United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-11-05

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY

STEPHANE DUJARRIC

ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, November 5, 2003

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES GENEVA ACCORD ON MIDDLE EAST

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement, welcomed the Geneva Accord drafted by prominent Israelis and Palestinians, which outlines comprehensive and detailed steps to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Such private initiatives, while not a substitute for official diplomatic negotiations between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, deserve praise and encouragement as courageous attempts to break the stalemate on both sides and to generate the popular support needed for peace in the Middle East.

The Secretary-General considers the Geneva Accord both consistent and compatible with the Quartets Road Map, the last phase of which calls for agreement on such sensitive final status issues as Jerusalem, settlements and refugees.

It is now of paramount importance that the parties start implementing the Road Map provisions without delay.

Asked why the statement had been issued today, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had welcomed a number of private initiatives supporting Middle East peace, including the "People's Voice Initiative" by Ami Ayalon and Sari Nusseibeh, while reiterating that they are not a substitute for official negotiations.

ANNAN MOURNS PASSING OF SHARON CAPELING-ALAKIJA

The Secretary-General was deeply saddened by the death of Sharon Capeling-Alakija, the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteer Programme. Ms. Capeling-Alakija was a deeply committed and creative leader of UN Volunteers, which promotes volunteerism, sends some 5,000 UN Volunteers into the field every year and is often described as the human face of the UNs development efforts.

In that post -- as well as in her previous positions as Director of Evaluation and Strategic Planning in UNDP and Director of the UN Development Fund for Women -- she understood the need for the United Nations to reach out as widely as possible and engage people from all walks of life in the Organizations work. She will be sorely missed by her many, many friends in the UN family, and by many thousands of UN Volunteers, past and present, around the world.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS LIBERIA ON THURSDAY

There are no Security Council meetings or consultations scheduled for today. Tomorrow, the Council has scheduled consultations on Liberia.

The Secretary-General recently wrote to the Security Council, noting the work of his Representative for Somalia, Winston Tubman, in advancing the cause of peace and reconciliation in that country and asking for his mandate to be extended until the end of December 2004.

Also, the chair of the Councils Counter-Terrorism Committee, Ambassador Inocencio Arias of Spain, listed in a letter the 58 States that failed to meet the October 31 deadline for the submission of outstanding reports to the Committee.

COUNCIL MISSION MEETS LEADERS IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN

Representatives of all 15 members of the Security Council today spent the day in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif, where the Council missions leader, German Ambassador Gunter Pleuger, conveyed a strong message to the two main factional leaders in the region.

After intense discussions with Gen. Usted Atta Mohammad and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum at the office of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Pleuger told reporters that it is important that the two regional leaders lend their full support to the reforms that the Karzai Government has started. He particularly noted the importance of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of fighters in order to achieve a unified Afghan army and a unified Afghan police force."

Cooperation between the local authorities and the factional leaders here in the north is central for the political process, Pleuger said. He added that factional fighting has to stop because this should be a thing of the past and not of the future, and that all the necessary support has to be given to the Central Government, including the necessary financial means so that it can deliver the services that the Afghan people expect.

The Council delegation began a day of discussions with a meeting with the interim Governor of Balkh province. The Council members then heard firsthand field accounts from the UN Mission, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations about the achievements and obstacles they encounter as they try to help the Afghan people in the region in areas ranging from assisting returning refugees to the provision of water to girls education.

The security environment a key subject during the Councils five-day mission to Afghanistan was discussed with the representatives of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mazar-i-Sharif, composed of British soldiers which has been sent to the northern province to assist with security and reconstruction activities.

Thursday is the last day of the mission. The delegation will hold a press conference in Kabul before heading back to New York.

SECRETARY-GENERAL BEGINS TRIP TO LATIN AMERICA

The Secretary-General arrived this morning in Santiago de Chile, on the first leg of his four-country trip to Latin America. He and Nane Annan were met at the airport by Ambassador Heraldo Muņoz, the Permanent Representative of Chile to the UN.

Later today, the Secretary-General will meet Alicia Barcena, the Acting Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and the Heads of the UN Agencies in Chile. This evening, he will attend an informal dinner hosted by the Chilean Foreign Minister, Maria-Soledad Alvear, at the Diplomatic Academy.

The Secretary-General will remain in Chile until Friday afternoon.

UN MISSION PROTESTS OBSTACLES TO INVESTIGATIONS IN DR CONGO

On Tuesday, the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo strongly protested to the Congolese Transitional Government about obstacles to its verification mission to Kamina, in Katanga Province, following the crash last weekend of an aircraft that was allegedly transporting weapons intended for armed groups in South Kivu.

The Mission had sent military observers to the area around the crash site, but was not allowed to get near the site, which was guarded by military officers and people wearing civilian clothes. The team was not in a position to confirm or deny allegations about the cargo on board the plane.

Also, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, William Swing, in phone conversations with DRC President Joseph Kabila and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, encouraged the nations in the sub-region to continue their cooperation in conformity with Security Council Resolution 1493.

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA MILITARY COMMISSION MEETS IN KENYA

The Military Coordination Commission dealing with Ethiopia and Eritrea met today in Nairobi under the chairmanship of the Force Commander for the UN Mission operating in both countries, Gen, Robert Gordon, who noted the importance of military stability amid the continuing political differences between those countries.

General Gordon asked for further reassurance from both parties that they were fully committed to ensuring that nothing would be done to destabilize the current situation, and Ethiopia and Eritrea both gave the Force Commander their strongest assurances that this would be the case.

General Gordon reminded them, in the Secretary-Generals words, to eschew the rhetoric of war, which is necessary for any difference to be resolved in a calm and peaceful climate.

ANNAN PRAISES ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENT ON CASPIAN SEA

In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, the Secretary-General said that the adoption that day in Tehran of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea was a significant step forward for the region.

The Secretary-General commended the Governments of the Caspian Sea states -- Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan for their bold initiative and their commitment to sustainable development.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS UN INTERNATIONAL STAFF TO BE OUT OF BAGHDAD SOON: In response to a question, the Spokesman said that the process of temporarily relocating UN international staff out of Baghdad was continuing, and all international staff were expected to be out of Baghdad shortly.

UN NOTES PROGRESS IN HUMAN RIGHTS IN SIERRA LEONE: A report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sierra Leone notes the substantial progress in the restoration of peace and stability in that country, and suggests that a presence remains in Sierra Leone after the departure of the UN peacekeeping mission there that is capable of monitoring the human rights situation.

UNEP SAYS MEETING ON CHEMICALS WILL BE HELD IN BANGKOK: The United Nations Environment Programme reports that some 500 environmental, technical and scientific experts will meet in Bangkok next week to develop a plan to improve the way the world deals with chemicals. The conference hopes to develop a strategic approach for the whole world. The idea was brought up by UNEP last year and endorsed at the Johannesburg summit.

WHO SAYS SARS VACCINE UNLIKELY IN NEAR FUTURE: International efforts to develop a SARS vaccine are encouraging, the World Health Organization reports today, but it is unlikely that such a vaccine will be available in the immediate future. In the meantime, more traditional methods will have to be used if there is a recurrence of the disease. These are some of the conclusions of a conference of SARS experts in Geneva.

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