United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-10-10

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, October 10, 2001

ANNAN NOTES MUSLIM COUNTRIES' ROLE IN FIGHTING TERRORISM

In a message to the extraordinary meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Doha, Qatar, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the Organization had "a central role in devising an effective strategy to combat terrorism, not least because your Member States have themselves suffered from terrorism."

The global response to terrorism must be truly universal and not divisive, the Secretary-General added. "To defeat terrorism, we need a sustained effort and a broad strategy that unite all nations, and address all aspects of the scourge we face," he said.

In the message, delivered by Under Secretary-General and Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari, the Secretary-General also said that the United Nations will "continue to address the ills of hatred, ignorance, conflict and poverty wherever they are found."

UN RELIEF EFFORTS FOR AFGHANS HAMPERED BY INSECURITY

The security situation in Pakistan, particularly in the areas bordering Afghanistan, is hampering the humanitarian effort underway in the region.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said work on prospective refugee campsites in the Quetta and Peshawar areas was on hold for a third straight day.

Freedom of movement of staff in those two cities has been drastically limited as well.

Meanwhile, efforts to get emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan continued with the World Food Programme ( WFP) announcing plans for a major acceleration of its overland deliveries with food convoys from Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The convoys will be carrying enough to feed almost 700,000 hungry Afghans for one week. Some 40 trucks departed Peshawar earlier today .

WFP said the food would raise the total food stocks inside of Afghanistan to over 12,000 tons, sufficient for the needs of over 3.4 million people for one week. However, the agency cautioned that the distribution networks have been disrupted and must first be rebuilt.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Mike Sackett reported that people are on the move from Kabul. He added that the Taliban on Monday occupied the UN compound in Mazar-i-Sharif housing the offices of the UN Development Programme, the UN Mine Action Programme and the UN Office for Project Services.

Mine action groups working with the UN Mine Action Programme are increasingly under attack by the Taliban, the Coordinator's office reported, with staff having been beaten in Kabul, Jalalabad and Kandahar.

Asked about the beatings, the Spokesman said there may be a statement later today from him on those attacks. He noted that the problem was not a new one, with UN local staff in Afghanistan having previously reported abuse and intimidation by the Taliban.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES BURUNDI

This morning, the Security Council began closed consultations on Burundi. Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, briefed Council members on latest developments in the Burundi peace process.

Following consultations, Council members will have their monthly working luncheon with the Secretary-General.

UN REPORTS SHARP RISE IN BUDGET PAYMENTS BY MEMBER STATES

Under-Secretary-General for Management Joseph Connor today made a presentation on the UN financial situation to the General Assembly's fifth committee, and he said that, unlike some recent years, he had some good news to relate.

The United Nations, he said, expects Member States to contribute more assessed payments than in any previous year -- an aggregate of $4.716 billion projected to be paid over the course of 2001, compared to $2.893 billion paid last year.

Of that amount, the UN expects that the United States will pay an aggregate of $1.666 billion dollars this year, with most of that money to be received between this month and the end of December.

Payments from other Member States are expected to total more than $3 billion this year, with most of that money already received by September 30.

Connor told the Fifth Committee that the level of payments this year means that for the first time in many years, the UN has a secure and solid basis to deal with many key issues, including reimbursements for equipment and troops, cash deficits and cross-borrowing. Although unpaid peacekeeping assessments are currently high ($3.281 billion by September 30), they are expected to be cut in half by the end of December ($1.538 billion).

Accordingly, he said, the United Nations intends to pay all certified claims for contingent-owned equipment, now totaling $505 million, as soon as it receives the arrearage payment from the United States.

Summing up, he said, "Financial stability and security is close at hand. We may need it now more than ever."

Asked whether the United States would pay all its arrears, the Spokesman noted that the U.S. Government had expressed its intention to catch up on its financial obligations. However, he noted, some differences could remain, including "contested arrears" that the United Nations says is owed by the United States, which the U.S. Congress has disputed.

PARTIES IN GEORGIA URGED TO ENSURE SECURITY OF UN PERSONNEL

The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Georgia, Dieter Boden, today left Sukhumi after holding talks there with Abkhaz leaders.

Following his return to the Georgian capital, Tblisi, Boden said he had urged both the Abkhaz and Georgian sides to safeguard the security of UN personnel and to take responsibility for dealing with the climate of violence in the country, which contributed to the deaths of nine passengers on board a UN helicopter on Monday.

The UN Observer Mission in Georgia ( UNOMIG) confirmed that the helicopter had been hit at the entrance of the Kodori Valley by a rocket on Monday, shortly after taking off from Sukhumi. All nine passengers -- four UN military observers, a technician and interpreter working with the Mission, and a three-member Ukrainian flight crew -- were killed.

In a statement, the Mission said that "the barbaric act of shooting down a UN helicopter with unarmed military observers marks a new phase in the degradation of the conflict." It added that the United Nations considers it imperative that those responsible for the attack be brought to justice.

FAO, ITALY AGREE TO SEEK ROME VENUE FOR FOOD CONFERENCE

The Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO) announced today that, following consultations with the Italian Government, it would now seek the agreement of FAO Council members to move its Conference scheduled for November 5-9, back to Rome, instead of Rimini.

The Italian Government had earlier suggested Rimini as a possible alternate site for the Conference, which is to include a five-year review of the World Food Summit. However, the Government and the FAO have now agreed that to ask the FAO Council to decide instead on Rome, which had been the initial site proposed for the Conference.

The FAO added that, in light of recent global events and a worsening economic picture, the plight of the hungry may grow even worse, requiring a major recommitment by all States to reduce the number of hungry people in the world.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Because the Secretary-General will address US citizens in 10 American cities Thursday at noon by videoconference as part of a series of town hall meetings, the noon briefing on Thursday will begin at 11:30 a.m. The Secretary-General's segment of the program will last a half-hour.

[Chile is the first Latin American country to launch the Global Compact, a United Nations initiative that calls on the private sector to respect labour rights, the environment and human rights to make globalization work for all the world's people, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) announced today. According to UNDP, more than 350 participants from government, civil society and the private sector joined in a seminar on corporate social responsibility last week in Santiago to start implementing the Compact, the brainchild of the Secretary-General.]

The World Health Organization ( WHO) issued a statement saying that recent press reports, which indicated that the WHO had declared mobile phone emissions as safe, distorted its position on the issue. WHO said that, while recent reviews have concluded that exposures to mobile phone radio frequencies caused no adverse health effects, it will take about three to four years for the required research to be completed and evaluated.

The East Timor Constituent Assembly today announced that it will organize its work around four thematic working groups: human rights and civil liberties; organization of the state; economy and finances; and mechanisms by which the constitution can be amended, if necessary, in the future.

The Department of Economic and Social Affairs issued a report, which is embargoed until 5 p.m. today, discussing the effects of the September 11 attacks on the already-slow growth of the world economy.

UN Headquarters will be open to non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives starting Thursday, and NGOs with valid ground passes will be allowed in the building from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Guided tours are also expected to resume Thursday, with some modifications.

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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