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
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 country’s 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 Fiji’s 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 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.
Thesays 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
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
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
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 ), on the
work done by the Commission. Last week, in a report, the Secretary-General
detailed UNMOVIC’s recent activities and state of preparation.
The Council then received a briefing
by Dimitry Titov, Director of the Africa Division of the Department for
AVkeeping 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 UNMOVIC’s work.
CHIEF OF PEACEKEEPING TO ATTEND INAUGURATION IN DR CONGO
The UN Mission in the DRCthat Jean-Marie Guehenno, the Under-Secretary-General for
AVkeeping 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 Mission’s efforts to support the
transition process there.
U.N. MEDIATION IN CYPRUS MAKING PROGRESS DESPITE HURDLES
Available today is the
Secretary-General’s latest
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
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
Monrovia’s 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
Dz.”
FOOD AGENCY OPENS MAJOR LOGISTICS HUB IN GHANA
The
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
(CERF) for the purchase of emergency
supplies to deal with the destruction caused by Typhoon Durian in the
Philippines.
Meanwhile,
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 (),
during a meeting Monday of the General Assembly’s 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
ٲԳ.”
WORLD HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT
CIVILIANS IN IRAQ
Asked whether nations have a responsibility to protect civilians in
, 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-General’s 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
, 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 world’s 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 (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 book’s 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
вԴڲ”.
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 WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL FORUM
The Secretary-General this morning addressed the
,
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
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-General’s 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 University’s World Institute for Development
Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) briefed on a research project entitled, “”.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
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