United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-09-20

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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

Monday, September 20, 2004

GENERAL ASSEMBLY: ANNAN TO FOCUS ON IMPORTANCE OF RULE OF LAW

Tuesday morning at 8:30, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, accompanied by UN

Messengers of Peace Muhammad Ali, Anna Cataldi and Jane Goodall, will ring the Peace Bell to mark the International Day of Peace, which coincides with the start of the General Debate of the 59th session of the General Assembly.

The Secretary-General, in his speech at the opening of the General Debate, will focus on the importance of the rule of law.

As of today, expected to attend the General Debate are: 62 heads of state, 21 heads of government, two vice presidents, one crown prince, 12 deputy prime ministers/foreign ministers, 91 foreign affairs ministers, one deputy foreign minister, two chairs of delegations and one chairman of an observer delegation, according to the General Assembly spokesman.

CREATIVITY, POLITICAL NEEDED TO ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY

At 3:00 p.m. today, the

Secretary-General is scheduled to gather with world leaders for their meeting on Action against Hunger and Poverty.

He will tell them that right now, we are falling short in eradicating extreme poverty and raising living standards. With creativity and political will, he is to say, we could do much better.

The meeting will be followed, at 6:30 p.m.by a press conference including President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Jacque Chirac of France, President Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS MISSION ASSESSES HOW TO PROTECT DARFUR CIVILIANS

IN WAKE OF SECURITY COUNCIL VOTE ON SUDAN RESOLUTION

The

Security Council held consultations on

Sudan on Saturday afternoon and went on to adopt a

resolution by 11 votes in favour and four abstentions.

Among its provisions, the resolution reiterates the call for the Government of Sudan to end the climate of impunity in Darfur by identifying and bringing to justice all those responsible (including members of the popular defence forces and Janjaweed militias) for widespread human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.

It also welcomes the intention of the African Union to increase its monitoring presence in Darfur and urges Member States to provide all necessary support both to the African Union, and to ongoing humanitarian efforts.

In addition, the resolution requests the

Secretary-General to establish an international commission of enquiry rapidly to investigate reports of violations committed in Darfur, determine whether or not acts of genocide have taken place, and identify the perpetrators.

Finally, the Council says it shall consider taking additional measures, such as actions to affect Sudans petroleum sector, should the Government of Sudan not comply fully with resolutions.

Over the weekend, a human rights mission was dispatched by the

Secretary-General to see what can be done to better protect civilians in

Darfur and it arrived in Khartoum. The

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, and the Secretary-Generals Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Juan Mendez, are currently in North Darfur where they spent the day visiting camps for internally displaced persons near El Fashir and met with African Union monitors and the UN team. Tomorrow, the mission will travel to South Darfur.

The

Department of Peacekeeping Operations, meanwhile, sent a team of experts to Addis Ababa at the request of the African Union (AU) to attend meetings set up this week to strengthen the AU mission in Darfur.

U.N. ENVOY ON MISSION TO DISCUSS COOPERATION IN DARFUR

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Sudan,

Jan Pronk, attended the fifth meeting of the Joint Implementation Mechanism on Friday evening. The meeting was aimed at moving forward with the implementation of the Sudanese government commitments under the Joint Communiqué. The issue of the new peacekeepers was discussed, as was the lack of progress in ending impunity, according to the UN mission in Khartoum.

Pronk is visiting Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Asmara, Eritrea this week during which he will meet with officials of the two countries and the African Union. Discussions will focus on the Darfur crisis and the Abuja peace talks as well as the UN-AU cooperation in Darfur.

DEATH TOLL IN HAITI MAY RISE FOLLOWING TROPICAL STORM

The

UN Mission in Haiti is reporting high death tolls after 80% of the city of Gonaives, in northern

Haiti, was flooded over the weekend by Tropical Storm Jeanne.

Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and UN representatives travelled to the area yesterday, and reported that 54 bodies had been recovered while over 150 people were reported missing. The UN Mission organized 12 helicopter flights to the area and Argentine peacekeepers treated some 380 injured people.

Today, the

Risk and Disaster Management Unit of the

UN Development Programme is reporting more than 250 bodies having been identified in Gonaives and is warning that the death toll may be much higher.

The UN system is rushing emergency supplies to the Gonaives area while assessment missions are underway to Port de Paix and Isle de la Tortue on the north coast.

ANNAN: TOO MANY PEOPLE FEEL LEFT OUT BY GLOBALIZATION

At UN headquarters, leaders from the North and South, convening as the World Commission, gathered to discuss how to create a fair globalization.

Speaking at the Commissions meeting, the

Secretary-General said that, as the report by the World Commission, issued last February, made clear, too many people feel excluded and threatened by globalization.

He said, To harness the benefits of globalization, States need to strengthen the rule of law, build democratic political systems, respect human rights, invest in education, health care and infrastructure, and promote social equity.

The meeting is being convened by Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, and is moderated by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization.

ANNANS COMMENTS ON LEGALITY OF IRAQ WAR REFERRED TO U.N. CHARTER

Asked about the

Secretary-Generals comments last week that the war on

Iraq had been illegal, the Spokesman reiterated that the Secretary-General had been asked specifically about the decision to invade Iraq and had responded, as he has done repeatedly, that it was not in conformity with the

UN Charter.

Asked about the legality of humanitarian interventions and pre-emptive strikes, the Spokesman said that the

High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change could be expected to look at how the UN Charter applies to those topics.

The Secretary-General hopes the Panel will offer useful insights into these matters, he added.

Asked whether the Secretary-General would seek contributions this week for the protection of UN personnel in Iraq, the Spokesman said that discussions on that matter had been taking place behind the scenes for months.

However, although the Secretary-General may continue to discuss troops for the protection of UN personnel with visiting leaders, the Spokesman said he could not predict any announcements concerning contributions this week.

EXPERTS ANALYZE IDEAS FOR COVERING $50 BILLION COST OF

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Global economics experts have analyzed seven ideas which have the potential to cover the estimated $50 billion cost of the

Millennium Development Goals.

The Goals are a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets for combating problems such as poverty, hunger and disease they were decided upon by world leaders in 2000 at the UN Millennium Summit.

The seven ideas include global environmental taxes, such as a tax on carbon use; a global lottery and global premium bond; and a tax on currency flows, also known as the Tobin tax, designed to discourage excessive currency speculation.

The study was prepared for the UNs

Department of Economic and Social Affairs, following a

General Assembly resolution in 2000 that called for a study on new sources of development funding.

ANNAN URGES U.N. NUCLEAR AGENCY TO RESUME SAFEGUARD ACTIVITIES

IN NORTH KOREA AND IRAN TO COOPERATE WITH AGENCY

The

Secretary-General today called for the early resumption of the

International Atomic Energy Agencys (IAEA) safeguard activities in North Korea and also called on Iran to cooperate further with the Agency.

In his

message to the opening session in Vienna today of the

General Conference of the IAEA, the Secretary-General also expresses his hope that next years Review Conference for the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will bring about renewed commitments to all treaty obligations.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNAN INAUGURATES NEW GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUITE: The

Secretary-General and Swiss President Joseph Deiss inaugurated the renovated GA-200 suite, just near the

General Assembly Hall, in time for its use at the General Debate that starts here tomorrow. The Secretary-General saw the renovated suite a few days ago, and

says that the new interior is in many ways an illustration of Switzerland today: style, quality and function in perfect harmony.

SECURITY COUNCIL HAS NO MEETINGS TODAY: There are no meetings or consultations of the Security Council scheduled today and tomorrow. A ministerial-level open meeting to consider civil aspects of crisis management and peace-building is scheduled on Wednesday.

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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