United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-05-23

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

FROM THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, May 23, 2001

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES TALIBAN TO REJECT IDENTITY LABELS

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement, voiced his dismay at the proposal by the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan to force non-Muslim citizens of their country to wear identity labels on their clothing. "Such an order would constitute a grave violation of human rights, and recalls some of the most deplorable acts of discrimination in history," the statement said.

The Secretary-General appealed to the Taliban leadership to reject this proposal, and to focus their efforts on alleviating the suffering of their people.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in a joint statement, said, "Prescribing how certain groups of people should dress or otherwise singling them out so that they can be easily identifiable is at best discriminatory. Similar practices in the past -- from Nazi Germany in the 1930s to Rwanda in the early 1990s -- have led to the most horrible crimes."

Asked about UN action regarding the Taliban proposal, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General's Personal Representative, Francesc Vendrell, has been in contact with the Taliban leadership, who have said the proposal has not yet been adopted. The United Nations is urging the Taliban not to take the final step of approving the resolution.

Asked about Taliban offices in New York, the Spokesman said the U.S. Government has closed those offices. By May 20, he added, the Taliban had closed four out of five UN political offices in the parts of Afghanistan that it controls. Still open are political offices in Kabul and Faisabad, the latter of which is controlled by the opposition. Humanitarian work was not affected by the closures.

ANNAN TO MEET U.S. CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS IN WASHINGTON

The Secretary-General will be going to Washington Thursday for a series of meetings with Congressional leaders.

In the morning, he will be seeing Minority Leader of the House of Representatives Richard Gephardt and other Democratic Party members.

He will then meet with the Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Henry Hyde, and other members of that committee, including ranking minority member Tom Lantos.

After a private lunch, he will meet with the editorial board of The Washington Post before meeting with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. These will include Committee Chairman Jesse Helms and ranking minority member Joseph Biden.

After that, he will meet with Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle, as well as members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

He will return to New York Thursday evening.

In response to questions about the trip, the Spokesman said it was in response to invitations that had been received, and that the United Nations had fleshed out the program to have a balanced mix of meetings with members of Congress. The meeting would address concerns by Congressional members, and was part of a series of regular visits with Parliamentary bodies that the Secretary-General holds.

Asked whether the Secretary-General would also meet the Supreme Court, the Spokesman declined comment. He noted that Annan would have a private working luncheon Thursday.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES UN OBSERVERS IN GOLAN HEIGHTS

The Security Council held consultations today on the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights, on which it received a briefing by Joachim Hütter, Director of the Asia and Middle East Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

He presented the Secretary-General's latest report on the Force, which recommends a six-month extension of the Mission, whose current mandate expires at the end of this month. The Council expects to vote on the Force next week.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Council held consultations on Iraq, and two delegations -- the United Kingdom and Russia -- each introduced draft resolutions concerning the next phase of the "oil-for-food" program. The current phase, Phase IX, expires on June 3. U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham, the Council President, said after the consultations Tuesday that the UK draft, which is supported by the United States, will be discussed at the expert level on Thursday.

There are no Security Council consultations scheduled for Thursday. The Council Ambassadors have been invited by the United States to tour the USS John F. Kennedy, one of the ships that will be in New York for the U.S. "Fleet Week," prior to the U.S. Memorial Day holiday next Monday.

Asked about the Council's consideration of the Iraq draft resolutions, the Spokesman said that Council members indicated they would work on them and try to come up with one resolution on which all members could agree.

COUNCIL MISSION MEETS BURUNDI PRESIDENT IN CAPITAL

The Security Council mission to the Great Lakes region arrived this morning in Bujumbura, Burundi, to discuss support of the Arusha Peace Process for Burundi.

The mission's leader, Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France, said on the conflict in Burundi that "there is no military solution to this crisis." He said the Council would plead for peace and for the establishment of democratic institutions there that would fully protect minority rights.

Levitte added that the Council was aware of the link between the situations in Burundi and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC). "We will not allow for a solution to the conflict in the DRC to be had at the expense of Burundi," he said.

He noted that, on Tuesday night, during a joint meeting of the Council and the Political Committee of the Lusaka Accords in Lusaka, Zambia, Burundi was present for the first time as an observer.

The Council members met today with the signatories of the Arusha accords for more than an hour, and then met with President Pierre Buyoya at the Presidential Palace.

They then flew to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where the mission will meet with the leadership of the National Liberation Front (FNL), one of two armed Hutu rebel groups that have not yet signed the Arusha accords.

UN ENVOY TO VISIT MYANMAR NEXT WEEK

Razali Ismail, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Myanmar, will visit Yangon from June 1 to 4 to help facilitate the process of democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar, the Spokesman noted. This will be his fourth mission to Myanmar.

During his stay in Yangon, Razali will hold discussions with officials of the Government and the National League for Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

WHO, SWISS COMPANY SIGN AGREEMENT ON MALARIA DRUG PRICES

The World Health Organization ( WHO) and the Swiss drug company Novartis today signed an agreement to provide developing countries with a new treatment for drug-resistant malaria. The new drug has cure rates above 95 percent, even in areas of multi-drug resistance.

Novartis will supply the drug to WHO at the cost price of 10 cents a tablet, or less than $2.50 for a full adult treatment and even less for children. Malaria kills more young children in Africa than AIDS.

In a statement at the signing ceremony, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of WHO, said that public-private partnerships are key to fighting diseases of poverty. She went on to say that the collaboration with Novartis was "important proof of pharmaceutical companies responding to the call to action against the main diseases which are linked with poverty in developing countries."

UNHCR ASKS FOR INTERNATIONAL HELP FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED

UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers today identified steps for a more coordinated international effort to help the worlds estimated 20-25 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). He said UNHCR was ready to continue its IDP-related work, but other humanitarian agencies should also get more involved.

While emphasizing the primary responsibility of States to protect their own citizens, Lubbers stressed the importance of a clear system for allocating responsibility among UN and other humanitarian agencies for the provision of help to internally displaced people in dire need.

He also said humanitarian involvement in internal displacement situations must be accompanied by an effort to resolve the political problems that cause such crises in the first place.

MORE THAN 2,200 REFUGEES FLEE TO GAMBIA

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR) reported today that more than 2,200 people have fled to Gambia in the past few days following an upsurge of fighting in the neighboring Senegalese province of Casamance.

The majority of those fleeing the fighting so far have been women and children. UNHCR staff on the border reported that the refugees were exhausted, but appeared generally to be in good health.

The refugees say they fled from villages in the northern part of the troubled Casamance region after Government troops launched a search operation for rebels.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Asked about the status of voluntary contributions to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Spokesman said that, although a number of countries had offered contributions in kind before today's deadline for donations, the offers do not come near to the minimum amount the Secretary-General has sought. The United Nations will continue contacts with donors to obtain the necessary level of funding.

Today in East Timor, a draft labor code was agreed upon following three days of consultations between the Transitional Administration, employers, workers and civil society. The code covers a range of issues, including termination of employment, the setting of a minimum wage, labor relations, occupational safety and health. The code now goes to the UN Mission's legal advisers, and a final draft is expected to go to the Timorese Transitional Cabinet by mid-June.

Today, during the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, a Caribbean regional seminar is taking place in Havana, Cuba, on decolonization. The Secretary-General issued a message supporting that seminar's work, and saying, "Decolonization is clearly one of the great success stories of the last half-century, and we must see the process through to its end."

Portugal today became the 80th Member State to pay its 2001 regular budget contribution in full with a payment of more than $4 million. At this time last year, 89 Member States had paid their contribution in full.

UN tour guides in both New York and Geneva have received a donation of footwear from the Italian company Valleverde. The shoes were chosen for both comfort and style and will complement new uniforms that will be unveiled in the summer. The guides will be celebrating their 50th anniversary next year.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

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