United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-09-24

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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

Friday, September 24, 2004

ANNAN: "MUCH, MUCH MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE" IN DARFUR

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is Chairman of the African Union (AU), briefed the Security Council this morning on the situation in Darfur,

Sudan.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his

remarks at the start of that meeting, noted that civilians are still being attacked every day.

The humanitarian emergency in Darfur is growing, and much, much more needs to be done to mitigate it, he said.

He renewed his urgent appeal for international support to the AUs mission to help protect the people of Darfur and for strong backing to the AU leadership role in the political process.

The Secretary-General concluded by saying, The unspeakable violence that is still killing the long-suffering people of Darfur is not simply an African problem. It concerns the international community. Whatever name we give it, it imposes responsibilities on all of us.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS TEAM COMPLETES MISSION TO DARFUR

The

High Commissioner for Human Rights,

Louise Arbour, and the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Juan Méndez, have wrapped up their mission to

Darfur and are in Khartoum, where they will meet with government officials and the Secretary-Generals Special Representative,

Jan Pronk, and brief the press before leaving early Sunday.

Meanwhile, the

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),

Ruud Lubbers, arrived in the Chadian capital of N'djamena last night on the first leg of his five-day mission to Chad and Sudan to see UNHCR's operations, which protect and assist hundreds of thousands of refugees and people displaced by the Darfur crisis.

Louise Arbour and Jan Pronk are both expected to be in New York next week.

Asked whether Arbour and Mendez had made any interventions with the African Union, the Spokesman said that they had held meetings in Sudan.

RETAINER FOR ANNANS SON DOES NOT CHANGE

U.N.S ASSESSMENT ON COTECNA CONTRACT

Asked about a Wall Street Journal article concerning Kojo Annan, the

Secretary-Generals son, the Spokesman said that the only new information in the article is that Kojo Annan had been on a retainer for Cotecna through 1999.

The Spokesman said he understood that it is not unusual for competitive companies to use such retainers to bind former employees to a commitment not to compete with them once they leave the firm. He noted that Kojo Annan was setting up a company of his own at this time.

This does not change the UN assessment that those in the United Nations who awarded the contract to Cotecna in 1998 were not aware of Kojos links to that company.

Neither the Chairman of that Committee nor the procurement officer involved had any knowledge that Kojo Annan had any link to Cotecna. That, he said, was the finding by then-Under-Secretary-General for Management Joseph Connor in early 1999, when that link became the subject of a press account.

Asked about the money Kojo Annan received, the Spokesman said that his last contract, which involved responsibilities in West Africa, had ended in December 1998, but the retainer agreement continued through 1999.

The Spokesman, in response to a further question, said he was not aware whether Kofi Annan knew about the retainer agreement.

He said if there is any lingering doubt about Kojo Annans links to Cotecna, the

Independent Inquiry Committee headed by Paul Volcker was looking into the issue as part of its investigation of the

oil-for-food program, and he hoped, would get to the bottom of it.

DR CONGO: U.N. POLICE ASSIST AUTHORITIES IN RAID ON MASSACRE SUSPECTS

Civilian police from the

UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo yesterday assisted the Democratic Republic of the Congos national police in an operation conducted in a village west of Bunia, in the North Kivu province.

Police raided the village of Medu, which is populated by the Ngiti ethnic group who are suspected of involvement in a massacre in the village of Lengabo. Fifteen people were killed and more than 90 houses burned in an attack on Lengabo on Monday.

Ten suspects, including two minors, were taken into custody and transferred to Bunia.

Simultaneously, searches were conducted within the Front de Résistance Patriotique pour lIturi (FRPI)s camp situated at the centre of Medu. Documents, uniforms, pieces of armaments and ammunition were seized.

U.N. RELIEF AGENCY PROTESTS NEW RESTRICTIONS ON GAZA CROSSING

The

UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) today protested to Israel following new restrictions on UN staff moving in and out of the

Gaza Strip.

The agency says that the new, and constantly changing, restrictions have in effect barred UN international staff from crossing into and out of Gaza. Israel has asked UN staff holding valid UN identification documents to cross on foot through the Palestinian laborers terminal, a form of travel that is prohibited under current UN security rules.

UNRWA Commissioner-General,

Peter Hansen, said that the freedom of movement and safety of UNRWA staff need to be respected in full.

HAITI: U.N. PEACEKEEPERS PROVIDE SECURITY FOR FOOD DISTRIBUTION

The UN

aid effort continues in the northern Haitian town of Gonaives.

The

UN Mission in Haiti is working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and humanitarian agencies, and they have established four health centres in the city.

Forty tons of food has arrived for distribution, and security at food distribution centres remains a top priority.

Members of the missions Argentine and Brazilian military contingents are spread throughout the city in order to provide the necessity security measures and logistic support for both the local population and the humanitarian agencies.

Also, members of the

UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team, which arrived yesterday, have been deployed to Gonaives, where they will concentrate their activities before expanding to surrounding areas.

INVESTMENT IN DISASTER PREVENTION NEEDED IN HAITI

Regarding the events in Haiti, the

International Secretariat of Disaster Reduction (ISDR)

says that vulnerable conditions there have been allowed to grow there to the extent that any natural hazard inevitably leads to tragedy and it calls for thinking ahead and investing in prevention. According to the ISDR, deforestation together with rapid urbanization are two of the main reasons that explain why so many people are affected by landslides in Haiti.

It points to the fact that the rains in Haiti were less strong than the ones that struck the Dominican Republic, but nevertheless the loss in lives and livelihoods was much higher in Haiti than in the rest of the Caribbean.

The Secretariat adds that effective and low cost systems could be put in place easily with the help of the international community.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

W.H.O. SENDS HEPATITIS E TESTING KITS TO IRAQ: The

World Health Organization (WHO) has sent Hepatitis E testing kits to

Iraq. These are to be used in the town of Allatefyia, near Baghdad, which has reported a possible outbreak of the disease. WHO says that Hepatitis E can spread quickly through contaminated water and in places with a deficient sanitation environment.

RIGHT TO FOOD GUIDELINES ADOPTED AFTER TWO YEARS OF TALKS: The

Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO)

Committee on World Food Security wrapped up two years of difficult negotiations by

adopting voluntary guidelines supporting the right to adequate food. FAO says the guidelines cover the full range of national actions that need to be taken to enable people to feed themselves in dignity, and to establish appropriate safety nets for those unable to do so. FAOs General Legal Counsel, Giuliano Pucci, called their adoption a major breakthrough.

NEW HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS ADDED TO WATCH LIST: Fourteen new hazardous chemicals and pesticides have been

added to an initial watch list of 27 substances subject to a UN-backed treaty aimed at helping developing countries more effectively manage the dangerous materials. The move was agreed to in Geneva at this weeks ministerial conference of the

Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. The

Food and Agriculture Organization says the increase in the list is enthusiastic vote of confidence in the convention.