United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-02-24

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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 MARIE OKABE

DEPUTY

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, February 24, 2006

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO DISCUSS PROPHET CARICATURES IN QATAR

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is on his way to Qatar, where he will convene a meeting tomorrow to discuss the current crisis related to the caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. [The other participants will be the Secretaries-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Spain, Austria and Qatar. Also attending will be the European Unions High Representative for a Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana]

That gathering will be followed by a joint press conference with most of the participants, where they will read out a joint statement.

On Sunday morning, he will address the opening session of the second meeting of the High-Level Panel of the

Alliance of Civilizations.

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON IRAQ

The

Security Council received a briefing this morning on developments in Iraq from Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs

Ibrahim Gambari. He talked about events on the ground, and the contacts that Special Representative Ashraf Qazi has had in his efforts to calm the situation.

The Secretary-General was asked at a press encounter yesterday about the violence in Iraq following the attack on the shrine Samarra, and he said he had appealed for restraint and was happy to see Iraqi leaders coming together to see what can be done to calm the situation.

He said, I hope they will work together in the common interest of Iraq, and in the interest of their own citizens who have suffered for far too long, through the violence of the past few years.

The Secretary-General also offered his deepest sympathy to the families of the journalists killed in Iraq yesterday.

SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS SESSION ON ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA

The Security Council in closed consultations also discussed Eritrea/Ethiopia with the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for the Eritrea and Ethiopia

Legwaila Joseph Legwaila.

The Council approved a presidential statement welcoming a meeting of the Witnesses to The Algiers Agreements on Eritrea and Ethiopia, and calling on Member States to support the work of the

UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Asked why the United Nations had not publicized a meeting that took place of the witnesses dealing with Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations had confirmed Legwailas attendance at that meeting, which was a U.S.-led initiative. She said that the United Nations was one of the members of the group of witnesses, along with the United States, the African Union, Algeria and the European Union.

U.N. ENVOY IN LEBANON SUPPORTS START OF NATIONAL DIALOGUE

Terje Roed-Larsen, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for the Implementation of

Resolution 1559, spoke by phone yesterday with Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, and expressed support for the start of a national dialogue in Lebanon.

Roed-Larsen recalled that it is the Secretary-Generals view that the issue of Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias, as expressed in resolution 1559, should be resolved through a national dialogue, and he said the United Nations encourages this initiative.

Asked whether Roed-Larsen had any specific ideas about how a dialogue would be conducted, the Spokeswoman said that he at this stage was simply trying to encourage the process.

U.N. REPORTS DAMAGE TO SCHOOLS IN NABLUS

The

UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (or UNRWA) informs us that Israeli forces caused a significant amount of damage after occupying two schools run by the Agency at the Balata refugee camp in Nablus earlier this week.

The Agency has compiled a list of damages, including broken doors and windows as well as waste materials left behind in the schools, and it says it will approach the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the matter further.

U.N. AID IS GETTING THROUGH TO DISPLACED PERSONS IN KATANGA

The

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today reports that UN agencies and NGOs have begun feeding some 60,000 persons in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who have fled the fighting between government troops and the Mayi-Mayi. Trucks from the

World Food Programme,

UNICEF and private NGOs have been able to negotiate insecure roads in the Katanga area to feed displaced persons, some of whom have been without homes since November, according to OCHA.

OCHA has called upon the local authorities to help arrange security for the displaced persons, and to put an end to impunity in Katanga.

U.N. FOOD PROGRAMME APPROVES PLAN FOR DR KOREA

The

World Food Programmes Executive Board yesterday approved a two-year plan to continue tackling nutritional deficiencies and chronic hunger in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

Costing $100 million and covering nearly 2 million North Koreans, the plan aims to provide vitamin-and-mineral enriched foods to young children and women of child-bearing age, as well as cereal rations to underemployed communities.

U.N. MISSION IN COTE DIVOIRE REPORTS RELEASE OF DETAINEES

The

UN mission in Côte dIvoire today reports that following discussions between the missions Human Rights Officers and the larders of the Forces Nouvelles in the north, the Forces Nouvelles have released 20 people who had been arrested on suspicion of spying or for alleged disloyalty to their movement.

Seven of the detainees had been in jails near the northern border with Burkina Faso since last November. The others were arrested more recently.

U.N. ASSISTING VICTIMS OF LANDSLIDES

The UN Country Team in the Philippines is helping the Government deal with the aftermath of recent landslides there. The Team is working in the areas of response, contingency planning, recovery and long-term preparedness and disaster risk reduction.

The Team is especially concerned by health conditions at the evacuation centers, where cases of mumps, conjunctivitis and respiratory problems have been reported. A multi-agency assessment team assessed two of the eight centers yesterday and will continue the assessments today.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the United Nations is deploying an assessment mission to the island of Sulawesi, in the aftermath of this weeks flash flooding and landslides, which displaced more than 1,000 people.

MOUNTAIN GUIDE TEAM TO HELP QUAKE VICTIMS IN PAKISTAN

The

World Food Programme (WFP) today announced the formation of a team of international and Pakistani mountain guides to assess damage and destruction in mountainous areas of Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir hit by last Octobers earthquake.

Attached to the

UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the guides will help WFP prepare for the recovery phase of its operation to help hundreds of thousands of quake survivors.

Meanwhile, regarding the recent earthquake in Mozambique, the authorities in that country have organized assessment missions to hard-hit areas, and have asked the United Nations to provide two helicopters to reach the more remote areas.

U.N. DRUG REPORT DUE OUT NEXT WEEK

The International Narcotics Control Board -- which is the independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the UN's international drug control conventions -- is releasing its Annual Report next week.

Among other things, the new report reviews global trends in illicit drug production and abuse, and examines the rapid increase in the trafficking of illicit drugs via the postal system.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

STATUS OF WOMEN GROUP TO MEET NEXT WEEK: The

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is holding its

50th session next week, starting Monday, 27 February, and running until the 10th of March. The CSW will consider two main themes: equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels; and enhanced participation of women in development. In line with the broader UN reform agenda, the CSW will also review their new multi-year programme of work (starting 2007) and the working methods of the Commission.

UNITED NATIONS HOPES ITALY WILL NOT CUT CONTRIBUTIONS: Asked whether Italy is cutting its voluntary contributions to UN agencies, the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations has seen reports that it intends to do so, but hopes that it will not happen.

RAPPORTEUR REPORT ON MYANMAR TO GO TO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION: Asked about a harsh assessment on Myanmar by human rights rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Spokeswoman said that the rapporteurs report to the Commission on Human Rights, which decide on how to follow up on those reports. She characterized his work as that of an independent expert who reports to the Commission.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Saturday, February 25

The Secretary-General will be in Doha, Qatar, where he will convene a meeting to discuss the current crisis related to the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

The heads of the World Food Programme, the UN Childrens Fund and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees will today start their first joint mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

Sunday, February 26

The Secretary-General will attend a meeting of the High-Level Panel of the Alliance of Civilizations in Doha.

Monday, February 27

The Secretary-General will be in Geneva, hosting a mini-summit between President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. The meeting will focus on the two countries ongoing territorial dispute.

The tenth session of the General Assemblys Ad Hoc Committee on measures to eliminate international terrorism will meet from 27 February to 3 March.

The Security Council will hold its daily briefing by the UN Secretariat this morning.

At 11:15, the Inter-Parliamentary Union will hold a press conference to release the latest statistics on women politicians around the world.

Today and tomorrow, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari will be in Washington, DC, on his first official trip there since taking up his post. He will meet with US officials and speak at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) starts its 50th session today, and the session ends on 10 March. The CSW will consider two main themes: equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels; and enhanced participation of women in development.

Tuesday, February 28

In Paris, the Secretary-General will address a Ministerial Conference, hosted by French President Jacques Chirac, on Innovative Sources of Financing for Development. He will also meet with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos.

The Security Council will hold its daily briefing by the UN Secretariat this morning. It will then hold an open briefing, followed by consultations, on the Middle East. Alvaro de Soto, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, will be briefing. Today is the last day of the United States Presidency.

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Sudan, Jan Pronk, will brief the press at 1:15 p.m. on the latest developments in Sudan.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is launching its annual report today in Vienna. In New York, INCB member Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky will brief the press at 11:15 a.m.

Wednesday, March 1

Today is the first day of Argentinas Presidency of the Security Council

The guest at the noon briefing will be Matthew Kahane, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nepal.

Thursday, March 2

The Secretary-General is expected to return to Headquarters today and will present his report on management reform to Member States.

Friday, March 3

The Secretary-General will be holding a meeting on Darfur this morning with a group of non-governmental organizations.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 100178

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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