United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-04-11

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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

Friday, April 11, 2003

SECURITY PROBLEMS SPARK UN HUMANITARIAN WORRIES IN IRAQ

The absence of any real improvement in the security situation in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities continues to cause great alarm, a UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) spokesman in Amman said at the briefing on the humanitarian situation in Iraq. When chaos and lawlessness rule, the most vulnerable segment of the population the countrys children are certain to suffer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) added that without civil order, it is virtually impossible for hospitals to function effectively. The current situation being reported from Baghdad, Basra, Zubair, Kirkuk, Mosul and other towns across Iraq is extremely alarming, a WHO spokesman said. The agency urges the military forces and the remaining civilian authorities to act quickly to restore law and order and to ensure the safety of hospitals and hospital staff. The looting of hospitals and medical supplies is totally unacceptable and must be prevented.

A WHO truck containing some 13 metric tons of medicines has arrived in Baghdad, but the lack of law and order is preventing the distribution of those supplies. WHO is working with national staff and other partners in the Iraqi capital to ensure that the supplies are secured and available for delivery to the hospitals where they are needed, as soon as it is safe to do so.

UNICEF reported that drivers of four water tankers dispatched to Zubair on Thursday said the local population had organized itself to ensure an orderly distribution of relief supplies. More tankers have left Kuwait for southern Iraq today. It is hoped that four will reach Umm Qasr and six will head for Zubair. UNICEF also expects trucks carrying water distribution supplies to arrive in northern Iraq at some point today.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that large groups of Iraqis and other foreign nationals are reportedly still moving from Baghdad and other cities, trying to find security and safety. A UNHCR team dispatched to the Iranian border town of Mehran met at the border with representatives of the 30,000 displaced Iraqis and was told that they have no immediate intention of crossing into Iran. Iranian authorities have sent food, water and medicine to them.

Asked what the United Nations can do to deal with the anarchic conditions in Iraq, the Spokesman said that the people who can respond best are the military forces in the region, particularly those of the coalition. He said that in circumstances of a war, which was not approved by the Security Council, there was little the United Nations could do at present except provide humanitarian assistance.

IAEA REQUESTS U.S. GOVERNMENT TO SAFEGUARD IRAQI NUCLEAR MATERIALS

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has taken note of media reports that U.S. forces in Iraq have gone to the Iraqi nuclear research facility at Tuwaitha, and claimed to have found radioactive nuclear materials there.

The Agency said that most of the nuclear material at Tuwaitha is placed under safeguard, and was not required to be removed following the 1991 Gulf War because it was not ready for use in nuclear weapons. The IAEA has requested the U.S. Government to take adequate measures to ensure the safety and security of nuclear materials that are under IAEA seal at Tuwaitha until its inspectors can return to Iraq.

IAEA inspectors have visited the facility several times in recent months, and document higher-than-normal radiation levels in some of the buildings because of past Iraqi nuclear activity there.

The IAEA has also completed its latest semi-annual report on Iraq, and will be giving Secretary-General Kofi Annan a copy this afternoon. The Secretary-General transmits these reports to the Security Council.

SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS WITH REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

The

Security Council is holding a public meeting entitled: The Security Council and Regional Organizations: Facing the New Challenges to International Peace and Security.

The Secretary-General addressed the meeting with six regional organizations, telling them The feeling of global insecurity has seldom, if ever, been greater than it is today.

He went on to say, Equally, there has never been a more keenly felt desire among peoples and nations for a peace and security framework based firmly on the international rule of law.

He concluded: We need to move towards creating a network of effective mutually reinforcing mechanisms -- regional and global -- that are flexible and responsive to the reality we live in today. He added that the meeting today promises to inject new momentum into the partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations.

In addition to the 15 Council members, representatives of the African Union, the Organization of American States, the European Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Economic Community of West African States are speaking during the meeting.

The meeting is chaired by Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez, in his capacity as President of the Security Council.

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR DR-CONGO HOLDS FIRST MEETING

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported that on Thursday, the International Committee for support to the transition in the DRC held its first meeting at the Missions headquarters in Kinshasa.

Members include the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Belgium, Canada, Angola, Mozambique and the European Commission.

ATTACKS ON TWO CAMPS IN LIBERIA KILL FOUR, DISPLACE THOUSANDS

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Liberia reports that attacks on two camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Liberia have killed four civilians and displaced thousands more.

OCHA says it is also receiving reports of fighting between Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels and Government forces in Ganta, near the border with Guinea. Thousands of civilians in that area have been cut off from humanitarian assistance.

WHO, FAO EXPLORE WHETHER ANIMALS CAN SPREAD SARS

The World Health Organization (WHO) said today it is working with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other partner agencies on the possibility that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) may be caused by contact with animals.

As there is no epidemiological information on transmission through goods, products or animals available yet, WHO said that at present it cannot conclude that any goods, products or animals arriving from SARS-affected areas pose a risk to public health. However, WHO will continue to monitor closely the evolution of SARS, in collaboration with Ministries of Health, the FAO and other partner agencies.

WHOs Executive Director of the Communicable Disease Programmes, Dr. David Heymann, today outlined the status of the epidemic, what is known about the disease and what causes it, and how outbreaks in the hot zones around the world are evolving.

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: MORE AID NEEDED FOR ETHIOPIA

The World Food Programme made an urgent appeal today for $205 million to provide food relief in Ethiopia over the next year. The agency said it would need 480,000 metric tons of food aid to cover the needs of 4.6 million people affected by drought. WFP has received 70 percent of the food aid it requires for Ethiopia for this year and has stock to last until August but said additional aid is needed to avoid a break in food supplies and to extend the program until March 2004.

WFP also announced today the creation of a supply base located in Cambodia that will serve all of Asia. The Asia Regional Response Facility will receive, store and dispatch stocks that can be rushed to any humanitarian crisis in Asia within hours of the outbreak. The warehouse is modeled on the WFP facility in Brindisi, Italy.

In addition, WFP expressed gratitude for the donation by the government of Japan of $84.5 million to be used to assist refugees, internally displaced people and victims of natural disasters in Africa, Asia, the Near East and Latin America. The donation comes at a time when WFP is concerned that the Iraq crisis would divert donor attention and funds from other areas, particularly Africa.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SUSPECT TRANSFERRED TO HAGUE TRIBUNAL: Naser Oric, the commander of the Bosnian forces in Srebrenica during the Bosnian war, was arrested Thursday in Tuzla by NATOs Stabilization Force and then transferred today to the detention unit in The Hague of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.Oric was indicted by the Tribunal on charges that Bosnian military police in Srebrenica abused several detained Bosnian Serbs, subjecting them to physical abuse and even killing some, between September 1992 and March 1993.

ANNAN ASKS FOR NEW TERM FOR UNDP HEAD: In a letter to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General says that, following consultations with members of the UN Development Programmes (UNDP) executive board, he is requesting the General Assembly to confirm the appointment of Mark Malloch Brown for another four-year term as UNDP Administrator, beginning this July 1.

UNEP PLAN FOR HOT ROCKS: The United Nations Environment Programme unveiled a new plan to use hot rocks to produce electricity in Eastern Africa. Geothermal power uses the steam produced by hot rocks deep within the earth to generate electricity and is a promising form of renewable energy. A meeting of energy experts, scientists, engineers and private sector representatives taking place in Nairobi set the challenging, but achievable target, of providing 1,000 megawatts of electricity from geothermal sources. This is enough to serve several million people.

PAHO VIRTUAL PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPUS: The Pan-American Health Organization on Thursday launched a Virtual Public Health Campus that will provide a variety of distance learning courses in health policy-making for individuals as well as institutions throughout the region. Through the virtual campus, health workers will be in constant contact with experts to discuss specific situations to improve the quality of health care.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Monday, April 14

The Security Council will hold consultations on sanctions in Somalia.

The Economic and Social Council has scheduled a meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and International Monetary Fund), at which the Secretary-General is expected to speak.

Tuesday, April 15

The Security Council intends to hold consultations on a report by the Chairman of the 1267 Sanctions Committee, dealing with sanctions relating to al-Qaeda, and also intends to discuss Cote dIvoire in afternoon consultations.

The guest at the noon briefing will be Dr. David Heymann, Executive Director of Communicable Diseases at the World Health Organization, who will discuss the SARS outbreak.

Wednesday, April 16

The Security Council is expected to hold an open briefing and consultations on the Middle East, including the question of Palestine. It has also scheduled consultations on Burundi.

Thursday, April 17

The Secretary-General will attend the European Conference in Athens, Greece, at the invitation of Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis. He expects to hold discussions on Iraq with many of the European leaders gathered there.

The Security Council has scheduled consultations on the Central African Republic and the Central African region.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization will hold a meeting in Paris to draw up a preliminary inventory of Iraqi heritage to prepare a plan for its rehabilitation.

At 11:15, there will be a press conference to launch the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific for 2003.

Friday, April 18

The United Nations will be closed for Good Friday holiday.