United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-06-11

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

FROM THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MANOEL DE ALMEIDA E SILVA

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, June 11, 2001

SECRETARY-GENERAL LEAVES FOR MIDDLE EAST

Secretary-General Kofi Annan left New York this morning for London on his way to the Middle East. After spending the night in London, he will travel to Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday morning.

There have been a number of changes to his itinerary. The planned meeting with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Ibn Abdul Azia Al Saud, has been cancelled due to conflict in schedules.

On Wednesday morning, the Secretary-General is expected to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher El Sayed as well as the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Amre Moussa.

The Secretary-General is scheduled to leave Cairo on Wednesday for Damascus, Syria, and on Thursday he will go from there to Amman, Jordan.

On Friday, he will be in Lebanon, on Saturday in Israel and Sunday in the Palestinian Authority.

In preparation for the Secretary-Generals visit to the region, Terje Roed Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East, met separately with U.S. Special Envoy William Burns, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and officials from the Office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

In response to a question on the types of contacts the Secretary-General has had with the various parties, the Spokesman answered that the Secretary-General has regular contacts by phone and once he is the region he does plan to meet face to face with the various actors involved in finding a solution to the current crisis.

Asked if, during his stopovers in Damascus and Beirut, the Secretary-General would try to revive the Syrian and Lebanese talks with Israel, the Spokesman answered that he would not want to speculate on the nature of the discussions the Secretary-General will be having in those capitals.

MORE FLEE FIGHTING IN FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today urged all sides in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonias (FYROM) intensifying conflict to step back from the brink.

The warning came as thousands of ethnic Albanians crossed the border into neighboring Kosovo for a fourth straight day.

High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers said, More than 1 million people in the Balkans remain displaced from the conflicts of the past decade. The last thing the region needs is more refugees.

UNHCR workers monitoring the main Blace border crossing between FYROM and Kosovo say about 12,000 people -- mostly women and children -- have crossed the frontier since Friday. Many were exhausted after walking for hours in the scorching Balkan heat.

Meanwhile, the Kosovo Force said nations serving with KFOR have responded to a request, received from the FYROM government on Friday, to assist in the relief of the humanitarian crisis in Kumanovo. Sunday afternoon KFOR water tankers from the Polish contingent began delivering drinking water to distribution points in Kumanovo to help relieve the suffering of the people there.

KFOR, in a joint briefing with the UN mission in Kosovo said in Pristina that further reinforcement of the Kosovo-FYROM border continues. Over the weekend 16 people were detained, in four separate incidents, and a number of weapons and equipment seized.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES CHILDREN SUMMIT FOLLOW-UP

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette today addressed the third substantive session of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session on Children, and introduced the Secretary-General's report on the implementation of the follow-up to the 1990 World Summit for Children.

The picture that emerges, she said, is one of mixed results. Although some 155 countries have adopted national programs of action to move forward the agenda for children, over 10 million children still die each year, often from easily preventable causes, and an estimated 150 million suffer from malnutrition.

She noted four priorities for children in the new decade: promoting healthy lives; providing quality education; protecting children from abuse, exploitation and violence; and combating

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON SOMALIA AND UN OPERATIONS IN CYPRUS

This morning the Security Council met in closed consultations with a briefing from Ibrahima Fall, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, on the latest developments in Somalia.

Immediately afterwards, Council members discussed the Secretary-Generals latest report on the UN operations in Cyprus ( UNFICYP).

As part of that discussion, the Council received a briefing by the Secretary-Generals Special Advisor on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, and by the Director of the Middle East and Asia Division in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Joachim Hutter.

ANNAN NOTES PROGRESS IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO PEACE PROCESS

The Secretary-Generals report to the Security Council on the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has been published today.

In it, the Secretary-General says he shares the same cautious optimism about the immediate future of the Lusaka peace process and the sense of foreboding with respect to Burundi, assessments made last month by the Security Council mission to the Great Lakes region of Africa. He describes as particularly worrying the reported eastward movement of armed groups and their incursions into Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania.

Regarding the UN operation, he notes, the lack of detailed information concerning numbers, locations, assembly areas, withdrawal routes and timetables provided by the parties is preventing the Secretariat from drawing up specific adjustments to the current mandate.

Nevertheless, he says, that substantial progress made in the disengagement of forces demands follow-up.

The report includes an updated concept of operations, which it describes as a transition phase. It envisages an increase of up to 2,500 military personnel over the current strength of 3,000. The Secretary-General does not request an increase in the authorized strength of 5,537.

Concluding that the United Nations will be engaged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for some considerable time to come, the Secretary-General recommends the extension of the missions mandate for 12 months until June 15, 2002.

The Security Council is scheduled to take up the report in consultations on Tuesday.

UN PROBE CONCLUDES DRUG CONTROL OFFICE IS TOO CENTRALIZED

Dileep Nair, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, briefed reporters on management practices in the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNDCCP).

The report by the Office of Internal Oversight Services ( OIOS) says that the major weaknesses of the Drug Control office stem from over-centralized and heavily personalized decision-making, and the absence of institutional mechanisms to ensure that programs are properly conceived and efficiently executed.

The report says that overall team spirit was weak and outside confidence in the management of the Drug Control Office was low.

Any corrective measures can be successful under one key condition -- the competence, professionalism and integrity of top management, which is transparent and collegial and enjoys the trust of the staff," it says.

The report also mentions several recommendations to improve the office, including an organizational structure that provides an adequate framework for its activities and reduces the lines of authority reporting directly to the top.

HUMANITARIAN SUPPLIES SENT TO CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

The Secretary-Generals Special Envoy to the Central African Republic, Gen. Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali is scheduled to leave Libreville, Gabon, for Bangui on Tuesday. Before leaving Libreville, Touré met with the Foreign Minister of Gabon, Jean Peng.

On the humanitarian front, the UN Childrens Fund ( UNICEF) is leading the response to the needs of the population in the aftermath of the attempted coup. A UN flight carrying 30 tons of health and water supply equipment will arrive today. More flights are expected in the coming days. Planning is being made to assist between 80,000 to 100,000 people who have been displaced or who now homeless as result of the violence.

MORE ARRESTS MADE IN KENYAN REFUGEE SCANDAL:

In response to a question that on new arrests made in relation a scheme to extort refugees in a UNHCR operation in Kenya, the Under Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Dileep Nair, said only one of the two recently arrested was a UN staff member. He added that he expected them to be arraigned next week in Nairobi.

In answer to further questions on the issue, the Under Secretary-General said there was a total of four UN employees now arrested, including todays arrest. The case of the first three are now in front of the courts. One additional person implicated in this issue is in Italy and has not been arrested on the Kenyan warrant.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The UN mission in Sierra Leone ( UNAMSIL) said Revolutionary United Front rebels on Saturday released 59 more children associated with their fighting forces. This latest handover in Kailahoun brought to more than 800 the number of children released by RUF rebels.

The Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS, Stephen Lewis met this morning with President Festus Mogae of Botwana and discussed a wide range of issues including national and African AIDS initiatives and the role of African leaders in combating HIV/AIDS in the region

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article