AV









HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING


BY MARIE OKABE
ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, July 12, 2004

ANNAN NAMES SENIOR PAKISTANI DIPLOMAT
AS U.N. ENVOY IN IRAQ

  • Secretary-General
    Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council of his intention

    to appoint Ambassador Ashraf
    Jehangir Qazi
    of Pakistan as his Special Representative for
    .

  • The
    Secretary-General reviewed a number of candidates, and considered a short-list
    of three highly qualified persons, the other two being

    Mr. Surin Pitsuwan,
    former Foreign Minister of Thailand, and

    Mr. Salman Haidar, former Foreign
    Secretary of India.

  • After
    extensive consultations, the Secretary-General selected Mr. Qazi, who
    currently serves as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States.

  • Mr. Qazi has
    had a distinguished career in Pakistan’s foreign service, and has previously
    served as Ambassador to Syria, the German Democratic Republic, the former
    Soviet Union and then the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China,
    and as High Commissioner to India.
    Mr. Qazi
    was born on 2 April 1942.

  • Asked when the Special
    Representative would go to Iraq, the Spokeswoman said that President Pervez
    Musharraf had agreed to release Qazi from his responsibilities as Ambassador
    very quickly.

  • After that first step,
    she said, Qazi should be in position in the next week or two to come to New
    York for debriefing and consultations. She added she could not yet give a
    timetable for when he would be deployed in Baghdad.

  • She noted that the
    Secretary-General had stressed that he was appointing a Special Representative
    who would be based in Baghdad, to handle the political and humanitarian tasks
    needed in Iraq.

  • Asked about whether it
    was safe for UN international staff to return to Baghdad, the Spokeswoman said
    that the United Nations was monitoring the security situation, to determine
    whether circumstances would permit the return of staff. Among the
    considerations being examined was whether sufficient security for UN personnel
    would be provided.

  • On that issue, she
    confirmed, in response to another question, that Pakistan was among the
    countries that had discussed with the United Nations and the United States the
    possibility of providing its forces to protect UN personnel.

  • Asked how the appointment
    was made, the Spokeswoman said the United Nations did not discuss specific
    reasons for appointments, and added that the Secretary-General had felt that
    he had three highly qualified candidates. After intensive discussions, a
    decision was made.


CHILEAN DIPLOMAT
NAMED AS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR HAITI

  • The
    Secretary-General has informed the Security Council of his intention to
    appoint Juan Gabriel Valdes of Chile, as his

  • Valdes,
    a former Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Chile
    ,
    is currently serving as Chile's Ambassador to Argentina.

  • He
    has

    also served as his
    country’s foreign minister.

ANNAN
APPOINTS

FIRST U.N.
ADVISOR ON
PREVENTION OF
G
ENOCIDE

  • The
    Secretary-General today informed the Security Council of his intention to
    appoint Juan Méndez of Argentina as his first Special Adviser on the
    Prevention of Genocide.

  • As the
    Secretary-General
    , he set up the post of Special Adviser to
    collect existing information on massive and serious violations of human rights
    and international humanitarian law of ethnic and racial origin, that could
    lead to genocide.

  • The Special
    Adviser would act as an early warning mechanism to the Secretary-General and
    Security Council to bring to their attention potential situations that could
    result in genocide, and make recommendations to the Council on how to prevent
    genocide.

  • Juan Méndez
    is currently President of the International Center for Transitional Justice.
    He previously worked for
    15
    years for Human Rights Watch, concentrating on human rights issues in the
    Western hemisphere.


ANNAN CALLS FOR
STRONGER LEADERSHIP TO FIGHT

AIDS

  • The
    Secretary-General
    on Sunday evening the
    15th
    in Bangkok, Thailand, saying that
    the world is not on track to begin reducing the scale and impact of AIDS by
    2005. He urged leaders to scale up infrastructure to support both treatment
    and prevention; to empower women and girls to protect themselves against the
    virus; and to provide stronger leadership at every level to fight the disease.

  • Earlier in
    the day, he
    the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Meeting on HIV/AIDS that AIDS is “far
    more than a health crisis,” but is “a threat to social and economic
    development as a whole.”

  • Today, the
    Secretary-General conferred with his regional special envoys dealing with AIDS
    and also met with the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
    Tuberculosis and Malaria.

  • He also
    visited the UN Building in Bangkok and met with staff there, telling them that
    the United Nations has a future “if it adapts and changes,” and adding about
    the UN’s future, “If I were a doctor, I would say you are in reasonably good
    health but you must remain active and exercise.”

  • The
    Secretary-General and Nane Annan visited an AIDS ward and talked with several
    patients there, accompanied by the Thai Health Minister.

  • The
    Secretary-General has also held several bilateral meetings with foreign
    ministers while in Bangkok.
    Sunday, he met with the foreign ministers of
    Australia, Timor-Leste and Thailand.
    He
    also to
    reporters.

  • In a statement issued in

    Bangkok on Sunday, the Secretary-General
    strongly condemned the terrorist attack that took place this morning in Tel
    Aviv. He sent his sincere sympathy and condolences to the Government of Israel
    and to the families of the victims. "No cause whatsoever can justify
    terrorism," thesaid. "In this connection, the Secretary-General urges the Palestinian
    Authority to do everything possible to end terror."

NANE ANNAN VISITS CENTER FOR VICTIMS
OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

  • In a separate
    program, Nane Annan visited a center housing 550 girls and women who have been
    trafficked from within Thailand and surrounding countries.

    She spoke with them
    as they demonstrated vocational skills they had learnt at the centre, such as
    cooking, fruit carving, painting, basket-weaving, foot massage and dancing.

  • Mrs. Annan
    encouraged the young women to focus on developing their skills and education
    so as to enable them to be strong and stand up for themselves.

  • The Kredtrakarn
    Protection and Occupational Development Centre also provides shelter, food and
    medical care, as well as psychosocial rehabilitation, family tracing and
    repatriation. It is supported by
    the United Nations Inter-Agency Programme on Human Trafficking for the Greater
    Mekong Area.

UN REPORTS PROGRESS ON HUMANITARIAN
ACCESS IN DARFUR

  • Since the
    United Nations and the Government of Sudan signed their recent joint
    communiqué, progress has been reported in humanitarian access, according to
    the

  • As promised
    by the Sudanese Government, the situation concerning visa restrictions and
    limitations on movement has improved, and the import of humanitarian supplies,
    vehicles and communications equipment, has been made easier.

  • However,
    local government authorities in North and West Darfur are still requiring
    travel permits.

  • Also,
    although more Non-Governmental Organization’s (NGO) have been going to Darfur,
    the Sudanese Government’s 90-day registration plan is discouraging NGOs from
    building up large asset bases, since it is possible that their permits might
    not be extended.

  • Security
    around current Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) settlements remains
    worrisome as the decreasing supply of firewood around IDP camps has forced
    women to venture further out to collect it.

  • Over the past
    week, a number of rapes and gang rapes were reported. The Sudanese Government
    has supplied police outside some settlements, but vastly increased numbers are
    needed.

  • Despite
    Government encouragement of IDPs to voluntarily relocate and return to their
    areas of origin, the vast majority of the IDP population has maintained that
    they are not ready to move until increased security is provided at their
    return locations.

ANNAN UPDATES SECURITY COUNCIL ON
WORK OF IRAQ MONITORING BOARD

  • In a
    to the Security Council, the Secretary-General forwarded an update
    on the work of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board for Iraq. ()

  • The IAMB was
    created last year by resolution 1483 as an audit oversight body for the
    Development Fund for Iraq which holds the proceeds of petroleum export sales
    from Iraq, as well as remaining balances from the UN Oil-for-Food Program and
    other frozen Iraqi funds.

  • The update
    reviews the work of the Board to date. It also outlines a number of areas of
    concerns in the way the Coalition Provisional Authority has managed the fund.
    These concerns rose as a result of the work of the international auditing firm
    of KPMG, which was hired by the Board.

  • Those areas
    include controls over the extraction of oil, bartering and the awarding of
    sole sourced contracts.

  • The IAMB
    expects to receive in mid-July the final audit covering the period from its
    inception through December 31st, 2003. The audit for the first six
    months of this year will be received in September. The audits will be made
    public.

U.N.
MIDDLE EAST ENVOY CONDEMNS KILLING OF PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS

  • [In statement released in Jerusalem, the
    UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East AV Process Terje Roed Larsen
    condemns the killing of Palestinian civilians that had taken place in the West
    Bank and the Gaza Strip over the past few days.

  • Larsen is particularly
    disturbed by the killing of 70 year old wheelchair bound Mahmoud Halfallain
    Khan Yunis this morning. He sends his sincere
    sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and calls on the
    Government of Israel to abide by its obligation under international
    humanitarian law to avoid the use of disproportionate force in densely
    populated areas and to protect the civilian population.]

  • On Tuesday, the

    Security Council has scheduled an open briefing, followed by consultations on the
    .
    Larsen is expected to brief the Council on recent developments.

U.N. AGENCIES TO REBUILD HOUSING IN
GAZA

  • Two UN
    agencies and the Palestinian Authority yesterday signed an agreement that will
    pave the way for the UN to build replacement homes in Rafah in the Gaza. These
    will be built on land donated by the Palestinian Authority.

  • Funding for
    the project, run by the
    and the UN
    Development Programme, was contingent on the Palestinian Authority donating
    the land.

  • Peter Hansen,
    UNRWA's Commissioner-General said this agreement now allows his agencies to
    move on quickly to the most important task in hand - that of translating the
    concern of the international community for the people of Rafah into bricks and
    mortar.

  • According to
    UNRWA, over 22,000 people have lost their homes to Israeli demolitions in the
    Gaza Strip, since the beginning of the current strife. Almost three quarters,
    over 15,000 people, are those who have lost their homes in Rafah.


U.N.
ENVOY
IN AFGHANISTAN

OUTLINES CHALLENGES IN HOLDING ELECTIONS

  • The head of
    the
    , Jean Arnault, told the press in Kabul yesterday
    that many things have to be done before the October 9 elections for President,
    and next April’s legislative and local elections.

  • Among the
    tasks still to be done are the setting of district boundaries and, prior to
    the April elections, the preparation of credible population figures for all
    districts and provinces.

  • Noting the
    Sunday attack in Herat, in which at least four female registration officers
    were killed, Arnault stressed, “The time for the arrival of the international
    forces is now, not in four months from now.”


REFUGEE FLOW FROM DR CONGO HAS
SLOWED

  • In
    Burundi, continued fighting between the Burundian Army and anti-Government
    forces has displaced tens of thousands of civilians
    .
    Near Bujumbura, cases of severe malnutrition among IDPs are increasing.

  • Meanwhile, the Office of the
    High Commissioner for Refugees ()
    reports that the refugee flow

    from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
    (DRC) to Burundi
    has
    slowed considerably.
    That
    was accompanied by an increase in unfacilitated returns to the DRC
    .
    However, UNHCR
    notes that while calm had been returning to eastern DR Congo, conditions
    aren’t yet suitable to begin facilitated repatriations.


OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

SECURITY
COUNCIL:
There are no
meetings or consultations of the
scheduled for today.
The Security
dzܲԳ’s
on its recent mission to West Africa was published today. The mission

led by British Ambassador to the United Nations, Emyr Jones Parry,

visited
Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea.

It focused on
issues such as the link between security and development and importance of an
active approach to conflict prevention.

COTE D’IVOIRE:
The UN Children’s
Fund ()
reports that the majority of towns and villages in Cote d’Ivoire lack safe
drinking water. This is due to the overexploitation of existing
infrastructures, insufficient production capacity in urban areas, and
maintenance difficulties due to lack of spare parts and personnel

SPAM:
The
ended its meeting last week on ways to
fight unsolicited commercial email – also known as SPAM – with general agreement
that there is no “silver bullet” to curb the problem. The Geneva meeting

was designed to launch a global
effort that can ultimately lead to the eradication of spam. There a large
consensus on the need to adopt a multi-track approach incorporating strong
legislation combined with technical solutions, consumer education, industry
self-regulation and international cooperation. The
meeting was part of preparations for the second phase of the
.

MINES:
This coming Thursday,
the
is sponsoring

a panel discussion on goals and
expected outcomes of the upcoming
, which will bring together world
leaders, top UN officials, and key players in the movement to ban landmines on
the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Ottawa Convention on
antipersonnel mine-ban treaty.



Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General


United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162 -
press/media only


Fax. 212-963-7055


All other inquiries to be addressed to (212)
963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org