United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-07-15

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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 SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

ANNAN AND US PRESIDENT MEET, DISCUSS LIBERIA AND IRAQ

On Monday afternoon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with President George W. Bush and his senior advisors in the White House, discussing, among other topics, Liberia and Iraq.

In a press encounter afterward, the Secretary-General thanked President Bush for his interest in Africa and his determination to help defeat the AIDS pandemic.

He said he was satisfied with the discussions on Liberia, and added that we have more or less agreed to a general approach on the Liberian issue. And Im pleased with that.

He noted that the understanding emerging now is for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to send in a vanguard of about 1,000 to 1,500 troops, after which, he believes, President Charles Taylor will leave Liberia. Then, he said, the force would be strengthened, hopefully with US participation, and eventually UN blue helmets would go in to stabilize the situation.

On Iraq, the Secretary-General said he was encouraged to see the formation over the weekend of the Governing Council. Regardless of the differences that existed before the Iraq war, he said, the challenge now is to stabilize Iraq, to help Iraq to become a peaceful, stable and prosperous state. And I think that everyone needs to help.

After a meeting with members of the House Committee on International Relations, including Chairman Henry Hyde, the Secretary-General said he believed that both US and UN involvement would be necessary in Liberia, with UN peacekeepers deployed for the longer-term effort.

He also met with Senator Ted Kennedy, and afterward highlighted the importance of the fight against AIDS, saying, I know the issue is before the Senate and I think what they do is going to have an impact on millions of lives.

UN SAYS MANY MONROVIANS NEED FOOD ASSISTANCE

Although a relative calm has prevailed in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, for nearly one week, UN and non-governmental agencies are still confronted with great humanitarian needs in and around Monrovia, with many internally displaced persons continuing to suffer from shortages of food, clean water and basic health services.

The World Food Programme (WFP), together with NGOs and Liberian officials, carried out preliminary assessments and began to distribute food to some of the more than 180,000 Monrovians in need of food aid.

A seven-member UN team, including members of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, WFP and UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), arrived in Liberia today to assess the humanitarian situation.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that more than 950 Sierra Leonean refugees have so far been assisted home from Liberia by UNHCR since an emergency evacuation operation by sea was begun on July 4.

The returnees coming into Sierra Leone report that many more refugees desperately want to go home in the face of declining security in the camps in the Monrovia area. The returnees said that their already difficult situation in Liberia worsened after the announcement by the Special Court for Sierra Leone of the indictment against Liberian President Charles Taylor, who subsequently made public statements against Sierra Leoneans in Liberia.

Many of the returnees said they had lost property to Government soldiers, particularly those manning checkpoints or stationed on the streets of Monrovia.

Also, the World Health Organization (WHO), in its cholera update for Liberia, says that the total number of cholera cases in Monrovia is now 1,630, including fifteen deaths. The security situation, it adds, still makes it difficult to obtain the exact numbers of cases and deaths.

Asked if US troops would serve under a UN flag in Liberia, the Deputy Spokeswoman said that the modalities of an eventual US participation in Liberia were still being worked out by officials in Washington. She added that the Secretary-General had called for a multi-national force that would operate under its own flag with the backing of the Security Council.

UN DISTRIBUTES FOOD RATIONS AMID RELATIVE CALM IN BURUNDI

UN humanitarian officials say that relative calm prevailed in the capital of Burundi, Bujumbura, and its environs today. The flow of internally displaced persons into Bujumbura has now ceased, with significant numbers returning home from their impromptu settlements in the capitals southern suburbs.

The majority of families who had sought shelter from fighting last week remain at their site near the National Unity Monument.

The World Food Programme has provided them with seven days of rations while Medecins sans Frontiers and Italian Cooperation continue to provide basic health, water and sanitation services.

UN IRAQ ENVOY IS IN SYRIA, WILL MEET WITH PRESIDENT ASSAD

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello arrived in Damascus today. He scheduled to meet with Syrias President, Bashir al Assad, on Wednesday. After that, he will travel to Tehran to meet with Iranian President Mohamed Khatami before returning to Baghdad on Thursday.

Prior to his departure for Syria, Vieira de Mello met with US Administrator L. Paul Bremer. They discussed the building of democratic institutions in Iraq.

Following that meeting, Vieira de Mello was received by the Governing Council. The members of the Council told him that they would be looking for UN assistance for a number of problems facing Iraq, notably the issues of refugee return and debt relief.

Members of the Council also told him they would be sending a delegation to New York next week. That delegation would include Akila Hashami of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, who led Iraqs delegation to the recent conference in New York, Adnan Pachachi of the Iraqi Independent Democrats and Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress.

Asked about reports that the UN had announced the departure of an electoral assistance unit to Iraq, the Deputy Spokeswoman said she could not confirm these reports, but added that the Special Representative had repeatedly said the UN would be ready to assist the Governing Council and that electoral assistance was an area in which the UN had vast experience.

Asked how the Iraqi delegation had been selected, the Deputy Spokeswoman said it had entirely been an internal decision of the Governing Council.

In answering a question on the delegation's eventual appearance in front of the Security Council, she said that it would up to the members of the Security Council to decide if they would receive the delegation on July 22.

ANNAN CALLS FOR FUNDS FOR UN PALESTINIAN RELIEF AGENCY

In a message delivered to a seminar on assistance to the Palestinian people, the Secretary-General said this was a time of both hope and suffering for the Palestinian people. The hope springs from the results of the Aqaba summit, which has led to an Israeli withdrawal from parts of Gaza and Bethlehem.

But while Israeli and Palestinian officials talk and work alongside the international community to find a permanent solution, the Palestinian people continue to suffer, the Secretary-General said in his message, which was delivered by Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The stifling closures regime as well the continuing settlement activities and the construction of a separation fence tear at the very fabric of Palestinian economic and social life, and cause deep frustration and anxiety.

Meanwhile, UNRWAs vital assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees is threatened by chronic funding shortages. The Secretary-General appealed to donors to contribute generously to the agency's regular programs as well as its emergency activities, so that it can continue its desperately needed work, not only in the direct provision of food aid, medical care, education and employment, but also in rehabilitation and employment generation.

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON CENTRAL AFRICAN SITUATION

The Security Council today held consultations on the Central African Republic, with a briefing by the Secretary-Generals Representative to that country, General Lamine Cissé.

General Cissé noted developments in the Central African Republic since the March 15 coup in which General Francoise Bozizé overthrew President Ange-Félix Patassé.

He drew the Councils attention to the insecurity that continues in the country, notably in its interior, and the need to restructure the defence and security forces.

Following consultations, the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Inocencio Arias of Spain, said members of the Council noted with satisfaction that the Central African authorities had opted for a consensual management of the transition period by involving all the political factions and the other actors of civil society

He also said Council members were concerned at the continuing insecurity and human rights violations in the Central African Republic.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY POSTPONES VISIT TO IRAN: The mission to Iran of the Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, originally scheduled for 17 to 27 July 2003, was postponed today at the request of the Government. Ambeyi Ligabo and Iranian authorities are discussing rescheduling the visit for later this year.

UNFPA HELPS TO REFURBISH HOSPITAL IN AFGHANISTAN:

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), with support from the Government of Italy, has rebuilt and refurbished a hospital in north-west Kabul, Afghanistan, the Khair Khana Hospital, resulting in a doubling of its initial capacity. According to UNFPA, mothers and infants now have a far better chance of surviving childbirth due to the renovations, which include a clean delivery room and an up-to-date operating room where Caesarean sections can be performed.

WHO CALLS FOR ANTI-TB DRUGS FOR AIDS VICTIMS: The World Health Organization today in Paris called for free anti-tuberculosis drugs and quality care to be made widely available to people living with HIV in developing countries. According to WHO, an estimated one third of the 42 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide are co-infected with tuberculosis, which currently is the biggest killer of people with HIV/AIDS.

CARIBBEAN DRUG REPORT RELEASED: The Caribbean Drug Information Network (CARIDIN), in co-operation with the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, has released its National Drug Reports for 2002-2003.

UN PEACEKEEPING BUDGET: The UN peacekeeping budget today received a contribution of more than $18 million from Spain.

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