United Nations Daily Highlights, 05-11-02

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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

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS MANAGEMENT REFORM ADVISER

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Rajat Kumar Gupta as his special adviser for management reform.

Mr. Gupta will act as a personal adviser to the Secretary-General on overall strategy as well as participate in the Deputy Secretary-Generals Post-Summit Coordination Committee. He will help to ensure that the overall management reform programme is in line with best global practice and provide focused, specialist assistance on key issues of concern.

Mr. Gupta is currently Senior Partner and former Managing Director of McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm.

Asked about why Gupta is needed, the Spokesman said that he will bring in a fresh pair of eyes from the outside world and will bring UN management reform in line with best practices in other organizations.

Asked about Guptas hiring without a public competitive process, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General is free to hire whomever he sees fit as a special advisor. Guptas biography shows that he is qualified for the job, Dujarric added.

Asked whether it is appropriate for Gupta to be hired on a dollar-a-year contract given that such appointments are being reviewed, the Spokesman said that the review of the dollar-a-year policy does not mean that such appointments will be ended. Rather, he said dollar-a-year and when-actually-employed personnel will be required, as will Gupta, to fill out financial disclosure forms

SECURITY COUNCIL FOCUSES ON AFRICA'S GREAT LAKE REGION, LEBANON

The

Security Council, in its first meeting this month, held closed consultations on its program of work for November.

At 3:00 this afternoon, Ambassador Andrey Denisov of Russia, the Council President for this month, will brief reporters about the Councils work during November.

Also in this mornings consultations, Council members heard a briefing from Under-Secretary-General for

Peacekeeping Operations

Jean-Marie Guéhenno on the situation in Africas Great Lakes region. Council members will visit four countries in that region, starting on Friday.

This afternoon, starting at 3:30, the Council is scheduled to hear a briefing by Special Envoy

Terje Roed-Larsen on the implementation of

resolution 1559.

PROGRESS REPORTED IN SOUTH ASIA QUAKE EFFORTS

The

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that a lot of progress is being made on the ground in helping victims of the South Asia earthquake, despite difficult circumstances. It also says that the United Nations is enjoying excellent cooperation with the Pakistani Government, which is pulling out all the stops to help as many people as possible.

However, OCHA also says that it needs all pledges to the flash appeal to be urgently converted into commitments and contributions, noting that some UN agencies have borrowed heavily to fund their relief work. As of today, out of the $550 million flash appeal, $71 million is actually in hand.

Shelter remains the overriding priority, with between 100,000 and 200,000 tents still needed. In addition, food aid is required for more than 2 million people. OCHA also notes that acute respiratory infection is the most common diagnosis in all health facilities.

CENTRAL AMERICAN HURRICANE VICTIMS NEED SUPPORT

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports today that humanitarian needs for the victims of Hurricane Stan in Central America are increasing, but the response to its appeals for aid have been disappointing.

Several UN agencies are assisting more than 47,000 homeless people in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and southern Mexico.

Pledges have run behind needs, OCHA says, and cash is running below pledges.

FOOD SHORTAGES CRITICAL IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

The World Food Programme (WFP) today

reiterated its appeal for $25 million to assist 1.2 million people in northeastern Kenya hit by critical food shortages that are following erratic rains this year.

Meanwhile, in southern Africa, WFP is

warning that nearly ten million people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe require urgent food assistance through to April 2006.

Unless donors come forward with cash contributions to plug WFPs immediate shortfall of $157 million, many people will not receive help in time.

ANNOUNCEMENT ON IRAN TRIP EXPECTED TOMORROW

Asked about the Secretary-Generals plans to travel to Iran, the Spokesman said a full announcement on dates for that trip could be expected on Thursday, and that the plans to visit the country had not changed.

Dujarric confirmed that the Secretary-General had received a letter from U.S. Representative Tom Lantos asking him not to travel to Iran. Iran, the Spokesman added, had not responded to the Secretary-Generals statement from last week concerning President Ahmadinejads remarks.

ANNAN TO SPEAK ON BIRD FLU

The Secretary-General is scheduled tomorrow to deliver his first major speech on avian flu. That will take place at the Time Global Health Summit in New York City.

In that speech, he is expected to describe the highly complex challenges involved and outline a set of key priorities for the UN system and the international community as a whole -- actions needed in seeking to avert, and preparing for the possibility of, a human pandemic.

He will describe the coordination mechanism set up by the UN family to address the threat, and call for collective action among all partners of the United Nations.

The UN

Economic and Social Council will meet tomorrow to deal with the threat of avian flu and the coordination of the UN system's response.

The discussion will be initiated by Ambassador Munir Akram, President of ECOSOC, and General Assembly President Jan Eliasson. Among the panelists will be

Dr. David Nabarro, Senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, and experts from the

WHO,

FAO and OCHA. The discussion takes place from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm in the ECOSOC Chamber. There will be a press conference at 1:15.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

CHRONOLOGICAL FILES ARE DUPLICATE FILES: Asked about the destruction by former Chef de Cabinet Iqbal Riza of chron files, and whether the United Nations was considering keeping such files, the Spokesman said that chron files are duplicates of original files that are supposed to be preserved. He noted, in response to further questions about missing oil-for-food documents, that Paul Volckers Independent Inquiry Committee did not make any finding that Riza had intentionally destroyed any documents obstructed the investigation.. He declined to discuss further matters that had already been detailed in some 6,000 pages of findings by the Volcker Committee.

ZIMBABWE VISIT BY HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL IN DISCUSSION STAGE: Asked about plans for Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland to visit Zimbabwe, the Spokesman said that the dates for a visit by Egeland are still being discussed.

ANNAN SAYS U.N. SUPPORTS INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION: The Secretary-General met yesterday with Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, Speaker of the Italian Parliament and the new President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The Secretary-General pledged his full support to the substantial strengthening of cooperation between the UN and the IPU and looked forward to working closely with Mr. Casini and the IPU toward that end.

U.N. REPORTS PROGRESS IN FIGHT AGAINST MEASLES: Major progress has been made in the fight against measles in Africa, the

World Health Organization reports today. More than 200 million children have been vaccinated against measles and one million lives have been saved since 1999.