United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-06-02

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, June 2, 2006

ANNAN: A.I.D.S. IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE OF OUR GENERATION

This morning Secretary-General Kofi Annan addressed the High-Level Segment of the General Assembly Meeting on AIDS.

Calling AIDS the greatest challenge of our generation, he said, We know what it takes to turn the tide against this epidemic. It requires every President and Prime Minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to decide and declare that AIDS stops with me. AIDS stops with me.

The Secretary-General added that turning the tide against AIDS required everyone to make the fight their personal priorities -- not only this session, this year, or next year -- but every year until the epidemic was reversed.

The Secretary-General also attended a concert to commemorate the fight against AIDS in the General Assembly Hall last night. There, he said that leadership means finding ways to reach out to all groups, a well as daring to do things differently, since AIDS is a different kind of disease.

SECURITY COUNCIL HEARS BRIEFINGS ON CYPRUS, SUDAN, DR CONGO;

STRENGTHENS MISSION IN COTE D'IVOIRE

The Security Council is holding its first consultations under the Danish Presidency.

Six items were on the agenda the months programme of work, Cyprus,

Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cote dIvoire and other matters.

Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi briefed on the Secretary-Generals latest report on the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, the recent mission to Sudan he undertook with Lakhdar Brahimi, and developments in the DRC.

On Cote d'Ivoire, Council members unanimously adopted a resolution that authorized an increase in the strength of the UN peacekeeping mission there of up to 1,500 additional personnel, including a maximum of 1,025 military personnel and 475 civilian police personnel.

HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS CONTINUE IN TIMOR-LESTE

The UN Office in Timor-Leste reports that there has been some looting and burning in scattered areas in the suburb of Becora in Dili but despite this, more people have been out on the streets trying to get back to their daily routines such as selling their produce.

The Secretary-Generals video-taped message to the people of Timor-Leste was aired on national television there last night and was due to be broadcast again.

Meanwhile, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) emergency response to the thousands of people displaced by the recent violence is

moving ahead with the departure this weekend of an emergency team thatll reinforce staff already on the ground. UNHCR is also planning an airlift of aid supplies from stockpiles in Jordan where it has light-weight family tents, plastic sheeting, jerry cans and other basic.

UNHCR says an estimated 100,000 people are displaced in Timor-Leste. About 65,000 are living in some 30 squalid encampments in Dili itself, while a further 35,000 have fled to the countryside.

The World Food Programme says that a warehouse containing food is secure despite an attempt to enter yesterday by a group of youths. Security at the warehouse - particularly during loading - is being reinforced and Australian troops have included the warehouse into their patrol route.

Asked for an update on the work of the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy to Timor-Leste, Ian Martin, the Spokesman said Martin was still in Timor-Leste pursuing his political contacts. He would likely return to New York to brief the Secretary-General, the Security Council and the press.

Regarding the situation in Timor-Leste, the Spokesman said it was too early to do a post-game analysis. Nevertheless, things were still tense, and Martin was still working hard, through his political contacts, to calm the situation.

ANNAN ASKS SECURITY COUNCIL TO EXTEND U.N. MISSION IN GOLAN HEIGHTS

The Secretary-Generals latest report on the UN Observer Mission on the Golan Heights.

While the situation in the missions area of responsibility has remained calm, the Secretary-General notes that the overall situation in the Middle East is very tense and is likely to remain so until a comprehensive peace can be achieved.

In that light, he asks the Security Council to extend the missions mandate by another six months, until 31 December 2006.

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME CHIEF VISITS SUDAN

The World Food Programmes (WFP) Executive Director, James Morris, arrives in Sudan today to visit the agencys largest emergency operation, which was hit recently by a severe shortage of funds and which aims to feed more than six million people across Sudan.

After meetings with government ministers in Khartoum on Saturday, Morris will fly to South Sudan, where WFP feeds hundreds of thousands of southern Sudanese returning home after 21 years of war. He is also scheduled to visit Darfur.

Meanwhile, WFP also reports that, starting next month, WFP will increase the number of people it feeds in the occupied Palestinian territory by 25 percent -- from 480,000 to 600,000 -- in response to the escalating humanitarian crisis.

COHERENCE PANEL CONSIDERED STRUCTURAL REFORM PROPOSALS

Earlier today in Geneva, Norwegian Prime Minister Jan Stoltenberg, updated journalists on the work of the High Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence, which he co-chairs.

Stoltenberg said that the panel had considered proposals for structural reform intended to improve the coherence and governance of the United Nations system, as well as coordination between its funds, programmes and specialized agencies, both at the headquarters and country levels.

As an example, he mentioned that it was not obviously the right approach to have 20 different UN bodies dealing with the issue of clean water, as was currently the case. The panels report is due in September of this year.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SPECIAL ADVISER ON DISPLACEMENT COMPLETES SOMALIA VISIT: Dennis McNamara, the Special Advisor on displacement to Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland, just concluded a 10-day visit to Somalia. Speaking to reporters in Geneva today, he said that the 400,000 displaced persons throughout Somalia were living in appalling, sub-standard slums and were relatively unprotected, with women and children particularly vulnerable.

SECRETARIAT URGES CONSENSUS ON BUDGET: Asked about the UNs recent budget crisis and whether or not the Deputy Secretary-General had done anything to bring the opposing sides together, the Spokesman said the process was a continuing one. Efforts were still underway to work with key Member States, to get them to rebuild a consensus on the budget, so that the UN could continue its work. Asked about contingency plans for a possible shutdown in funding, the Spokesman said the UN was closely watching developments and would make contingency plans as needed. However, the UNs focus right now was on getting the Member States to come back to the table and reach consensus.

EFFORTS TO RELEASE PEACEKEEPERS CONTINUES: Asked for an update on the seven captured UN peacekeepers in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Spokesman said that contacts through intermediaries were continuing with those who were holding the peacekeepers.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION EXPOSES WOMEN TO CHILDBIRTH RISKS: A new

study by the World Health Organization shows that female genital mutilation exposes women and babies to significant risk at childbirth. Serious complications during childbirth include the need to have a caesarean section, dangerously heavy bleeding after the birth of the baby and prolonged hospitalization following the birth. The study showed that the degree of complications increased according to the extent and severity of the mutilation.

SECRETARY-GENERAL'S LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES: The next lecture in the Secretary-Generals Lecture Series is on Monday. It will be on the topic of Identity in the 21st Century. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah will speak on the topic, and the lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer session. The media, as well as members of permanent missions, The event runs from 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Sunday, June 4

The Security Council Mission to Sudan departs.

Monday, June 5

The next lecture in the Secretary-Generals Lecture Series takes place today. The topic is: Identity in the 21st Century. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah will speak. The event runs from 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.

Tuesday, June 6

At 11:00, senior UN officials will hold a background briefing on the Secretary-Generals report on migration.

At 4:00 p.m., the Secretary-General will launch his report on migration in the General Assembly.

In the Security Council this morning, there will be consultations on the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

Wednesday, June 7

In the Security Council this morning, there will be a public meeting on the International Criminal Tribunals in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Thursday, June 8

Peter Sutherland, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Migration, will be the guest at the noon briefing.

In the Security Council this morning, there will be consultations on the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).

Today the General Assembly will elect the President of its 61st Session.

The General Assembly will hold a panel discussion on International Migration and Development.

Friday, June 9

The Security Council Mission to Sudan ends today.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

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