United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-09-29

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Monday, September 29, 2003

SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS DISCUSSION ON GUINEA BISSAU, IRAQ

The Security Council held an open briefing on Guinea Bissau this morning.

Tuliameni Kalomoh, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and Jose Ramos Horta, in his capacity as Special Envoy of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries to Guinea Bissau, were the speakers for the meeting. The statement by the UN Secretariat follows a briefing the day after the coup detat in Guinea-Bissau led by General Verissimo Correia Seabra.

In it, Kalomoh noted that a new transitional president and prime minister had been sworn in on Sunday.

He said that the political class, the military and the organizations of civil society seem to have pulled back from the brink and have agreed on a truce and a consensus solution for the transition. He went on to say there seems to be a genuine atmosphere of give-and-take, which augurs well for the future.

But serious social and economic tensions persist and will require careful management, Kalomoh added. He said it was the urgent task for the international community to help ensure a successful transition.

Following the briefing, the Council went into consultations in which Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Oil for Food Program, briefed Council members on the phasing out of the program by November 21, as required by resolution 1483.

Sevan's report to the Council notes that the handover preparations and best case scenarios have been undermined by chronic insecurity as well as the terrorist attack of August 19.

ART EXHIBIT HONORING AUGUST 19 VICTIMS OPENS IN BAGHDAD

To mark the official end of the mourning period in Islam, exactly 40 days after the August 19 terrorist attack on the UN compound in Baghdad, a group of young Iraqi artists, both men and women, opened an art show in the Baghdad exhibition center today.

The thirty works of art, mostly paintings, but also some sculptures, represent the artists vision of the blast and its aftermath. With the exhibition, they said they wanted to express their sympathy, solidarity and compassion to all of the victims of the blast.

Speaking at the opening, which was attended by over 100 people, Kevin Kennedy, the acting head of the UNs operations in Iraq said that art had always been very important, even vital, for Sergio Vieira de Mello. Kennedy added that the late Special Representative had made a special effort to reach out to artists during his time in Iraq. For him, art was a unique manifestation of expressing freedom and personal choice.

Asked how many international staff members were left in Iraq, the Spokesman said no specific numbers would be issued. However, he added the total would was somewhere under 50 for the whole of Iraq.

LUBBERS SAYS UNHCR COMMITTED TO WORKING IN IRAQ

Today in Geneva, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) chief Ruud Lubbers opened the annual meeting of his agency's governing body by affirming UNHCR's commitment to Iraq and pledging to work closely with local authorities to help hundreds of thousands of displaced Iraqis to return home eventually.

Lubbers stressed that UNHCR "cannot operate from a fortress" despite the August 19 attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad that put on hold UNHCR's plans to repatriate some 500,000 Iraqi refugees and 800,000 internally displaced people.

"Our strength lies in our ability to communicate with the people who need us, to work through local authorities, and to build up local capacities," said the High Commissioner. "If we cannot work with the Iraqi people and with Iraqi authorities, then we cannot work there at all."

He pledged to build confidence in UNHCR among the people of Iraq, help strengthen the capacities of Iraqi authorities and work closely with them.

UNHCR: MORE THAN 2.2 MILLION AFGHANS HAVE GONE HOME

The Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the number of Afghan refugees who have returned to Afghanistan with UNHCR assistance since the repatriation operation began in March 2002 has surpassed the 2.2 million mark.

This years assisted return figure will hit 400,000 by today, and there are also 100,000 Afghans who returned spontaneously. In addition to the returning refugees, more than 50,000 internally displaced people have returned home with assistance this year.

UN TO TAKE OVER PEACEKEEPING DUTIES IN LIBERIA

On October 1, the UN Mission in Liberia will begin its work as troops from the West African contingents currently serving in Liberia will begin work under UN command a process sometimes called re-hatting. Some 3,500 troops from eight countries Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo will be re-hatted to become the first UN peacekeepers in the country, out of a force of up to 15,000 UN troops authorized by Security Council resolution 1509.

The West African troops will be joined within two weeks by a battalion from Bangladesh.

ANNAN SAYS REBOUND IN DONOR ASSISTANCE TO AFRICA POSSIBLE

The third Tokyo International Conference on International Development began today, and, in a message to that conference, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that there are signs of a possible rebound in donor assistance, following the decline that took place in the 1990s. But more needs to be done, he says, including bold reforms by African countries and work by the developed nations on aid, trade and debt relief.

Also today, a message was delivered on the Secretary-Generals behalf at the World Conference on Climate Change that is taking place in Moscow. In that message, the Secretary-General notes that almost 120 nations have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, an essential first step in tackling climate change, and adds, I join people throughout the world in eagerly awaiting ratification by the Russian Federation, which will bring the Protocol into force and further galvanize global action.

ANNAN DISCUSSES BORDER WITH VENEZUELAN, GUYANESE FOREIGN MINISTERS

On Friday, the Secretary-General met with the Foreign Ministers of Guyana and Venezuela on the margins of the ongoing General Assembly.

The meeting was requested by Foreign Minister Samuel Insanally of Guyana and Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton-Matos of Venezuela to review the state of discussions on the border controversy between the two countries. The meeting was attended by the Secretary-General and by his Special Representative, Oliver Jackman.

In reviewing the situation, the Foreign Ministers noted that relations between the two countries were constructive and at a point that would ensure future cooperation. They said that they wished to reinvigorate the discussions taking place under the aegis of the Secretary-General in order to resolve the controversy.

PROTOCOL ON TRAFFICKING TO ENTER INTO FORCE IN DECEMBER

Last weeks treaty event at the United Nations was a big success, with delegations attending the General Assembly contributing 70 signatures to key treaties and 120 ratifications and accessions.

As a result of the flurry of ratifications, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, received on Friday the 40th ratification it needed to enter into force, and, as a result, that treaty will take effect on December 25. Belize, Laos, Poland and Rwanda all deposited ratifications or instruments of accession to that treaty on Friday.

Entering into force today is the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which has 147 signatories and 51 states parties.

UNITED STATES OFFICIALLY REJOINS UNESCO

Director-General Koichiro Matsuura of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today opened the agency's 32nd General Assembly in Paris, saying that the conflicts in the two years since September 11, 2001, have plunged the UN system into an unprecedented crisis.

A high point of the session is the return of the United States of America to UNESCO, after it had left the Organization in 1984. The return was marked today by a flag rising ceremony today in the presence of Laura Bush.

Of the countries that had left the Organization, only Singapore has yet to rejoin.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

REPORT ISSUED ON RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE: Issued today is a report by a Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, Abdelfattah Amor, dealing with religious intolerance, in which he says that in general, States have used the pretext of security in response to terrorist threats to limit freedom of religion or belief. While understandable in some cases, he warns, this shift is harmful to the protection of human rights in general, and of the right to freedom of religion or belief in particular. He notes that, in some cases, the events of September 11, 2001, have been used to legitimize or even strengthen pre-existing policies for the persecution of religious groups.

UN BUDGET: Jamaica today became the 107th Member State to pay its regular budget dues to the UN in full for this year, with a contribution of more than $54,000 dollars.