United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-07-28

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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 MARIE OKABE

ASSOCIATE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE

SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

ANNAN, IN ACCRA, PREPARES FOR COTE D'IVOIRE SUMMIT

Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Accra, Ghana, last night and immediately conferred with his special representative for Cote dIvoire, Albert Tevoedjre, and other advisers regarding the

summit on Cote dIvoire that begins on Thursday.

This morning, he met the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mohamed ibn Chambas. They discussed the strategy for tomorrows summit, which the Secretary-General called an attempt to salvage the peace agreement between the government, the opposition and rebel groups.

This afternoon, he will meet the Ivorian Prime Minister, Seydou Diarra.

He will then call on the President of Ghana, John Kufuor, who is co-hosting the summit with him.

He is scheduled to meet one-on-one this evening with the President of Cote dIvoire, Laurent Gbagbo.

Later this evening, he is to meet with South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Asked whether the situation in

Darfur, Sudan, would be on the agenda during the Secretary-Generals trip, the Spokeswoman said she would not be surprised if Darfur came up in discussions, but added that the Secretary-General went to Ghana with the intention to push ahead on Cote dIvoire.

She added that one of the participants in the Cote dIvoire summit will be the head of the African Union, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had been reported in the press as seeking further discussion on Sudan.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO HOLD CONSULTATIONS ON SUDAN

The

Security Council has scheduled consultations at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon, to discuss a draft resolution on

Sudan.

Discussions on the draft at expert level had been scheduled for the morning.

Tuesday afternoon, the Security Council adopted a

resolution on the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, which extends the arms embargo in that country for another year. It also extends the expert panel dealing with those sanctions by another six months, and seeks a new report from that panel by 15 December.

Asked whether the Secretary-General was urging donors to aid humanitarian work in Sudan, the Spokeswoman noted that urgent donor response was needed for the $350 million humanitarian appeal the United Nations had put out, both for people in Darfur and for refugees in Chad.

So far, only $158 million has been received, and the Secretary-General has been appealing to governments worldwide to pay the remainder. He has sent letters to the heads of a group of donor governments as part of that effort, she said.

SUDAN JOINT VERIFICATION MISSION COMPLETES MISSION TO DARFUR;

AID AGENCIES EXPERIENCING SECURITY PROBLEMS

The joint verification mission organized under the auspices of the Joint Implementation Mechanism comprised of United Nations and

Sudanese Government officials and their partners visited the main city in West Darfur and a camp housing internally displaced persons (IDPs) there today before returning to Khartoum.

The findings of the mission are expected to be discussed at the next meeting of the body set up to implement the Joint Communiqué signed between the UN and the Government of Sudan.

Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies say they are still experiencing insecurity in north

Darfur, with attacks on commercial trucking occurring on a daily basis in some areas.

Also in North Darfur, humanitarian agencies report that the Sudanese Government is intimidating and harassing internally displaced persons (IDPs), as it tries to get them to return to their villages. IDPs in Abu Shouk and Zam Zam camps have reiterated that they are too afraid to return to their villages.

In West Darfurs Mornei camp, one of the sites the joint verification mission visited today, the

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has been closely observing the situation, to ensure that the Sudanese Government is not acting on plans to forcibly return IDPs to their villages. Currently, the threatened forced returns have not been carried out.

Also in West Darfur, the Janjaweed presence is reported to be increasing. At Sisi camp,

OCHA and the

UN Development Programme staff interviewed women who were raped, some of whom had left the camp to collect firewood, and others who had temporarily returned to their villages to retrieve belongings. According to those interviews, over the past week, at least 38 women and girls were raped, mainly by the Janjaweed. Many were raped by multiple men.

UN ENVOY OUTRAGED AT KILLINGS AT AFGHAN VOTER REGISTRATION SITE

The

UN Mission in

Afghanistan expressed its outrage at the killing this morning of two Afghans, and the wounding of at least seven others, at a voter registration site in Ghazni.

The two dead include one Afghan staff member of the Secretariat of the Joint Electoral Management Body, as well as another person who was believed to have been registering to vote.

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Afghanistan,

Jean Arnault, condemned the attack in the strongest terms. He conveyed his condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased, and wishes a swift recovery to the wounded.

Asked about the impact of todays attack, the Spokeswoman said it pointed to the need for increased security in Afghanistan.

U.N. AGENCIES HELPING IMPROVE HEALTH CARE IN BURUNDI

UN agencies are helping improve health care in Burundi, in a bid to encourage refugees and other war victims to repatriate voluntarily and reintegrate into society there. An estimated 1.5 million people in Burundi currently do not have access to health care.

The agencies

UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the

World Health Organization will provide equipment and essential medicine.

They will also help with the rehabilitation of 10 hospitals and 200 health centres, which have been ruined by a decade of political crisis and war.

SHORTFALL IN FUNDS FOR U.N. APPEAL FOR NORTH KOREA

There is a shortfall in funds for the UN Consolidated Appeal for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), which particularly affects the food sector.

Only 23% of what was requested in the Appeal has been received so far.

The consequences of the shortfall in the food sector are serious, with the

World Food Programme (WFP) needing approximately 40,000 tons of food per month between now and December.

Over the past two months, over two million WFP beneficiaries in the west, including young children and pregnant and nursing women, did not receive any cereal rations. WFP adds that the average caloric intake among pregnant and nursing women is only 70% of the recommended amount.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNITED NATIONS PROVIDES FOOD AID IN PERU: The

World Food Programme has begun giving emergency assistance to more than 17,000 people affected by severe food shortages in the Andean mountains of

Peru. The

aid comes after the peoples livestock were killed and crops wiped out by the worst recorded frost and snow storms for 30 years.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT NEEDED TO REQUEST U.N. ELECTORAL OBSERVERS: Asked about a request from the Rev. Jesse Jackson for

UN electoral observers in the United States, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations responds to requests for elections monitoring when they come from the executive branch of a government. She added that, for a full-scale observer mission,

General Assembly approval would be necessary.

NETHERLANDS PLEDGES 20 MILLION EURO DONATION: The Netherlands has

pledged 20 million euros to support the work of the

Food and Agriculture Organization-Netherlands Partnership Programme over the next four years. The funds will help support FAOs work in promoting development planning and

policy building in some of the worlds poorest countries.

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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