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.

**Guest at Noon

Sorry, I am a few minutes late.

The guest at our briefing, in a few minutes will be Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), who will be joining us today to talk about the gains women have made over the last decade, and the major challenges ahead.  And she’s already here and she will be joining me in just a few minutes.

**International Women’s Day

And today is International Women’s Day.  In a message to mark the day, the Secretary-General said that this year marks a milestone in the movement for gender equality and the advancement of women, with the 10-year review of the Beijing Conference and Platform for Action.

As a result of the conference, the world has recognized that gender equality is critical to the development and peace of every nation, the Secretary-General said, adding that now, 10 years on, there’s been tangible progress on many fronts, and women are not only more aware of their rights; they’re more able to exercise them.  He also urged the international community to remember that promoting gender equality isn’t only women’s responsibility –- it’s the responsibility of “all of us”.

In addition, the UN system has marked the day all over the world, from Iraq to Colombia, with various events.  These include in Rome, the World Food Programme’s launch of a Catherine Bertini Award in honour of the agency’s previous Executive Director, and a UN refugee agency conference in Moscow for Afghan, Iraqi and Nigerian refugee women to discuss their return options and work opportunities –- with a hairdressing contest as part of a training project to help them become more self-reliant.

We have more details on these upstairs, as well as copies of the Secretary-General’s message.

**International Women’s Day – SG at Stakeout

Also, the Secretary-General will be making a statement at the UN’s 2005 Manager of the Year Awards presentation, which starts at 1:15 p.m. today in the Secretariat’s south lobby.  The awards are organized by the Group on Equal Rights for Women in the UN, and are given to managers according to criteria which include the promotion of work-life balance and gender sensitivity.

The Secretary-General will also stop at the entrance lobby stakeout to speak with the press on his way down to that presentation.

**Lebanon

Turning to the Middle East, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the implementation of resolution 1559, Terje Roed-Larsen, was in Brussels today as he makes his way to the Middle East.  While there, he discussed in detail the full implementation of the resolution with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.  Roed-Larsen said he would debrief Solana on his return from Syria and Lebanon.

Roed-Larsen also met with EU’s Policy and Security Committee, on which the 25 EU Permanent Representatives sit.  Larsen was assured that he has the full backing of the European Union for his difficult mission.

**Security Council

And here at UN Headquarters, the Security Council received a briefing this morning from Demetrios Perricos, the active Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, otherwise known as UNMOVIC.  Perricos presented to Council members UNMOVIC’s twentieth quarterly report, which we flagged for you last week.  The report touches on the issues of the continued monitoring of weapons sites in Iraq and also discusses the uncertain fate of biological “seed stocks”.

**Security Council - Monday

Late yesterday afternoon, the Security Council, reaffirming its commitment to a comprehensive and lasting settlement in Somalia, welcomed progress made in the Somali national reconciliation process, and took note of the need to expand the UN presence in that country, as proposed by the Secretary-General in his latest report.  That presidential statement was read out following a briefing in consultations by Winston Tubman, Head of the UN Political Office in Somalia.

**Sudan

Turning to Sudan, the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations is dispatching a UN team to join an African Union-led assessment of peacekeeping requirements in Darfur.  This team will include experts in military and police planning, logistics and humanitarian assistance.  They will make an assessment, as a matter of urgency, to determine what more is needed in order to improve the security environment in Darfur.  The Secretary-General, as you’ll recall, mentioned this mission in his statement issued following his meeting with Security Council members on Sudan yesterday.

And on the humanitarian front, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, will be the guest at the briefing tomorrow here at noon to talk about his just concluded four-day trip to Sudan.

**DSG in Berlin

The Deputy Secretary-General meanwhile, is in Berlin today, where she is speaking to the Friedrich Ebert Institute, which is celebrating its eightieth anniversary as an organization promoting peace and human rights.  She thanked the Institute for the active and constructive support it has provided for the work of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change.

She noted that, a few weeks from now, the Secretary-General will place before the Member States a report setting out proposals for far-reaching reforms of the international security system and for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  That report, in turn, will draw on the work of the High-Level Panel.  We have copies of her address upstairs.

The Deputy Secretary-General also met earlier today with Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, with whom she discussed the UN reform agenda, the Millennium Development Goals, Sudan, sexual exploitation allegations in certain peacekeeping missions and the “oil-for-food” programme.  Then she participated in a round-table discussion with some 70 officials from Germany’s Federal Foreign Office on “The UN in 2005:  Challenges and Perspectives”.  She also addressed a round-table discussion with representatives of civil society and the media, dealing with topics that included UN reform and peacekeeping reform.

**SG Message - Palestine

The long cherished dream of a vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians has been to live a normal life in peace and security.  At long last, all of us can sense a newfound movement towards that dream.  Those remarks are part of a message from the Secretary-General to an international meeting being held in Geneva today, to discuss the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on Israel’s separation barrier in the occupied Palestinian territory.  The Secretary-General also urges both parties and the international community to refrain from any actions that would be detrimental to the Quartet’s Road Map.  We have the full text of his remarks upstairs.

**Pakistan/Afghanistan

Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency has distributed 1,000 tents to Afghan refuges living in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, who had been made homeless by heavy rains and flooding.  You can read more about that in a handout upstairs.

**Fistula

And, during the recent “Fistula Fortnight” campaign in Nigeria, initiated in part by the UN Population Fund, a total of 545 women were treated for obstetric fistula.  For two weeks, national and international volunteer doctors joined forces to perform surgery on women suffering from this pregnancy-related disability.

The campaign raised awareness in rural communities that treatment for the condition is indeed available.  It also ensured that more Nigerian doctors and nurses are able to treat fistula patients and that hospitals are better equipped.  For your information, on Thursday, 10 March, there will be a telephone press conference with two of the volunteer doctors involved in this campaign.  We have more upstairs.

**Global Compact

And the United Nations Global Compact began its first major regional meeting in South Asia today in India.  The two-day Global Compact Regional Conclave in South Asia brings together more than 200 senior representatives of companies, civil society and the United Nations from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The Secretary-General, in a message welcomed the meeting as a strong expression of support for the Global Compact, a voluntary corporate citizenship initiative based on universal values in human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.  He says the meeting is also a contribution to the wider process of change and renewal at the United Nations.  We have copies of that message upstairs.

**Guest at Noon Tomorrow

And my last announcement is something I mentioned earlier.  Our guest tomorrow will be Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who will be joining us to provide an update on the humanitarian situation in the Sudan from which he is returning after a four-day visit.

Before I turn to Ms. Heyzer, does anybody have any questions for me?

Mr. Abbadi?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Marie, as you said, this is International Women’s Day, and when one takes stock of the progress in the advancement of women, how satisfied is the Secretary-General with respect to women advancement, especially when it concerns policy-making organs?

Associate Spokesperson:  What do you mean by policy-making organs?

Question:  In the executive bodies, the Secretariat and the specialized agencies.

Associate Spokesperson:  I think the Secretary-General has answered that recently when he was asked about that.  I think he recognizes that a lot has been done, but that more can be done in that field.  Yes, Laura?

Question:  Marie, can you just give us some more information on the UN people who are going to join the AU in the Sudan?  Like, how many of these experts are going to go and how long are they going to be staying?  And are they going to be reporting directly back to the Secretary-General or the Security Council?

Associate Spokesperson:  I can tell you that we’re talking about a 10-member mission.  I mentioned to you that they will be made up of various experts from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and also from humanitarian assistance.  They will be joining up with some colleagues already in the region, and they will be going, I believe, starting from the 10^th, which is later this week, with the African Union which will be in the lead on this mission, to assess, as I mentioned, the needs on the ground on how to improve security there.

Most likely, they will be there for I think, about a week to 10 days.  Since it’s a joint mission, they will, obviously, be combining forces to come up with a report.  (Interrupted).

Question:  And are they going to present it to the African Union or are they going to present it to the Secretary-General?

Associate Spokesperson:  Since it’s an African Union-led mission, my understanding is that it’s the African Union that will be putting it together.

Yes?

Question:  Marie, Mr. Larsen, before going to Damascus and Beirut, in which other countries will he stop?

Associate Spokesperson:  I don’t have the details of his programme right now.  But I’ll let you know after the briefing.  [She later told the correspondent that he may be making other stops in the region, but those had yet to be confirmed.]

Question:  Marie?

Associate Spokesperson:  Yes?

Question:  Is it possible if you can get the readout of the 4 p.m. meeting?  The SG’s meeting with the G-4?  And do you know whether this meeting was asked by the G-4 permanent representatives or if it was asked by the Secretary-General?

Associate Spokesperson:  Let me get you the readout at the time after the meeting and I will include all that information.

Yes, Mr. Abbadi?

Question:  Recently the Somali government seems to have agreed to the deployment of forces in the country but, apparently, they have some reservations with respect to troops coming from surrounding countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya.  Do you have any information on that?

Associate Spokesperson:  As you know, the Security Council did issue a statement yesterday following the consultations.  I did not see any reference in that to a force in relation to the United Nations.  So, I think at this moment there is an African Union initiative in dealing with the Somalia peacekeeping.  So, you probably need to address that question to the African Union.

If there are no other questions, on International Women’s Day, I’d like to turn to Ms. Heyzer.

(Issued separately).

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