United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-10-16

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY HUA JIANG

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

IRAQ DEBATE COULD STRENGTHEN UNITED NATIONS, ANNAN SAYS

The Security Council open debate on Iraq began this morning, and in his message to the Council, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the Iraq crisis is one of the gravest and most serious facing the international community. He called on the Council to face up to its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

But this situation also presents the UN with an opportunity, Secretary-General, who is in Mongolia, said in his message, which was delivered on his behalf by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette. If we handle this properly, we may actually strengthen international cooperation, the rule of law, and the United Nations, enabling it to move forward in a purposeful way, not only in this immediate crisis but in the future as well.

As for Iraqs responsibilities, the Secretary-General said Iraq has to comply fully with the Security Councils resolutions. Its decision to re-admit weapons inspectors was only a first step, he declared.

He told Council members that the adoption of a new resolution that would strengthen the hand of the UN weapons inspectors would be appropriate. The new measures, he said, must be firm, effective, credible and reasonable.

In conclusion, he appealed for the members of the Security Council to remain united in their decision-making.

If you allow yourselves to be divided, the Secretary-General told the Council, the authority and credibility of this Organization will undoubtedly suffer. But if you act in unison, you will have greater impact, and a better chance of achieving your objective, which must be a comprehensive solution that includes the suspension and eventual ending of the sanctions that are causing such hardship for the Iraqi people, as well as the timely implementation of other provisions of your resolutions.

This morning, 67 speakers were inscribed for the Council debate, including Council members, who are scheduled to speak after all the non-members do. The debate is expected to last through Thursday.

Also today, the Security Council Sanctions Committee on Liberia is scheduled to meet at 3:00 p.m.

ANNAN BELIEVES COUNCIL WILL REACH OPTIMAL DECISION ON IRAQ

At a press encounter in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, today, the Secretary-General was asked about Iraq and said that the Security Council was reviewing the possibility of approving a new resolution that will strengthen the hand of the UN weapons inspectors.

If Iraq were to continue to defy, he said, the chief inspector will report back to the Council and the Council would decide what to do.

Pressed further on Iraq, the Secretary-General said that the question of whether there would be one resolution or two resolutions is being hotly debated and voiced his firm belief that, at the end of the day when those discussions are over, the Council will come up with an optimal decision that will allow the inspectors to go back with a strengthened hand and continue their work.

ANNAN PAYS FIRST VISIT TO MONGOLIA

The Secretary-Generals visit to Mongolia, his first to that country, began today, and, in his first official appointment for the visit, the Secretary-General this afternoon met with Prime Minister Nambar Enkhbayar.

The Prime Minister described the economic trials the country has faced since the democratic revolution of 1989 and expressed his hope that the Secretary-General would attend the third International Conference of New and Restored Democracies, which Mongolia will host in June of next year.

The Secretary-General saluted the Prime Ministers commitment to economic reform, development and human rights and said he would try and attend the conference.

After holding a joint press conference with the Prime Minister, the Secretary-General went to the Ikh Hural, or Parliament, where he addressed the assembly, saying that the contributions of small states to international cooperation are crucially important.

He called for a fundamental compact between small states and large, based on an acknowledgement of mutual interest and adherence to the norms and standards of international law, without which we would be left with the raw politics of power.

After addressing the assembly, the Secretary-General met with Mongolias President, Natsagiyn Bagabandi.

The President stressed Mongolias commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and pledged support for the Secretary-Generals efforts at UN reform. He then offered a military base outside Ulanbator for use as a regional peacekeeping training facility. The Secretary-General thanked the President for the offer and said he would convey it to the UN Peacekeeping Department.

That evening, the Prime Minister hosted a dinner for the Secretary-General and his wife, Nane.

Nane Annan, as part of her own program in Mongolia, today met with a nomadic herder family and learned about the challenges that such herders face, especially after four consecutive years of drought. She also met rural and urban-based women leaders to discuss the situation of women in the country, and visited the National AIDS Foundation, which supports local organizations in their efforts to fight AIDS among vulnerable groups, notably sex workers, street children, mobile traders, the military and homosexuals.

DR CONGO: UN ENVOY APPEALS FOR AN END TO FIGHTING

Amos Namanga Ngongi, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo who heads the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, today appealed to the different parties currently fighting in the eastern part of the country to respect the cease-fire. "If the East of the DRC is destabilized, so will be the whole country," Ngongi told a news conference in Kinshasa.

Also commenting the current situation in the east, the UN mission's Force Commander, Gen. Mountaga Diallo, indicated that fighting among Congolese might bring back the foreign troops to the DRC, in particular to the east of the country.

Meanwhile, Carolyn McAskie, the Deputy UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, concluded her mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The mission spent the past three days in the eastern part of the country, looking at the rapidly evolving humanitarian situation.

She reports that recent fighting since the withdrawal of Rwandan troops has resulted in significant reductions in humanitarian access, most notably around Bukavu, Kindu and Uvira, where humanitarian organizations have had to suspend some activities or evacuate completely.

Ongoing tensions in the town of Kindu have increased the number of displaced people to 11,000. In Ituri, fighting between the Hema and the Lendu ethnic groups has displaced roughly 60,000 people in the past two months, bringing the total number of displaced in the Bunia area to around 500,000 people.

McAskie is scheduled to continue on to Burundi, where she will get a first hand look at the humanitarian impact that the fighting in the DRC is having in that country.

UN KOSOVO ENVOY MEETS SERB ORTHODOX PATRIARCH

Today in Kosovo, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative, Michael Steiner, met with Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle to discuss the importance of participation by Kosovos Serbs in the October 26 municipal elections.

Steiner said he was encouraged by the discussions, during which he received support for his recent seven-point plan to normalize the situation in Mitrovica. Patriarch Pavle also encouraged Kosovo Serbs to participate in the elections, saying he wanted a better future for the new generation in Kosovo.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TO ATTEND FRANCOPHONIE SUMMIT

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette is scheduled to leave UN Headquarters this evening, traveling to Beirut to attend the 9th Summit of the Francophonie. She plans to address the opening session of the Summit on Friday.

From Beirut, she will continue to Kabul, where she will arrive on Sunday for a three-day visit. Her program in Afghanistan will focus on internal meetings with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and she will also meet with Government officials.

The Deputy Secretary-General is scheduled to be back in the office on October 24.

LARGEST GATHERING OF MINISTERS, EXPERTS ON NEPAD TO BEGIN

K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), addressed policymakers from African countries at the opening of a Committee of Experts meeting which kicked off in Johannesburg today in preparation for a Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, which starts Saturday.

Amoako told the meeting that the climate for development cooperation had improved markedly in the past year.

Amoako identified the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) as an important framework for Africa's development that reinforces progress and makes the consequences of domestic choices more important. "It is not a 'one size fits all'", he said, implying that each African country would need to adapt the broad principles of the NEPAD framework to its own reality.

Some 60 African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development are scheduled to meet from October 19 - 21 in what will be the largest gathering of Ministers and experts dealing with economic policy in Africa on NEPAD since its endorsement by African leaders at the inaugural summit of the African Union in Durban in July 2002.

WATER MANAGEMENT IS CRUCIAL, FAO CHIEF SAYS ON FOOD DAY

World Food Day is being marked by a major ceremony at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, with a theme this year of water: source of food security.

Speaking during the ceremony, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said that, with the worlds population expected to grow to 8 billion in the next 30 years, careful water management will be crucial to growing the food needed to lead healthy and productive lives. He added, The combined vicious impact of poverty, rising demand for food and insufficient availability of water poses a serious challenge for world food security and universal access to clean water.

Diouf also announced the appointment of new FAO Ambassadors, including U.S. singer Dionne Warwick and Italian football player Roberto Baggio.

ANNAN ISSUES MESSAGE TO GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY

The Assembly of the Global Environment Facility is meeting in Beijing in its second session, beginning today.

The Secretary-General, in his message to the Assembly delivered by Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, said that in the ten years since its founding, the Facility has become one of the key institutions working to ensure that the fight against poverty stays in harmony with environmental protection.

He added that the recent replenishment of the fund, with $2.9 billion over the next four years, was both a vote of confidence and a statement of expectation to carry out the agreements reached at the Johannesburg Summit.

On Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer of the Facility, Mohamed El-Ashry, announced that he would step down when his term ends in July 2003. He has been head of the Facility since its inception.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Secretary-Generals latest report on the cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States notes the Arab Leagues constructive role in facilitating the agreement by Iraq to return missing Kuwaiti archives.

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