United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-12-05

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: [email protected]

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

ANNAN CONDEMNS MILITARY COUP ON FIJI ISLANDS

Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly deplores the seizure of power in the Republic of Fiji by the military leadership. The Secretary-General calls for the immediate reinstatement of the legitimate authority in Fiji and its return to constitutional rule through peaceful means and inclusive dialogue.

The Secretary-General is fully supportive of the efforts by the Pacific Islands Forum and other regional and international actors towards that end and remains in close consultation with them to work together to resolve this crisis.

Asked whether the Secretary-General would follow up on what a reporter characterized as a threat about the use of Fijian peacekeepers in UN operations, the Spokesman said that statement should not be seen as a threat. He said it was clear that any coup damages the reputation of Fiji, a country which has made valued contributions to UN peacekeeping.

Depending on the course of events, he said, what has happened in Fiji could have a role with regard to future peacekeeping operations. But he underscored that any coup would have consequences for the country in which it takes place, and for that countrys standing in the international community.

He clarified that there has been no discussion on removing Fijian soldiers who serve with the United Nations and perform an admirable job in protecting the UN staff in Baghdad.

Asked about UN efforts in Fiji, Dujarric said that the lead is with the Pacific Island Forum and with Fijis neighbours, with the United Nations supporting the process.

Asked what role New Zealand can play, the Spokesman said that New Zealand is an important actor within the Pacific Island Forum, and the Secretary-General appreciates the role of that Forum and of neighbouring countries in resolving the crisis.

DARFUR SECURITY SITUATION DETERIORATING FURTHER

The UN Mission in Sudan is reporting heightened security concerns in Al Fasher, a town in North Darfur that has already been the scene of clashes in recent days, an increased Janjaweed presence and armed movements.

In addition to destabilizing the situation, these developments may force humanitarian organizations to seriously curtail their life-sustaining operations.

The humanitarian agencies, meanwhile, are reporting deteriorating security situations in the neighbouring countries of Sudan.

The UN refugee agency says that the fragile life-line to the refugees in eastern Chad is stretching even thinner. The deteriorating and volatile security situation in the east is forcing UNHCR to find alternative means to assist refugees.

And as violence continues to spread terror and displacement in the northwest of the Central African Republic, the World Food Programme today urged the international community to support its food operations in a region which is already volatile due to fighting in Chad and Sudan.

RIGHTS COUNCIL TO HOLD SPECIAL SESSION ON DARFUR

The Human Rights Council will hold a

special session on the situation of human rights in Darfur, next Tuesday, 12 December, in Geneva.

The special session, the fourth one to be held by the Human Rights Council, is being convened following a request by Finland. That request was signed by 33 Member States.

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON IRAQ INSPECTION COMMISSION, CHAD AND SUDAN

The Security Council began its consultations this morning with a briefing by Demetrius Perricos, the Acting Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq (UNMOVIC), on the work done by the Commission. Last week, in a report, the Secretary-General detailed UNMOVICs recent activities and state of preparation.

The Council then received a briefing by Dimitry Titov, Director of the Africa Division of the Department for Peacekeeping Operations, on the situation along the Sudan-Chad border.

Asked about the work of a UN team that has visited Chad, the Spokesman said the team would be back before long and would report to the Secretary-General.

Asked about the future of UNMOVIC, the Spokesman said that its mandate was approved by the Security Council, and it was up to the Council to decide on any change. The Council, he noted, receives periodic updates on UNMOVICs work.

CHIEF OF PEACEKEEPING TO ATTEND INAUGURATION IN DR CONGO

The UN Mission in the DRC says that Jean-Marie Guehenno, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, will be arriving in Kinshasa later today to represent the Secretary-General at the Wednesday inauguration of President-elect Joseph Kabila.

While in Kinshasa Guehenno will hold a series of meetings with Congolese and international interlocutors on the situation in the country and the UN Missions efforts to support the transition process there.

U.N. MEDIATION IN CYPRUS MAKING PROGRESS DESPITE HURDLES

Available today is the Secretary-Generals latest report on Cyprus. In it, the Secretary-General says that UN mediation efforts have led to the agreement and signing of a set of principles and decisions between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders with a view to a comprehensive settlement of the dispute between their two communities.

The Secretary-General says that the UN Mission in Cyprus is working to promote the confidence-building measures between them.

Meanwhile, a new member of the Committee on Missing Persons took up his duties on island in July, a move that is hoped would strengthen the communities commitment to a peaceful settlement of their differences.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION LAUNCHED IN LIBERIA

The UN Mission in Liberia reports that the Liberian Government, together with the United Nations and other international and national partners, on Monday launched a national campaign to combat sexual exploitation and abuse through greater awareness and sensitization.

Speaking at the launch ceremony at Monrovias City Hall, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Alan Doss, said that zero-tolerance is the norm. We have a duty of care as UN staff to help the people of Liberia and not contribute to the trauma they have suffered; this is why we must be part of the solution and not a cause of the problem.

FOOD AGENCY OPENS MAJOR LOGISTICS HUB IN GHANA

The World Food Programme today opened a major logistics hub for humanitarian operations in Accra, expanding its emergency response capacity in the West Africa region.

The UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Accra is one of a network of five planned hubs located around the world. Brindisi, Italy, and Dubai have already opened, and hubs in Panama and Malaysia are to be inaugurated next year.

HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES STEP UP ASSISTANCE IN PHILIPPINES

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is considering an application for funding from the

Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for the purchase of emergency supplies to deal with the destruction caused by Typhoon Durian in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, UNICEF has dispatched emergency supplies for 10,000 people for three months, and has provided 4,000 family packs consisting of rice, canned goods, mattresses and blankets. UNICEF also led a joint UN inter-agency assessment mission to the province of Albay today.

According to information received from the Philippines authorities, the typhoon has caused widespread destruction across 13 provinces, with 526 confirmed deaths, 740 people missing, and some 1,000 injured.

DONORS RESPOND GENEROUSLY TO PALESTINIAN REFUGEES

Twenty-three donors pledged nearly 100 million dollars to the 2007 budget of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), during a meeting Monday of the General Assemblys Ad Hoc Committee for Voluntary Contributions.

UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi spoke at that meeting and said that, in contrast with the cautious optimism of last year, international organizations were now warning about the dire situation facing the Palestinian populations of Gaza and the West Bank.

He said that the poverty rate in the Gaza Strip had reached a staggering 80 per cent, and the result was an economy on life support - kept barely alive by the drip feed of international assistance.

WORLD HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT CIVILIANS IN IRAQ

Asked whether nations have a responsibility to protect civilians in

Iraq, the Spokesman said that such a responsibility exists but it is up to Member States to follow up on it.

He said that the Secretary-General remains extremely concerned about the violence in Iraq and wants the parties in that country to meet to find ways to foster reconciliation.

Dujarric said that the United Nations has reported on the tragic wave of violence in Iraq, and it is no doubt that such violence is worse than in many places. The United Nations, he said, continues to work with Iraq and its neighbours to find a way out of the crisis.

At the same time, he said, it is the role of the Iraqi leadership to come together to save the country, with the assistance of the international community.

He noted that the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, was in New York and would speak to the press following a meeting with the Security Council next week.

ANNAN URGES STATES TO JOIN CHEMICAL WEAPONS TREATY

The 11th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention opened earlier today in The Hague.

In a message, the Secretary-General said that since its entry into force in 1997, the Convention has contributed to the steady destruction of declared chemical weapons stockpiles worldwide, with 180 countries home to 90 percent of the worlds population now party to the Convention. But several key actors remain outside its framework. He urged all states that have not yet done so to ratify or accede to the treaty without delay.

UNDP COMMISSIONS INDEPENDENT BOOK ON ITS PERFORMANCE

Asked whether it was appropriate for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to commission a book on its work, the Spokesman said he thought it was, noting that UNDP had said that it had given the books author full editorial freedom.

He said that UNDP had provided detailed answers to the more than fifty questions submitted by the reporter and had made efforts to answer all of those questions in a timely fashion. He noted that the reporter had sometimes detailed how many hours had elapsed before the answers were received, adding that such a practice was unfair.

Dujarric said that while the reporter was entitled to publish emails, which may or may not be from UNDP staff members, and which often contained allegations that were slanderous to other UNDP staff, he had a duty to extend the same courtesy by printing in full the responses he received from the UNDP press office.

Dujarric added that UNDP staff could obviously air their grievances through the media; he underscored that UNDP had a strong policy on whistle-blowing.

Asked when UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis would next brief the press, he said it would be 18 December.

ANNAN SPEAKS TO WOMENS INTERNATIONAL FORUM

The Secretary-General this morning addressed the Women's International Forum, which was established in 1975 to provide spouses and associates of the UN community with an issue-oriented forum for briefing and in-depth discussions mainly, but not exclusively, on problems concerning the UN in particular and the international community in general.

The Secretary-General spoke about a wide range of topics, including UN reform and his personal experiences as Secretary-General over the past ten years. He was introduced by his wife, Nane Annan.

ANNAN TO ATTEND DINNER AT WHITE HOUSE HONOURING HIS TENURE

Later this afternoon, the Secretary-General will be heading to Washington, DC, to attend a dinner in his honour hosted by US President Bush at the White House.

The Deputy Secretary-General, Mark Malloch Brown, will also be attending the dinner. The Secretary-General will back in the office on Wednesday.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

U.N. DEPARTMENT VIOLATED NO RULES IN HIRING OF CONSULTANT: Asked whether UN staffer Guido Bertucci has made improper payments to a consultant, the Spokesman said that, according to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Bertucci was neither the certifying officer nor the approving officer on the relevant contracts. That Department, he added, says that no rules were violated on those contracts.

OUTGOING AND INCOMING U.N. ADMINISTRATIONS WORKING ON TRANSITION: Asked about the transition to a new Secretary-General, the Spokesman said that the existing UN Secretariat was working with the incoming team on the transition. He noted that the Secretary-General-designate, Ban Ki-moon, would be sworn in on 14 December and would speak to the press afterward.

U.N. URGES SOMALI PARTIES TO RESUME DIALOGUE: Asked whether the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia should speak to the Union of Islamic Courts, the Spokesman said that the United Nations encouraged both sides to speak to each other.

PROGRESS EXPECTED ON ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL FROM LEBANON VILLAGE: Asked about an Israeli withdrawal from the northern part of the village of Ghajar, the Spokesman said that process is ongoing, and that the UN Interim Force in Lebanon hopes that there will be progress by early next week.

U.N. WORKS TO RESOLVE LEBANON CRISIS PEACEFULLY: Asked about the demonstrations in Beirut, and the death of one protestor there, the Spokesman called the death of the demonstrator a tragic event. He noted that Geir Pedersen, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Lebanon, was reaching out to the government and opposition to make sure that matters would be resolved peacefully.

U.N. HOSTED PRESS CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL WEALTH DISTRIBUTION: At 1:00, the United Nations Universitys World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) briefed on a research project entitled, Global Distribution of Wealth.

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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