United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-10-29

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY

MARIE OKABE

ASSOCIATE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

WOMENS VOICES ESSENTIAL TO PEACE, SECURITY COUNCIL IS TOLD

The Security Council is holding an open meeting on women, peace and security, three years after the Council adopted Resolution 1325, which recognized that women and girls both bear the brunt of armed conflict and are integral to any lasting solution.

In his presentation to the Security Council, Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno said that when a UN peacekeeping operation is set up in a volatile environment, the UN has learnt to listen to the voices of women and girls, as it is the only way to foster an equitable peace.

We recognize, Guéhenno said, the enormous, positive impact that women can have, when their knowledge, skills and motivation are harnessed in the name of peace and rebuilding a country.

He told Council members that different needs of women and men need to be taken into account in establishing programs in peacekeeping operations. For example, in the past, disarmament and demobilization programs only took into account the needs of the male combatant, while ignoring women and girls, who were either soldiers themselves or served in a support role. Now these programs take into account the special needs of women and girls.

Guéhenno also urged Member States to provide more female civilian police and military personnel to peacekeeping operations and also called for the inclusion of women and men with experience in gender-based crimes, to help the UN address the high rates of violence against women that are common in post-conflict situations. He told Council members that he intends to ensure that all future multi-dimensional peacekeeping operations include strong gender expertise.

Also addressing the Council was Amy Smythe, the senior gender advisor for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition to the 15 Council members, 23 other member states are expected to speak.

OPIUM PRODUCTION ON THE RISE IN AFGHANISTAN

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime today launched its Afghanistan Opium Survey for 2003, which confirms that Afghanistan is the worlds leading opium producer, responsible for about three-quarters of world opium output. This year, the survey says, the area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has increased by eight percent, to 80,000 hectares, while opium production has increased by six percent, to 3,600 tons.

Antonio Maria Costa, the Offices Executive Director, who launched the report in Moscow today, said that Afghanistan is clearly at a crossroads: either major surgical drug-control measures are taken now, or the drug cancer in Afghanistan will keep spreading, and lead to greater corruption, violence and terrorism.

The survey was the first one to be produced jointly by the Office on Drugs and Crime and the Afghan Government, and Costa praised the Governments ban on opium cultivation and trafficking, as well as the new drug control law. But he warned that the low-risk, high-profit opium economy can give birth to crime cartels that undermine President Hamid Karzais effort to promote democracy and the rule of law.

U.N. MISSION DENOUNCES OBSTRUCTION TO MONITORS IN DR CONGO

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today denounced the obstacles it has encountered in recent weeks as its military observers try to verify information regarding the alleged presence of Rwandan troops on Congolese territory. UN observers have been denied access to the Rwangabo military camp and were refused permission to speak to soldiers in Katale.

The UN Mission says that such practices may lead people to consider that the allegations about Rwandan troops are not without foundation.

The Mission will proceed with its verification, and reiterates its suggestion for joint verification teams to be put in place for the sake of impartiality and transparency.

HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES TRYING TO DISTRIBUTE AID TO ALL OF LIBERIA

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that, while humanitarian agencies are still negotiating free access to all parts of Liberia, they continue to distribute aid as and where they can outside the capital, Monrovia.

Last week, humanitarian workers assessed that malnutrition cases were present among refugees and displaced persons sheltered in the Saclepea camp, some 50 kilometers from Liberias border with Cote dIvoire. In response, the World Food Programme provided eight metric tons of food commodities for distribution to more than 1,800 people at the camp.

As part of their to School program, the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has as of today distributed 943 School-in-a-Box kits, containing enough school supplies for roughly 75, 000 children, within the Montserrado, Margibi, Bong and Grand Bassa Counties. As soon as security conditions permit, School-in-a-Box kits containing materials for some 10,000 children will be delivered to Bomi County.

CAMEROON-NIGERIA COMMISSION BEGINS MEETING IN ABUJA

The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, a mechanism established by the Secretary-General to propose peaceful solutions to the border dispute between those two countries, will meet for the sixth time today and Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria, under the chairmanship of the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for West Africa, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.

During this session, the Commission, which brings together delegations from Cameroon and Nigeria, will discuss the first phase of the withdrawal process from the Lake Chad area, which is planned to take place by the end of December.

MEETING ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT BEGINS IN NEW YORK

The High-Level Meeting on Financing for Development began today at UN Headquarters, and a report presented to the session by the Secretary-General assesses the current state of play in world trade negotiations, following the deadlock that occurred last month at the trade talks in Cancún, Mexico.

In his report, the Secretary-General advocates a number of reforms in the global financial system, including steps to organize orderly and fair exit strategies from debt crises, such as the one that struck Argentina in 2001, and better coordination among countries on tax issues, to reduce global tax dodging and illicit cross-border financial flows.

The Secretary-General will address Thursdays morning plenary, as will World Bank President James Wolfensohn, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Horst Kohler, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero and UN Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch Brown.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

CHIEF EXECUTIVES BOARD TO DISCUSS STAFF SECURITY: In response to a question about a meeting of UN officials this week on a follow-up on the report by the panel headed by Martti Ahtisaari on UN security in Iraq, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General takes the report very seriously and would address the matter in talks with the Chief Executives Board, which brings together the heads of UN agencies, funds and programs. The Board will meet in New York on Friday and Saturday.

INTERNAL REPORTS MADE AVAILABLE TO AHTISAARI PANEL: Asked whether the United Nations would make available two internal reports on UN security in Iraq, the Spokeswoman later said that those reports would remain internal, but added that their findings were made available to the Ahtisaari panel during its own investigation into UN security and the August 19 bombing.

FRÉCHETTE MEETS WITH CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS: Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette is scheduled to be meeting now with the Peace and Security Funders Group, which brings together many civil society leaders who have helped to bring the global publics urgent concerns to the United Nations, and take back to the public their sense of what the United Nations is doing to address them. She told the group that the central challenge is to ensure that we have all the rules, instruments and institutions to deal with hard threats like war and terrorism and soft threats like poverty and AIDS alike.

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON STEPS TO END OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM: In an open meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Benon Sevan, Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme, briefed the Security Council on action taken for the termination of the oil-for-food program. He identified steps remaining for the UN, the Coalition Provisional Authority and the relevant Iraqi ministries to complete the transfer of projects, assets and related responsibilities to the Authority by November 21. Sevan mentioned the need for notification from the Authority of authentication arrangements for bulk items, including food arriving and in transit to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, and he outlined other joint efforts, including the arrangements for the protection of the substantial investments, such as fixed and mobile assets worth about $1.5 billion.

UN MISSION IN WESTERN SAHARA EXTENDED: Also on Tuesday afternoon, the Security Council by a unanimous vote extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until the end of next January.

SIERRA LEONE SPECIAL COURT TO BEGIN APPEALS SESSION: The Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone will sit for the first time in Freetown, starting this Friday and lasting until next Thursday, November 6. Judges will consider defence motions presented by counsel for five indictees, including former Liberian President Charles Taylor, Augustine Gbao, Morris Kallon, Sam Hinga Norman and Moinina Fofana.

UNICEF STUDIES CHILD PROSTITUTION AT CZECH/GERMAN BORDER: A book sponsored by UNICEF/Germany was published on the extensive child prostitution activities along the Czech/German border. This is the first detailed picture of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in that region, heavily frequented by German sex tourists. It shows the scale of the business and the conditions in which its victims live.

U.N. BUDGET: San Marino paid some $27,000 today to become the 117th Member State to have paid its UN regular budget dues in full for this year.

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