United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-11-26

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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

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

ANNAN TO HOLD CONSULTATIONS ON IRAQ ON MONDAY

On Monday, the Secretary-General will hold consultations on Iraq with representatives of that countrys neighbors, as well as other interested parties including selected members of the Security Council.

The group includes all of Iraqs six neighbors plus Egypt, the five Permanent members of the Security Council as well as five elected members of the Security Council. (Chile, Germany, Angola, Pakistan and Spain)

Asked why the Secretary-General had convened this group, the Spokesman said it was not unusual for the Secretary-General to form a small group of advisors on any given subject. The Spokesman went on to say that he intends to consult with them periodically for his own purposes and, in addition, the Secretary-General has always emphasized the need for all the countries in the region, and others, to be pulling in the same direction on Iraq.

Asked why not all the members of the Security Council were not represented, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General wanted to keep this group at a manageable size and that the Secretary-General had consulted with the President of the Council on the elected members of the Council who would participate.

Asked about reports that the letter from the head of the Iraqi Governing Council to the Security Council had been sent in error, the Spokesman said he had not been informed that a new letter had been sent.

UN ATOMIC AGENCY ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON IRAN

The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution on the implementation of Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards in Iran.

This a good day for multilateralism, said Mohamed ElBaradei, the agencys Director-General, because the international community has decided to stand as one in addressing what is clearly a very critical issue, with serious implications.

He went on to say that with this resolution, the international community had clearly laid down a marker that Iran must strictly adhere to its obligations under the safeguards agreement.

Importantly, and in addition, ElBaradei went on to say, the resolution makes it clear that any serious failures in the future by Iran to comply with its obligations will be met with an appropriately serious response.

IN LATEST REPORT, ANNAN SAYS MUCH WORK REMAINS TO SOLIDIFY PEACE IN DR CONGO

In his latest report to the Security Council on the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Secretary-General says that while significant progress has been achieved in the past five months, much work remains to solidify the peace process and ensure it is irreversible.

On the positive side, the Secretary-General reports that former belligerents are working together in the Transitional Government, the process of uniting the territory of a formerly divided country has begun, and there are encouraging trends in peace-making at the local level.

Also positive are the recent improvement of relations between the DRC and Rwanda and other initiatives to build good neighbourly relations.

However, the Secretary-General also points out as significant challenges the continued fighting in Ituri and the presence of foreign armed combatants in the eastern DRC.

He notes that, in spite of the progress made against difficult odds, the tangible benefits of peace have not yet filtered down to the war-weary Congolese population.

The Secretary- General expresses concern about the incessant flow of arms into the DRC and its links to the illegal exploitation of natural resources. He proposes a three-tiered mechanism to monitor the arms embargo and calls for the spotlight to be kept on the illegal exploitation of natural resources.

REPORTS OF CORRUPTION AT UN DRUGS AND CRIME OFFICE UNSUPPORTED, SAY UN INVESTIGATORS

In Vienna today, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Oversight Services, Dileep Nair, announced that the investigation conducted following allegations of corruption within the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, have not uncovered evidence to support these charges.

Presenting the findings, Mr. Nair stated: the investigations did not substantiate the allegations of corruption in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

MALARIA HITS DROUGHT-STRICKEN ETHIOPIA

Aside from malnutrition, malaria will be the single biggest health problem in Ethiopia in 2003/2004, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The UNs team in Ethiopia says that this comes during an existing complex humanitarian emergency in the country, in which some thirteen million people are affected by food shortages.

In response, the UN Childrens Fund has procured $1.2 million dollars worth of medicine and ordered 156,000 Insecticide Treated Nets.

The UN World Health Organization has also supplied some drugs and laboratory supplies.

OCHA also released an update on the latest flood in the Dominican Republic.

UNICEF: AIDS HAS ORPHANED ELEVEN MILLION AFRICAN CHILDREN

AIDS has already orphaned more than eleven million children in Africa, and the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), in a report released today, warns that the worst is yet to come.

Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland have HIV prevalence levels higher than previously thought possible, exceeding 30 percent, and will likely see large increases in their numbers of AIDS orphans. UNICEF warns that in those three countries and in Zimbabwe, more than one in five children will be orphaned because of AIDS by 2010.

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy warned, We must keep parents alive, and ensure that orphans and other vulnerable children stay in school and are protected from exploitation and abuse.

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES MORE NATIONS TO FIGHT LAND MINES

In a message to the Fifth annual Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, the Secretary-General said that since its inception in 1996 this protocol had helped to trigger a wider movement for the total ban and destruction of anti-personnel mines.

Yet these efforts, he said, have not been sufficient to stop the continued killing and maiming caused by landmines.

In the message, which was delivered by the head of the UN office in Geneva, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Secretary-General appealed to those countries that have not yet ratified this protocol to do so in the interest of promoting human security and preserving human life.

THE WORLDS GREAT APES FACE EXTINCTION, DESTROYING A BRIDGE TO MANS ORIGIN, SAYS TOEPFER

The worlds remaining apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans) are facing extinction. The head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) told a group of delegates attending a crisis meeting at the headquarters of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris today that 25 million dollars are needed urgently to lift the threat of extinction from the worlds great apes in Africa and South East Asia.

The clock is standing at one minute to midnight for the great apes, animals that share more than 96 per cent of their DNA with humans, said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. He added: If we lose any great ape species, we will be destroying a bridge to our own origins, and with it part of our own humanity.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

ANNAN/POWELL MEETING: Asked about reports of a meeting between the Secretary-General and US Secretary of State last weekend, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had stopped in Washington last weekend on his way back to New York from a private engagement in the southern United States. The Spokesman went on to say the Secretary-General had met with Secretary Powell at his residence and that the two discussed the Middle East, Iraq, Georgia and Afghanistan

KOSOVO: The UN mission in Kosovo today signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Commission on Missing Persons. The agreement is designed to reinforce procedures regarding the DNA-led identification process with the aim of better assisting families in their search for information on the fate and location of their loved ones.

INFORMATION SUMMIT: In advance of the World Summit on the Information Society, which is to be held in Geneva next month, the Secretary-General met this morning with Jean Stock, the head of the European Broadcasting Union. They discussed the important role of the media as key stakeholders in the summit. They also discussed the World Electronic Media Forum, a parallel event to the summit being organized by the UN, in cooperation with the broadcasting union and Switzerland, from December 9th to 12th.

PERSONALIZED UN STAMPS: This morning the UN Postal Administration launched a new personalized stamp service, available in the visitors lobby. After a portrait is taken, the digital image is then affixed to a blank tab next to an actual stamp. The whole process takes less than two minutes. A minimum purchase of twenty stamps, each valued at thirty-seven cents, is required. The total cost is fourteen dollars and ninety-five cents for a complete sheet of twenty stamps.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

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New York, NY 10017

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Fax. 212-963-7055

All other inquiries to be addressed to (212) 963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org

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