United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-10-04

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK Thursday, October 4, 2001

UNHCR PREPARING FOR REFUGEE EXODUS FROM AFGHANISTAN

From Islamabad, Pakistan, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it is using this period of relative calm to prepare for a possible exodus of Afghan refugees. Some 28 sites have now been identified for camps inside Pakistan. Preparations began this morning at the Malkano site in the remote Khyber area. Work on new camps is also going on in Pakistans Baluchistan and North West Frontier Provinces.

Today in Rome, Catherine Bertini, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), appealed to the international community to respond generously to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan and neighboring countries.

WFP food deliveries currently average about 500 metric tons per day, enough for about 1 million people. The agency aims to increase the food distribution to deal with the needs of six million Afghans.

Conditions inside the country are deteriorating fast, Bertini said. "We face a vast food crisis as a result of three years of festering drought and ongoing civil war," she added. "For example, in the northern provinces of Balkh and Faryab, we estimate 400,000 people will run out of their own food stocks as well as international relief supplies this week."

SECURITY COUNCIL ELECTS CHAIRS FOR TERRORISM COMMITTEE

The Security Council held consultations this morning to go over the Committee established under Resolution 1373 (2001) on terrorism, which was adopted last Friday.

Council members agreed to elect Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom to chair the Committee. In addition, Ambassadors Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia, Jagdish Koonjul of Mauritius and Sergey Lavrov of Russia were elected as vice chairs of the Committee.

The Committee started its first meeting immediately following this morning's consultations. Committee members received a briefing from Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast.

COUNCIL WELCOMES RE-APPOINTMENT OF UN AFGHANISTAN ENVOY

This morning, the Security Council warmly welcomed the re-appointment Wednesday by Secretary-General Kofi Annan of Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi as his Special Representative for Afghanistan. The Council said that his appointment should provide a powerful impetus to UN efforts to resolve the crisis in Afghanistan. Brahimi will have the overall authority for the humanitarian and political activities of the UN in Afghanistan.

An international forum on Afghan refugees and displaced populations will open in Geneva Friday in the presence of Ruud Lubbers, High Commissioner for Refugees, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima, and Ambassador Brahimi. The forum aims to bring together key donors, asylum governments and aid agencies to discuss the immediate humanitarian crisis and future strategies for managing Afghan refugees and population displacement.

Asked about UN efforts to support peace in Afghanistan, the Spokesman notes that the United Nations was working quickly to support the work of Brahimi and that of the newly-created Security Council committee dealing with the follow-up to Resolution 1373 (2001). He called the work of the Council committee "a new area for all of us."

In response to a question, he added that Brahimi would work out of New York.

JAPAN TO CONTRIBUTE 20 PERCENT OF AFGHAN APPEAL

Japan announced that it would contribute 20 percent of the total of the donor alert for Afghanistan, launched by the Secretary-General last Thursday. That appeal amounted to some $584 million to handle the needs of some 7.5 million Afghans.

The Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) thanked the Government of Japan for its contribution.

ANNAN DISCUSSES AIDS DRUGS WITH PHARMACEUTICAL CHIEFS

The Secretary-General met today with Chief Executive Officers and senior executives of seven of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical companies: Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, F Hoffman-LaRoche, Merck and Co Inc, and Pfizer. The meeting follows on an earlier meeting held in Amsterdam in April of this year.

Todays session was intended to focus on access to drugs, particularly in the Least Developed Countries, reduced drug prices, improvement of health systems infrastructure and the participation of the private sector in helping to raise resources for the global fight against AIDS.

Meanwhile, today, in Melbourne, Australia, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) issued a press release which cautions that AIDS will spread in Asia unless rapid action is taken. UNAIDS is issuing a report on AIDS in Asia for the 6th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, which starts Friday.

Asked about the effect of the September 11 attack on the United States on funding for AIDS, the Spokesman said that the attack had focused attention on terrorism and had also negatively affected the global economy. However, he added, the United Nations expected a new surge of funds for AIDS once the Global Fund for AIDS and Health was formally established, as is expected by the end of this year.

ANNAN CALLS ELECTIONS A DEFINING MOMENT FOR KOSOVO

The Secretary-General, in his latest report on the UN Mission in Kosovo, notes the Mission's intensive work to prepare for Kosovo-wide elections on November 17. He says that 33 political entities applied for certification over the summer, including 27 political parties, and that a special task group with five mobile teams was set up by the UN Mission to reach out to Kosovo Serbs prior to the elections.

He says that, despite progress in strengthening law and order in Kosovo, continuing inter-ethnic violence and criminal activity remain a major concern.

The Secretary-General adds, "This is a defining moment for Kosovo, and I call on all local political leaders and representatives of civil society to ensure that the upcoming election campaign is free of violence." He welcomes the special emphasis that the UN Mission has given to encourage minority communities, especially Kosovo Serbs, to participate in public life, and called on the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia also to encourage Kosovo Serbs to vote.

The Security Council will hold a public meeting on Kosovo on Friday, and the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup, is to address the Council.

UN ENVOY CALLS FOR RESTRAINT AT "BLUE LINE" FOLLOWING ATTACK

Today in Lebanon, the Secretary-General's Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon, Staffan de Mistura, met with Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud and afterward issued a statement urging all parties to exercise maximum restraint at the "Blue Line."

De Mistura noted the Wednesday attack by Hezbollah and subsequent shelling by the Israeli Defence Force at the Shebaa Farms area of the Blue Line, as well as 12 recorded Israeli overflights across that line. There were no reported casualties.

In his statement, de Mistura called for the cessation of all provocative actions and reiterated the need to respect the Blue Line.

GREECE, FYROM CONCLUDE ROUND OF UN-CHAIRED TALKS

Representatives of Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia met today under the auspices of the Secretary-General, who was represented by his Personal Envoy, Matthew Nimetz.

In a statement, the Spokesman said that the parties will meet again on a date to be agreed.

WHO, ANNAN SAY MENTAL HEALTH MUST BE A PRIORITY

The World Health Organization (WHO) today launched its World Health Report, titled "Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope," which looks at depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and several other mental disorders and contains 10 recommendations for action.

The Secretary-General, in a message issued on today's launch, says it is time for Governments to make mental health a priority, and to allocate the resources, develop the policies and implement the reforms needed to address this urgent problem. One in four people, he notes, will suffer from mental illness at some time in life.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Princess Infanta Do&ntilde;a Cristina of Spain has been appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Second World Assembly on Ageing, which is to be held in Madrid from April 8 to 12, 2002. The announcement of her appointment was made this morning as the International Day of Older Persons was commemorated, in an event at which Marcel Marceu, who is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the Second World Assembly on Ageing, spoke. Marceu will meet with the Secretary-General at 3 p.m. today.

This morning, the United Kingdom deposited its instrument of ratification for the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. That Statute now has 42 of the 60 ratifications it needs before it enters into force.

The Republic of Korea signed the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime concerning the manufacturing and trafficking of firearms.

Also today, Azerbaijan and Poland signed the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. Poland also signed two protocols that supplement the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, on trafficking in persons and on the smuggling of migrants.

The guest at the noon briefing Friday will be Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was part of a team of independent experts put together by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to conduct an assessment on the impact of war on women. That team visited East Timor, Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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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