United Nations Daily Highlights, 05-11-18

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING

BY MARIE OKABE

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, November 18, 2005

KOFI ANNAN CONDEMNS LATEST ATTACKS IN IRAQ

Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly

condemns the brutal terrorist attacks that occurred in

Iraq today, including the suicide bombings at two Shia mosques in Khanaqin, and the attack against a hotel in Baghdad. These criminal acts against innocent civilians are also aimed at fostering divisions among the Iraqi people.

The Secretary-General reiterates that no cause can justify the indiscriminate use of violence, in which innocent civilians are the principal victims. He extends his condolences and deepest sympathies to the families of all the victims.

ANNAN VISITS REGIONS HARDEST HIT BY PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

This morning in Pakistan, the Secretary-General traveled to the region hardest hit by last months

earthquake. After meeting with President Pervez Musharraf at his Islamabad office, the Secretary-General, accompanied by his wife Nane, flew by helicopter with the President, and his spouse, to Muzaffarabad.

He was briefed on the situation there by the senior Pakistani military officer in the area. The Secretary-General and the President then flew a short distance to the Thori Park camp for some 2,000 internally displaced persons, which is administered by the local authorities with assistance from the United Nations.

The UN staff then briefed the Secretary-General on the challenges ahead and also told him that UN and Pakistani health experts had managed to prevent an outbreak of communicable diseases usually found in such situations.

In

speaking to camp inhabitants, the Secretary-General said he had come to express the solidarity of the international community to the population. He told them, As difficult as the situation seems, I have no doubt that you will overcome, you will rebuild and you will build even better. He also paid a special tribute to the women, who, he said, often bear a heavy load.

A short while later, the Secretary-General and President Musharraf

spoke to the press. The Secretary-General said that he had been depressed by the number of houses that had been destroyed, but impressed by the level of cooperation and determination he had seen.

The Secretary-General and the President then took a helicopter tour of the worst-affected areas, notably the town of Balakot in the North West Frontier Province. The collapsed houses were clearly visible from the air, as were many makeshift tents.

The party later returned to Islamabad, where the Secretary-General had a working lunch with the President and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, among others.

At a press conference in the afternoon, the Secretary-General was asked what he had seen that moved him the most. He responded that he had been affected by seeing the bewilderment of two orphans and two women who had lost members of their family. He said you could see their trauma in their eyes, and their questions: Why me? Why did this happen? Where do I go from here? What next? But, he added, there were hopeful signs in the generous response by Pakistanis to the relief needs.

He met this evening with the Prime Minister, and attended a dinner for the heads of delegation attending tomorrows reconstruction conference.

In a separate program in Islamabad, Nane Annan visited the Pakistan Institute for Medical Sciences and spoke with children injured in the earthquake. She praised the hospital staff for their rapid response to the tragedy and their all-out effort in finding and assisting those in need of medical care. She also laid a wreath at the site of a collapsed residential tower where several UN staff members and their families were killed or injured.

SOUTH ASIA QUAKE: FLASH APPEAL STILL LESS THAN 30% FUNDED

Throughout the quake-hit areas of Pakistan, there are currently 18 planned or organized camps and approximately 1,000 self-settled ones. The UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have

trained 32 Pakistani civilians and army personnel on site planning and improving the camp living conditions.

Meanwhile, the NATO-UNHCR airlift from Turkey, which started on 19 October, ended last night after its 103rd flight. However, UNHCR's operation will still be continuing.

On

funding for the $550 million flash appeal, the United Nations has so far received commitments of $130 million and pledges of $35 million, meaning that the appeal is still less than 30 per cent funded.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION

INTO IRAQ DETENTION CONDITIONS

Louise Arbour, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, today

urged an international investigation into detention conditions in Iraq. She said that the recent discovery in an Interior Ministry building of detainees who appeared to have been tortured pointed to widespread problems with the system of detention in the country.

Arbour said that, in announcing a probe into conditions of detention, the Iraqi Government has acknowledged the problem. But, in light of the apparently systemic nature and magnitude of that problem, and the importance of public confidence in any inquiry, she urged the authorities to consider calling for an international inquiry.

She also pointed to the large number of detainees in Iraq as a matter of worry.

HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS WILL COMPLETE REPORT ON GUANTANAMO DETAINEES

The Spokeswoman was asked about the decision by three UN human rights rapporteurs not to travel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and she noted that five independent experts for the UN Commission on Human Rights today issued a

press release on that matter.

Concerning the work of the human rights experts undertaking a joint study on the situation of detainees in Guantanamo Bay, the Spokeswoman later announced that they will continue to collect information from credible sources to fulfill their aim of writing a report.

U.N. POLITICAL AFFAIRS DIRECTOR HEADS TO ISRAEL, TOURS GAZA

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs

Ibrahim Gambari concluded his visit to Lebanon yesterday and has now begun a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

He met Israeli National Security Adviser Giora Eiland yesterday, and today toured Gaza to see firsthand the situation on the ground in the aftermath of disengagement. He visited the Rafah crossing point to view the recently-agreed border crossing arrangements between Gaza and Egypt.

Gambari will continue his visit tomorrow with meetings with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah.

Asked about what the reference to border-crossing arrangements between Gaza and Egypt referred to, the Spokeswoman later said it meant the arrangements to cross the border between those two areas. She added that the agreement on the border-crossing arrangements was concluded between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

LEBANON: ANNAN IN CONTACT WITH SYRIAN PRESIDENT

Asked for an update on Detlev Mehliss

investigation and possible interviews with Syrian individuals, the Spokeswoman said that Mehlis has not provided any new information. He continues to conduct the investigation, and, she noted, the Secretary-General has repeatedly said he would back Mehliss decisions.

The Secretary-General, Okabe said, has been in touch with the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, at least twice this week, most recently on Wednesday.

Asked whether the Secretary-General had received a letter from the United States asking him not to be involved in the issue of the Syrian interviews, the Spokeswoman said that no such letter had been received.

ERITREAS HELICOPTER BANS HURT INJURED U.N. PEACEKEEPERS

After yesterdays Security Council consultations ended, Under-Secretary-General

Jean Marie Guéhenno spoke to reporters about the briefing he had given to Council members about the problems caused by the constraints on the movements of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).

He said that the Mission has now had eight peacekeepers who have had to be evacuated by road in very difficult circumstances, because of the suspension of flights.

The UN Mission reports that three Jordanian peacekeepers, who were injured in a road accident on Monday afternoon, had needed to be evacuated by helicopter, but Eritrea did not respond to that request. Traveling by road, the soldiers did not get to a place where they could have medical assistance until Tuesday morning; two of them are in serious condition.

Guéhenno said that the UN Missions visibility on the ground has also deteriorated, to about 40 percent of the area. Meanwhile, he said, reported troop movements by Ethiopia and Eritrea create a very unstable and very dangerous situation.

UN CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT GETS NEW DEPUTY CHIEF

The Secretary-General

announced has appointed Dirk J. Bruinsma of The Netherlands as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Bruinsma, a high-ranking economic official in the Dutch Government, succeeds Carlos Fortin of Chile and will take up his new post on 1 January 2006.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

GROWING FOOD INSECURITY IN MADAGASCAR: According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the food security situation in southeastern Madagascar is

deteriorating, with heightened rates of malnutrition among children becoming a cause for concern. For their part, the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme are helping Madagascars Government to hand out food and basic supplies, as well as to bolster local health facilities.

NEW REPORT TO SHOW DROPS IN H.I.V. INFECTION RATES IN SOME COUNTRIES: Desmond Johns, Director of the New York Office of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and Jim Kim, Director of the World Health Organizations Department of HIV/AIDS will launch the AIDS Epidemic Update 2005 on Monday in New York. The report is expected to show a drop in HIV infection rates in several countries. At the same time, however, it will note that the number of people living with HIV continues to increase in all regions except one.

SMALL ISLAND AND LOW-LYING NATIONS CONFERENCE OPENS: A major Ministerial Conference on the plight of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Low-Lying Coastal Countries opened today at the UN

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome. Some 50 Ministers and high-level officials of Ministries of Agriculture from 34 countries, and representatives from almost 30 international governmental organizations, international non-governmental organizations and UN organizations will discuss how agriculture, forestry and fisheries can be better integrated into SIDS economies to improve the nutrition and food security needs of islanders and to provide better employment opportunities.

DEVELOPMENT NEEDED TO COUNTER FOOD INSECURITY: The Untied Nations and its development partners, who gathered in Dakar, Senegal, from 15 to 16 November for a regional consultation on the Sahel, have reached

agreement on the need for a coordinated and multisectoral subregional approach to the subregions recurrent food security crises. Nearly 100 UN, governmental and non-governmental participants undertook a dialogue among humanitarian and developmental actors, reaching agreement on several recommendations, including the establishment of a follow-up committee.

SUCCESSFUL VACCINATION PROGRAM UNDERTAKEN IN MOZAMBIQUE: The UN Childrens Fund

said today that some 8.2 million children in Mozambique have been vaccinated during a recent measles and polio immunization campaign. Funds for the program came from several international organizations including UNICEF and the World Health Organization..

CHINA AGREES TO ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY OLYMPICS: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games have signed an agreement aimed a making the summer Olympics of 2008 environmentally-friendly, the UNEP

announced today. The agreement rests on the ambitious programmes of Beijing in areas ranging from air, water and noise pollution up to transport, landscaping and the disposal of solid waste, with UNEP actively involved in the area of public awareness campaigns, UNEP said.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Monday, November 21

The Secretary-General will attend the Security Council luncheon.

Desmond Johns, head of the UNAIDS New York office, and Jim Yong Kim, Director for the World Health Organizations HIV/AIDS department, will be at the noon briefing to launch the "AIDS Epidemic Update 2005."

General Assembly President Jan Eliasson will hold consultations in Geneva on the Human Rights Council, on 21 and 22 November, with States parties, experts of the Commission on Human Rights, and non-governmental organizations.

The 8th Conference of the Parties to the UN Environment Programmes Convention on Migratory Species will be held in Nairobi from 21 to 25 November.

Tuesday, November 22

The UN Mine Action Services annual portfolio will be launched at the noon briefing.

High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres today begins a six-day mission to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

Wednesday, November 23

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, will be at the noon briefing, to talk about the launch of the Afghan Opium Survey.

Thursday, November 24

The UN will be closed for Thanksgiving.

Friday, November 25

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

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article