United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-11-15

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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, November 15, 2001

BRAHIMI WORKING TO BRING AFGHAN PARTIES TOGETHER

The Security Council early Wednesday evening endorsed the approach for a political solution outlined by the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi on Tuesday.

. The resolution, adopted unanimously, affirmed that the United Nations should play a "central role" in supporting the attempts of the Afghan people to establish a new and transitional administration and government.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who attended the formal meeting, told reporters following the vote that his Special Representative is doing his best to bring the Afghan parties together as quickly as possible.

In response to a question about security arrangements, the Secretary-General said that the coalition, given their contacts with the Northern Alliance, could make some interim, short-term arrangements to permit the United Nations to continue with our work. Since we do not have any military presence on the round, we will have to rely on those who are on the ground, he said.

In response to questions about the forces on the ground in Afghanistan, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General believed we have to be nimble and use the assets available on the ground to deal with the current situation. The Secretary-General, he noted, has been in touch with U.S., U.K. and other officials.

However, he added, military planning is not being done by the United Nations, and it does not have information from the Governments on the ground about military plans, although the United Nations would appreciate receiving as much information as the Governments are willing to provide.

Asked where talks among Afghan factions would be held, the Spokesman said he had no information on dates or a venue, but said they should take place in a neutral venue. He noted that Brahimi has said that no one who is a responsible Afghan leader would be excluded.

Asked whether it would be a problem for Berhanuddin Rabbani, President of the Afghan Government that sits at the United Nations, to come to Kabul, the Spokesman noted that his administration holds the UN seat provisionally, because the UN Credentials Committee has deferred a decision on competing sets of credentials for Afghanistan for several years.

He added that Brahimi would not like to see any actions taken that would nudge the political process before discussions on a broad-based government are held.

In response to questions on UN preferences for Afghanistan, Eckhard reiterated that the main preference is for an all-Afghan solution. The second-best option, he said, would be for a multinational force, which, ideally, would be authorized by the Security Council and led by a nation or group of nations.

The Secretary-General has made it clear, he said, that the United Nations does not want to administer Afghanistan, but wants to help the Afghan people to form a government.

UN TEAM TO TRAVEL TO KABUL IN NEXT FEW DAYS

The UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, who is expected to lead a team of UN political and humanitarian staff back to Kabul as early as Friday or Saturday, told a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, that during his visit to the Afghan capital he will invite the United Front to participate at the meeting of various Afghan groups.

Today, Lakhdar Brahimi is at UN Headquarters continuing his consultations.

At 10:00 a.m., he opened the Annual Coordination Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The OIC has also been invited to Fridays meeting of the Group of 21 on Afghanistan at 10 a.m. at UN headquarters.

Brahimi is also scheduled to meet today with Ruud Lubbers, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who is in New York for the annual Third Committee discussions on his organization.

Asked who would accompany Vendrell to Kabul, the Spokesman said he would travel with political and humanitarian officers, representatives of UN agencies, de-mining experts and a spokesman.

UN INTERNATIONAL STAFF RETURN TO NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN

Today, five UN international staff returned to Afghanistan. They returned to Faizabad, capital of the northeastern province of Badakhshan.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today announced that it reopened its office in Kabul, which it reported as returning to normalcy, and local staff have returned to work.

UNHCR also reported that more than 1,300 Afghans returned home through Dogharoun, Irans main border crossing with Afghanistan, in the largest single-day return since the end of August.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it was continuing to move food from Uzbekistan using barges on the Amu Darya River to a warehouse inside Afghanistan -- 80 kilometers north of Mazar-i-Sharif.

WFP also reported that no trucks used by WFP moved into Afghanistan from Quetta and Peshawar in Pakistan. This is the third day that there has been no movement from these hubs. The main fear from the Peshawar drivers is that the road into Kabul is an exit road for the Taliban, which is flanked by other factions who wish to seize control, making it dangerous and unsafe to travel along. Food continues to be delivered by trucks from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Asked about the return of Afghan refugees, the Spokesman said that High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers was concerned that the international community shifts its focus from emergency preparations for outflows of refugees to plans for a possible large return of Afghan refugees. He added that UNHCR always tries to ensure that refugees return home in a sensible and safe way, but that requires infrastructure.

ANNAN WELCOMES CONCLUSION OF WTO CONFERENCE IN DOHA

The Secretary-General, in a statement, welcomed the successful conclusion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) conference in Qatar, calling the Doha agreements an important achievement for multilateralism.

The decision to launch a new round of talks on global commerce holds great promise for all countries, especially in the developing world. The Secretary-General hopes that these negotiations will lead to a true development round that removes trade barriers to developing-country goods, opens additional market opportunities and helps developing countries build up the capacity to take advantage of those opportunities.

The Secretary-General was especially pleased by the WTOs affirmation that nothing in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) should prevent developing countries from taking measures to protect public health. This will lead to increased availability of drugs to combat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics.

The UN system will continue to work with all countries to make the new round of negotiations a success, while ensuring full and timely implementation of agreements reached during the Uruguay Round.

Also today, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said he is optimistic that the new round of trade talks offer real hope for more environmentally friendly trade.

For the first time, the Ministerial Declaration agreed on at the just-concluded World Trade Organization meeting in Doha, Qatar, accepts that the globalization of trade and reduction of trade barriers must take into account environmental issues. Toepfer said, We still have a long way to go. But the agreements in Doha are, I believe, a new beginning.

SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY DEATHS IN ALGERIA FLOODS

The Secretary-General expressed his deep sadness at the high number of deaths and the destruction caused by the heavy rains and floods that have affected over 4,000 families in the Algiers area. He extended his condolences to the affected families.

The Secretary-General welcomed the quick and generous response by several Member States to the appeal for emergency assistance issued by the Government of Algeria.

SECURITY COUNCIL THANKS MANDELA ON BURUNDI PROCESS

The Security Council this morning held a private meeting on Burundi, in the presence of Nelson Mandela, the former Facilitator of the Burundi Peace Process. The Secretary-General also attended and spoke at the meeting.

That meeting was followed by an open meeting, during which the Council adopted a Presidential Statement, expressing the Councils deep gratitude to Mandela for his service to the people of Burundi and appreciated his role in initiating the deployment of the first elements of a multinational security presence in Burundi. It also expressed its concern about the recent increase of violence in that country.

This afternoon, starting at 4:30 p.m., the Council will hold a public meeting to debate recent developments in Angola. So far, five speakers are inscribed.

UN HOPES MEETING OF CYPRIOT LEADERS WILL TAKE PLACE

In response to a question, the Spokesman said he was aware of the ongoing exchange of letters between His Excellency Glafcos Clerides and His Excellency Rauf Denkatash regarding the possibility of the two meeting face to face. The United Nations understands that a UN representative would be present.

The exchange of letters seems to indicate that the pace seems to be picking up. The Spokesman hoped that the meeting would happen and would move the process forward.

UNICEF CONCERNED ABOUT CHILDRENS DEATHS IN MIDDLE EAST

The UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) office in the West Bank and Gaza today expressed concern for the children who have been killed and injured in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past year. The agency says that 194 children under the age of 18 have been killed (including 166 Palestinians and 27 Israelis) since the most recent intifada started more than a year ago.

Pierre Poupard, UNICEF Special Representative in the West Bank and Gaza, reiterated UNICEFs call on Israel to ensure that children under 18 are not targeted in the conflict, as well as its call for the Palestinian Authority to expand measures to discourage those under 18 from participating in any violent action.

He added that surveys carried out in the West Bank and Gaza indicate that children there are experiencing grater emotional problems than they faced a year ago, including nightmares, bed-wetting, insomnia and irregular sleep. The bulk of UNICEFs emergency program in the West Bank and Gaza focuses in helping the children and their families to deal with stress generated by the conflict.

Asked about a report in the New York Times on the return by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Terje Roed Larsen, to that region, the Spokesman said that Larsen has gone back. However, he said that, unlike the Times story, Larsens mission was not hand-holding, but part of his continuing political effort to deal with the Palestinians and Israelis to end the violence and return to political negotiations.

NEW FORCE COMMANDER APPOINTED FOR UNIKOM

The Secretary-General has appointed Maj. Gen. Miguel Angel Moreno of Argentina as Force Commander of the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM), with effect from December 1.

Moreno has served previously as the Commander of the Argentine Battalion in the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Croatia in 1993, and has also served with UN peacekeeping missions in Iran and Iraq in 1988 and in Haiti in 1995.

UN OPENS FIELD HOSPITAL IN EASTERN SIERRA LEONE

The UN Force Commander in Sierra Leone, Lt. Gen. Daniel Opande, on Wednesday visited the eastern district of Kailahun, where he commissioned a field hospital, run by the UN Missions Pakistani battalion, and assessed progress in disarmament in the area.

More than 2,000 Sierra Leonean patients received free treatment from the Pakistani doctors, who will serve not only the UN peacekeepers but also the entire Kailahun district.

UNHCR WARNS OF FURTHER DISPLACEMENT IN FYROM

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today warned of further population displacement in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) unless significant progress were made in implementing the August 13 peace agreement.

FYROM is heading dangerously close to a turning point, High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers said in New York. There must be no further delays in the political peace process, particularly on the amnesty issue, if the country is to avert further displacement of its people.

He added, It is high time for the Government to make significant progress before people finally lose hope and extremists on both sides take up arms again, undermining all the peace efforts achieved so far.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The United Nations Compensation Commission on Iraq today made payments totaling almost $893 million. The money went to 17 Governments for distribution among 357 successful claimants.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the publication of a new set of guidelines to measure health. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health has been accepted by 191 countries as the standard to describe and measure health and disability.

Among the treaty actions taking place today, Cuba ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and acceded to the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages and the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. Eight more countries are due to sign various treaties today.

Asked about the meeting this evening at 8:50 between the Secretary-General and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Spokesman said that the Russian side said there would be no press availability for that meeting.

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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