United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-04-07

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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

Friday, April 7, 2006

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS BOMBING OF IRAQI MOSQUE

Secretary-General Kofi Annan

condemns in the strongest possible terms the bombing of the Buratha mosque in the Al Adhamiya area of Baghdad today. This attack and yesterday's bombing near the holy Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf clearly demonstrate that there are forces in Iraq determined to inflame sectarian violence and to exploit the current difficulties in forming the new government.

This underscores the urgent need for political leaders to resolve their differences in the best interests of the nation.

Asked if the Secretary-General would exercise his good offices in Iraq, to personally try to bridge sectarian divisions there, the Spokesman said that that was at the forefront of efforts on the ground by the Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Iraq,

Ashraf Qazi, who was talking to the various parties, although he was not directly involved in the negotiations on the Prime Minister selection or the composition of the government.

Asked for information about an investigation into the Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General has complete confidence in the work that Qazi was doing in Iraq, under very difficult circumstances. As a matter of course, whenever allegations of wrongdoing were raised, they are looked into, he added. Pressed for biographical information about Qazi, the Spokesman reminded the journalists that such information was posted on the UNs web site.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CHAIRS U.N. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

Secretary-General

Kofi Annan this morning chaired a session of his

Chief Executives Board, which brings together the heads of all the UN agencies, funds and . That meeting took place in Madrid at the headquarters of the UNs

World Tourism Organization.

The Chief Executives Board meeting, which includes a retreat to Segovia this afternoon and tomorrow, will include discussions on the reform of the UN system, notably on follow-up to last year's World Summit.

At the retreat, the gathered senior officials will meet with some of the members of the High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence that held its first meeting in New York this week.

Earlier today, the Secretary-General met with the staff of the World Tourism Organization, telling them that, although they are a small agency, they accomplish such important tasks as bringing people together and fostering development.

In a separate programme, Nane Annan today met with the Spanish Committee for UNICEF, whose patroness is Queen Sofia.

EIGHT MILLION PEOPLE NEED AID IN HORN OF AFRICA

The United Nations today

launched a worldwide appeal to help more than eight million drought stricken people in the Horn of Africa.

The appeal seeks almost a half billon dollars for areas of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia where rains have repeatedly failed, and where rainfall is expected to be below average again this year.

The UN

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says children in the area are already suffering from malnutrition and cattle have been dying.

The appeal was launched in Nairobi by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, and in Geneva by Kjell Magne Bondevik, Special Humanitarian Envoy for the Horn of Africa.

SECURITY COUNCIL FOCUSES ON ICTY, DR CONGO

The

Security Council met in closed consultations this morning.

The first item on the agenda was the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. A draft resolution on the extension of a judge was circulated.

Under the second item, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, a draft resolution was introduced on the temporary redeployment of peacekeepers from

Burundi to the DRC in response to a request from the Secretary-General.

Then under other matters, a draft resolution was circulated on the extension of the mandate of the

UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, which expires on April 15.

A revised program for April was circulated. The Sierra Leone item involving Charles Taylor was postponed until Monday, the 10th. Consultations on Cote dIvoire are now scheduled for the 17th.

SIERRA LEONE COURT NEEDS $14.4 MILLION URGENTLY

In response to a question about the funding of the Special Court of Sierra Leone, the Spokesman said Secretary-General had written to member states renewing an urgent appeal to make voluntary contributions to the court in order to secure the $14.4 million needed for this year.

The appeal does not include the cost of the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, as it was written prior to his capture.

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME AIRDROPS FOOD INTO DR CONGO

The

World Food Programme today reports that it has begun an airdrop of aid to violence-wracked areas of Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The WFP resorted to the parachute drops -- the first ever into the DRC because heavy rains have closed roads to the area where it says malnutrition rates are rising.

In a previous re-supply run for internally displaced persons in Katanga, WFP trucks took more than a month to arrive, the agency said.

WORLD FACES CRITICAL SHORTAGE OF HEALTH WORKERS

Today is World Health Day, and the head of the World Health Organization (WHO),

Lee Jong-wook, is in Lusaka, Zambia, to

launch the World Health Report 2006. This year the theme is human resources for health.

According to the report, 57 countries, most of them in Africa and Asia, face critical shortages of health workers. At least 4 million more health workers are needed to fill the gap.

In his message to mark the day, the Secretary-General says that health workers are essential to their countries security, by being the first to identify new diseases or new threats to public health. He says it is clear that to protect and improve the health of people worldwide, and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, we need to rapidly bolster the global health workforce.

Asked if World Health Day was merely another observance that diluted the strength of the message, the Spokesman disagreed with that characterization, saying that the establishment of the Day, as well as the release of the World Health Report, served to focus attention on the situation worldwide.

U.N. ASKS MEMBER STATES TO HELP DELIVER SUSPECTS TO COURT

Asked if the Secretary-General was satisfied with the work of the Chief Prosecutor for the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had full confidence in the work of the Chief Prosecutor. He added that, when discussing the Court, it was important to remember that there was still a number of suspects at large, who belonged in The Hague to answer to crimes that they were accused of. Those individuals included Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. The Spokesman hoped that any Member States that had influence would help deliver those suspects to the Court.

Asked if the money given to ICTY was justified, the Spokesman said that one would need to let the Court finish its work before making that judgment.

Asked about reports that the Secretary-General had been forced to extend the mandate of an ad litem judge, the Spokesman said that ICTY operated under the authority of the Security Council.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNITED NATIONS TO BE PRESENT AT WEEKEND PEACE TALKS ON DARFUR: Asked about upcoming peace talks in Nigeria on Darfur, the Spokesman said Taye Zerihoun, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, would attend. The Spokesman later added that the African Unions chief mediator for the Darfur peace talks, Salim Ahmed Salim, was scheduled to brief the Security Council next Thursday.

HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS REPORT ON NEPAL DEMONSTRATIONS: The Spokesman for the Office of the

High Commissioner for Human Rights said its office in Kathmandu, Nepal was reporting that the demonstrations were in relatively small numbers and arrests usually occurred as soon as demonstrations began. Most demonstrations had been peaceful. He said the offices teams would continue to monitor the demonstrations and the response of the police and security forces to those demonstrations.

UNITED NATIONS SHIFTS FROM RELIEF TO RECONSTRUCTION FOR QUAKE VICTIMS: Tomorrow marks the six-month anniversary of the South Asia earthquake. The

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports on the shift from the relief phase to the reconstruction phase.

VIOLENCE FORCES INDIGENOUS COLOMBIANS TO FLEE ANCESTRAL HOMES: The

UN Refugee Agency today reports that hundreds of Wounaan indigenous people have had to flee their ancestral homes along Colombias pacific coast after two of their leaders were killed week by members of an irregular armed group. The agency said at least 1,700 persons have been displaced, with many turning up at the small city of Istmina, where UNHCR is helping to organize humanitarian assistance.

U.N. SAYS RICE PRODUCTION UP LAST YEAR: The UN

Food and Agriculture Organization today reported 2005 was a record breaking year for the world rice economy. For the third consecutive season, global paddy production experienced a brisk expansion, which lifted it to an all time high of 628 million metric tons. Growth reflected relatively favourable weather conditions in Asia, western Africa and South America and the positive effects of high prices in 2004, which had fostered a general increase in plantings, the agency said.