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.

**Sudan

The Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with members of the Security Council on Monday to discuss the situation in Sudan, particularly Darfur, given the urgency of the situation on the ground there.

Meanwhile, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, travelled today to Rumbek in south Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced during the war are poised to return to communities where few of the resources required to support their return are in place.

In Rumbek, he met with Senior Officials of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, as well as with representatives of UN agencies and NGOs.

Egeland also plans to visit to Darfur while he is in Sudan.

**DRC Update

A quick update on the Ituri district, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The UN Mission there reports that the situation is relatively calm today.

However, the Mission remains concerned.  The DRC’s Transitional Government has arrested several of the persons named in the Security Council’s presidential statement from last Wednesday but, in practice, these persons have been put under house arrest.  Some even appear to move about freely and to retain means of communications.

The Mission is calling on the Government to truly arrest these people and bring them to justice.

**DSG

The Deputy Secretary-General has begun the third leg of a mission to personally deliver the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy message regarding sexual exploitation and abuse.

She arrived earlier today in Côte d’Ivoire from Sierra Leone.

Before leaving Freetown, she told the staff of the UN mission in Sierra Leone that any infringement of the Organization’s zero-tolerance policy against sexual exploitation and abuse could be “perceived as an undermining of UN standards.”

Although there were different types of personnel in peacekeeping operations, she said all would be “measured against one set of standards -- the UN standards of conduct”.

While in Freetown, she told reporters that the United Nations was reforming its approach by appointing staff members in all peacekeeping operations to work specifically on this issue and would very soon increase its relevant expertise and capacity to carry out investigations.

Commenting on the drawdown of the Mission, she noted that the United Nations would continue to work with the people of Sierra Leone for many years to come.  She said, “I am encouraged by what I have seen through the programmes accomplished, such as the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes and the strengthening of security institutions.”

**Côte d’Ivoire

While in Côte d’Ivoire, the Deputy Secretary-General is scheduled to meet Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to review the current situation in the country and the cooperation between the mission and the Government.

Meanwhile, the UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire continued to report tensions and clashes in some areas, where UN peacekeepers subsequently increased their patrols.

The mission also reported that gunshots were heard yesterday on the eastern side of the town of Danane, situated a few kilometres from Côte d’Ivoire’s border with Liberia.  UN peacekeepers from the UN mission in Liberia based in Loguato, a town almost opposite Danane on the Liberian side, told the UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire that they saw concentrations of unidentified persons around the area.

**AIDS

Depending on actions taken today, as many as 43 million cases of HIV infection could be prevented over the next 20 years, according to a new report.

The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (or UNAIDS) presents three scenarios for AIDS in Africa in this report, showing what could happen between now and the year 2025, depending on whether African leaders take tough measures, or have sufficient resources, to fight AIDS.

“The scenarios are not predictions”, Dr. Peter Piot, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, said.  “They are plausible stories about the future.”

We have a press release detailing the report’s findings upstairs.

Security Council

The Security Council held an open meeting this morning that featured a briefing by the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel of Slovenia.

The next scheduled meeting of the Security Council is on Monday, when it has DRC sanctions and Somalia on its agenda.

**UNMOVIC

The latest quarterly report to the Security Council by the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq, known as UNMOVIC, was published today.

In it, UNMOVIC says it continues to use satellite imagery to track what has happened to Iraqi weapons sites it previously monitored and inspected.

The inspectors are working with Iraq’s neighbours to track the sale of scrap metals, which has included dual-use items.

The report also discusses the uncertain fate of biological “seed stocks” Iraq imported in the 1980s and notes that the issue remains as part of the residue of uncertainty and that such seed stocks could possibly be used in the future for biological warfare agent production.

We have the full report for you out on the racks.

**Tsunami

Turning to tsunami relief activities in Aceh, Indonesia, UNICEF has distributed 25,000 insecticide-treated bed nets along the west coast.  To date, the agency’s daily distributions of jerry cans, soap, hygiene kits and buckets have reached more than 50,000 people in the province.

For its part, the World Food Programme (WFP) is gradually shifting its focus away from general food distribution and towards targeted assistance, covering thousands of primary school children, pregnant women, new mothers, children under five, and orphans.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been conducting a measles campaign in Banda Aceh this week.  On the first morning alone, more than 3,000 children were vaccinated.

And the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is using heavy machinery to drag stranded boats back to the coast, so that they can quickly be used again by fishermen.

Here at Headquarters, there will be a concert to raise funds for tsunami victims.  It will take place this evening from 6 to 8:30, in Conference Room 4.  It is being organized by the UN staff committee for tsunami relief.  Baby 81, the Sri Lankan baby who had been claimed by multiple parents after the disaster, will attend with his family.

And we have more information on that upstairs.

Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Secretary-General marked the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which takes place tomorrow, by calling it “a true cornerstone of global security”, given the grave perils posed by nuclear proliferation.

Yet today, he warns, the Treaty confronts profound challenges to its effectiveness and credibility.  When the Treaty’s Review Conference takes place this May, he says, progress in both disarmament and non-proliferation will be essential, and neither should be held hostage to the other.

The Secretary-General says that nuclear-weapon States should do more to inspire confidence in their commitments, while all States parties should agree to necessary measures for more credible verification and enforcement of the Treaty.

The Secretary-General adds that he will recommend priority measures to strengthen the NPT in his forthcoming report on the Millennium Declaration.

We have the full text of the statement upstairs.

**Malaysia

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, today urged the Malaysian Government to continue to demonstrate its strong humanitarian commitment and cooperation with UNHCR, following reports this week of a crackdown on illegal migrants.

UNHCR stresses that it has stringent procedures in place for registration, verification, interviewing and then determination of refugee status.

At least a dozen people with UNHCR documentation -- mainly Acehnese from Indonesia and Chins, an ethnic minority from Myanmar -- have been arrested in the roundup and sent to immigration detention centres.  The Refugee Agency hopes the authorities will release them shortly.

We have more details in today’s briefing notes from UNHCR.

**Georgia - Iodine

Almost half of the children in Georgia face the risk of mental retardation and brain damage because of iodine deficiencies.

However, with support from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Georgian Government has taken an important step to rectify the situation, by adopting new legislation to outlaw imports of non-iodized salt.

Iodine deficiency disorders are endemic in Georgia and UNICEF has been working to address the problem since 1996.

We have a press release on that.

**Guest at Noon – Monday

Our guest at noon on Monday will be Winston Tubman, head of the UN Political Office for Somalia.  And he will be here to review the situation in that country with you.

**The Week Ahead at the United Nations

And we have the Week Ahead to help you plan your coverage of the UN next week.

Bill?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Has the Secretary-General called the meeting with the Security Council on Monday out of frustration that the Council has not moved forward with the peacekeeping mission to the Sudan or the measures that have been included in the resolution drafted by the US?

Spokesman:  I think all would agree that not enough is being done to bring the security situation in Sudan under control.  I think the Council members share that assessment with the Secretary-General.  We all know the kinds of difficult issues that the Council is grappling with as they debate approving the Secretary-General’s proposal for a peacekeeping mission.  And I think he wants to discuss with them what practical options are available to them to act more decisively to deal with the continuing killing and rape that’s going on in Sudan; particularly in Darfur.

Laura?

Question:  Fred, does the Secretary-General have any comment on Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s call for the Syrians to withdraw from Lebanon?

Spokesman:  No, I have nothing on that.

Yes, Nick?

Question:  Any read-out on the meeting between the Secretary-General and William Swing?

Spokesman:  I expect we’ll have something in writing for you.  Mr. Swing will not be able to speak to you directly as some of you asked yesterday.  But I expect to get a read-out in writing following that meeting, which might be over just about now.

Question:  Do you know if he’s submitted his resignation?

Spokesman:  I don’t know that.  You heard the Secretary-General say to you yesterday when he came into the building that resignation was not on the agenda.  But, let’s see what statement comes out following this meeting this morning.

Stu?

Question:  Fred, what’s the purpose of keeping Ambassador Swing from the press?  I was told he was brought in this morning; he avoided the press.  Is this his own decision or is it the decision by the Secretariat to keep him from the press?

Spokesman:  I honestly don’t know that.  Whether he consulted with the Peacekeeping Department and just decided it would be better if we limit ourselves to the statement that would be put out following his meeting with the Secretary-General or not, I don’t know.

Question:  Does the Secretary-General disagree with Colum’s story in the Washington Post two days ago?

Spokesman:  Could we be more specific?

Question:  Well, yeah.  He’s alluding to his resignation; to UN officials.  The Secretary-General has not asked for his resignation.  So, there’s some confusion as to what’s going on here.  And also, Ambassador Swing’s term expires in June.  So, then comes up, from what I’m told, that he may not ask for a second term.  So, therefore, there will be no resignation as his current term would lapse, and that’s the way it would be handled.

So, there’s a lot of confusion as to what’s going on.

Spokesman:  Well, we hope that following the meeting that the statement that we put out will help clarify what’s going on.  Clearly, one of the things that we will be looking at is a transition in leadership for the mission.  Mr. Swing is 70 years old, and as you pointed out, his contract expires in a number of months.  I am sure that will be one of the things that they will be discussing this morning.  But, the point of the meeting really, is to review the implementation of the Secretary-General’s new and more robust policies for dealing with these allegations of sexual abuse in the Congo.  So, the Secretary-General will be expecting Mr. Swing to give him an update on that situation.  I am sure they will be looking at the political situation in light of the sharp military exchange that took place in Ituri a couple of days ago.

It’s still a mission that’s working in very difficult circumstances; trying to get its feet and to cope with a political complexity that is daunting at best, and in a physical terrain that is almost impossible to work in.

Question:  Will Ambassador Swing brief the Council on Monday?

Spokesman:  I don’t know.  I’d have to check for you.  If you check with me after the briefing, I’ll let you know.

Yes?

Question:  Unrelated question.  I am just thinking about Benon Sevan being on the dollar-a-year contract, do you have a number or a list of people who are on dollar-a-year contracts at the UN?

Spokesman:  I am not sure there is such a list.  It could be that the people in the Personnel Department off the top of their head could give us most of those names.  I have a feeling the list would not be long.  What’s much more common is for us to have contracts with people who are paid according to the amount of time they actually work.

So, in other words, they are not full-time employees; they’re special envoys and, when they go on mission, they put in for a salary and, otherwise, they don’t get paid by us.

But, you want to know how many dollar-a-year people, we’ll ask Personnel to see if they can...(Interrupted)

Question:  Fred, does the retirement requirement of, is it 60 or 62, apply to those dollar-a-year contracts?

Spokesman:  The mandatory retirement rules, which are for a different age depending on when you were recruited, -- initially they were 60 and later it was up to 62 –- do not apply to people at the Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General level, who have no mandatory retirement age.  So, the dollar-a-year people would most likely be at that Under-Secretary or Assistant Secretary-level.

Bill?

Question:  Can you provide further details or full details perhaps even, of Terje Roed-Larsen’s itinerary and his trip to the Middle East?

Spokesman:  We can’t.  The itinerary is still being worked out.  He is in Washington today for routine consultations with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley, and he’s expected to leave, as we told you yesterday, shortly.  But, we don’t have the itinerary yet.

Question:  Not even the day he’s leaving?

Spokesman:  If that is known, it hasn’t been given to me.  So, I don’t know whether for security reasons we would not give a specific date.

Yes?

Question:  Fred, do you have anything new on Mr. Qazi’s activities in Iraq?

Spokesman:  No, I have no report on Iraq today.  But, if you wanted to check with Stéphane Dujarric of my staff after the briefing in the event he has something.  But, by the fact that he hasn’t prepared a note for me, I assume he felt there was nothing worth reporting today.

Question:  How long does he intend to be in Iraq?

Spokesman:  Who?

Question:  Mr. Qazi.

Spokesman:  Intends to be where?

Question:  How long is he going to be in Iraq?  Is he coming back to New York soon?

Spokesman:  I don’t know when he would be coming back.  Check with Steph, he can probably tell you.

[He later announced that Mr. Qazi may come to New York to brief the Security Council in mid-March, but that visit is yet to be confirmed.]

Yes, David?

Question:  Just to follow up with Stu.  The decision not to have a photo opportunity with William Lacy Swing today would seem to me more for the Secretary-General’s office.  Mark Malloch Brown talked about a new relationship with the press, but yet continually, television at least, gets shut out of photo ops, which more or less tend to be somewhat historical in nature given the reform within the building.

What is it that we can do to advocate for greater access, at least to photo ops, so that television, for one, can cover the events that go on in this building?

Spokesman:  Well, you’ve just done it.  If you wanted to put that in writing, as well, and submit it through my office to the Chief of Staff, I’d be happy to forward it for you.

Enjoy your week end.  Thank you.

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