United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-10-16

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Tuesday, October 16, 2001

UN AGENCIES URGE DONORS TO GIVE MORE QUICKLY TO AFGHAN APPEAL

UN humanitarian agencies today are urging donor governments to respond more rapidly to their emergency humanitarian appeals for Afghanistan.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had received only some $12 million in cash contributions of the estimated $50 million needed to care for an initial planning figure of 400,000 new arrivals in surrounding states in the first phase of an emergency. Donor governments have formally pledged another $11 million, but these pledges have not yet been translated into cash.

The World Food Programme said it has received less than 6 percent of its appeal for $257 million the amount despite generous pledges.

The UNHCR and WFP portion of the $584 million emergency appeal for Afghanistan launched by the Secretary-General last month account for a bulk of the total amount.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said it has called for a modest funding of $36 million dollars to carry out emergency work. With less than a month before the on set of winter, only half that amount has been received.

UNICEF also reported today that a nine-truck supply convoy that departed Quetta for Kandahar on 14 October, arrived in Kandahar yesterday afternoon, carrying 450 hand-pumps and related accessories. These materials have been off-loaded and distributed to NGOs, and they will be installed in displaced persons camps and other drought-affected areas.

WFP announced that its Executive Director Catherine Bertini will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Wednesday morning.

ANNAN, HIS NEW ENVOY FOR AFGHANISTAN AND SECURITY COUNCIL TO MEET

Meeting in closed consultations this afternoon, the Security Council will have a first exchange of views with Lakhdar Brahimi, since his reappointment as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan. The Secretary-General will also be present.

Following the discussion on Afghanistan, Council members will then be briefed on the latest developments in Burundi by Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast.

The last item on the Council's agenda this afternoon agenda is Angola. Ibrahim Gambari, Under Secretary-General and Special Advisor on Africa, will introduce the Secretary-General's report on the UN Office in Angola and brief Council members on latest developments in that country.

ANNAN PROPOSES $2.519 BILLION BUDGET FOR 2002/2003

Monday afternoon, the Secretary-General presented to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly a budget, totaling $2.519, for the 2002-2003 biennium.

That budget, he noted, represents a reduction in real resources by 0.5% -- the same level of reduction, adjusted for inflation, as in the last biennium.

His budget reflects the continuing reform effort, including, for the first time, indicators of expected achievements, so that success can be measured more effectively.

The Secretary-General, in presenting the budget, drew particular attention to the need for resources to reform UN peacekeeping, in accordance with the recommendations of the Panel on UN Peace Operations that had been chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi.

He added his hope that the General Assembly will take decisions to improve staff security, including the appointment of a full-time Security Coordinator.

He also warned that, with the UN budget lower in dollar terms today than it was in 1994-95, "We can do more with less, but only up to a point. Sooner or later, the quality of our work must suffer." It is time, he said, to review the UN program of work, and decide whether all the meetings that are held are truly indispensable; whether some reports duplicate others; and whether resources are allocated in the most productive way.

He also noted his proposal for time limits, or "sunset provisions," for new initiatives, and urged the Assembly to give the idea serious thought.

ANNAN REPRESENTED AT TERRORISM SUMMIT IN SENEGAL

Ibrahima Fall, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, is in Senegal today to represent the Secretary-General at a Summit of African Heads of State, which is happening in Dakar today and Wednesday.

The meeting, convened by President Abdoulaye Wade to consider the draft of an African Pact against Terrorism, brings together about 20 Heads of State.

Wednesday, Fall will deliver the Secretary-General's message to the Summit.

REVENUE SHORTFALL EXPECTED BY OIL FOR FOOD PROGRAMME IN IRAQ

The weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme shows that Iraqi oil exports under the oil-for-food programme dropped from the previous week's high of 18 million barrels to 14.7 million barrels in the week ending October 12.

So far into the current phase X of the programme, which runs from July 4 to November 30 of this year, Iraqi oil exports have totaled 195.2 million barrels, earning an estimated $3.8 billion.

The Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, Benon Sevan, at his briefing to the Security Council last week, drew attention to the fact that the estimated revenue for phase X is now expected to be about $5.54 billion, which after the deductions pursuant to relevant resolutions, would leave only about $3.2 billion for the humanitarian programme.

The distribution plan for the purchase of humanitarian supplies for phase X was budgeted at $5.4 billion.

UN REFUGEE AGENCY STARTS SEPERATING EX-SOLDIERS FROM REFUGEES

The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees reports the start yesterday of an operation to separate former soldiers from refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

These soldiers had crossed over from the Central African Republic following a failed coup attempt last May.

In the first phase, peacekeepers from the UN mission in the DRC, escorted the former soldiers, along with their families to a new site away from the 24-thousand Central African refugees who also sought shelter in the DRC in the days following the coup attempt.

Within 10 days UNHCR hopes to have relocated 2,500 soldiers and their families.

ANNAN ON WORLD FOOD DAY: HUNGER STUNTS SOCIETY'S POTENTIAL

In his message marking World Food Day, the Secretary-General remarked that this year's theme, "Fight Hunger to Reduce Poverty," highlights the need to address both hunger and poverty alleviation.

"Hungry people's capacity for productivity and growth are stunted," the Secretary-General said, "They cannot fulfil their potential as individuals, nor as a society."

He added that what was needed to break the cycle of misery was a combination of political will, investment in agriculture and rural development and social safety nets.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Jacques Diouf, said in his message that there was enough food in the world to feed every man, woman and child but that there are "vast and unacceptable divides between those who have access to resources and those who do not."

The FAO also launched a new website today with information on fighting hunger.

DROUGHT THREATENS FOOD SUPPLY OF MILLIONS IN TAJIKISTAN

The World Food Programme today appealed for urgent food aid for one million people who are suffering from a devastating two-year drought in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan, one of the poorest of the former Soviet Republics, is still struggling with the aftermath of a gruelling five-year civil war and facing severe economic hardships.

The crippling drought that hit Tajikistan is part of a regional phenomenon that has also afflicted neighbouring Afghanistan.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Wednesday, an observance to commemorate the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty will be held at UN Headquarters, starting at noon, when Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Nitin Desai will read a message on behalf of the Secretary-General to mark the Day.

Also Wednesday at 12:30, the Secretary-General will receive a petition originally launched by the now late Jacques-Yves Chouteau. The petition, titled the Right of Future Generations, contains 9 million names from people from over 100 countries who call for an uncontaminated earth. Chouteaus widow Francine, who is President of the Chouteau Society, will be at the presentation. Also present will be Pierre Chasten, spokesman for the petitioners, who travelled across the Atlantic in a small sailboat he made himself in order to make the presentation.

UN Development Programme Administrator Mark Malachi Brown is in Amsterdam today, where he is wrapping up a series of meetings on Africa's relations with its external partners. He is participating in consultations organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa that provide a forum for frank dialogue between African finance ministers and their OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) counterparts.

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