United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-07-20

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE

SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

ANNAN TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.

The press conference will substitute for the noon briefing.

ANNAN HIGHLIGHTS COOPERATION WITH REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Regional organizations can be on the ground much faster than the United Nations, although the legitimacy that flows from UN operations is often needed for longer-term sustainability. That was the

message Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave this morning when he opened the

Security Councils meeting on cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in many countries stabilization processes.

The Secretary-General mentioned many examples of UN cooperation with regional organizations, from

Liberia and

Sudan to

Kosovo and

Afghanistan. He added that more needs to be done to move towards the creation of strategic partnerships that meet current and future challenges.

Todays open meeting is chaired by Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, and includes participation from several major regional organizations.

At the end of yesterdays public meeting, the Security Council adopted a

Presidential Statement welcoming the work done by its Counter Terrorism Committee and expressing its confidence in the efforts of its new Chairman and Bureau in the global fight against terrorism.

SUDAN: HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES STRESS NEED FOR VOLUNTARY RELOCATIONS

According to field reports compiled by the

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs , the Sudanese Government has informed agencies in El Fasher, North Darfur, that it has made a plan for the return of 200,000 internally displaced persons known as IDPs to between six and eight urban locales.

The agencies are insisting that the humanitarian community should be consulted prior to any return/relocation so that they can ensure the voluntary nature of any moves and provide adequate assistance.

Most IDPs are not willing to relocate to other sites or return to their villages because of security and protection concerns.

OCHA also reports that in West Darfur, some 200 policemen have been sent to one camp. A further 1,000 have been posted in camps in and around a town where the number of IDPs is increasing.

Heavy rains, meanwhile, are complicating the aid effort both in Darfur and in Chad.

Also on Sudan, the Secretary-General, when asked yesterday afternoon about the importance of a Security Council resolution on the issue,

said, The important thing is that the international community should make clear that they do expect the Sudanese Government to honor the commitments it made.

Tomorrow, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for

Sudan Jan Pronk will speak to reporters after his briefing to the Security Council.

U.N. ADVISOR TO LEAVE FOR VENEZUELA AHEAD OF KEY REFERENDUM

Diego Cordovez, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Latin America Issues, will be leaving for a five-day mission to Venezuela this afternoon.

The purpose of his visit is to keep the Secretary-General abreast of the latest developments regarding the referendum scheduled for 15 August. Mr. Cordovez will be meeting with representatives from the Government, opposition, media, civil society, and international players, such as the Organization of American States, the Carter Center and the Group of Friends.

The Secretary-General has been closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and met with Mr. Cordovez yesterday to discuss the details of the mission.

Diego Cordovez was a staff member of the United Nations for 25 years. From 1981 to 1988 he served as the Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs. From 1988 to 1992 he was the Foreign Minister of Ecuador.

Asked whether the UN would be sending observers to the referendum in Venezuela, the Spokesman later answered that the UN had not been asked to provide observers. He noted that the Organization of American States and the Carter Center had both been observing the entire process in Venezuela and would do so on this occasion.

NEW U.N. EFFORT TO DEAL WITH 50 MILLION INTERNALLY DISPLACED

In Geneva today, Dennis McNamara, Special Adviser to the Emergency Relief Coordinator and Director of the Inter-agency Internal Displacement Division,

briefed correspondents on the creation of the new Division.

McNamara said its mandate would be to focus on the six to eight major countries of displacement -- Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, Liberia, Burundi, and Colombia. Access was being negotiated for Congo and Sri Lanka -- for the next year to eighteen months.

The effort aimed at filling in the gaps of the failures of the collaborative approach in addressing massive humanitarian problems of war and human rights abuses.

Today, 21 conflicts were raging worldwide, eighteen of which were internal. McNamara says the combined global displaced civilian population was 50 million in addition to some 13 to 15 million refugees.

FATAL EXCHANGE OF FIRE

REPORTED ACROSS THE BLUE LINE

According to preliminary reports from

UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon, earlier today a Hizbollah sniper fired across the western part of the Blue Line, at an Israeli army position.

As a result, two Israeli soldiers were mortally wounded. Israeli units retaliated with missiles and tank rounds fired back across the Blue Line killing a Hizbollah fighter.

The situation surrounding the Blue Line remains tense.

The Force Commander of the UN Mission, Major-General Alain Pellegrini, and the Secretary-Generals Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon, Staffan de Mistura, are actively working with both sides to appeal for calm and avoid any further escalation.

ANNAN CALLS GAZA SITUATION A SERIOUS CRISIS

Speaking to reporters yesterday, the Secretary-General was asked about the situation in the

Gaza Strip, and he

said it was a serious crisis and called on the Palestinians to take steps to bring the situation under control.

He said it was particularly important for the Palestinian Authority to begin to reform, particularly bringing the security forces under one command. He also called on Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to work with the Egyptians and Jordanians, and the international community, on reforming his security apparatus.

Asked about the importance of a Security Council resolution on

Sudan, the Secretary-General said, The important thing is that the international community should make clear that they do expect the Sudanese Government to honor the commitments it made.

ANNAN URGES DONOR SUPPORT FOR HAITI

This morning, the Secretary-General

urged the international community gathered at a donors conference in Washington, D.C. to pledge generously to support peace-building and economic recovery in

Haiti. In a message delivered by his special representative, Juan Gabriel Valdés, the Secretary-General said that despite some improvements in recent months, no-one should underestimate how fragile Haiti remains.

Armed groups continue to endanger stability, he said, the rule of law has not yet been restored, political forces remain at loggerheads, basic services need urgent rehabilitation and unemployment is widespread.

The Secretary-General noted that if Haitis transition is to be successful, the international community must put its full weight behind the Haitian leadership, and stay engaged during the months, and years, to come.

We must work to address root causes, and not merely paper over the symptoms, he said. He also welcomed Prime Minister Latortues assurance that his government will be fully transparent and accountable, including to its citizenry, about the spending of international resources.

UNICEF SETS UP SUMMER CAMPS FOR PALESTINIANS

Some one hundred summer camps supported by the UN Childrens Fund are now under way throughout the

West Bank and Gaza.

The programme aims to bring recreational and play activities to some 17,000 boys and girls.

The camps were conceived as safe havens where children can escape the ongoing conflict and learn about non-violent conflict resolution and peace-building activities.

CHOLERA OUTBREAK AMONG CONGOLESE REFUGEES IN BURUNDI HALTED

The

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the cholera outbreak among Congolese refugees in Burundi has now been controlled, with the last cases being reported last Friday. However, concerns have been raised over possible cases of meningitis among the local population.

On the other side of the border, 500 Burundian refugees living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have said they are ready to return to their country. Meanwhile, some internally displaced persons from the southern suburbs of Bujumbura have already returned to their homes, although others are afraid to do so because of possible revenge attacks.

According to the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), out of a total of 949 internally displaced children who had been separated from their families, just north of Bujumbura, 612 have been reunited, and 251 have been placed in host families.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UN SPECIAL ADVISER HOLDING TALKS IN CAIRO: Asked about the current location of the Secretary-Generals Special Advisor, Lakhdar Brahimi, the Spokesman said he was currently in Cairo where he will attend tomorrow a meeting on Iraq, hosted by Egypt. Scheduled to attend the meeting are, among others, the Foreign Ministers of Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Asked about a possible delay in the holding of the National Conference in Iraq, the Spokesman said it would be up to the Iraqis to decide.

FOOD RUNNING OUT IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: The World Food Programme warned today that it would run out of food by the end of this month for 27,000 refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) trapped in Chad, unless substantial contributions were made.

POSSIBLE DANGERS FACING INDIGENOUS PERSONS IN COLOMBIA: In northwest Colombia,

UNHCR is concerned about the possible dangers facing more than 1,200 indigenous Embera people who decided to return to their homes in the past few days following their displacement by fighting four months ago. Precarious security conditions in the region of return are cause for deep concern because the irregular armed groups whose clashes caused the Embera to flee in the first place remain in the area. UNHCR continues to monitor these communities and has urged the Colombian authorities to give the utmost attention to their security.

AFGHANS LIVING IN IRAN, PAKISTAN WILL BE ALLOWED TO VOTE: The recent signing of two separate agreements will allow Afghans living in Pakistan and Iran to participate in the Afghan elections process through out-of-country arrangements, the UN Mission in that country said.

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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