United Nations Daily Highlights, 05-06-28

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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 STEPHANE DUJARRIC

ASSOCIATE

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

KAREN ABUZAYD OF THE UNITED STATES IS APPOINTED

COMMISSIONER-GENERAL OF UNRWA

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is delighted that Ms. Karen AbuZayd, who has done an outstanding job in the last five years as Deputy Commissioner-General, and in the last three months as Acting Commissioner-General, of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has now agreed to serve a full three-year term as Commissioner-General.

Ms AbuZayd is already well known to UNRWA staff, to the Palestinian refugee community, and to governments in the region as well as donors and members of UNRWAs Advisory Commission.

The Secretary-General believes that under her leadership UNRWA will carry out its mandate and fully live up to its responsibilities, during a period which, we all hope, will see decisive progress towards lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, based on United Nations resolutions and a negotiated settlement of all outstanding issues, including the refugee problem.

Before joining UNRWA, she worked for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for 19 years. Her last four years in UNHCR were spent as Chef de Cabinet to High Commissioner Sadako Ogata and as Regional Representative for the United States and Caribbean, where she focused on funding, public information and the legal issues of asylum-seekers.

ANNAN WILL TRAVEL TO LIBYA AND UNITED KINGDOM

The

Secretary-General is going on official travel starting tomorrow.

He plans to attend the 500th Anniversary of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, where he will receive an honorary fellowship, on Friday, July 1.

He is then scheduled to go to Sirte, in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, to take part in the African Union summit on July 4 and 5.

From Sirte, he departs for London to deliver a keynote address on the Millennium Development Goals at St. Paul's Cathedral on July 6, on the eve of the G8 Summit.

Finally, the Secretary-General will proceed to Gleneagles for the G-8 Summit on July 7 and 8 before returning to New York.

ANNAN ENVOY TO ZIMBABWE AWAITS MEETING WITH PRESIDENT MUGABE

Anna Tibaijuka, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Human Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe, continues her visit to Zimbabwe.

We have been informed that she will meet with President Robert Mugabe within the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, she and the UN team are continuing to map out her field visits.

SECURITY COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS SUDAN ON WEDNESDAY

There are no meetings or consultations of the

Security Council scheduled for today.

Letters that were sent by the Secretary-General to the Security Council last week on

Sudans aid needs and on the

transfer of money from the

UNMOVIC escrow account to the Development Fund for Iraq are available on the racks today.

Tomorrow, the Security Council plans to take up

Sudan in two meetings, one to discuss the North-South peace process and the other on the question of combating impunity.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, Prosecutor of the

International Criminal Court, would brief the Council on progress concerning Darfur and is expected to speak to reporters afterwards.

MORTALITY DECLINES IN SUDAN; HEALTH REMAINS FRAGILE

Mortality in

Darfur has significantly declined but the health of the people remains extremely fragile concludes a mortality survey undertaken by the Sudanese Ministry of Health, UN agencies and NGO partners under the technical guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO).

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator

Jan Egeland said, The mortality survey bears evidence of the heroic efforts of humanitarian workers, Sudanese and international, under extremely difficult conditions in Darfur. Tens of thousands of lives have been saved thanks to their work. But I am extremely concerned that the space for impartial humanitarian work is closing. Both the Government and the rebel movements must do much more to protect and promote our work, Egeland said.

More than 70 experts, many of whom were epidemiologists, carried out the survey in the field from mid May to mid June. More than 3,000 families, totaling about 26,000 people in the three states of Darfur, were interviewed. The survey examined mortality among displaced in camps, displaced outside camps and residents affected by the conflict between mid November and the end of May.

Asked about the death toll, the Spokesman clarified that todays report was on humanitarian matters, and does not count deaths as a result of violence. Although it brings us closer to determining an overall death toll, he said, it would not be a definitive figure for such a toll.

ANNAN REPORTS THAT EXPECTATIONS IN SUDAN ARE HIGH

The Secretary-General, in a

report to the Security Council, says that expectations that the situation in

Sudan will improve significantly are running high since the arrival of

UN peacekeepers. He says that the donor community now has to prove its resolve by providing the resources and the expertise to address the challenges of the peace process, as well as reconstruction and development.

The Secretary-General says that the parties to the conflict in Darfur must make every effort to successfully conclude the current round of talks in Abuja. It is also important to stress that those responsible for the atrocities committed in Darfur will be held accountable for their actions, and impunity will not be tolerated.

SITUATION IN ETHIOPIA-ERITREA DEEPLY CONCERNS ANNAN

The Secretary-General says he is deeply concerned by the recent shooting incidents that took place in the Temporary Security Zone between

Ethiopia and Eritea. In a

report to the Security Council, he says that such incidents could easily escalate into situations that would compromise military stability and roll back the peace process.

He adds that one unfortunate feature of efforts to resolve the conflict between the two countries has been the absence of political dialogue.

Noting that the stalemate in the peace process is not sustainable in the long term, the Secretary-General renews his recommendation to the Security Council to undertake a mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea, to reassure those countries of the Councils unflinching commitment to the peace process.

UN TROOPS CLEAR MILITIAS IN NORTHEASTERN DRC

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

UN peacekeepers yesterday undertook a cordon-and-search operation at Medu, southwest of Bunia in the Ituri District.

Bangladeshi and Pakistani peacekeepers, with Indian air support, successfully cleared the area of Medu of militias of the Front de resistance patriotique de lIturi (FRPI), who engaged the UN force with mortars and machine guns.

HIGH-LEVEL ECOSOC MEETINGS TO BEGIN WEDNESDAY IN NEW YORK

The UNs development agenda will be the focus of the three-day High-Level Segment, which starts tomorrow and kicks off this years session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

In addition to discussing such themes as poverty, hunger, education, health, gender equality and human rights, participants will also consider the Secretary-Generals latest

report on development goals, which proposes a more active and relevant role for the Council.

The Secretary-General will deliver the keynote address at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow in the ECOSOC Chamber, and participants will include President Tarja Halonen of Finland and interim Prime Minister Gérard Latortue of Haiti, as well as UN agency heads and business leaders.

NEW CONTRACTOR TO PROVIDE U.N. RADIO, TV SERVICES

Asked about the status of workers contracted by EJ Electric, the Spokesman noted that, because of a changeover in the contracts for UN television and radio services, EJ Electric no longer would be in charge of those services. The new contractor, VSG, said that the overwhelming majority of old EJ Electric staff will be hired by them.

The Spokesman said that talks between the new contractor and the workers union were continuing. He said that the United Nations expects the contractor to abide by applicable labor laws and to treat staff fairly. He noted that the talks between the contractor and the union would be based on U.S. labor laws.

In response to further questions, he said that VSG had been selected through a bidding process in which it had come up with the lowest technically acceptable bid.

UNITED NATIONS EXPLORES AVENUES FOR PROSECUTION OF EX-STAFFER

Asked about possible legal avenues regarding former UN staff member Callixte Mbarushimana, the Spokesman said that the Rwanda Tribunal has made it clear that it does not intend to prosecute him. Because of that, the United Nations has explored options for prosecution among Member States, including France. But the decision whether or not to prosecute Mbarushimana rests with those States.

The Spokesman, in response to further questions, said that the UN Administrative Tribunal had ruled that the United Nations owed Mbarushimana money, and he added that the United Nations is bound by the decisions of the Administrative Tribunal.

At the same time, before it deals with paying Callixte Mbarushimana, he added, it wants to make sure, given the severity of the allegations at hand, that all possible avenues for prosecution have been exhausted.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNITED NATIONS LOOKS AHEAD TO SEPTEMBER SUMMIT: Asked why the Secretary-General had not attended the 60th anniversary celebration of the signing of the UN Charter in San Francisco, the Spokesman noted that Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor had attended on the Secretary-Generals behalf, while the Secretary-General had attended a Monday event in New York. Dujarric said that the Secretary-Generals focus in terms of events for the 60th anniversary would be on this Septembers summit at the United Nations, which would look to the future of the United Nations. He added that the United Nations had not organized the San Francisco events.

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE TO MEET ANNAN: Asked about the meeting between the Secretary-General and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this afternoon, the Spokesman confirmed that it was the first time that Rice had met the Secretary-General at UN Headquarters since her appointment, although they have met in other places as recently as last week. Rice will meet General Assembly President Jean Ping before that meeting, he added.

MAURICE STRONGS STATUS UNCHANGED: Asked about the status of Maurice Strong, the Spokesman said it was unchanged. Strong had removed himself from his duties as a UN envoy, and the investigation concerning him is ongoing. But his status as a UN staff member has not changed, and he is not barred from entering UN Headquarters.

WFP ASKS FOR FUNDS TO FEED REFUGEES IN KENYA: The

World Food Programme (WFP) today

appealed for nearly $7 million to feed nearly a quarter of a million Sudanese and Somali refugees in northern Kenya until the end of 2005. The agency has warned that rations will run out by October unless funding is received immediately.

FAO REPORTS MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN FIGHTING LOCUSTS: For the first time, an environmentally friendly weapon against desert locusts has been successfully tested under large-scale field conditions, the

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

said today. The large-scale field tests of biopesticide carried out in Algeria mark a major breakthrough in the battle against locusts, since for the first time the biopesticide Green Muscle® was shown to be effective against Desert Locust under realistic field conditions over a substantial area. Previous tests on the efficacy of the biopesticide were only conducted in laboratories and on small plots of land.

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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