United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-04-04

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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

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

SECRETARY-GENERAL REGRETS ENVOY NOT PERMITTED TO VISIT DARFUR

Secretary-General Kofi Annan

regrets that the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Jan Egeland, was not permitted by the Government of Sudan to visit Darfur.

The pressing and urgent humanitarian requirements of Darfur are a priority for the United Nations and coordination efforts to sustain this large programme were at the centre of Mr. Egelands visit.

The Secretary-General will be seeking to speak to President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir on this matter.

Asked where Jan Egeland was at the moment, the Spokesman said that Egeland was in Nairobi, and would be heading to Paris later today. His trip to Chad had been aborted, the Spokesman added.

Asked if what happened in Sudan with Egeland reflected a trend by the Sudanese authorities, given recent developments with problems regarding the transition from an African Union (AU) force to a UN force, the Spokesman declined to speculate on any trend and said some UN officials had access problems.

The Spokesman also pointed out, in response to a further question, that Egelands trip had been planned well in advance with all the necessary green lights given by the Sudanese authorities.

As for the planning for a transformation of the African Union force in Darfur to a UN-led operation, however, the Dujarric said that planning was continuing. The next step would be for the United Nations to send a team to Addis Ababa to work closely with the AU and determine when it could send an assessment team to Darfur.

Asked if there was any punitive action the Secretary-General could do in response to a situation like the one in Sudan with Jan Egeland, the Spokesman said that there was no punitive action that the Secretary-General could take. Dujarric noted that the Secretary-General would be talking to the Sudanese President today on that matter. He added Member States, especially Security Council members, also had a role to play to ease the situation and ensure that humanitarian situation needs to improve. Humanitarian access was precisely the sort of issue that Egeland had been meaning to address in Sudan, the Spokesman added.

SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS UNDER CHINESE PRESIDENCY

The

Security Council is holding its first consultations this month under the Chinese Presidency, and it adopted a program of work for April.

Under other matters, Council members heard from Hédi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, on the most recent developments in Sudan.

Following todays noon briefing, the new Council President, Ambassador Wang Guangya will come to this room to talk to you about the program of work for the coming month.

ANNAN SAYS LANDMINES HAVE NO PLACE IN CIVILIZED SOCIETY

The Secretary-General today marks the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action with a

message saying landmines have no place in any civilized society. He says mines are one of the greatest impediments to rebuilding and renewal, but their elimination has the potential to become an early success story of the new century. He calls on governments that have not done so, to ratify existing anti mine agreements.

UNICEF, meanwhile, said ridding the world of landmines and other explosive remnants of war could be accomplished in years instead of decades, saving thousands of children from devastating injuries and death. The agency said at least 20 percent of the estimated 15,000-20,000 people who are killed or disabled each year by these deadly weapons of war are children.

Tonight, the Secretary-General will address a dinner in the Delegates Dining Room to raise money for landmine removal in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia and Mozambique. He is expected to say that after having seen first-hand the terrible toll inflicted by landmines on these societies, he is certain that there could be no better use of resources than for demining and survivor assistance in these countries.

Earlier today Nane Annan, assisted by landmine survivors, planted ceremonial roses across the street at the Isaiah wall.

PANEL ON IMPROVING U.N. EFFECTIVENESS TO MEET THIS WEEK

The co-chairs of the Secretary-Generals High-level

Panel on UN System-wide Coherence in the Areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and the Environment, will be gathering tonight in New York with the Deputy Secretary-General,

Mark Malloch Brown, and the High-level Panels Executive Director, Adnan Amin.

The Secretary-General is expected to address the Panel tomorrow morning, as it officially opens, and the three co-chairs and the Deputy Secretary-General will speak to you in this room on Thursday, the last day of the meeting.

Those co-chairs are the Prime Ministers of Mozambique, Norway and Pakistan. The Panel was formed last February to explore how the UN system could work more coherently and effectively across the world in development, humanitarian assistance and the environment.

U.N. TROOPS IN BURUNDI TO HELP IN DR CONGO ELECTIONS

Available today is a

letter from the Secretary-General to the Security Council outlining his intention to temporarily transfer an infantry battalion, a military hospital, and up to 50 military observers from the

UN Operation in Burundi to the

UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The military units would operate in the central area of Katanga province, and the observers would be deployed throughout the country to increase observer capacity during the elections.

The troop contributing countries, Pakistan and Jordan, have indicated their agreement in principle. The initial period of the transfer would be until the end of the year.

MORE PALESTINIANS SEEK TO FLEE IRAQ

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

reports that, over the weekend, another 35 Palestinians decided to flee insecurity in Baghdad and traveled to the Iraq-Jordan border, to join a group of 94 others who arrived there 10 days ago.

None of the 35 was allowed access into Jordan. UNHCR staff in Baghdad spent several hours on the phone convincing Iraqi officials to allow the 35 to join the other 94 Palestinians near the Trebil border point, just inside Iraq, and that request was allowed.

UNHCR has not yet received a reply to a letter that High Commissioner

António Guterres sent in mid-March to President Jalal Talabani, asking for increased security and legal protection for refugees in Iraq. The Agency also still wants to arrange a meeting with Iraqi officials to discuss the plight of the Palestinians in Iraq.

HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY LOOMS IN COLOMBIA

The UN refugee agency today

warned of a looming humanitarian emergency among Colombias indigenous communities, because of the ongoing conflict in that country.

It is especially highlighting the plight of the Wounaan people who have been fleeing their traditional territories in northwestern Colombia following the murder last week of two of their leaders and the Nukak people in the southeast, who have become the targets of irregular armed groups wishing to control their lands.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS IMPUNITY: In light of the fact that charges of genocide had been brought by an Iraqi court against Saddam Hussein, a journalist asked if the Secretary-General thought Hussein should face charges of genocide. The Spokesman said it would be to the Iraqis to make that determination as the United Nations was not involved in this particular court. However, Dujarric added, the Secretary-General had repeatedly spoken out against impunity and the needs for leaders to face justice.

UNITED NATIONS ENCOURAGES REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN IRAQ: Asked if Ibrahim Jaafari was qualified to be the Iraqi Prime Minister or not, the Spokesman said it was definitely not up to the UN to make that judgment. The Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, had encouraged Iraq to have a government as representational of the Iraqi people as possible.

PANEL FORMED TO INVESTIGATE BIAS ISSUES: Asked about the UNs investigation into anti-Semitic incidents at UN Headquarters, the Spokesman said the Office of Human Resources Management and Security Services had formed an investigative panel to look into those issues.

PRESS PLAYS KEY ROLE IN DRAWING ATTENTION TO HUMANITARIAN CRISES: Asked about media reports that Niger was not allowing the press to report on food shortages, the Spokesman said that, in general terms, the press had played a key role in bringing a number of crises, notably the one in Niger last year, to the worlds attention.