DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Our guests today will be Nobuyasu Abe, the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, as well as the Ambassador of Finland, who is the president-designate of the Second Biennial Meeting on the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons. And they will be here to discuss with you the upcoming meeting.
**Secretary-General - Gleneagles
As he left the G-8 Summit in Gleneagles today, the Secretary-General congratulated Tony Blair and his fellow G-8 leaders on what they have done for Africa. The leaders carried the hopes of the peoples around the world who wanted progress towards reducing poverty in Africa, and got it, the Secretary-General said. He noted the promise to double aid to Africa by 2010, as well as welcome progress on debt cancellation. Further, the African leaders at the G-8 summit reaffirmed their commitment to good governance, democracy and the fight against corruption.
The Secretary-General said he had hoped that G-8 leaders might have committed themselves to a clear, unambiguous date to end export subsidies. But he added that this is the beginning, not the end, for the people and the leaders who made today’s success possible. He concluded, “I hope Gleneagles will be remembered as the beginning of something very big, perhaps even the beginning of the end of mass poverty.”
And we have the full text of his statement upstairs and we had just received a few minutes before the briefing the slightly amended version of the communiqué we put out around 11 o’clock. So, if you want to pick up, in our office, the latest version, that would be great.
**SG Travels
The Secretary-General is now en route to Khartoum, Sudan, where tomorrow he will speak at the ceremony inaugurating the Government of National Unity in that country.
And prior to departing Gleneagles he had participated in the G-8’s meeting on Africa, in which he joined the leaders of Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, the African Union, as well as the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
On the sidelines of the Summit meeting this morning, he met with two of the musicians who had participated in the Live 8 conference that had focused on Africa’s needs –- and those were Bob Geldof and Bono –- as well as with the film director Richard Curtis.
**Sudan
Turning to Sudan, the UN refugee agency reports that there were some security incidents this morning in West Darfur, in several camps for internally displaced persons. The agency says that as people were lining up to be registered for food distribution, groups of young men armed with sticks and stones began attacking aid workers. As a result, UNHCR -- as well as the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF, NGOs -- withdrew from most of the camps in the area. UNHCR says that some of its teams were escorted back to West Darfur’s capital by African Union forces. Some minor injuries and damage to vehicles were also reported. And we have more information upstairs from the UN Mission in Sudan.
**SG Statement on Bolivia
I have a statement on Bolivia.
“The Secretary-General is greatly encouraged by the agreements reached by Bolivia’s Parliament this week to hold elections for President, Vice-President, as well as Parliament and regional governors in December of this year, followed by a referendum on regional autonomy and elections for a Constituent Assembly in July 2006.
“He is also heartened that the majority of Bolivia’s political forces have worked together to find a democratic solution to the political impasse in that country.
“The UN remains committed to sending assistance to Bolivia in carrying out these important elections. An Electoral Needs Assessment Mission from the Department of Political Affairs will be visiting Bolivia in the coming days at the invitation of Bolivia’s National Electoral Council. In this regard, electoral assistance was one of the recommendations made by Under-Secretary-General for Social and Economic Affairs, José Antonio Ocampo, as a result of his recent visit to Bolivia on the Secretary-General’s behalf.”
**Security Council
Later today at 3 p.m., the Security Council is scheduled to hold closed consultations to consider a draft presidential statement on the murder of the senior Egyptian envoy in Iraq, Ihab al-Sharif. The Council is then expected to go into a formal meeting to adopt that statement.
Yesterday afternoon, we issued a statement on behalf of the Secretary-General, in which he condemned in the strongest terms those who planned and executed this callous act, which no cause can justify, he said in the statement. The Secretary-General hopes that Iraqi authorities will do everything possible to apprehend those responsible and bring them to justice.
**Zimbabwe
On Zimbabwe, Anna Tibaijuka, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to that country, met with President Mugabe this morning on the last day of her visit. As you know, she has been assessing the impact of the housing demolition that’s been going on in that country. And she will then report back to the Secretary-General.
**Democratic Republic of Congo
From the Democratic Republic of the Congo, yesterday, Mamitsho Ngodia Mvita, a female law student at the University of Kinshasa, became the 1 millionth person to register to vote in the capital of the DRC. Registration began on June 20 and by now the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has opened more than 900 offices throughout the country. The UN and the international community are providing logistical assistance to the commission for the elections which are scheduled to take place later this year.
And next Tuesday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Congo, William Swing, will be in Brussels to participate in an EU-hosted donors’ conference on financing for the electoral process.
**Nepal
Turning to Nepal, Lakhdar Brahimi, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, will visit that country from July 10 to the 15. As part of the Secretary-General’s ongoing effort to help find a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Nepal, Brahimi will meet, among others, the King of Nepal, senior government officials, leaders of political parties and a cross-section of representatives of Nepalese society.
**UNHCR
Earlier this week on Tuesday, we had told you that the UN refugee agency was pushing for the relocation of 10,000 refugees from the Central African Republic to less remote areas of Chad before the onset of the rainy season. UNHCR has just informed us that Chadian officials have now agreed to the agency’s relocation request, and that the refugees will now be moved to an existing camp in the southern town of Gore. The agency has bolstered its staff in Gore as well. But UNHCR also reports that flooding is already beginning to obstruct some movements in the region. And we have more information on that upstairs.
**Kyrgyzstan
Today, UN officials expressed hopes for a free and fair and transparent election in Kyrgyzstan, which is scheduled to take place this Sunday, emphasizing the importance of peaceful democratic transition not just for Kyrgyzstan, but for all of Central Asia.
“Kyrgyzstan is at a turning point”, said Jerzy Skuratowicz, the UN Resident Coordinator in that country. “There is an urgent need to bring stability to the country and to strengthen national institutions through free and fair elections.” The presidential elections of July 10 were organized in just three months, following the resignation of former President Akaev in April. And the UN Development Programme has put out a press release with a little more detail.
**Hurricane Dennis
Just a couple more notes, turning to Hurricane Dennis, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination Teams are on alert and on standby for possible deployment to the Caribbean.
Last month, OCHA, in conjunction with the UN Mission in Haiti, the UN Country Team and government authorities, had conducted two simulation exercises to prepare for natural disaster evacuations. So far, in the hurricane’s wake, some 300 persons in Haiti have been evacuated to temporary shelters.
**Flood
And speaking of water and heavy rain, here in New York, it’s affected us. As some of you may have noticed that the TV systems are out due to flooding in the GeneralAssemblyBuilding, which has affected the north-east part of the building, as well as a number of conference rooms. All power has been shut down. And we’re told that necessary repairs and cleanups are under way to restore services as soon as possible.
**UNTV
And this afternoon, World Chronicle will be shown today, it’s a 60th Anniversary special episode hosted by Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor, and the guest will be former Under-Secretary-General Sir Brain Urquhart. The topic will be the UN’s evolution since 1945. And it will air, if the TV service is back up, on UNTV on channels 3 and 31 at 3:30 p.m.
**Press Conferences
Press conferences: today at 12:45 p.m., Ibrahim Keita, the speaker of the National Assembly of Mali; Mr. von Sydow, the Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden; and Senator Dulce Maria Sauri, Representative of the Speaker of the Mexican Senate, will speak about the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
And our guest on Monday will be Stan Nkwain, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for the Central African Republic. And he will be here to discuss recent developments in that country.
That’s it for me. Before we move to our guests, any questions?
**Questions and Answers
Question: First of all, I believe the question was raised earlier this week about an anonymous letter ... about a gentleman in the procurement department ... and allegations against him. And I’m wondering if there was ever any follow-up on that.
Spokesman: There was follow-up. The head of the management division, Chris Burnham, who oversees the procurement division, as soon as that letter was received, asked OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services) to vigorously look into the matter to see if there was any substance to these accusations. Mr. Burnhamhas just informed us this morning that OIOS has told him that there is absolutely no substance to these allegations and accusations against the individual.
Question: On the same topic, there was a note by the Secretary-General today on a report of the Joint Inspection Unit on procurement reform that apparently the Joint Inspection Unit recommended a centralization of procurement. That was ... that the Secretary-General and his chief executives board rejects. And I’m wondering what the... was the Joint Inspections Unit recommendations ... are these mandatory? Or are these purely suggestions? And now that the Secretary-General and the CEB have rejected them, that means this goes no further or is there some process?
Spokesman: Not wanting to speak off the top of my head, I will check that out for you.
Question: On Iraq, is Mr. Qazi about to come here soon to give us a briefing and does the United Nations have any figures of the people killed in Iraq since the US-led war on Iraq?
Spokesman: We have no way of keeping track of such figures on an official basis. I will check for you when Mr. Qazi is expected to come to New York and as I’ve promised you in the past, when he does come to brief the Security Council, we will make sure he stops here to speak to you.
Question: How much did the renovation of the General Assembly roof cost when that was done?
Spokesman: I will try to get a figure for you.
Question: They seem to have really done a great job.
Spokesman: It’s Friday.
[The Spokesman later announced that the Facilities Management Division has confirmed that the flooding in the General Assembly Hall has nothing to do with the roof and nothing to do with the rain outside.]
Question: Stéphane, you mentioned that there is a team looking at Hurricane Dennis. How big of a group or what sort of assets would the UN throw toward that area should it become necessary?
Spokesman: These teams... by OCHA are namely coordination teams, I don’t know exactly how many... you’re looking usually at fairly small teams that will go on site to coordinate whatever international aid may come in from various countries. This is the kind of work they performed during the tsunami. And obviously in Haiti, we do have a leg up because we have a peacekeeping mission there with air assets and troops that can help out.
Question: One more quick one. The Press Spokesman’s Office announcement of our invited guests of this briefing and the media alert made no mention of what these gentlemen were here to speak about.
Spokesman: About the small arms...
Question: Yes...
Spokesman: We mentioned it yesterday... I mentioned it from this podium yesterday... when I flagged the press conference.
Question: Just a follow-up on an earlier suggestion that the media alert and the Spokesman Office’s announcement could be more useful...
Spokesman: Check the media alert, but I clearly stated why they were here in my announcement yesterday.
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