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.

**Security Council – Middle East

A little while ago, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast briefed the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.  He said that Israelis and Palestinians are “slowly and not without difficulty” meeting to coordinate the implementation of Israel’s initiative to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank

He said those meetings and a meeting scheduled in the next few days between the Israeli Prime Minister and the Palestinian President are indicative of a hopeful trend since the beginning of the year.  Yet, renewed violence and the low level of mutual trust continue to work against progress.

Prendergast noted that in Israel, opponents of disengagement still voice their opposition to the planned withdrawal.  Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority still faces a number of serious internal challenges, which have deepened partly as a result of the Authority’s efforts to institute comprehensive security reform.  He called recent violent incidents among the Palestinians “deeply disturbing”.

Prendergast also expressed the UN’s particular concern over the serious escalation in rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants against Israeli targets.  Prendergast reminded both sides of the need to take special care to protect innocent civilians, in accordance with international and humanitarian law.

I understand the Security Council just finished its consultations on the Middle East.

**Security Council - Other

Earlier in the morning, the Council unanimously adopted a six-month extension of the UN Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights, known as UNDOF.

Meanwhile, out on the racks today, we have copies of the report the Secretary-General has transmitted to the Security Council on the work of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board Fund for Iraq, called the IAMB.

That report notes the audit reports received by the IAMB from an auditing firm, known as KPMG.  Those reports continue to be critical of controls in place in the spending ministries in Iraq, as well as US agencies and the Iraqi administration concerning the Development Fund for Iraq.

All those documents are out on the racks.

**Lebanon

A day after the international commission into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and 20 other people, was declared operational, its head commissioner, Detlev Mehlis, gave a thorough press briefing in Beirut.

At this point, Mehlis said, he is 99.9 per cent sure that the explosion which killed Hariri and the others was above ground with explosives having been placed in a white Mitsubishi pick-up truck.  Mehlis asked anyone with information on this truck or any other aspect of the crime to come forward and to contact the investigative team.

By the next few days, he said he will have staff from over 20 countries.  He said that all his staff share one goal, and that is to uncover the truth.

The full transcript of his press briefing is also upstairs.

**Bolivia

Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Bolivia, wrapped up a mission to that country last night, following a meeting with President Eduardo Rodriguez to brief him on his delegation’s work.

The UN delegation had also travelled to the city of Santa Cruz on Thursday.

The UN team is expected back at Headquarters here on Monday, and they will report to the Secretary-General on their work.

**Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – Statistics

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, today published its annual global statistics for 2004.  They note that, while the global number of refugees fell to 9.2 million, the lowest in almost a quarter of a century, the numbers of internally displaced and stateless people remained high.

The findings also show that, besides the Palestinians cared for by the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, Afghans remained the largest refugee group, while Sudanese refugees saw the biggest increase in their numbers.  The top asylum-granting countries were Iran and Pakistan, according to UNHCR.

The statistics were released just ahead of World Refugee Day, which will be observed on Monday.  To mark that occasion, the new High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, will leave over the weekend for his first field mission, which will be a three-day trip to Uganda.

**Central African Republic

In its daily briefing notes, UNHCR also reports that more than 8,500 refugees from the Central African Republic have arrived in southern Chad since the beginning of the month, because of clashes between government forces and unidentified armed groups in the Central African Republic.

More information is available upstairs, as well as an update from UNHCR on the situation of internally displaced in Colombia.

**Secretary-General’s Remarks on World Health

Last night, the Secretary-General addressed the Doctors of the World Health and Human Rights Leadership Awards Dinner here in New York.

He told attendees that his first job with the UN system had been with the World Health Organization.  He said the world must not think of health exclusively as a development or security issue, but instead adopt a more holistic approach to the problem.

The Secretary-General also said that greater resources must be devoted to disease surveillance and response, and that new and serious efforts should be made to build health systems in developing countries.

He added that we must move away from the kind of health interventions that parallel peacekeeping without peacebuilding -- humane and essential, but often unsustainable.

The full text is upstairs, and also on our website.

**Long-Term Development of Haiti

Turning to Haiti, in 2004, the Economic and Social Council tasked an Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti to advise it on the long-term development options for that country.  The report is now out on the racks.

The Group recommends that one of the first actions of the new Haitian Government, to be installed in February of next year, should be to consider a Millennium Development Goal-based Poverty Reduction Strategy.  The new Government could also focus on a few areas that would demonstrate to the Haitian people that action is being taken.  Consideration could be given to the so-called “quick win” projects, as identified in the Secretary-General’s Millennium Task Force report.  The report is out on the racks.

**Peacekeeping Incidents

As we told you earlier, on 3 June, a South African peacekeeper had been shot in the head at a polling station in Burundi.  We were regrettably informed today that he died as a result of his wounds at a hospital in Pretoria.

Yesterday during a routine patrol, UN peacekeepers in Haiti, in the capital city Cité Soleil, came under fire.  Two soldiers from the Peruvian contingent were injured.  Both are reported to be in stable condition.

**World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

Today is the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.  In his message to mark that Day, whose theme this year is “Women and Desertification”, the Secretary-General draws attention to one of the world’s most alarming processes of environmental degradation, which threatens the health and livelihoods of more than 1 billion people throughout the world, and which causes an estimated $42 billion in lost agricultural production each year.

Copies of the message are available upstairs.

**United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

From the UN Environment Programme, they tell us this morning that investment in the environment will go a long way towards meeting international targets on poverty reduction.  This was declared by Klaus Toepfer, who heads the UN environment agency, speaking in Nairobi at a regional launch of the new UN report on the Millennium Development Goals.

Klaus Toepfer said that the goods and services delivered by nature via the atmosphere, forests, rivers, wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs are worth trillions of dollars.

**Year of Sport

We also have a message today from the Secretary-General, along with the International Olympic Committee President, Jacques Rogge, issued to mark the Olympic Day Run and the International Year of Sport and Physical Education.

Noting that the well-designed sports programme can be a catalyst for economic growth and cost-effective ways to improve health and education for young people, the Secretary-General also calls on the sporting community to re-dedicate itself to community service, the advancement of humankind, and universal peace.

We have the message available upstairs.

**General Assembly Meeting on September Summit

A closed informal meeting of the General Assembly will be held Tuesday, 21 June, on the draft outcome document for the September Summit, presented by the GA President, Jean Ping, to Member States.  The meeting may be extended into Wednesday, depending on the length of the list of speakers.

As part of the preparations for the September Summit, the General Assembly will hold on Thursday and Friday of next week informal, interactive hearings with representatives of NGOs, civil society and the private sector.  Jean Ping will be in this room to brief you on these events on Wednesday, June 22, at 2:30.

**OIOS Investigation

I know a lot of you have been asking about the status of Dileep Nair and the third-party investigation.  I’ve just been given this information.  Following a review by third party of the allegations regarding OIOS management, the Secretary-General has decided to proceed with an investigation.

The initial review was carried out by Jerome Ackerman, a former President of the UN Administrative Tribunal.

The Secretary-General has asked Mr. Ackerman to conduct the investigation with haste, and to complete it within 30 to 45 days.

Today, being Friday, we have the “Week Ahead” for you.  Any questions?  Yes, Nick.

Questions and Answers

Question:  What are they investigating regarding Dileep Nair?

Associate Spokesman:  It is the issues having to do with hiring of people in his Office, as well as general management issues within OIOS.

Question:  What were the results of the outside investigation that led the Secretary-General to make the decision?

Associate Spokesman:  If you recall, more information had been provided by the Staff Union to the Secretary-General.  He decided to ask a third party to review that information to see if there was enough to proceed with a full investigation.  That decision has been made, that there will be an investigation, to be conducted by Mr. Ackerman.

Question:  What would the possible result of an investigation be?  I mean, Mr. Nair, as far as I know, no longer works for the UN.  What can they do?

Associate Spokesman:  It is not just Mr. Nair.  This is first of all an administrative proceeding.  But it will give Mr. Nair a chance to clear his name.  And it will give us a “lessons learned”, in a way, of the management of OIOS and how it can be improved.  It will also give staff members that are still serving, that are involved in this process, closure on the whole episode.

Question:  Can they revoke his pension, or something like that?  Is there any way to hold him accountable if they conclude that there was wrongdoing?

Associate Spokesman:  The pension, as a matter of policy, is something that belongs to a staff member.  It will be a chance for Mr. Nair to clear his name or not, which I think is something that is of key importance to him, as it should be.

Question:  Given the renewed pressure on the Secretary-General and the calls for his resignation, will the Secretary-General consider going to the General Assembly again to get reaffirmation of support from the General Assembly, which he did about a month back.  Do you think that’s a possibility he will consider because of the pressures that are on him now?

Associate Spokesman:  I don’t think there’s a need for him to seek reaffirmation from the Member States.  I think the support for the Secretary-General among the Member States is clear.  They are engaged in the reform process following his proposals.  There is absolutely no need for him to seek any sort of reaffirmation.  The support from the membership is there.

Question:  There was a meeting this morning between the Secretary-General and the Brooklyn borough President.  Do you have a readout on that?  Who asked whom for the meeting and what did they talk about?

Associate Spokesman:  It was a courtesy call that Mr. [Marty] Markowitz had asked the Secretary-General that was granted.  It was merely a courtesy call.

Question:  A month ago there was talk about the UN moving to Brooklyn.  Did they talk about that?

Associate Spokesman:  Mr. Markowitz said he would welcome the United Nations in Brooklyn.  But obviously, the very serious process of the Capital Master Plan and all the options are still being looked at and still being studied.  So there’s nothing new to announce on that front.

Question:  Why did he want to make a courtesy call?

Associate Spokesman:  I think you’d have to ask him.  He asked for a courtesy call.  We granted him the meeting.

Question:  How long was the meeting?

Associate Spokesman:  The meeting was about 10 to 15 minutes, I believe, maybe a little less.

Question:  Is there any reaction to Mr. [Michael] Wilson’s now saying that he did not send the fax and so forth that condemns the Secretary-General?  It was in the (New York) Times this morning.

Associate Spokesman:  We’ve obviously seen Mr. Wilson’s retraction.  The Secretary-General stands by what he told [Paul] Volcker that he had no recollection of meeting Mr. Wilson, and we look forward to Mr. Volcker concluding his work.

Thank you very much.

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