United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-06-28

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

BY MANOEL DE ALMEIDA E SILVA

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, June 28, 2001

ANNAN TO RECEIVE PHILADELPHIA LIBERTY MEDAL

Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be in Philadelphia next week to receive the 2001 Philadelphia Liberty Medal. He and Mrs. Annan will leave New York Tuesday afternoon and return on Wednesday

He will receive the award at Philadelphias Liberty Hall - where the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution were adopted on July 4. The award will be presented by Philadelphia Mayor John Street.

The Secretary-General was named this years recipient of the award for his role in promoting peace, social justice and economic developmente award includes a cash prize of $ 100,000, which, the Secretary-General has donated to the Global AIDS and Health Fund.

SECURITY COUNCIL WELCOMES AIDS DECLARATION, DISCUSSES SIERRA LEONE

The Security Council this morning held a public meeting to adopt a presidential statement on HIV/AIDS. In the text the Council welcomes the Declaration of Commitment adopted at the just completed Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS.

The Councils statement especially refers to those parts of the Declaration of Commitment, which touch upon HIV/AIDS in conflict areas. The Council said it recognizes that further efforts are required to develop the capacity of peacekeepers to become advocates and actors for awareness and prevention of HIV transmission.

The Council then held an open meeting on Sierra Leone. The first speaker was the Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, who presented the Secretary-Generals latest report on the UN operation in that country.

Positive developments in Sierra Leone over the past two months constitute grounds for "cautious optimism" in Sierra Leone the report says. But it warns that the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program (DDR), which is crucial to all aspects of the Sierra Leone peace process, could be stalled as a result of insufficient funding. The Secretary-General in his report, as well as Adeniji in his briefing, appealed for urgent and generous funding, warning that should voluntary finding not be forthcoming, it would be necessary to consider alternative funding mechanisms.

In response to a question on funding of the DDR program, the Deputy Spokesman said that according to the Tenth report of the Secretary-General, the programme would run out of funds in August unless $31 million additional funding was found.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO RESUME OPEN MEETING ON IRAQ

Later today, the Council will also resume the open meeting on Iraq which had been suspended on Tuesday evening. Nineteen speakers are expected to take the floor.

Following that open meeting, the Council will move into closed consultations to take up a discussion of the latest draft resolution on Western Sahara and also the Oil for Food Programme.

ANNAN CALLS FOR SIGNIFICANT RESOURCES FOR STAFF SECURITY

The Secretary-General today addressed the fourth annual summit on staff security and called staff security a basic requirement that is essential for effectiveness and crucial for morale.

"A degree of risk has always been part of the job," he said. "But the conflicts of the 1990s have been characterized by a dangerous loosening of restraints imposed by international law on the conduct of hostilities."

Since January 1992, some 200 civilian personnel working for the United Nations have lost their lives. In addition, between 1991 and 2000, 286 UN peacekeepers died as a result of hostile action (out of more than 800 peacekeeping fatalities in all).

The Secretary-General said a full-time UN Security Coordinator is needed, and he also called on Member States to provide significant new resources for security activities. He also urged further steps to prosecute those who attack or kill UN or associated personnel, saying that such prosecutions have been all too rare.

He asserted, "It would be a shame if those who target us with violence were to succeed in deterring us from the noble calling to help those in need."

PANEL PRESENTS FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, head of an 11-member High-Level Panel on Financing for Development, presented a report on that panel's findings to the Secretary-General.

The report presents far-reaching recommendations on financial mechanisms to ensure stable global development and to turn the tide against poverty, and is intended to build momentum on this issue for the upcoming International Conference on Financing for Development, to take place in Mexico next March.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TO VISIT EAST TIMOR

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette will be visiting East Timor next week, arriving in Dili on July 2 and departing July 5. She will be meeting with the UN Administration (UNTAET) and key cabinet members as well as NGOs, staff from the east Timor Administration and the heads of UN agencies in East Timor. In addition to Dili, the capital city, she will also visit Baucau and Aileu.

The Deputy Secretary-General has chosen to visit East Timor at this time as it is a crucial time in the preparations for East Timors independence and she has an interest in how the United Nations system is working and ensuring optimal coordination.

The Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, today in Dili presented the first state of the nation address to the East Timorese National Council. He gave a detailed and in-depth overview of the work in progress to date, the challenges that lie ahead and calling again for a pact of national unity.

ANNAN APPOINTS NEW HEAD OF DRC PANEL

The Secretary-General, in a letter to the Security Council, announced his intention to appoint Ambassador Mahmoud Kassem of Egypt as the Chairperson of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kassem has served as Chairman of the International Commission of Inquiry on Rwanda and most recently on the Committee of Experts on Afghanistan.

The Security Council had requested that the mandate of the panels work be extended for a final period of three months.

The Secretary-General said that the Chairperson and members of the panel would briefly reconvene in New York before proceeding to the region and, after three months, submit its final report.

Kassem will replace Safiatou Ba-NDaw who has taken up a position as Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Special Unit for Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries.

NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL SUPPORTS UN PLANS FOR MITROVICA

The UN Mission in Kosovo ( UNMIK) said it was pleased with the broad support it received from the North Atlantic Council at Tuesdays meeting on the United Nations and Kosovo Force (KFOR) approach on the way forward in Mitrovica.

The North Atlantic Council gave the United Nations and KFOR the authority to proceed with plans on an internationally acceptable security structure for Mitrovica, which would involve KFOR, UN police, and the Kosovo police, including Kosovo Serb officers.

In other news from the region, the number of arrivals of refugees from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has decreased in recent days, with fewer than 1,000 crossing into Kosovo yesterday. That level is down from a peak of some 8,300 arrivals on Sunday alone, which had already declined to about 2,000 on Tuesday.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Secretary-General will present the 2001 United Nations Population Award to Nafis Sadik, former Director of the United Nations Population Fund ( UNFPA), and the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning. The award is presented annually by the Committee for the United Nations Population Award for outstanding contributions to increasing the awareness of population problems and their solutions.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA) reports that the government of Peru has issued a list of urgent requirements following last weeks earthquake. The list includes blankets, food, medicines and water purification units. The government has also requested the assistance of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in assessing damage to education infrastructure in the affected area. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has issued an appeal for more than $600,000 to reduce the health consequences of the earthquake.

Sweden became the 36th country to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ( ICC). The Statute comes into force after the 60th country has deposited instruments of ratification.

The Republic of Uzbekistan signed two Protocols to the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. Uzbekistan became the 84th country to sign the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and the 87th to sign the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

Nigeria signed three conventions and one Protocol, including the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).

For the first time, Angola, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon will be coordinating efforts to vaccinate about 16 million children against polio. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that the immunization in the four countries will take place July 6-9.

The World Health Organization(WHO) announced that a new programme will provide $17 million to boost tobacco control in developing countries.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations, S-378 New York, NY 10017 Tel. 212-963-7162 Fax. 212-963-7055

Back

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article