United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-10-06

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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

U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, October 6, 2006

SUDANESE PRESIDENT RESPONDS POSITIVELY TO U.N. SUPPORT

FOR AFRICAN UNION IN SUDAN

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has received a letter from President Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir of Sudan, giving a positive response to the initiative of the United Nations and the African Union regarding United Nations support to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).

This assistance package is detailed in a joint letter addressed to President Bashir by the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on 22 September 2006, and is aimed at enhancing AMISs capacity to carry out its mandated tasks under the Darfur Peace Agreement.

The Secretary-General welcomes President Bashirs acceptance of this initiative. He very much hopes that the proposed support package can be implemented expeditiously, in consultation with the African Union and with the full cooperation of the Government of Sudan.

The Secretary-General also welcomes the expressed readiness of the Government of Sudan to pursue its dialogue with the United Nations in the interest of an early and lasting resolution of the

Darfur crisis.

Asked to explain the meaning of the letter from the President of Sudan to the Secretary-General, Dujarric said that the letter was a positive nod by the Sudanese leader to the support package, which the United Nations recently adopted to assist the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

The package, the Spokesman added, totaled $22 million and involved some 100 UN personnel as well as equipment to support the AU force in Darfur. "It is a key development in our work to support the African Union mission," Dujarric noted.

CONVOY CARRYING U.N. RELIEF ITEMS IS ATTACKED IN DARFUR

The UN Mission in Sudan says it has received reports that a convoy of eight commercial trucks carrying UN relief items was attacked two days ago by four armed men on two camels near Abu Humeira, in

North Darfur. One truck driver was killed.

The Mission has also received reports of a total of 41 cases of gender-based violence in five camps in West Darfur. Meanwhile, in South Darfurs Seisabane camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), the number of IDPs has risen from 1,840 to 3,400 people and when interviewed, the IDPs expressed no desire to go back to their area of origins.

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON GEORGIA,

EXTENDS MANDATE OF U.N. MISSION IN SUDAN

The Security Council began the day with a meeting for troop contributing countries to the UN Observer Mission in Georgia, which was followed by consultations on the same subject. The Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Georgia Jean Arnault introduced the latest report.

Also on the consultations agenda today was the letter from Japan to the Security Council regarding the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and a draft statement which the Council later adopted as well as other matters.

A meeting was scheduled following consultations on Sudan in which Council members adopted a resolution on the extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Sudan which expires Sunday.

CAMPAIGN FOR PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS LAUNCHED IN D.R. CONGO

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) reports that the official launching of the campaign for the provincial elections took place this morning in Kinshasa in the presence of William Lacy Swing, the UN Special Representative in that country, and other members of the international community.

At that event, the President of the Congolese High Authority on Media paid tribute to the international community for its continued support of the democratic transition in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). And Special Representative Swing, for his part, thanked the High Authority on Media AM for its efforts to keep hate messages out of the media.

Swing appealed to all Congolese parties to respect the Acte dengagement they freely signed a month earlier, and by which the parties agreed to refrain from resorting to insults, violence or hate messages in the electoral campaign.

Asked if the Secretary-General had any comments on the crash of a European Union unmanned drone in the DRC, which caused the death of one person, the Spokesman said that he extends its deepest condolences to the family bereaved by this tragic accident.

Asked if the use of unmanned drones meant that security in the DRC was less stable than reported by the United Nations, Dujarric said that the drones were normal surveillance tools in a very effective campaign by both European Union troops and MONUC to keep the calm in Kinshasa.

He noted that other efforts in this regard include the ongoing campaign for a weapon-free Kinshasa initiated by MONUC. "The EU presence has been key in supporting the work of MONUC," Dujarric added, especially during the violence that occurred between the security forces of President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba.

PROGRESS AND CALM REPORTED ALONG CAMEROON-NIGERIA BORDER

Available today is a letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council on progress in the work of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission on the implementation of the agreement on transfer of authority in the Bakassi Peninsula.

In his letter, the Secretary-General says that the UN observer team, which is tasked with oversight of the demarcation exercise, has reported that the situation remains calm along the border between the two countries, and that some 462 kilometers have been demarcated so far.

The Secretary-General also notes that the Commission will not be able to fully complete its mandate by the end of 2007, and he appeals for voluntary financial contributions to its work.

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL DEFERS CONSIDERATION OF DRAFT RESOLUTIONS

The Human Rights Council is adjourning its second session in Geneva today.

Earlier today the Council decided to defer consideration of its draft resolutions until a resumed session, which will take place on 27 November, right before the opening of the Councils third session.

That decision was taken to allow enough time for due and balanced consideration of the high number of proposals that were tabled nearly 50 resolutions in all.

U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT DRAMATIC RISE IN

SOMALI REFUGEES IN KENYA

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is concerned that the number of Somali refugees fleeing to Kenya has risen dramatically in the last two days, pushing to more than 30,000 the total number of new arrivals this year. If the arrival rate of more than 1,000 people a day continues, it will severely strain UNHCRs limited capacity in northern Kenya.

On eastern Chad, where UNHCR is assisting refugees from Sudan, the agency says the security situation there remains extremely volatile as unidentified armed groups continue to operate in the region and frequently target humanitarian workers.

Regarding the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNHCR reports that, over the last 10 days, it has been handing out aid packages to more than 6,300 internally displaced people who have returned to their homes in a remote area in Katanga province. Those packages contain kitchen sets, mosquito nets, blankets, plastic sheets, jerry cans, cloth for clothing, and tools to help the returnees build basic shelters.

ANNAN TO LAUNCH PEACE-BUILDING FUND NEXT WEEK

The Secretary-General is scheduled to launch the newly created Peacebuilding Fund next week. The Fund is designed to support critical peace-building challenges in countries emerging from conflict. Donors have already pledged some $122 million but the target is $250 million.

Carolyn McAskie, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, will be the guest at the noon briefing on Wednesday to speak about this event.

She will also brief the press at UN Headquarters on the first country-specific meetings of the Peacebuilding Commission on Sierra Leone and Burundi which will take place on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

TRANSITION ISSUES TO BE DEALT WITH NEW SECRETARY-GENERAL

Asked if, as part of the transition process at the United Nations, all Under-Secretaries-General will resign from their current positions, the Spokesman said that the transition would be dealt with by the new Secretary-General upon taking office on 1 January.

He said that the contracts some Under-Secretaries-General would normally expire in February 2007 and that it is standard UN procedure that the Secretary-General appoint senior officials based on merit. Such appointments, Dujarric added, should also take into consideration proper geographic distribution so as to properly reflect the nature of the United Nations.

U.N. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORMS ARE AN INTERNAL CONTROL MECHANISM

Asked why financial disclosure forms submitted to the UN Ethics Office by senior UN officials are not made public, as is customary in the United States, the Spokesman said that the United Nations is an intergovernmental institution, and not a national government.

He said that the forms are an internal control mechanism filled by some 1,000 senior officials under the understanding that the forms would kept confidential by the Ethics Office in accordance with privacy requirement for international civil servants.

He recalled that senior UN officials, including the Special Advisor for the Ethics Office Tunku Aziz and the Under Secretary-General for Management Christopher Burnham have addressed this issue extensively over time. Dujarric added that the

Secretary-General has duly filled and submitted the form to the Ethic Office and has gone above and beyond what has been required of him by the General Assembly.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Monday, October 9

In the Security Council, there will be a private meeting concerning the recommendation for the appointment of the new Secretary-General. Following that, a private debate on Afghanistan is scheduled.

The guests at the noon briefing will be Jose Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. They will brief on the Secretary-Generals report on violence against women.

There will be a panel discussion held in Conference Room 2 from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. on The role of specific sectors in addressing, preventing and eliminating violence against women.

The World Health Organization will today begin a two-day meeting in Geneva on drug-resistant tuberculosis.

A five-day meeting of the 110 Parties to the UN Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure on Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (known as the Rotterdam Convention) will start today in Geneva.

Tuesday, October 10

The guest at the noon briefing will be Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. He will brief on disaster reduction.

The World Health Organization will be observing World Mental Health Day today.

Wednesday, October 11

Today is the International Day for Disaster Reduction.

The Secretary-General will launch the Peacebuilding Fund in the ECOSOC Chamber from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Carolyn McAskie, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, will come to noon briefing to brief on the event.

The next lecture in the Secretary-Generals Lecture Series will be held from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium. Stephen Schlesinger, Director of the New School Universitys World Policy Institute, will speak on the topic: Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations.

At 11:00 the Permanent Mission of Hungary will hold a press conference to announce the commemorative events in New York marking the 50th anniversary of the freedom fight and revolution in Hungary.

At 4:30 p.m., New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof will deliver the 10th Rafael Salas Lecture on "The Greatest Challenge in the 21st Century: Gender Equality in Development," in the ECOSOC Chamber.

Thursday, October 12.

At 9:30, Ann Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF, will hold a press conference to launch the Secretary-Generals study on violence against children. She will be joined by Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the Independent Expert who led the study, and others.

In connection with the violence against children study, a roundtable discussion will be held between youth participants from around the world and senior representatives of governments, UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector. That event will take place at Labouisse Hall in the UNICEF House, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Then at 1:00 p.m., there will be a launch of child-friendly materials on violence against children, at the Danny Kaye Centre in the UNICEF House.

At 11:00, the UN University (UNU) will hold a press conference on the two-day UNU roundtable starting today at Headquarters, entitled, Re-Imagining Womens Security: A Comparative Study of South Africa, Northern Ireland and Lebanon.

The guest at the noon briefing will be Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, Special Adviser on Africa, who will brief on recent progress in implementing the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) and in reducing conflict on the continent.

At 2:00, the Permanent Mission of Slovenia will sponsor a press conference to launch Human Rights Learning A Peoples Report, with, among others, Justice Richard Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutor for both the UN War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The Peace-building Commission will hold a country-specific meeting on Sierra Leone today.

Friday, October 13

The Peace-building Commission will hold a country-specific meeting on Burundi 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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