United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-03-01

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

BY

FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, March 1, 2004

UNITED NATIONS FINALIZING HUMANITARIAN APPEAL FOR HAITI

Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti, was still chaotic this morning, with evidence of looting apparent on some of the main streets. UN staff in the country were advised to stay at home for their safety.

UN humanitarian agencies stand ready to move in food, water and sanitation and medical supplies as soon as security conditions allow.

Humanitarian concerns include: the inability to assess food aid requirements in the Central Plateau, where needs are expected to be greatest, and continued shortages of fuel that could incapacitate water pumps and refrigeration for vaccines. A large number of health facilities in Port Au Prince are closed.

A

humanitarian appeal for Haiti is being finalized and will be launched as soon as possible.

SECURITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZES TROOP DEPLOYMENT TO HAITI

Sunday night, the Security Council met to discuss Haiti and adopted resolution 1529 authorizing the immediate deployment of a Multinational Interim Force to that country for not more than three months.

The Security Council also declared its readiness to establish a follow-on UN stabilization force to support a peaceful and constitutional political process in Haiti, and requested that the Secretary-General submit recommendations regarding this force, within 30 days.

In order to be able to make these recommendations regarding the size, structure and mandate of such a mission, an UN assessment team will be travelling to Haiti in the coming days to gather the required information and plan the future peacekeeping operation.

After the Councils meeting last night, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was happy for the people of Haiti who needed the assistance of the international community. The world had not forgotten them, he said, adding that international help was better late than never.

The international community would be moving fast and would be working with the Haitian people to stabilize the situation and provide aid.

Asked whether the Secretary-General was planning any follow-up activity to ensure that what happens in Haiti is not a band-aid, the Spokesman noted today that the resolution pointed to the need for broad reconstruction work in Haiti, focusing on institutional reform. He said such work would entail more than simply training police, and would include such peacekeeping tasks as bringing in a strong human rights office, encouraging press freedom, working with civil society and preparing free and fair elections.

Asked for a timeline, he said the UN force is to take over from a multinational force no more than three months from today. The Secretary-Generals comments suggest that the UN deployment would be a long-term endeavor.

The Spokesman said that he believed that both sides the international community and the Haitians needed to make a commitment for the deployment to succeed, and he noted that, the last time the United Nations carried out a police training program in Haiti, their work was undone by the Government.

Asked about details of the multinational forces deployment, the Spokesman said the first step is for the troop contributors to organize themselves in preparation for the intervention. Planning, he added, is just getting underway.

The Spokesman declined to comment to some questions on whether President Aristide left Haiti voluntarily, saying only that he had resigned. After his departure, power passed to

Haitis Chief Justice, as called for in the Constitution.

Asked whether the United Nations was worried about a precedent being set by the transfer of power in Haiti, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General feels that governments should change only by constitutional means. He added that you had a clear crisis in Haiti, and that the UN focus was now to put Haiti on solid footing.

ANNAN TO MEET DELEGATION FROM U.S. CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS

This afternoon at 3:30 p.m. a delegation of the U.S.Congressional Black Caucus, will meet the Secretary-General.

The delegation is being led by the Chairman of the Caucus, Congress Elijah Cummings. After the meeting, the delegation, which also includes Congressman Charles Rangel and Congresswoman Barbara Lee among others, is expected to speak to reporters.

COMMISSION ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR LAUNCHES REPORT

The Commission on the Private Sector and Development today presented to the Secretary-General its report - Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poorl. The report calls for targeted policy reforms and other initiatives that would spur growth in the local businesses that are critical to the eradication of poverty in the developing world.

The Secretary-General launched the report at a press conference today, saying that he is heartened that the launch of the report will be followed by a plan of action and a set of initiatives, to be developed further as catalysts for actions on the Commissions main recommendations.

The Commission, co-chaired by Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada and Ernesto Zedillo, Mexicos former president, was convened by the Secretary-General nine months ago in an effort to identify and address the legal, financial and structural obstacles blocking the expansion of the indigenous private sector in developing nations - especially in the poorest regions and communities in those countries.

UNITED NATIONS READY TO RE-ENGAGE WITH IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION

The United Nations has the expertise and experience to help support Iraq's aspirations for reconstruction and democracy, the Secretary-Generals acting Special Representative for Iraq, Ross Mountain, told a meeting of donors gathered in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

He pointed out that even over the past year the United Nationshas been conducting humanitarian activities in Iraq, channeling 90% of the $2.2 billion raised by a flash appeal in 2003.

Stressing that the United Nationshas a repository of expertise and experience available to help Iraq, he said, Overall we stand ready for robust re-engagement at all levels as required.

Asked for UN reaction to the agreement of the Fundamental Law in Iraq, the Spokesman said the United Nations does not have any comment, but is studying the document, which it understands will be formally approved on Wednesday.

TOP U.N. POLITICAL OFFICIAL TO MONITOR CYPRUS TALKS

Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast will be leaving for Cyprus today, at the Secretary-General's request.

While on the island he will be briefed by Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-Generals Special Adviser on Cyprus, regarding the status of the on-going talks.

He will also meet with both the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, and the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos. After sitting in on the talks for a couple of days, Prendergast will return to New York to personally brief the Secretary-General.

Asked whether Prendergast would meet with the acting Special Representative for Iraq, Ross Mountain, the Spokesman said he did not know whether both would be in Cyprus at the same time, and added that a meeting with Mountain was not the objective of Prendergasts trip.

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON AFRICAN REFUGEES TO BE HELD NEXT WEEK

Positive developments in countries like Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Sudan present an unprecedented chance to discuss the possibility of voluntary returns and sustainable reintegration, according to the UN

High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), ahead of a high-level meeting on March 8.

UNHCR said that thanks to ongoing peace efforts in various regions of Africa, there are potentially more than 2 million refugees who may want to return home over the next three to five years.

The UN refugee agency also reports that after a nearly two-year halt because of heavy fighting, it plans to resume on Tuesday land repatriation of Sierra Leonean refugees until the remaining 13,000 can return home from

Liberia.

[Refugees, meanwhile, are leaving Djibouti's remote camps and going back to

Somalia on UNHCR's repatriation convoys. UN organizations and partner agencies have launched a $111 million appeal for programmes to aid Somalia, including more than $5.7 million for the refugee agency.]

GUATEMALA TRUTH COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS NOT IMPLEMENTED

Five years after the Guatemalan Truth Commission issued its report on the human rights violations committed during the countrys 36-year war, MINUGUA, the UN Mission in Guatemala, has expressed its concern that many of the Commissions recommendations have yet to be implemented.

In a report issued today, MINUGUA points out that many new institutions have been created to provide reparations for the war-victims, and that Guatemala has begun a slow process of demilitarization. However, it also stresses the need for the State to meet the Commissions goals: from investigating cases of summary executions and disappearances during the war, to undertaking a clear official policy to uncover clandestine cemeteries and pursue genocide charges.

In his presentation of the report, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Guatemala, Tom Koenigs, noted the Commissions recommendations as a crucial means to unify Guatemala through a recognition of the truth and the firm conviction that the terrors of the past will not be repeated.

FRANCE ASSUMES PRESIDENCY OF SECURITY COUNCIL FOR MARCH

There are no scheduled meetings or consultations today.

France has assumed the

Security

Council Presidency for the month of March and Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere is holding bilateral meetings today on the programme of work.

Ambassador de La Sabliere is scheduled to brief reporters on the Council's March program Tuesday at 12.30 p.m following consultations.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT ANTICIPATE LEGAL ACTION ON BUGGING ALLEGATIONS: Asked whether the United Nations was taking any steps to initiate legal action regarding allegations that UN offices had been bugged, the Spokesman said no legal action was anticipated.

REPORT ON ACCOUNTABILITY EXPECTED THIS WEEK: Asked when the report on accountability by UN staff for the events in Baghdad last August 19 would be issued, the Spokesman said that the team working on the report had asked for more time, and the report was expected to be given to the Secretary-General on Wednesday. He added that the report was for the Secretary-Generals internal use, and decisions on making any contents public would have to wait until the report had been studied.

ANNAN TO ADDRESS BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: The Secretary-General will speak to the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution when they hold their winter board meeting in the Delegates Dining Room this evening. In his remarks to the Board, he will discuss the work that the Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change is currently undertaking to revitalize the United Nations as it seeks to deal with such emerging problems as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

UNESCO SECURES $112 MILLION LOAN, FRENCH GOVERNMENT TO PAY LOAN INTEREST: This past Friday, Koichiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, secured a $112 million loan from a French lending institution to complete the renovation work on the agencys headquarters. The French government has agreed to guarantee and pay for the interest on this 17-year loan.

MORE WOMEN REGISTERING TO VOTE IN AFGHANISTAN: UNAMA, the UN Mission in Afghanistan, reports that recent trends show that more women are registering to vote, with women now comprising close to 27% of voters. Voter registration on the whole has been growing at a rate of 15% per week since mid-December, while female voter registration alone has grown by 25% since then.

NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARDS ANNUAL REPORT DUE WEDNESDAY: The 2003 annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board will be released, in Vienna, on Wednesday, 3 March. The reports main focus is the impact of drug abuse and violence at the community level. Vincent McClean, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Representative in New York, will hold a press briefing on the embargoed report at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN TO HOLD 48TH SESSION: The Commission on the Status of Women is holding its 48th session through March 12. It will focus on the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality; and women's equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace-building.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162 - press/media only

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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