United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-10-01

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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

Tuesday, October 1, 2002

ANNAN: WORLD FALLING SHORT ON MILLENNIUM DECLARATION FOLLOW-UP

Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke to reporters this morning on his first annual report on how nations have followed up the Millennium Declaration, which will be discussed in the General Assembly this Friday.

In a nutshell, he said, the report says the world is falling short. If we carry on the way we are, the pledges are not going to be fulfilled.

The Secretary-General said that all States have pledged to achieve parity between boys and girls in primary and secondary schools by 2005, little more than two years from now, a goal, he said, which is unlikely to be met. He added, Without greater success in placing more girls in school, I fear it will prove even more difficult to reach the other goals.

He said the United Nations has started a Millennium Campaign, to make sure that the Millennium Development Goals are better known throughout the world, and that something is actually done to make those goals a reality.

He also named Eveline Herfkens, formerly the Minister for Development Cooperation in the Netherlands, as an adviser to assist in promoting the Millennium Development Goals. Herfkens and UN Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch Brown then spoke at length about the need to push ahead with the Development Goals.

IRAQ, UN WEAPONS INSPECTORS CONCLUDE VIENNA TALKS

The Government of Iraq and officials of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began a second day of talks in Vienna, which concluded in the late afternoon.

UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix said afterward that agreement had been reached on practical arrangements for inspections, with unconditional and unrestricted access to Iraqi sites.

Asked about access to Iraqi Presidential sites, he said those had not been discussed, and access was governed under a 1988 Memorandum of Understanding between Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Government of Iraq, which was endorsed in Security Council Resolution 1154 (1998).

Blix said he would brief the Security Council on Thursday about the talks.

COTE D'IVOIRE: ANNAN URGES SUPPORT FOR REGIONAL PEACE INITIATIVE

In a statement issued Monday evening, the Secretary-General expressed deep concern at the developments in Cote d'Ivoire. He welcomed the results of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Extraordinary Summit which took place in Accra, Ghana, on September 29, and supported the Summit's call for the insurgents to cease hostilities and for all parties to work towards a negotiated settlement to avert further violence whose humanitarian consequences could be disastrous for Cote d'Ivoire and the entire sub-region.

The Secretary-General called on the international community to support the ECOWAS peace initiative and contribute to the creation of an environment conducive to a peaceful outcome of the crisis. He affirmed the readiness of the United Nations to support the ongoing sub-regional efforts to resolve the crisis.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that it is desperately looking for new sites to house refugees who continue to arrive at the agencys offices in Abidjan, Cote DIvoire, after having been burned out of their homes.

About 50 refugees continue arriving each day at UNHCR's office in the city. Some spend the night outside the office gates, leaving themselves exposed to potential trouble after curfew.

UNHCR is now caring for more than 600 refugees in three sites in the Abidjan area. The refugees are reported to be restless, frustrated and scared. There are many families with six or seven children, often including babies. There are about 100 Sierra Leonean refugees among those who have lost their homes.

The United Nations estimates that more than 6,000 people have now lost their homes and are displaced in Abidjan alone.

TOP UN RELIEF OFFICIAL MEETS SUDANESE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

In Khartoum today, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima and the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan, Tom Eric Vraalsen, met with senior Government officials.

At a press encounter after those meetings, Oshima said he had reiterated the messages the Secretary-General had sent to the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) that parties to the conflict should make every effort to end the fighting, return to the negotiating table and move towards a peaceful solution to the conflict for the sake of the people of Sudan.

Oshima said he would deliver those same messages to SPLM officials when he meets with them later this week.

In his meetings today, Oshima said he also raised issues of concern to UN humanitarian agencies and their partners, including the recent flight bans over the Equatoria provinces in southern Sudan. He said he had received assurances that the Government of Sudan would look into these problems with a view to resolving them urgently.

CAMEROON TAKES OVER SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

In accordance with the principle of alphabetical rotation, Cameroon has succeeded Bulgaria as the President of the Security Council for the month of October. There are no scheduled meetings or consultations of the whole of the Council today.

The first scheduled consultations will be Wednesday, when Council members will meet to discuss the program of work for the month. Following those consultations, at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, Council President Martin Belinga-Eboutou of Cameroon, will speak to the press.

At 4:00 p.m. today, there is a meeting scheduled of the Security Council committee established by Resolution 1373 concerning counter-terrorism. That committee is chaired by Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom.

UN MISSION TO ACCREDIT BOSNIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

The UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina this week will confer accreditation to two law enforcement agencies that it has deemed meet the basic standards for democratic police institutions.

On Wednesday, Jacques Klein, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be present at the accreditation ceremony for the Republika Srpskas Ministry of the Interior, and on Thursday, he will attend one for the Ministry of the Interior for Canton 1, in the Bosnian Federation.

Other law enforcement agencies will be accredited in the coming weeks.

UN OFFICE SAYS IRAQI OIL EXPORTS DROPPED LAST WEEK

The Office of the Iraq Programme reported that Iraqi oil exports dropped from the previous weeks high of 1.9 million barrels per day to just over 1.1 million barrels per day last week. With a total weekly volume of 7.9 million barrels, the exports netted an estimated $210 million in revenue, at current prices and rate of exchange.

An overview of the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1409 based on the Goods Review List indicates that over 66 percent of the newly-processed contracts for humanitarian supplies and equipment were found not to contain any items on that List and were therefore approved by the Office of the Iraq Programme. However, a large number of contracts also required additional information from suppliers for final assessment by UNMOVIC and the IAEA.

ANNAN TO SPEAK AT YALE ON GLOBALIZATION

The Secretary-General is scheduled to travel to Yale University on Wednesday afternoon. He will deliver a lecture at 4:30 p.m. on globalization at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. He will talk about the need for broadened and more inclusive globalization so that everybody can benefit from it. At the end of the lecture, he will take a few questions.

He will also meet with Yale President Richard Charles Levin and the Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, Ernesto Zedillo. He will attend a reception at the Center before returning to New York in the evening.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

In response to a question on the Cyprus talks scheduled for Thursday and Friday, the Spokesman said a schedule for those talks had not yet been set. The Secretary-General, he explained after the briefing, will meet with his Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, to discuss developments in Cyprus and set up a schedule for the talks.

UNHCR

has an update on the outflow of refugees from Burundi. It says that nearly 900 Burundian refugees have fled to Tanzania since last Friday, in a rapidly growing outflow. More refugees are said to be on the way. The recent arrivals bring to more than 3,000, the total number of Burundian refugees who have fled to Tanzania during September alone, a nearly tenfold increase from August, when only 350 new Burundian refugees were registered in Tanzania. This year's total so far now stands at 5,200.

In Hamburg, Germany, today, Judge Dolliver Nelson of Grenada was elected as President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, from 2002 through 2005. Over the past three years, he has been the Tribunals Vice President. He replaced the outgoing President, Judge Chandrasekhara Rao.

Today is the International Day of Older Persons, and, in his message, the Secretary-General calls for the implementation of the Madrid Plan of Action adopted at the Second World Assembly on ageing earlier this year. He says the Plan provides a broad spectrum of social, political and economic recommendations for improving the situation of older people. Each of us has a part to play in that effort, he says. Let us resolve to work together to craft a new era for ageing in the 21st century.

The World Health Organization announced today that Timor-Leste has become the Organizations 192nd member. Health Minister, Rui Maria de Araujo said the health priorities will include improving health and saving the lives of mothers and children in a country where infant mortality is estimated at 70-95 deaths per 1,000 live births.

In another press release, WHO corrected erroneous news reports stating that WHO has conducted a study predicting the extinction of the naturally blonde hair gene by 2202. WHO has never issued a report on nor conducted research on the subject.

Under Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala opened a panel discussion this afternoon on "Disarmament in Conflict Prevention," the first of a series of seminars organized by the Department for Disarmament Affairs.

Today, Guyana became the 104th Member State to pay its 2002 regular budget contribution in full with a payment of more than $11,000. At this time last year, 122 Member States had fully paid their dues.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations, S-378 New York, NY 10017 Tel. 212-963-7162 - press/media only Fax. 212-963-7055

All other inquiries to be addressed to (212) 963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org

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