United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-08-08

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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, August 8, 2003

UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL TRAVELING TO LIBERIA

Carolyn McAskie, the UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, is traveling today on a mission to strengthen UN relief efforts in Liberia.

When security conditions allow, she will travel into Monrovia to meet with representatives of UN agencies, humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and donor Governments to discuss how best to respond to urgent humanitarian needs in Liberia.

The UN Security Coordinators Office has dispatched a security assessment mission to Monrovia today.

On the peacekeeping front, the Nigerian battalion, the vanguard West African peacekeeping force in Liberia being deployed by the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, on Thursday patrolled the Monrovia city center to an overwhelmingly warm reception from the community.

Today, the UN Mission airlifted 120 more Nigerian soldiers to Monrovia, bringing to nearly 90 percent the deployment of the first Nigerian battalion of some 770 troops. In addition, two armored personnel carriers, four land rovers, one water tanker, a truck, three tons of ammunition and rations were sent to Monrovia today.

MORE THAN 250,000 KILLED IN LIBERIA CONFLICT

Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan today submitted an emergency report to the Commission on Human Rights on Liberia, which says that more than 250,000 persons have lost their lives in the conflict in that country since it began in December 1989, with at least half of the dead being civilian non-combatants. More than 1.3 million people have been uprooted from their homes.

Using the best available data from the UN system and humanitarian agencies, the report says that several hundreds more people have lost their lives, and civilians have been deliberately targeted, since fighting resumed in Monrovia on June 24. The report also records widespread torture, rape and the abduction of children.

SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS MEETING WITH TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR

The Security Council this morning held a closed meeting, followed by consultations, to talk with the Prosecutor of the two International Tribunals, Carla Del Ponte.

In the closed meeting, Del Ponte shared her experiences with the members of the Security Council as they discussed the possibility of splitting the prosecution of those tribunals.

She told reporters afterward that she was pleased to be given the opportunity to speak to Council members and would await their decision.

After consultations adjourned, Security Council President Mikhail Wehbe of Syria read a statement to the press on Kosovo, saying that Council members strongly condemned the murder of UN police officer Maj. Satish Menon and appealed to all concerned to fully cooperate with the UN Mission to bring the perpetrators to justice.

ANNAN CONCERNED AT EXCHANGE OF FIRE ACROSS BLUE LINE IN LEBANON

According to a statement, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is very concerned at the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line in Southern Lebanon, initiated from Lebanese territory, which have been reported today.

The Shaba Farms area has been quiet for some months, and the Secretary-General urges the parties involved to avoid further actions that will increase the tensions in this sensitive and volatile area.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT IS FLAT IN LATIN AMERICA

The Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says that the economy for Latin America and the Caribbean will grow by 1.5 percent this year, a modest recovery from the 0.6 percent drop it faced in 2002, but per capita gross domestic product will remain flat this year, at a level that is 2 percent below what it was in 1997.

The Commission, in its annual Economic Survey, says that for 2003, Argentina will head the growth ranking, with an increase by 5.5 percent in economic growth, while Venezuela will post the lowest rate, of negative 13 percent.

The survey, released Thursday in Santiago, Chile, adds that the regions labor situation is expected to improve modestly this year, but the overall number of unemployed will reach 13.6 million people, with poor employment outlooks in Brazil and Mexico. A press release on the racks has more details.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

WFP, UNICEF SIGN AGREEMENT ON MALNUTRITION IN LATIN AMERICA: The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) signed a new agreement Thursday to strengthen their cooperation in reducing child malnutrition in Latin American and the Caribbean. The two agencies will strengthen their joint response to emergencies, provide nutritional support for young children and their mothers, monitor and assess progress, and improve the livelihoods of the poorest families, particularly in countries where the challenge is the greatest.

ANNAN MARKS DAY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: Saturday is the International Day of the Worlds Indigenous People, and the Secretary-General, in a message available upstairs, says that the human family is a tapestry of enormous beauty and diversity, and the worlds indigenous peoples are a rich and integral part of that tapestry. The protection and promotion of their rights and cultures, he says, is of fundamental importance to all States and all peoples.

UNHCR CONCERNED ABOUT INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN COLOMBIA: The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today says it is deeply concerned about the effect that Colombia's internal strife is having on the country's indigenous people. UNHCR is urging all parties concerned to respect the rights of indigenous people and to stop discriminating against them.

UN SYSTEM RESPONDS TO SUDAN FLOODS: UN agencies and their non-governmental partners are responding to needs created by heavy flooding in northwestern Sudan. Floodwaters from the River Gash have swept through the town of Kassala in northwestern Sudan, some 280 kilometers northwest of the capital, Khartoum, and left two thirds of its 500,000 inhabitants homeless.

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO START HOLIDAYS: Beginning this weekend, the Secretary-General will begin to take three weeks of annual leave.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Tuesday, August 12

Tuesday is International Youth Day.

Wednesday, August 13

The Security Council has scheduled an open briefing, followed by consultations, on Afghanistan.