to the hardest-hit tsunami stricken regions, both in Indonesia and in Sri Lanka, as well as in the Maldives.

As for early warning, the conference tomorrow, as you know, will be focusing most immediately on the emergency needs.  The Secretary-General will be one of the first speakers, and he will be launching the flash appeal.  So the immediate attention of that conference will be on the emergency.

But as you know, the United Nations, as are many governments and organizations, are involved in early warning and in prevention of natural disaster.  There will be a meeting, not so long down the line, in Kobe, Japan, on natural disaster.  I think that will be probably one of the big topics to be taken up there, given what has happened in the region.

Question:  What about the conference in Mauritius?  Is that obliterated by the tsunami?  It certainly proves the point of the conference. 

Answer:  No, the conference is taking place, and the Secretary-General will be attending that conference next week as planned.  Given what has happened in the tsunami-hit region, I’m sure they will have a lot to discuss. 

Question:  Do you know if Mauritius was affected?

Answer:  Well, we can ask Mr. Egeland how badly it was hit. 

If there are no more questions, if you would like to just hang on for a few minutes, we’ll try to get Mr. Egeland down here as soon as possible. 

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