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.  Just after we’re done with this briefing the Secretary-General will come down and introduce to you his new High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. António Guterres, and then Mr. Guterres will remain here and take your questions.

**United Nations Sixtieth Anniversary Commemoration

Today, in the General Assembly Hall, the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter was observed, as the preamble to the Charter was read out by United Nations tour guides.

After that, the Secretary-General said that, over sixty years, “where we could, we have averted the scourge of war.  Where we could not, we have sought to resolve conflict and build peace.”

He outlined the United Nations successes over the years, and also pointed to its failures -- worst of all the collective failure to prevent the genocide in Rwanda.

Now, he said, there is an opportunity to change the United Nations and to allow it to deal with new threats and challenges.  “Let us all work together, to ensure that this once-in-a-generation opportunity is not missed.”

Also speaking at the ceremony was the President of the General Assembly, Jean Ping.  He stated that this was “another occasion to reaffirm our devotion to the goals and principles of the Charter, by favouring development, by rejecting war as a means of settling differences between nations and by condemning without reserve all forms of violations of basic human rights”.

**Zimbabwe

Turning to Zimbabwe, Anna Tibaijuka, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Human Settlement Issues in that country, arrived in Harare yesterday.

She was sent there, as you know, by the Secretary-General to study the scope of the recent eviction of illegal dwellers, informal traders and squatters, and the humanitarian impact it has had on the affected population.

Ms. Tibaijuka has been briefed about the situation on the ground by United Nations staff in Zimbabwe and she’s now mapping out her work for the days ahead, which will include discussion with a broad range of actors, especially the affected population.

Ms. Tibaijuka expects to meet with President Robert Mugabe over the next day or so. 

**Financing for Development

Also earlier today, the Secretary-General this morning told the second high-level dialogue on Financing for Development that we are at a moment when nations can help to make poverty history.  The Monterrey Consensus has brought rich and poor countries together in partnership, he said, while the Millennium Project has given us a plan of action.

The question now, twelve weeks before the United Nations September Summit, is whether we can close that deal.  The Secretary-General said that never, perhaps, have a few weeks mattered so much for the world’s poor as the next few.

And copies of his statement are available upstairs.

**Security Council

Turning to the Security Council, this morning members are holding closed consultations on the situation in Liberia.  The Secretary-General’s Acting Special Representative, Abou Moussa, briefed members on the latest report on that country, which was issued on Friday.

Also on the agenda is the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Council members are discussing a draft presidential statement.

**Kyrgyzstan

Turning to Kyrgyzstan, ending a high-level visit to that country, United Nations Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Kamel Morjane urged the Kyrgyz authorities, on Monday, to continue offering protection to 444 Uzbek asylum-seekers.  He promised generous and targeted international support to the government in this task.

The Secretary-General spoke over the weekend to President Bakiev of Kyrgyzstan, to ask him to ensure that no further Uzbek asylum seekers are forcibly returned.  He also reminded the President of Kyrgyzstan’s international obligations and offered the assistance of the United Nations in resolving the problem.

**Afghanistan

Over the weekend in a statement, Jean Arnault, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, condemned the escalation of violence that has taken place in that country since last year’s presidential elections.

He said that the authors and supporters of such violence inflict unacceptable suffering on a country that struggles to rebuild security, stability and confidence amongst its citizens.  It creates a climate of fear at a time when the population is preparing for parliamentary and provincial elections.

**General Assembly Informal Consultations

We’ve been told by General Assembly Affairs that informal consultations by General Assembly members on the draft outcome document for the September Summit will resume on Thursday, 30 June.

**Photo Exhibit

And lastly, a major photo exhibit commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the Charter will open tonight at 6 p.m. in the north-east Visitor’s Lobby.  The exhibit is sponsored by the Department of Public Information and the Hewlett-Packard Company.  The Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan, as well as Dr. Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner and United Nations Messenger for Peace, are expected to attend.  Correspondents are all invited and invitations are available upstairs.

**Press Conferences

And lastly on press conferences.  Today at 2 p.m., the United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, will speak about Financing for Development.

Tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., César Mayoral, the Ambassador of Argentina, as well as Ambassador Løj of Denmark and Ambassador Motoc of Romania will brief the press on the work of the Al-Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Committee, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540.

Then at 3 p.m., there will be a briefing by European Union Commissioners Jean-Louis Shiltz, Louis Michel and Peter Andelsou to discuss Financing for Development.

That’s it for me.  Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  What are the next steps that need to be taken with the Uzbek refugees?  Do you know what’s going to happen next?

Associate Spokesperson:  The next step is for the Kyrgyz Government to declare these people asylum-seekers, at which point the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) can kick in and provide them with the necessary humanitarian support.  [It was later clarified that the Kyrgyz and UNHCR are doing a rapid determination of who is a refugee.  The next step would be to look at the following options -- repatriation, integration in the country of first asylum or resettlement to a third country.  More details are in the UNHCR press release.]

Thank you very much, and we’ll wait just a few minutes for the Secretary-General.

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