United Nations Daily Highlights, 05-03-03

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, March 3, 2005

ANNAN: VIOLENCE IN EASTERN CONGO WAS NOT A DELIBERATE SHOW OF FORCE

Secretary-General Kofi Annan was asked upon entering UN Headquarters today about the Tuesday violence in the

Democratic Republic of the Congos (DRC) Ituri region, in which some 50 people were killed.

The Secretary-General

said he did not think that there was a deliberate show of force by UN troops. Rather, he said, it was really an attempt to defend themselves, and a determination to fulfill their mandate as effectively as they can.

He said that the DRC operation is complex, and the number of troops the United Nations has may not be adequate given the countrys size, but he added, We are doing the best we can with what weve got.

Over time, he said, he hopes that the

Security Council will provide support and that the UN forces will be strengthened.

Asked when the Secretary-General will meet with his Special Representative for the DRC,

William Swing, the Spokesman said the two would meet on Friday.

ANNAN TO DISPATCH SPECIAL ENVOY TO MIDDLE EAST

The Secretary-General was also asked about

Lebanon, and said that he will send his Special Envoy,

Terje Roed-Larsen, back to the region to discuss the withdrawal of foreign troops.

He said he hopes to be able to report progress when he submits his next report on that issue in April, and added that the Syrians have indicated that they are planning to withdraw troops from Lebanon.

Asked when Roed-Larsen would begin his visit to Lebanon and the region, the Spokesman said that he intended to go in the next few days.

Asked about the

work of the team led by

Peter Fitzgerald that was dealing with the 14 February assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, the Spokesman said the team has asked for additional technical experts. He said he believed the team intended to report back within a month, and recalled that it had said earlier that it was receiving full cooperation from the Lebanese authorities.

ALL IRAQIS NEED TO HELP SHAPE THEIR COUNTRYS FUTURE

During this week, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for

Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, has held a number of meetings with Iraqi officials and representatives of various political and social trends.

These meetings included ones with the interim president Ghazi Yawer, interim vice president and nominee for transitional Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, and Interim Finance minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

He also met with head of the Islamic Sunni Waqf Organisation, Adnan Dleimi, as well as with Iraqi activists, academicians and members elect of the transitional national assembly.

The message hes been delivering is the need for all Iraqis to contribute to the shaping of the future of their country through engaging in an all inclusive political process that would build on the outcome of the national elections which represent a landmark development in efforts to restore peace and stability to Iraq.

The United Nations will continue to assist the Iraqis through the transitional process in the implementation of its mandate under

Security Council

resolution 1546.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL EMPHASIZES

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY ON SEXUAL ABUSE

The Deputy Secretary-General,

Louise Fréchette, began yesterday in Sierra Leone the second leg of a mission to personally deliver the Secretary-Generals zero tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation and abuse.

In her meetings with mission staff, she stressed that the

Secretary-Generals zero tolerance policy must be respected by everyone. It is an obligation on the part of every United Nations employee to observe the code of conduct, she said. Our code is very specific.

She noted that strong leadership is the key to eliminating sexual exploitation and abuse.

Acknowledging the dangerous and complex environments in which peacekeeping operations functioned, she stated that because of the vulnerability to exploitation of the local population, there was a need to accept a degree of restriction on personnel behavior.

Later, during a meeting with Sierra Leones President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the Deputy Secretary-General discussed the way forward for the Mission and the future of Sierra Leone, including the need for strengthening of the security forces.

She also emphasized that rules for behavior, codes, directives and standard operating procedures must be enforced by contingents through national disciplinary law.

Tomorrow, she travels to

Cote DIvoire.

WESTERN/NORTHERN COTE D'IVOIRE REMAIN TENSE IN WAKE OF CLASHES

The

Security Council President, in a letter to the

Secretary-General, has taken note of the appointment of Pierre Schori of Sweden as the new Special Representative for Cote dIvoire.

Meanwhile, the

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is limiting staff movements in western and northern Côte d'Ivoire following clashes on Monday between pro-government militias and rebels in a western village. The outbreak of fighting is causing some disruption to a UNHCR census of Liberian refugees which began in the rebel-controlled north last month.

The

UN Operation in Cite DIvoire reports that the Acting Special Representative for Cote d'Ivoire Alan Doss and other members of the Monitoring Committee of the Linas Marcoussis Agreement, together with UN Force Commander General Abdoulaye Fall, today traveled to Logoualé to assess the situation in the village where UN peacekeepers intervened to restore security on Monday following an attack by unidentified armed elements on that locality.

U.N. ENVOY VISITS CAMPS FOR DISPLACED SUDANESE AROUND KHARTOUM

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Sudan,

Jan Pronk, made a field visit to camps housing displaced persons around the capital

Khartoum.

These camps and neighboring squatter areas have been subject to a government policy of demolition and re-zoning whereby many of these marginalized communities have been resettled in far away desert areas.

Pronk was briefed on the complete lack of assistance to these communities and he spoke with several families.

"The United Nations will include the IDPs in and around Khartoum in a policy of return and resettlement, now that the peace agreement between the North and South has been ratified," Pronk said.

The number of displaced persons in and around Khartoum is estimated to exceed one million, according to the

UN Mission in Sudan.

U.N. HUMANITARIAN CHIEF VISITS SUDAN

The

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator,

Jan Egeland, is arriving in

Sudan today for a five-day visit.

He plans to visit south Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced during the war are poised to return to communities where few of the resources required to support their return are in place. This lack of resources could result in returning internally displaced persons and refugees finding nothing to assist their resettlement, and could undermine efforts to bring a lasting peace to Sudan.

Egeland will also travel to various locations in South Darfur, where he will meet with authorities, aid workers, and representatives of the African Union. He will also hold independent discussions with civilians.

MEASLES-RELATED DEATHS ON TARGET TO BE HALVED BY YEARS END

The

World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) today

announced that countries are on target to halve

measles-related deaths by the end of the year.

That decline has been brought about by international commitment to the WHO/UNICEF strategy, which promotes both routine and supplementary immunizations.

Globally, measles-related deaths have plummeted by nearly 40% - from 873,000 in 1999 to some 530,000 in 2003.

NEARLY 60 SUSPECTED PLAGUE DEATHS REPORTED IN DR CONGO

The

World Health Organization (WHO) today provided an update on the outbreak of plague around Zobia, in the

Democratic Republic of the Congos (DRC).

WHO said that while initial reports suggested that there might have been approximately 400 cases, a retrospective study and more careful surveillance has shown that there are now 57 suspect cases, including 16 deaths.

Further assessment has shown that future outbreaks of plague associated with the diamond mine where the outbreak has occurred are likely.

U.N. MISSION IN BURUNDI REITERATES SUPPORT IN PEACE PROCESS

The

UN Operation in Burundi, which had worked alongside Burundians in the organization of this week's constitutional referendum by providing technical and logistical support,

reiterated its support to Burundians in the steps ahead in the peace process following the announcement of the voting results.

The mission had sent out 45 monitoring teams of about 300 people to all 17 provinces and around 1,000 polling stations were visited.

FOUR EXPERTS APPOINTED TO AFGHANISTANS ELECTORAL COMMISSION

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for

Afghanistan,

Jean Arnault, has

appointed four international electoral experts to sit on the nine-member Afghan Independent Electoral Commission.

That Commission will organize the legislative and local elections to take place in that country this spring.

The four international experts are: Alison Radford of Canada, Julian Type of Australia, Noor Mohammad of India and Ray Kennedy of the United States.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

NO SECURITY COUNCIL MEETINGS TODAY: There are no meetings or consultations of the

Security Council scheduled for today.

HUMAN RESOURCES CHIEF REVIEWED STAFF COUNCIL SUBMISSION: Asked about allegation by the Staff Council against the

Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services,

Dileep Nair, the Spokesman said that the head of Human Resources Management, Rosemary McCreery, had reviewed the submission by the Staff Council last week in the presence of a Council representative.

FAO PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON AIDS IN FISHING COMMUNITIES: According to the

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it has in recent years become evident that

fishing communities in many developing countries suffer from very high rates of HIV infection rates that can be five to ten times higher than those in the general population. Recently, a workshop was held at FAO headquarters in which

recommendations were made on how to better respond to this problem.

POST-TSUNAMI RECONSTRUCTION PHASE BEGINS:

The

World Food Programme (WFP) is launching a series of post-emergency humanitarian activities that will help hundreds of thousands of survivors return to a stable, productive and independent way of life. For example, it is starting food-for-work projects in Myanmar to help people rebuild their communities. And in both Sri Lanka and Indonesia, WFP has mapped out a strategy for providing nutritious food to the most vulnerable members of society.

U.N. WARNS OVER CONTAMINANT WHICH MAY CAUSE CANCER IN PEOPLE: A contaminant which causes cancer in animals, and which forms in the high-temperature preparation of such foods as potato chips, coffee, pastries and breads may be a public health concern,

according to the

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and

World Health Organization (WHO). The contaminant, called acrylamide, is formed when certain foods, particularly plant-based foods rich in carbohydrates and low in protein, are cooked at temperatures higher than 120 degrees Celsius.