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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON
BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS,Ìý NEW YORK
Monday, July 25, 2005
KOFI ANNAN
STRESSES NEED TO HELP ZIMBABWEAN PEOPLE
The UN Human Settlements Programme ()
Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka, who as the UN Special Envoy on Human
Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe released her
based on her recent visit to that country, has now positioned a
human settlements officer as part of the UN country team in Zimbabwe.
Ìý
The officer will help advise the government on the
technical aspects of the resettlement of those who have been displaced by
"Operation Restore Order."
Ìý
In response to a reporter’s question this morning,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
he had spoken with President Robert
Mugabe of Zimbabwe and said he had “stressed the need for action to be taken
to help the people affected, to stop the clearances, and to ensure that those
affected are not only looked after, but they are given adequate housing.â€
Ìý
He went on to say that “we, the
international community, would want to muster the aid necessary to help the
people, and also to work with the Government in changing the situation.â€
Ìý
Asked whether an appeal would be issued for Zimbabwe, the
Spokesman said that UN teams are in Zimbabwe now, trying to assess the scope
of what is needed financially and in terms of material resources, such as
tents. After an assessment is done, he added, money will be needed from the
international community.
Ìý
Asked who is on the ground from the United Nations, the
Spokesman said that a country team, with most UN humanitarian agencies
represented, was present.
Ìý
Dujarric added that an appeal will be made once needs are
assessed, and noted the Secretary-General’s message to the Government that the
demolitions must stop immediately and that it must provide access to
humanitarian workers.
Ìý
Asked whether the United Nations would attach conditions
of political reform to any aid effort for Zimbabwe, the Spokesman noted that
Anna Tibaijuka’s
had made it clear that the Government of Zimbabwe was collectively
responsible for what happened. At the same time, he emphasized, it is
essential that the people affected not be victimized twice, and that they
receive assistance.
SECRETARY
GENERAL CONDEMNSÌýSINAI BOMBINGS
The Secretary-General
with sorrow and anger to the news on Saturday of the multiple car
bombs in the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. In a statement we issued over the
weekend, he once more condemned the use of terror and indiscriminate violence
against civilians, which no cause or belief can possibly justify.
Ìý
Speaking to reporters on entering the building this
morning, the Secretary-General
that what has happened in the last few weeks, from London to Sharm
el-Sheikh, gives one more reason for nations to press ahead and get a good
definition of terrorism that we can all live with.
Ìý
He also voiced the hope that the authorities in London
will go after criminals, but not generalize in going after people coming from
one region or another, and he noted that the United Kingdom had been able to
do that over the years.
Ìý
Asked whether the Sharm el-Sheikh and London bombings
would affect security at the United Nations for the September World Summit,
the Spokesman said that UN security was working with local and federal law
enforcement authorities to ensure that the best security conditions are in
place for Heads of State and Government during the Summit.
ÌýMULTILATERAL ORGANIZATIONS MUST BE
REINVIGORATED
The
Secretary-General this morning addressed a high-level
between the United Nations and regional and other
inter-governmental organizations.
Ìý
In his , the Secretary-General said that to promote progress in security,
development and human rights, we needed to reinvigorate our multilateral
institutions. In that regard, the UN’s relationship with regional
organizations was critical.
Ìý
Saying that we needed better structured and more
efficient channels of cooperation between the United Nations and regional
organizations, he said that the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission would
allow for those bodies to have a seat and a voice at the table during the
critical rebuilding stage in countries emerging from conflict.
ÌýU.N. PEACEKEEPERS IN COTE D’IVOIRE PUT
ON ALERT
UN peacekeepers in
have been put on a state of alert following an attack on
Saturday night on the towns of Anyama and Agboville by unidentified
assailants.
Ìý
The UN mission, which is
working closely with the Ivorian authorities, has decided to dispatch military
units to the area to help restore calm.
Ìý
The mission strongly condemns
this attack, which could jeopardize the important progress made in the peace
process, and calls on all parties to refrain from any action that could
further contribute to the deterioration of an already worrying situation.
Ìý
Meanwhile, the humanitarian
agencies in the field are preparing to undertake an assessment mission to
Anyama and Agboville.
ÌýSECURITY COUNCIL TO CONSULT ON LEBANON,
GEORGIA
At 3:00 this afternoon, the
will hold private meetings with the countries that
contribute troops to two UN peacekeeping missions.
Ìý
Security Council members will meet first with the troop
contributors for the
, and then with those for the
.
ÌýÌýU.N. – AFFILIATED EDUCATOR KILLED IN
AFGHANISTAN
The
reported that an Afghan civic educator, employed
by a non-governmental organization that works with the United Nations on civic
education, was shot dead last week, in an attack which also left his son
injured.
Ìý
The Joint Electoral Management Body responded by
condemning any violence against people working to bring democracy and
stability to Afghanistan.
ÌýU.N. ÌýENVOY SAYSÌýÌýHIV/AIDS EFFORTS ARE
FAILING WOMEN
Stephen Lewis, the UN Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa, last
night addressed a meeting of scientists and experts on
that took place in Rio de Janeiro.
Ìý
Lewis said the greatest single international failure in
the response to HIV/AIDS is the failure to intervene on behalf of women.
Ìý
He also questioned the results of the G8 summit, called
for an independent international agency for women and challenged scientists to
engage in a campaign of advocacy.
Ìý
At the conference, the World Health Organization (WHO)
that to achieve universal access to HIV prevention and treatment, the
scientific and public health communities must respond quickly to developments
on the ground to narrow the gap between discovery and intervention.
WHO stressed the need to "learn by doing."
FOOD CRISIS AFFECTS ENTIRE SAHEL AREA
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ()
reports that the food security crisis currently devastating Niger has also had
an impact throughout the Sahel region.Ìý
Ìý
In Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, populations are
also facing difficult food security situations because of last year’s drought
and locust plague.
Ìý
According to statistics from OCHA, some 1.1 million
people in Mali will need food aid in 2005, and women and children are
suffering from malnutrition in Burkina Faso.Ìý In Mauritania, the World Food
Programme is on the ground, assessing the scope of the food security
situation.Ìý
ÌýTRAINING COULD PREVENT FOREST FIRES
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today said
proper training could save many lives that are lost every year in forest
fires. In an
issued in Rome today the FAO said that people are the cause of
most fires.Ìý
Ìý
Proper training for people living near wooded areas would
cost a small fraction of the billions of dollars lost in the fires, the FAO
said.
ÌýGENERAL ASSEMBLY TO CONSULT ON SUMMIT
DRAFT
The
will hold, on Wednesday and Thursday this week, closed
informal consultations on the revised draft document dealing with Member
States' views on in
preparation for the September summit, which Assembly President Jean Ping
submitted to member states on Friday.
Ìý
The Spokesman, in response to a question, said that it
should not be expected that the Secretary-General would provide a detailed
statement responding to Ping’s document.
Ìý
Asked about the Secretary-General’s involvement in the
current Security Council reform debate, Dujarric said this was a
membership-led discussion, which the Secretary-General was monitoring closely.
He would make himself available to Member States, if needed, as that
discussion proceeds.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
CLINTON CALLS FOR SWIFT WORK ON TSUNAMI
WARNING SYSTEM: In the light of recent earthquakes this weekend near the
Nicobar and Andaman islands, of India, UN Special Envoy for Tsunami-affected
Countries President
encourages the governments in the regionÌý to accelerate the creation of an
effective early warning system.
CONFERENCE ON GLOBALIZED WORKPLACE IS PLANNED: The
International Labor Organization today announced that it will organize a. Some three hundred experts are scheduled to discuss safety and
other work-related issues during the conference in Düsseldorf, Germany.
EX OIL-FOR- FOOD AIDE AVAILABLE TO INQUIRY: Asked
whether it is a concern that Benon Sevan is in Cyprus, the Spokesman said that
the main point is that anyone who needs to have access to Sevan should have it.
Unless the United Nations hears otherwise from Paul Volcker’s Independent
Inquiry Committee, the Spokesman added, it would assume that Sevan is
cooperating.
UNITED NATIONSÌýHOPES IRAQI CONSTITUTION ON SCHEDULE:
The Spokesman, in response to a question, said the United Nations hoped that
Iraq’s constitution would be ready on schedule.
Ìý
ÌýÌýOffice
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
Ìý