United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-08-16

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MANOEL DE ALMEIDA E SILVA
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

• The Taliban authorities in Kabul have today forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to close all 24 of its women’s bakeries.

• The bakeries are run by 360 women workers who provide subsidized bread for 7,200 very poor families, comprising of more than 42,000 people, mostly women and children. The women and children who benefit from this program are amongst the poorest and most vulnerable people in Afghanistan. The loss of this support will result in the increased poverty, and possibly the loss of life and health for these women and children.

• The authorities have accused the WFP of violating an edict issued in July banning the employment of Afghan women by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, except in the health sector.

• The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator deplores this development, which adds further to the discrimination and suffering of Afghan women.

• The socioeconomic conditions in Afghanistan continue to be dire. The priority for UN humanitarian agencies in Afghanistan remains the provision of much needed assistance to the four million Afghans whose lives will be seriously threatened by the current drought and the rapidly approaching winter.

• In response to a question, the Spokesman said he knew of no plans by the United Nations to pull out of Afghanistan completely in light of this latest development.

ANNAN ASKS FOR INTERIM EXTENSION OF DRC MISSION

• In a letter to the Security Council, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked for a one-month interim extension of the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), which is currently set to expire at the end of this month.

• The next report of the Secretary-General on the Mission would be due by August 24, but in the letter, which was sent on Monday, Annan asks the Council for sufficient time to assess the impact of recent developments, including the summit meeting which ended in Lusaka yesterday.

• In the letter, he notes the "adverse climate which has so far prevented the deployment of MONUC."

• The Secretary-General also underscores persistent, large-scale fighting in much of the country; severe restrictions on the Mission's movement imposed by the Government, as well as its refusal to permit the deployment of armed UN troops; and a "sustained campaign of vilification" conducted against the Mission and its staff.

• He adds, "The role MONUC can play under current circumstances remains unclear."

UN TEAM TRAVELS TO DR OF CONGO TO ASSESS KISANGANI DAMAGE

• A five-member UN team is leaving today for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to begin a brief visit to Kinshasa and Kisangani.

• The team intends to provide an assessment of the damage caused by fighting in Kisangani, in accordance with paragraph 14 of Security Council Resolution 1304, which requested such an assessment from the Secretary-General.

• The team is led by Omar Bakhet, Director of the Emergency Response Division of the UN Development Programme, and is expected to travel to Kisangani within the next few days.

• It is scheduled to return to New York on August 26 and to report to the Secretary-General shortly afterward.

COUNCIL BRIEFED ON SOMALIA, HAITI AND BURUNDI

• This morning, the Security Council was briefed in closed consultations by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Danilo Turk on the latest developments in the Somali peace process.

• The Djibouti peace initiative for Somalia has reached an important milestone with the forming of a transitional government following the recent inauguration of Somali Transitional National Assembly last Sunday in Djibouti.

• Turk also briefed the Council on the security situation in Haiti, following the shooting death last week of Garfield Lyle, a UN employee in Port-au-Prince.

• The Council then received a joint briefing by Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet and Turk on the ongoing Burundian peace process and its implications for the United Nations.

KOSOVO COUNCIL EXPRESSES OUTRAGE AT DEATH OF PRISONERS

• The Kosovo Transitional Council (KTC) today issued a statement today expressing outrage over the death, in unclear circumstances, of two Kosovo Albanians held in Serbian jails.

• The KTC repeated its demand that all Kosovo Albanian incarcerated in Serbia be immediately handed over to the UN Mission in Kosovo. The Council said it was alarmed at reports of worsening detention conditions in centers for Kosovo prisoners held in Serbia.

• Also, the Transitional Council met today to hear a briefing on the Kosovo Protection Corps, given by the two heads of the Department of Civil Security and Emergency Preparedness (Bislim Zyrapi and Roland Nilsson) and by the Corps Commander, Agim Ceku.

EAST TIMOR SHIFTS TIME ZONE

• The Cabinet of the East Timor Transition Administration decided today to advance East Timor's time by one hour.

• The time change, which will be permanent, with no seasonal adjustment, will happen at midnight on Saturday, September 16. The decision for the change was taken to promote energy saving and to bring East Timor in line with the regional time zone.

FOOD SITUATION IN EAST AFRICA WORSENING, ACCORDING TO FAO

• The latest report by the Food and Agricultural Organization on food supply and crop prospects in sub-Saharan Africa says that food shortages in Eastern African will affect 20 million people, an increase of three million since April. Continuing drought, as well as war and civil strife, has severely limited farming activities in many areas of the region.

• The report also shows some bright spots: in southern Africa. The overall cereal production for this year is expected to be above normal in that region, and the food supply in western Africa is described as stable, with above average crop yields in most of the region.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Among the documents released today at UN headquarters, there is a report by the Secretary-General on procurement reform, (A/55/127). It details the initiatives taken by the UN Secretariat in increasing transparency and evaluation objectivity in the bidding process, while encouraging greater participation by vendors from developing countries and countries in economic transition, and increasing the cost-effectiveness of the Secretariat's procurement activities.

• A press release issued by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) notes the role that Burundian women played in crafting proposals for the peace process. Those recommendations were made at a conference held last month in Arusha, Tanzania, which was organized by UNIFEM and by the facilitator of the Arusha process, former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Back to the Spokesman's Page

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article