United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-08-27

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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 STEPHANE DUJARRIC

ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE

SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, August 27, 2004

U.N. ENVOY VISITS CAMPS, WITNESSES WEAPONS HANDOVER IN DARFUR

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, just completed the second day of a three-day mission to West Darfur, Sudan, to review the status of commitments undertaken by the Sudanese Government in the Darfur Plan of Action.

Pronk and his verification team, comprising United Nations, Sudanese Government and other representatives, visited camps housing internally displaced persons and hospitals, including therapeutic centers for children, and met with relief workers.

Pronks team also witnessed the handover of weapons by some 200 members of the Peoples Defense Force affiliated with the Sudanese government, as part of the disarmament program.

The team is expected to complete its mission on Saturday and Jan Pronk is expected to brief the Security Council on his findings next Thursday.

MORE THAN $160 MILLION NEEDED TO ASSIST SUDANESE REFUGEES IN CHAD

The United Nations is asking the international community for $166 million to address humanitarian needs in Chad until the end of the year.

It had initially appealed for $54 million in March; and so far, current contributions and pledges amount to $80 million, or almost half of the revised requirements.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the needs of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have increased the most, with requested funds having shot up from $20 million to $105 million, because the number of refugees fleeing from Darfur into Chad has steadily increased from 110,000 in March, to 200,000 at the end of July.

Separately, a team from the World Health Organization will visit Chad to investigate hepatitis E cases in camps for Sudanese refugees. The team is expected todepartonMonday, August 30.

U.N. BODIES EXPRESS CONCERN ABOUT PALESTINIAN HUNGER STRIKE

In a statement issued today, 13UN institutions operating in the occupied Palestinian territory expressed concern about the hunger strike that reportedly more than 2,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees have joined.

The UNs Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, calls on the Israeli authorities to comply with its international obligations and to make every effort to find, with the prisoners, an appropriate resolution to the hunger strike.

The UN agencies and offices remind Israel of its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and relevant international human rights instruments which provide for the protection of detainees and prisoners.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan supports the statement and hopes that the matter will be resolved soon in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law.

ANNAN WELCOMES EFFORTS TO FIND PEACEFUL SOLUTION IN NAJAF

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, the Secretary-General welcomed the efforts by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to find a peaceful solution to the situation in the holy city of Najaf, and was encouraged by reports that an agreement to halt the armed hostilities in Najaf had been reached.

The Secretary-General also voiced his great dismay at the violent incidents Thursday in Kufa and other locations in Iraq and expressed concern over the humanitarian situation created as a result of the recent hostilities.

The Secretary-General reiterates that the United Nations stands ready to assist Iraqis in the transitional political process and calls upon them to resolve their differences through peaceful means.

REPORT: AL-QAEDA THREAT AS GREAT AS EVER

The threat from al-Qaeda-related terrorism remains as great as ever, but the nature of that threat has changed, according to the first report from the monitoring team dealing with the Security Councils sanctions on al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team contends that, despite international efforts, the threat from al-Qaeda terrorism remains as real today as it has been at any time since October 1999. What has changed is that al-Qaedas key leadership is too preoccupied with its own immediate problems of survival to offer more than general guidance.

The team says that al-Qaeda operations are not characterized by high cost. Only the September 11 attacks required significant funding of over six figures, the report adds.

Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of Chile, who chairs the Security Council Sanctions Committee that deals with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, will hold a press conference on the report on Monday at 11:15 a.m.

CONGOLESE REFUGEES MOVED AWAY FROM BURUNDI BORDER

In Burundi, UNHCR has moved a group of 48 Congolese refugees in Burundi away from the insecure border area between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi to Gasorwe camp in the northeast of the country, where some 8,000 Congolese refugees from an earlier influx are already sheltered.

Forty-seven of those in the convoy were from two transit centers in Cibitoke province, while one person was from the town of Gatumba. The Gatumba transit center, where a massacre took place on August 13, is now closed, and refugees from there are now sheltering in a school with increased security.

UNHCR and its partners continue to organize shelter, food, water, health, sanitation and other services for some 20,000 refugees now in the border area. UNHCR is also starting an information program on the relocation for the refugees, many of whom remain reluctant to relocate, because they want to return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as soon as they feel the situation is safe.

UNHCR SAYS MISSION FINDS 600 DISPLACED PERSONS IN COLOMBIA

UNHCR says that a humanitarian mission visiting Colombia's Middle San Juan River region has found more than 600 previously unreported internally displaced people.

This was the first humanitarian mission to the area in northwestern Colombia's Chocó province since fighting began between left-wing and right-wing forces earlier this month.

UNHCR says the displaced people hadnt been registered or received assistance because of an economic blockade imposed by an irregular armed group to keep essential goods out of their enemies' reach. Aid agencies are now organizing relief assistance for the group, and sending a health team to the area today.

UNICEF CONCERNED ABOUT UGANDAS ABDUCTED CHILDREN

UNICEF, the UN Childrens Fund, is urging Ugandan civilian and military authorities responsible for receiving 47 formerly abducted children to ensure their rights remain protected.

The children were repatriated today from Sudan after their abduction by the Lords Resistance Army, or LRA.

UNICEF says one measure would be to grant the children direct passage to NGO reception centers, so they can receive urgent medical care and begin the process to be reunited with families.

While the latest repatriation was encouraging, the continued targeting of children by the LRA for forced recruitment as combatants and sex slaves remains a cause for great distress," UNICEF says.Up to 12,000 children in the conflict-affected districts of northern Uganda are estimated to have been abducted by the LRA since June 2002.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS DOCUMENTED IN NORTH KOREA

The environmental situation in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea is exacerbating that countrys existing problems. That is one of the findings of the UN Environment Programmes first assessment of North Koreas environment.

The study found that forests have declined, rivers and city air have become more polluted and major crop yields have fallen dramatically due to land degradation and natural disasters. The report provides recommendations for tackling these problems.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

NO SECURITY COUNCIL MEETINGS SCHEDULED: There are no meetings or consultations of the Security Council scheduled for today.

FOUR-MEMBER PANEL ON DR CONGO APPOINTED: A letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Council announced his appointment of four experts who are to report to the Council on the implementation of the arms embargo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That group was given a mandate lasting until the end of next January, in accordance with Council Resolution 1552.

ANGOLA PUSHES FOR POLIO-FREE STATUS: In the same week as three African countries were re-infected with polio, Angola today takes another step towards being declared polio-free when it begins the immunisation of five million (under five) children. Since January 2003, 12 previously polio-free countries have been re-infected, including Botswana, just 60 kilometers from Angolas southern border.

UN QUICK IMPACT PROJECT STARTS IN HAITI: In Haiti, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative, Juan Gabriel Valdés, and Force Commander Lieutenant-General Ribeiro Pereira launched the UN Missions first Quick Impact Project on Thursday, for the reconstruction of an elementary school building in Petion-Ville. The $14,000 project is one of four reconstruction projects being undertaken by a peacekeeping brigade from Brazil.

EVACUATION DRILL HELD AT UN HEADQUARTERS: At 10:00 this morning, there was an evacuation drill at UN Headquarters, during which the more than 3,500 people present inside the building were briefly evacuated. The entire evacuation was completed within 29 minutes, after which all staff returned to the building. Asked about the reasons for the drill, the Spokesman noted that there had been several such drills in recent years, and that todays drill had been scheduled to take place earlier in the summer, but had been postponed until now.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Sunday, August 29, 2004

A special meeting of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission will take place at the level of Heads of delegations in Yaounde, Cameroon, to discuss issues related to the Bakassi Peninsula.

Monday, August 30

The 30-day deadline set by Security Council Resolution 1556 ends, and a report on the Sudanese Governments progress in implementing the conditions of that resolution is due.

At 11:15 a.m., Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of Chile, the Chair of the Security Council Committee dealing with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, will talk to the press concerning the first report of that committees Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team.

Tuesday, August 31

This is the last day of the Russian Security Council Presidency.

Wednesday, September 1

Ambassador Juan Antonio Yañez-Barnuevo of Spain assumes the Presidency of the Security Council for the month of September.

Thursday, September 2

In closed consultations, the Security Council expects to receive a briefing from the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk.

The Security Council also expects to hold consultations on its program of work for September. After that, Council President Juan Antonio Yañez-Barnuevo of Spain is scheduled to brief the press at 1:00 p.m. on the Councils work.

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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