United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-12-31

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

UN

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Instead of Noon Briefings, highlights of daily developments in the UN system will be provided on this page; Briefings resume on Thursday, January 2, 2003.

Tuesday, December 31, 2002

LAST IAEA INSPECTORS DEPART NORTH KOREA

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors have left the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), as the Agency's 35-member governing board takes up the issue of DPRK safeguards. The last two IAEA inspectors in the DPRK left that country today, travelling to Beijing.

The IAEA will keep an office in North Korea, and its equipment there has been placed in storage after an inventory of all its remaining equipment was completed.

The Agencys governing board will meet on January 6 for consideration of a report from Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei, and a press briefing is also planned on January 6 at IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

UN INSPECTION WORK CONTINUES IN IRAQ

Teams from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continued their inspection work in and around Baghdad today.

Among the sites visited today were a missile plant, a pharmaceutical research center and a chemical training center.

UN IRAQ OFFICE NOTES CHANGES TO GOODS REVIEW LIST

The Security Council on Monday approved changes to the Goods Review List, and the Office of the Iraq Programme notes that affected items range from pesticides to trucks. It also reports that there were 10 loadings of Iraqi crude oil totalling 14.3 million barrels in the week that ended on December 27.

The average price of Iraqi crude for the week was $26.90 per barrel and estimated revenue for the oil-for-food program was $409 million.

Estimated revenue generated from the beginning of phase XIII of the oil-for-food program, from December 5 to June 3, 2003, stands at $910 million.

UN MISSION FACILITATES CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT IN DR-CONGO

On Monday, the UN Mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo facilitated the signing of a cease-fire agreement between three armed rebel movements which had been engaged in fighting in the northeast of the country.

The three -- the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), the Congolese Rally for DemocracyNational (RCD-N) and the Congolese Rally for DemocracyLiberation Movement (RCDML) -- agreed to halt immediately all fighting in the Isiro-Bafwasende-Beni-Watsa quadrangle.

The UN Mission will deploy military observers immediately to the area.

All three groups also agreed to guarantee the freedom of movement of the civilian population as well as humanitarian organizations.

The ceremony was attended by the deputy head of the UN mission, Lena Sundh, along with the UN Force Commander in the DRC, Gen. Mountaga Diallo, and the Ambassadors to the DRC of China, France, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Belgium.

UN MISSION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ENDS WORK

Tonight at midnight, the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina will end its work, having successfully completed the most extensive police reform and restructuring mandate ever undertaken by the United Nations.

Starting on Wednesday, the European Union Police Mission will take over the tasks performed by the UN Mission, while the UN will remain engaged in furthering the countrys post-war development and recovery through the work of its agencies.

In a ceremony in Sarajevo on Monday, the Mission awarded an accreditation certificate to Bosnias State Border Service, completing the accreditation of all the countrys law enforcement institutions.

In a statement issued today, the Mission asserted, A platform now exists from which the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina, with continued help from the international community, can build a society based on the respect for rule of law and functioning democratic institutions.

FRANCE REPLACES COLOMBIA AS SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Starting tomorrow, January 1, Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliére of France takes over the Presidency of the Security Council. He intends to speak to the press about the Councils work for January at 12:45 on January 6.

Today is the last day of the Colombian Presidency of the Security Council for the month of December. Its membership in the Council also expires.

As a parting gift, the Colombian Ambassador, Alfonso Valdiviezo, in his capacity as Council president, is leaving behind a supply of Colombian coffee for fellow Council members. The coffee is available in a machine in a room accessible to members only. The only hitch is that the Colombian mission needs volunteers to maintain the machine after its departure and to provide more coffee after the six-month supply runs out.

UN REVIEW NOTES PEACEKEEPING SUCCESSES IN 2002

UN peace operations yielded major dividends for a number of countries in 2002, a UN report published by the Department for Public Information says.

Among the highlights mentioned in the Year in Review UN Peace Operations 2002 report are the independence of East Timor, the progressive restoration of peace and security in Sierra Leone, the establishment of the Interim Authority and the Transitional Administration in Afghanistan and the successful completion of the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The report states that in all, the United Nations maintained 15 peacekeeping operations and 13 political and peace-building missions in 2002. They ranged in strength from a handful of international and local staff, to thousands of military, police and civilian peacekeepers.

As many as 90 UN Member States contributed uniformed personnel to these operations, the report says. As of November 2002, some 44,000 military personnel and civilian police were deployed in peacekeeping operations globally. Working with these uniformed personnel were some 3,661 international and 7,962 local civilian staff.

REFUGEE STATUS FOR ERITREANS IN SUDAN TO END, UNHCR SAYS

Today is the deadline when more than 320,000 Eritreans in Sudan will cease to enjoy their group refugee status. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that as the deadline towards the cessation approaches, thousands of Eritreans are coming forward seeking continued refugee protection, while others are asking to be taken home or applying to remain as immigrants.

The root causes of the Eritrean refugee problem no longer exist, UNHCR determined, as fundamental and durable changes have occurred with the end of the 30-year-old war with Ethiopia in 1991 and Eritrean independence in 1993. Similarly, peace has returned with the signing of a cease-fire agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea in June 2000.

UNHCR said that the repatriation program would continue until everyone who has registered has gone home. Those Eritreans found to be still in need of international protection after undergoing individual screening will be able to remain in their current host country as refugees. Those who do not qualify for asylum after 2002 but who do not wish to return will be expected to legalise their stay in Sudan, or the other countries where they currently reside.

JOSEPH E. CONNOR ENDS JOB AS TOP UN MANAGER

Today is the last day on the job for Joseph E. Connor, who since May 1994 has been the UNs top manager.

For eight years, as Under Secretary-General for Management, he has built up the UNs reputation as a well-run organization by relentlessly pursuing the goals of the UN reform agenda, improving efficiency and maintaining no-growth budgets.

In response to a decision by the Secretary-General, he introduced results-based budgeting, which emphasizes achieving strategic goals, not just the bottom line.

When the US Congress passed the Helms-Biden legislation outlining a path for the payment of US arrears to the world organization, he engineered the meeting of the required benchmarks, allowing the US to curtail nearly two decades of withholding practices.

He introduced a centrally computerized system for all UN administrative processes, revised UN personnel practices to emphasize merit over tenure and designed the plan for the refurbishment of the 52-year-old Headquarters complex, which has now been given the go-ahead.

Mr. Connor also assisted the Secretary-General in establishing the office of the first UN Inspector General (the Office for Internal Oversight Services), which conducts internal audits, while monitoring, inspecting, evaluating and investigating all UN activities.

Joe Connors impact on the United Nations over these past eight years has been marked, and will continue to be felt many years into the future.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

In response to questions, the Spokesman confirmed that the Secretary-General wrote to the Governments of Algeria, Mauritania and Morocco and the Polisario Front, to inform them that his Special Envoy for Western Sahara, James Baker, intends to visit the region next month. The specific dates and venues for his visit will be announced later.

A total of 117 Member States have paid their 2002 budget contributions in full this year. This compares with 135 that paid in full last year. The dollar amounts paid in full show a different picture. The total for 2001 was just over $750 million and for this year it is about $800 million. At the end of the year, total arrears to the United Nations amounted to some $1.7 billion, including more than $300 million for the regular budget, over $1.3 billion for peacekeeping operations and under $100 million for the international tribunals.

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

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