United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-11-20

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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, November 20, 2002

ANNAN DEPLORES PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN DEATHS IN TULKAREM

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement issued by his Spokesman, deplored the violence that killed at least seven Palestinian civilians, including three teenage children, and wounded a dozen more on Tuesday and today in the West Bank town of Tulkarem. Six of the deaths came during an Israeli military raid Tuesday night which killed a suspected militant.

The Secretary-General once again urged the Government of Israel to desist from the use of excessive force in civilian areas and called on the parties to refrain from acts of violence, provocation and retaliation. He remains convinced that the use of force, irrespective of its target, will not yield victory for either side of this terrible conflict.

Violence only deepens anger, bitterness and distrust, while making more distant the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. In accordance with their obligations under international law, both sides must adopt every possible measure to protect civilian life.

The Secretary-General again emphasized that a political settlement remains the only viable solution to the conflict.

ANNAN SAYS CYPRUS NEGOTIATIONS NEED TO GET UNDERWAY URGENTLY

In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, the Spokesman noted that last 11 November, when the Secretary-General conveyed to the Cypriot leaders his proposal to bridge the gaps between them and break the deadlock in negotiations, he asked them to convey their reaction to Alvaro de Soto, his Special Adviser on Cyprus, within a week.

On Monday, the Secretary-General received a letter from Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides expressing his readiness to begin negotiations without delay on the basis of the document that is before the two leaders. He has not yet received such an indication from the Turkish Cypriot side.

The United Nations understands that Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash remains hospitalized in New York and that he requires consultations before he can provide the United Nations with the reaction that was requested.

The Secretary-General is very concerned. A way to get negotiations under way needs to be found urgently, because further delay could result in the disappearance of the opportunity that is at hand.

The plan the Secretary-General has submitted has a calendar designed to allow the parties to seize this opportunity, and that requires the main issues to be resolved prior to the Copenhagen European Council. The calendar is part and parcel of the plan.

The Secretary-General has asked de Soto, his Special Adviser, to meet him in Europe at the end of the week so as to take stock and examine what the United Nations can do to bring the process forward.

ANNAN RECOMMENDS EXTENSION OF UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN CYPRUS

The Secretary-Generals latest report on UN operations in Cyprus reviews the operations of the UN peacekeeping force, including its many humanitarian activities which have brought together thousands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the buffer zone. UN Peacekeepers also performed humanitarian tasks in support of Greek Cypriots and Maronites living in the north and Turkish Cypriots living in the south.

Despite the recent calm along the ceasefire lines, the Secretary-General recommends a further extension by six months of the Forces mandate. He considers the UN Forces presence on the island as essential to the maintenance of the ceasefire between the two sides.

The Security Council is expected to hold closed consultations on Friday morning to discuss the mandate renewal.

UNMOVIC AND IAEA HEADS LEAVE BAGHDAD, ARRIVE IN CYPRUS

Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, and Mohammed ElBaradei, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and some of their colleagues left Baghdad at 8:00 a.m. local time this morning for Larnaca Cyprus. Shortly after arriving, the two paid a courtesy call to Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides.

Blix will then leave Larnaca today for London, where he is to chair another meeting of the European Bank Reconstruction and Developments Chernobyl Shelter Fund, on Thursday.

SECRETARY-GENERAL VISITS CROATIA, ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT

The Secretary-General is in Croatia today, where, upon arriving at Zagreb International Airport, he dedicated a memorial to remember the UN personnel who had lost their lives while serving in the former Yugoslavia, and said that a new era was emerging in the region since their sacrifice. He said, Even at the darkest hour of the conflict, it was the hope of a new era, based on tolerance, diversity and human rights, that sustained our peacekeepers.

He then met with President Stjepan Mesic, and the two held a press encounter following their meeting.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General met with Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan. The Secretary-General welcomed Croatias efforts to improve its relations with its neighbors. The Prime Minister told him that he expected a final agreement on the Prevlaka peninsula in a matter of days. The two also discussed refugees, internally displaced persons and the missing.

After a brief meeting with Parliament Speaker Zlatko Tomcic, the Secretary-General then addressed the Croatian Parliament, saying that it was encouraging for him to return to Croatia to see how much has changed in the seven years since he last saw the country. He noted that Croatia was now at peace with all its neighbors and voiced his confidence that it will live up to its other international obligations and be a factor of stability in the region.

He then met with Foreign Minister Tonino Picula, who thanked the UN for its peacekeeping and humanitarian work in Croatia over the past decade.

Later today, he is to meet with UN staff in Zagreb.

Today, Nane Annan, the Secretary-General's wife, visited the main children's hospital in Zagreb, where she spoke with staff about their trauma work to help young victims of child abuse and violence. She also met volunteers who take and refer child abuse calls from the public, as well as young people working as peer educators to warn their friends and peers of the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

ANNAN MEETS UN WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR IN BELGRADE

Earlier today, the Secretary-General met privately in Belgrade with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte, and also chatted with Tribunal staff in Belgrade, pointing out that its work does not target a nation or a people, but individual criminals.

He also met with the heads of UN agencies and UN staff in that city before leaving for Croatia.

On Tuesday, after the Secretary-General met with Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica in Belgrade, he spoke to the press and said he believed that Yugoslavia was making progress in creating a nation based on the rule of law, democracy and human rights. He said that he and Kostunica had discussed the relationship with the Tribunal, and he added, We both hope that this issue will be settled as quickly as possible.

REPORT: VACCINES NOT REACHING THOSE WHO NEED THEM MOST

The World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Bank today launched The State of the Worlds Vaccines and Immunization in Dakar, Senegal, which shows that, while vaccines are the cheapest way of controlling the spread of infectious diseases, they are not reaching those that need them most.

Low donor investment is cited by the report as a major reason for the huge gaps in immunization coverage between rich and poor countries.

While children in developed countries have access to newer more expensive vaccines for major childhood diseases, in sub-Saharan Africa only half the children have access to basic immunization against common diseases like tuberculosis and measles. Measles alone causes the deaths of more than 700,000 children a year.

The report says the current external aid to developing countries for immunization is $1.6 billion, but with the addition of $250 million a year, at least 10 million more children would be reached with basic vaccines. A further $100 million a year would cover the cost of newer vaccines.

UNICEF CHIEF SAYS CHILDREN HAVE A RIGHT TO PLAY

Today is Universal Childrens Day, the day on which the anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is observed.

To mark the occasion, Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said this years celebrations would be dedicated to the idea that children everywhere have the right to play. The idea that many children grow up with no memory of play in their lives at all, she said, is a staggering reminder of how badly we have failed our children.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Security Council has not scheduled any meetings or consultations today. On Thursday, it has scheduled an open meeting to discuss Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.

On Tuesday evening, the Secretary-General issued a message, delivered by Chef de Cabinet Iqbal Riza, congratulating the winner of this years UN Environment Programme Sasakawa Prize, Ashok Khosla, who founded in India the first national environmental agency in the developing world. In congratulating Khosla, the Secretary-General stressed the challenge to implement what was agreed at this summers World Summit on Sustainable Development, to achieve a safer, more equitable future for all people.

The Food and Agriculture Organization today warned that despite recent progress in eradication rinderpest a devastating livestock disease there is still a risk of the disease breaking out of its last stronghold in northeastern Kenya and southern Somalia. The disease cannot be transmitted to humans, but can contribute to famine by wiping out whole herds belonging to small-scale farmers or tribal herders who depend on cattle for their livelihoods.

This morning, St Vincent and the Grenadines signed the Protocol on Trafficking in Persons and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants, both supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. This event was postponed from last Friday.

On Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, there will be a discussion to mark the observance on December 3 of the International Day of Disabled Persons, dealing with the theme of Independent Living and Sustainable Livelihoods.

Starting at 1:15 Thursday in Conference Room 6, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Nitin Desai will moderate a panel discussion on the ethical approaches to global problems advocated in an new book, Candles in the Dark, and several contributors to that book will speak.

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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