United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-04-25

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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, April 25, 2002

ANNAN, FACT-FINDING TEAM TALK BEFORE UN-ISRAEL MEETING

Secretary-General Kofi Annan and members of his staff, who will be meeting at UN headquarters this afternoon with a visiting Israeli delegation, met via teleconference with Martti Ahtisaari and members of his fact-finding team on the Jenin refugee camp.

Ahtisaari had with him Sadako Ogata and Cornelio Sommaruga, as well as his military adviser, Gen. (ret.) William Nash, and his police adviser, Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald. The new legal adviser, Tyge Lehmann, was also there, as well as support staff.

The Israeli experts will meet at 4:00 p.m. today with a UN team headed by Kieran Prendergast, the Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs. Others on the UN side will be Legal Counsel Hans Corell, Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi and Military Adviser, Gen. Timothy Ford.

Meanwhile, in Geneva this afternoon, Ahtisaari and his team held further internal organizational meetings, which will continue through Friday. It was decided that Nash would be assisted by two military staff officers. More experts will be brought on board as needed.

The team expects to be in the Middle East on Saturday.

Asked whether the United Nations expected further talks beyond today, the Spokesman said, Our hope is that we can wrap this up quickly.

Asked whether the team was awaiting a green light to go to the Middle East, Eckhard added that the United Nations was basing its actions on what Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer told the Secretary-General earlier, that Israel expected to cooperate fully with the team. What is happening today, he said, is a clarification.

He would not characterize Israels position, but noted that Peres had called the Secretary-General this morning.

Asked whether Peres had objected to Sommaruga, or other team members, the Spokesman said he did not believe the Foreign Minister mentioned objections to any individuals. He said some criticisms of Sommaruga were based on unfounded allegations going back several years, adding, Most fair-minded people are convinced that Mr. Sommaruga is a towering humanitarian figure of impeccable reputation. The Secretary-General has full confidence in him and is not considering any changes.

Asked about the two military staff officers assisting Nash, the Spokesman said their names have not yet been announced.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO MEET TODAY ON MIDDLE EAST

On Wednesday afternoon, the Security Council held brief consultations on the Middle East, in which Syria circulated a resolution on behalf of the Arab Group. By the end of consultations, the Syrian draft was put in blue.

The members of the Council agreed to put off a vote on the draft, preferring to wait until the Secretariat meets with the Israeli delegation this afternoon. Once those talks end, they can then move into consultations on the Middle East and receive information from the Secretariat on the result of the talks, and then take up the Syrian draft again.

That meeting has been scheduled for 6:00 p.m. today, with a briefing by Kieran Prendergast.

Council President Sergey Lavrov, who earlier had relayed to Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Lancry the Councils concerns about Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafats confinement in Ramallah and on the fact-finding team, was to talk to Lancry again to underscore the urgency of the Council's concerns on those two matters.

On behalf of the Council, Ambassador Lavrov was also to inform the Secretary-General that he can count on the Council's full support in his efforts to implement Resolution 1405.

UNDP DRAWS UP RELIEF PLAN FOR PALESTINIANS

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has drawn up an emergency relief and recovery plan for the Palestinian population, using some $400,000 from the Islamic Development Bank to purchase and distribute food, baby milk, bedding, medical kits and essential household items for those who have been affected the most by the recent operations, especially in Nablus and Jenin.

UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown said, It is crucial for the international community to make available the seed capital that would help the Palestinian Authority rebuild its governing institutions.

To that end, UNDP has received approximately $40 million in new contributions for immediate infrastructure repairs, including those to roads, water supply systems and damaged buildings.

Asked about contributors to the UNDP efforts, the Spokesman later said that contributors thus far included Canada, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg and the United States.

SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS WITH AFGHAN CABINET MINISTER

The Security Council this morning held a public meeting on Afghanistan, which began with a briefing by Sima Samar, Afghanistans Minister for Womens Affairs who is one of the vice chairs of the Interim Administration.

Her statement was followed by a regular briefing by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast. He outlined the obstacles ahead, including the resources still required, and the pressures that the Interim Administration continues to face, but Prendergast said that the political and humanitarian progress of the past several months was very encouraging. He noted that the Emergency Loya Jirga process was on track.

On relief and reconstruction, he said that in the past few months there are signs that the economy has begun to recover and that this recovery is reaching many Afghans. While donors may, understandably, wish to wait for more stability before disbursing funds, he pointed to the need to recognize that implementing rehabilitation and reconstruction projects will greatly help bring about that stability. Its a chicken and egg situation, he added.

Security, he said, remains a major challenge in many parts of the country, and substantial financial assistance is still required. Prendergast concluded with an appeal to the international community to speed up the delivery of its assistance, and to broaden its scope to include unmet needs related to security.

The UN Mission in Afghanistan, meanwhile, continued to deal with the flash floods in Badghis, in western Afghanistan.

After its meeting on Afghanistan, the Council went into closed-door consultations to consider the Secretary-Generals latest report on Western Sahara.

KOSOVO PROSECUTOR INDICTS UN OFFICER, TWO OTHERS

In Kosovo today, the international prosecutor for Prizren has filed an indictment charging three people Martin Almer, Feriz Thaqi and Isa Ulluri with grave bodily injury, light bodily injury, extraction of a statement under duress, maltreatment in the course of duty, abuse of office and giving a false statement.

All those charges arise from the mistreatment of a detainee last February 25, allegedly by Almer, an Austrian police officer who was serving with UNMIK police, and by Thaqi and Ulluri, who were Kosovo Police Service officers, all working in Orahovac.

The prosecutor, in the course of this indictment, has requested Almers detention, although he is believed to have returned to Austria. Accordingly, the Prosecutor has sought issuance of an international arrest warrant.

Also today, the UN Mission in Kosovo continued its efforts to assist the population of Gnjilane, following Wednesdays earthquake, which killed one person. Twenty-three people remain hospitalized. Today a command center has been set up and better shelter has been arranged for those who cannot return home.

REPORT SHOWS LITTLE SIGN OF PROGRESS IN GEORGIA

In his latest report on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, the Secretary-General says that the human rights situation in Abkhazia showed few signs of improvement, and no progress was made on the safe, secure and dignified return of internally displaced persons to their places of origin. In the absence of a negotiating process, tension has remained high in the area.

The Secretary-General appeals for an early launching of an active negotiating process to address the core issue of the future status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia.

The Security Council is scheduled to have closed consultations on Georgia on April 29.

GLOBAL FUND SELECTS DIRECTOR, DISBURSES FIRST FUNDS

The new Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today announced its first round of grants. The Fund awarded a total of $378 million over two years to 40 programs in 31 countries. This represents a significant increase in international spending to combat the diseases.

The Board also agreed to a fast-track process to approve an additional $238 million for 21 proposals, provided certain conditions are met. This would bring the total funding over two years to $616 million.

The announcement came at the conclusion of the second meeting of the Funds Board, held from April 22-24 at Columbia University in New York.

The Board has also announced the appointment of Richard Feachem, a British national, as Executive Director of the Global Fund.

CHILD ABUSE A PROBLEM IN EAST TIMOR, SAYS UNICEF REPORT

A study funded by United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) says child abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of children in East Timor is an emerging problem. The study documented 103 cases of child abuse during a one-month period of investigation in five of East Timors 13 districts.

This case study, while not yet a representative picture of the country as a whole, is an important first step to highlight the scope of the problem in East Timor, said Yoshiteru Uramoto, UNICEFs representative in East Timor.

In 60 percent of the cases reported in the study, children were victims of sexual assault, physical violence or commercial sexual exploitation. Eighty-five per cent of the sexual assaults were against girls. The majority of offenders are young males who are often family members or people known to the victim.

The study calls for an integrated response from a wide variety of agencies, including police, health and welfare professionals, and local communities.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UN humanitarian agencies of the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs issued a statement, saying that the humanitarian operations in southern Sudan continue to be seriously affected by flight bans and intensive fighting. It calls on the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) to provide full access to all locations.

The Secretary-General issued a message to the 17th Ministerial Meeting of the Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. While international assistance is needed, he said, it is imperative for the Economic Community of Central African States to assume leadership on issues affecting their region, the message says. It also notes some encouraging developments in some of the member states of the Committee, including Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Earlier today, the former commander of the Yugoslav Army, Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic, was transferred from Serbia to the Detention Unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague. Ojdanics lawyers had indicated last week that he would hand himself in voluntarily to the Tribunal to stand trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ojdanic will make his initial appearance before a Tribunal judge on Friday.

In an effort to control malaria and save the lives of half of the 800,000 children who die of the disease each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) today urged countries to switch to a new type of treatment whenever there was strong evidence that existing conventional medicines were no longer working.

Portugal has become the 70th country to pay its regular-budget dues in full for this year, with a payment of more than $5 million.

Lithuania is signing two protocols today the first, the protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children; and the second is against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air. Both protocols supplement the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.