United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-10-18

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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

Thursday, October 18, 2001

ANNAN, BRAHIMI MEET U.S. OFFICIALS ON AFGHANISTAN

Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his Special Representative for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi met today with Richard Haas, the U.S. Secretary of States Personal Representative for Afghanistan. Brahimi is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., Friday for a day of meetings with U.S. officials. He is expected to brief the Security Council at their weekly meeting on Afghanistan next Tuesday.

Today in Islamabad, Pakistan, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that one of its Afghan staff members based in Jalalabad crossed the frontier and arrived in Peshawar earlier this week, after walking some 60 kilometers over several days across mountains with his family of eight, including six children, bringing his office work with him.

Brahimi, in his remarks to the press Wednesday, had praised the dedication and efficiency of the Afghan staff working under impossible conditions.

Reports from Kandahar City say most families appear to have left for nearby villages and for the border with Pakistan. People are also leaving Jalalabad, with its current population now reduced by about 40 percent. Despite efforts to get aid through to the people in need, the operating environment in Afghanistan is getting worse by the day, reported the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for that country

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it has regained control of the warehouse in Kabul that had been seized by the Taliban. WFP urged the Taliban to return the control of the other warehouse seized earlier this week in Kandahar.

High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, in remarks to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, said that refugees and asylum seekers were already the object of considerable mistrust in many countries. He added that the war on terrorism must not become a war on Afghans or on Islam.

Lubbers will speak to the UN press corps at 12:30 p.m. Friday, to discuss Afghanistan.

ANNAN NOTES POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN DR-CONGO

The Secretary-Generals latest progress report on the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( MONUC) says that the overall situation in that country continues to develop in a largely positive way. "The ceasefire has held," he says, "and the disengagement of forces and their redeployment to new defensive positions is effectively complete. Some foreign forces have been withdrawn from the territory."

The UN Mission, the report states, has nearly completed the second phase of its deployment, and is now faced with the challenges of the third phase, which is to include the total withdrawal of all foreign forces from the DRC and the disarmament and demobilization of the armed groups.

In his conclusion, the Secretary-General recommends that the Security Council authorize the UN Mission to enter the third phase of its deployment, with the initial deployment for that phase to remain within the Council's authorized limit of 5,337 military personnel.

The Security Council will be holding a closed meeting this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. with troop contributing countries to the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

UN OFFICE IN NAIROBI INVESTIGATES LETTER FOR ANTHRAX

The Spokesman, in response to a question, confirmed that the UN Office in Nairobi was investigating a suspicious envelope, to determine whether it contained anthrax. After the briefing, the Spokesman said the results of the tests would be made public on Friday.

He noted that a Kenyan family had tested positive for anthrax, in an incident involving a different letter from the one that arrived at the UN Office in Nairobi.

Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, had postponed his departure from Nairobi to New York, where he was to attend a meeting of UN agency heads, in order to be on hand while awaiting test results. After the briefing, the Spokesman announced that Toepfer would leave Nairobi to attend his previously scheduled meeting.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland said today that local and national health systems were preparing themselves for outbreaks of infectious diseases, whether deliberate or naturally occurring. In response to the recent reports on anthrax, WHO issued revised guidance on anthrax.

UN HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY ENDS VISIT TO MYANMAR

The UNs Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro,cut short his visit to that country for health reasons.

The Special Rapporteur left the capital, Yangon, on Wednesday night, three days ahead of schedule. Despite the shortening of the visit, Pinheiro was able to meet with senior officials in the Government as well as the leadership of the National League for Democracy, including its Secretary-General, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Before heading home to Brazil, Pinheiro said he had received full and unhindered cooperation on the part of the Myanmar Government during this mission.

He hopes to be able to return to Myanmar as soon as his health permits to pursue his fact-finding mission and to develop partnerships with all interested parties towards improving the human rights situation in the country.

UN ENVOY SENT TO GAMBIA AS ELECTIONS TAKE PLACE

The Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the Gambia, James Victor Gbeho, is in that country's capital, Banjul, today, as its Presidential elections are underway. The latest reports received from the Gambia indicate that the elections are proceeding peacefully, with only minor problems reported.

On Wednesday, the Spokesman announced that the Secretary-General had dispatched Gbeho, a former Foreign Minister of Ghana and current member of the Ghanaian Parliament, as his Special Envoy in order to reaffirm the UN's commitment to support the democratization process in that country. Gbeho is also to call on the Government and all political actors to ensure that the polls take place in a free, fair, transparent and peaceful manner.

His visit follows a multi-disciplinary mission that the Secretary-General sent to the Gambia last month.

LABOR REGULATION SIGNED IN KOSOVO

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup, today signed a regulation on labor, detailing the basic law governing the relationship between employees and employers.

The new regulation stipulates that the minimum age of employment shall be 18 years, and prohibits any kind of workplace discrimination. Among other rights, it also a female employee to at least 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, to be paid by the employer at a rate amounting to not less than two-thirds of the womans earnings.

ANNAN TO MEET UN SYSTEM HEADS TO COORDINATE WORK

Friday will mark the start of a two-day meeting of the Administrative Committee on Coordination, which brings together the heads of 25 organizations in the UN system, including UN funds, programs and specialized agencies.

The Secretary-General will hold a private meeting with the executive heads of the Committee at 10, before hosting a luncheon for them. Starting in the afternoon, the Administrative Committee will hold a session on system-wide support for Africa, including coordination among UN bodies at the country level on Africa programs and support for the New African Initiative. It will also discuss administrative matters, including staff safety and security.

Starting Friday evening and continuing through Saturday, the Administrative Committee will hold a retreat at the Millennium Hotel in New York, to discuss the follow-up to the Millennium Summit Declaration. The Secretary-General has suggested that the discussion might focus on the monitoring and review of the implementation of that Declaration, agreed to by world leaders at last year's Millennium Assembly, and on resource mobilization to support its goals.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

In a letter from the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Richard Ryan of Ireland, to the Secretary-General, the Council agreed to extend the mandate of the UN Office in Angola until April 15, 2002. In his recent report on Angola, the Secretary-General had recommended such an extension.

Today, more than 500 representatives from business, government and civil society will meet at Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to explore how the Secretary-General's Global Compact can stimulate partnership projects in support of development and good practices in human rights, labor and sustainable development. This event is part of a comprehensive outreach effort underway to involve developing and transitional economies in the Global Compact.

The UN Postal Administration today launched a new set of stamps commemorating the Administration's 50th anniversary. The stamps, two in each of the Postal Administrations three denominations, and three souvenir sheets, went on sale this morning; they were designed by Rorie Katz of the Administration's Graphics Unit.