United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-06-08

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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

Friday, June 8, 2001

ANNAN TO TRAVEL TO MIDDLE EAST AS PART OF PEACE EFFORT

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided that it would be timely for him to visit the Middle East next week, as part of his ongoing efforts to find a political solution to the Israeli/Palestinian crisis, and to promote a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement in the Middle East, based on relevant United Nations resolutions.

A statement issued through his Spokesman said the Secretary-General has been following closely the situation in the Middle East, including in particular the current crisis between Israelis and Palestinians. He has maintained close contacts with the parties and is in regular touch with other leaders in the region and of the international community.

He fully endorses the current efforts of the United States, the European Union and the Russian Federation, among others, to help bring about an end to the current cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, and the resumption of a meaningful political process on the basis of the Mitchell Committee report which both parties have accepted.

The announcement was made as the Secretary-General briefed the Security Council ambassadors on the latest developments in the Middle East.

[The Secretary-General, in remarks to reporters in the afternoon, said that during the mission he will seek the views of the leaders in the region, exchange ideas and explore collectively how to end the violence and move the parties back to the negotiating table. He said he would visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria Jordan, Lebanon and end up in Jerusalem and Gaza. I think all of us, all of those who are interested in calming the situation, are working in the same direction, the Secretary General said. There is no divergence of views or separate initiatives. We are all together on this.]

At the briefing, in response to a question on whether the Secretary-Generals trip to the Middle East was in response to an invitation from one or both of the parties or is this his own initiative, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General has been coordinating very closely with the United States, the European Union and the Russian Federation. He added that the UN Special Coordinator Terje Roed-Larsen, is on the ground and has had regular contacts with both the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The Secretary-General, the Spokesman said, feels that at this time when the ceasefire continues to hold, there is a window of opportunity.

Asked if the Secretary-General could have a role in facilitating the implementation of the Mitchell Commission recommendations, the Spokesman that the Secretary-General is trying to coordinate the international response to the crisis and to get the collective political pressure of the international community behind the implementation of the Mitchell Commission.

The Spokesman added that as long as the ceasefire is holding there is a chance for political movement but that the two parties can not do it alone and that the Secretary-General feels that since the mistrust has grown very deep it will take a major push on the part of the international community to get things going in the right direction. The Secretary-General, the Spokesman concluded, is trying to do his part in that.

REPORT ON PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS INTRODUCED IN THE COUNCIL

On the agenda of this mornings closed consultations of the Security Council is the report of the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations, which examined the relationship among the Security Council, troop contributors and the UN Secretariat.

The report, including the resolution, was introduced to the Council by Ambassador Curtis Ward of Jamaica, the groups chairman.

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME PLANE HIT IN ANGOLA

In Angola this morning at 6:27a.m. local time, a Boeing 727 operated by the World Food Programme ( WFP) and clearly marked as such - was hit by anti-aircraft missile while on approach to the airport in Luena.

The number 2 engine was hit and badly damaged as the plane was about 10 kilometers out of the airport and at an altitude of 15,000 feet. Despite the seriousness of the damage, the crew managed to land the plane safely at Luena.

WFP is conducting an investigation and has suspended air operations into Luena, at least for today.

Luena, located in the eastern part of the country, is one of the many towns in Angola that WFP can only supply by air, but WFP have enough supplies to cover the next four to five weeks.

In response to questions, the Spokesman later added that the plane had a crew of three and it was carrying 17 tons of sugar, corn and beans. It was not immediately known who carried out the attack.

UN AGENCIES COMMEND NEW PLEDGE TO GLOBAL AIDS FUND

Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS ( UNAIDS) welcomed today the $1 million contribution by Winterthur Insurance, a subsidiary of Credit Suisse, to the Global AIDS and Health Fund.

We commend Winterthur for being the first private company to commit needed resources in the fight against HIV/AIDS to the Global Fund, Piot said in a statement.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, also commended Winterthur, saying it was very exciting to see that the private sector is now beginning to mobilize its support for this new initiative to control AIDS, TB and malaria.

The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) issued a chart today on the worldwide population impact and policies of HIV/AIDS. Though the use of condoms is the cheapest and most effective form of protection against the transmission of HIV, the chart shows that nearly all countries in Africa have use rates of less than 5 percent. The highest rates of condom use occur in Europe, particularly Northern Europe.

REGISTRATION OF EAST TIMORESE POPULATION CLOSE TO COMPLETION

Eighty-two percent more than 668,000 people of East Timors population have been registered by the UN Missions (UNTAET) Civil Registration Unit as June 7.

Three districts, Ainaro, Suai and Same, have registered over 90 percent of their population and 83 percent of the population in the capital Dili has been registered.

The civil registration will provide numbers on the East Timorese population and will generate the data for the establishment of the list of voters in the 30 August Constituent Assembly election.

In reference to the registration exercise conducted by the Indonesian authorities in West Timor, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said today that UNTAET is interested in knowing the number of refugees still in West Timor. The Special Representative added: given the coercive circumstances the refugees have been living under for almost 20 months, the Transitional Administration will not take the results of the choices made by the refugees as necessarily reflecting their true and definite desires.

AID AGENCIES EXPRESS CONCERN AT PLIGHT OF AFGHANS

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is very concerned about the renewed fighting in northern Afghanistan, warning that it could send thousands fleeing toward the countrys borders.

UNHCR also reported that, despite intensified efforts to ease the suffering of Afghans at the makeshift Jalozai refugee camp in Pakistan, a total of 43 people, mostly children, have died since the first of May.

The World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in a joint press release, said that 5 million people need food aid in that country.

UN PEACEKEEPERS ESCORT FUEL BARGE ON CONGO RIVER

The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( MONUC) said that two speed patrol boats, named Uruguay 1 and Uruguay 2, escorting a barge carrying fuel and vehicles left Kinshasa today for Mbandaka.

The convoy with 12 crew-members of the Uruguayan riverine unit on board, is expected to reach Mbandaka after seven days.

This mission aims at testing the navigability of the river, which has remained closed for over two years. It will also test the safety on the river in order to open it to normal traffic in a bid to resume trade between the Congolese provinces.

Thursday, a team of three MONUC observers boarded a boat from Mbandaka to Kisangani to prepare the openness of the river to free movement of people and goods.

All these movements are in line with the Security Council decision to open the river Congo as announced by a Council mission to the Great Lakes region.

The Secretary-Generals report to the Security Council on the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is expected out on Monday.

UN APPEALS FOR FUNDING FOR WESTERN SAHARAN REFUGEES

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR) and the World Food Programme ( WFP) are appealing for $1.2 million per month for more than 150,000 Western Saharan refugees living in remote camps in southwest Algeria who are in dire need of regular and sufficient aid deliveries.

The Western Saharan refugees have spent the last 26 years in windswept exile awaiting a political solution.

DONORS TO MEET ON FINANCING DISARMAMENT PROCESS IN SIERRA LEONE

The World Bank will convene a donor's meeting next week (June 11-12) in Paris for the funding of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration process in Sierra Leone. The United Nations will be represented by the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji and other senior officials.

The UN mission in Sierra Leone ( UNAMSIL) today announced that an advance party of 265 Pakistani troops have arrived in Sierra Leone, the first group of more than 4,000 Pakistani peacekeepers expected to join the mission. The troops are scheduled to arrive in stages, beginning on July 12 and continuing until August 22.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The United Nations Children's Fund ( UNICEF) today announced in a press release, that about 2.5 million pledges have been registered in the last six weeks in the Say Yes for Children campaign launched in April. The pledges, collected by both traditional methods and online, will be presented at the Special Session on Children in September.

Friday afternoon, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, bringing the number of signatories to 161.

Also, Bulgaria was expected to sign both Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Bulgaria will become the 80th country to sign the Protocol on the Involvement of Children n Armed Conflict and the 73rd to sign the Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Monday, June 11

The guest at the noon briefing is Dileep Nair, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, who will talk about the OIOS report on UN Office in Vienna.

The Security Council will hold consultations on the report of the United Nations mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

The annual session of the Joint United Nations Development Programme/UNFPA Executive Board begins today and will end on June 22.

At 12.45 p.m., the Japanese Mission is sponsoring a press conference by Mrs. Sadako Ogata and Professor Amartya Sen, Co-Chairs of the Commission on Human Security, who will brief the press on the results of the first meeting of the Commission which was held 8-10 June.

The third meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children begins today in New York and lasts until Wednesday 13.

A two-day meeting of the Multi-donor Trust Fund, organized by the World Bank, begins at the World Bank Office in Paris, to replenish the Trust Fund that had been established to support the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process in Sierra Leone.

The International Labour Conference continues in Geneva. The meeting began on June 5 and will end on June 21. The Director-General is due to address the plenary today.

The 44th Session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space continues and will consider

Tuesday, June 12

The Security Council will hold consultations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

At 12.45 p.m. the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) will hold a press conference on the "Global Report on Use of Child Soldiers".

The UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) report is due today.

The Third Asian Development Forum begins today in Bangkok. The three-day forum will include two seminars on Cyber Crime: Threats to the New Economy and Vulnerability and Poverty.

Wednesday, June 13

The Security Council will hold a public meeting on the DRC.

The report on the Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is due.

Thursday, June 14

The Security Council will hold consultations on the mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

Friday, June 15

The Security Council will hold public meetings on the mission in the DRC (MONUC), UNFICYP and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the morning. The Security Council Mission to Kosovo departs in the afternoon.

At 11.00 a.m., Ambassador Bagher Asadi of Iran, Chairman of the Group of 77 which is celebrating it's 37th anniversary, will hold a press conference to talk about the accomplishments of the Group and its members over that past 37 years.

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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