United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-06-27

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, June 27, 2002

ANNAN JOINS G8 LEADERS IN DISCUSSION ABOUT AFRICA PARTNERSHIP

Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Kananaskis, Canada, to participate in the Group of Eight summit.

The Group of Eight leaders from the world's leading economic powers are to meet with four African Heads of State and the Secretary-General to discuss the extent of their support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development. (NEPAD.) NEPAD is a plan developed by African leaders whereby they pledge to improve governance on the continent in exchange for the G-8 helping with aid, trade and debt relief.

The Secretary-General, at a press conference afterward, said that, if Africans stick to their commitments made in NEPAD and if the G-8 carries out the action plan announced today at their summit, "this summit might come to be seen as a turning point in the history of Africa, and indeed of the world. That is a challenge for all of us to live up to."

Annan arrived in Calgary, Canada on Wednesday, where he attended a reception hosted by the Canadian Minister of Health, Anne McLellan, and then attended a dinner hosted by Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson.

Returning to his hotel after dinner, he met with journalists and said he was extremely happy that African leaders had been invited to discuss with the G-8 leaders how they might work together to improve the economic situation in Africa.

He said, "Once you create that enabling environment for investment to come in and open up trade, these governments will be able to trade and work themselves out of poverty rather than live on handouts. And that's what they would want."

Asked if this is a threshold for Africa, he replied, "I think, yes, potentially it is a threshold, if all sides hold to the bargain and the understanding and the commitments we are making here."

Asked to explain how the four African leaders attending the summit were selected, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had no involvement in that issue.

UN STUDY: FEW AFRICAN NATIONS TO MEET UN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

In a press release issued Wednesday at the G-8 summit, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Childrens Fund produced a report, prepared at the request of the G-8 nations, that says that only 10 out of 45 sub-Saharan African countries are on schedule to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The report says Africa has the highest number of poor people, with nearly half its people or some 300 million Africans living on less than a dollar a day.

If current trends continue, the report warns, Africa will be the only region where the number of poor people in 2015 will be higher than in 1990.

AIDS EPIDEMIC BEYOND BELIEF UNFOLDING IN CHINA, SAY UNAIDS REPORT

China is on the verge of a catastrophe that could result in unimaginable human suffering, economic loss and social devastation,, says a UNAIDS report released today.

The report, drafted by UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, warns that the world is now witnessing the unfolding of an HIV/AIDS epidemic of proportions beyond belief. It has put the estimated figure of the people infected with HIV in China by the end of last year at around 1.5 million.

The report says that though the epidemic calls for urgent actions, many factors have hindered an effective response. They include insufficient political commitment and leadership at many levels of government, insufficient openness when dealing with the epidemic and insufficient resources both human and financial, the report says.

It can be feared that in the near future, China might count more HIV infections than any other country in the world, the report warns.

Also today, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the Fund for International Development of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) signed an agreement for the first in a series of HIV/AIDS initiatives. The agreement will provide $8.1 million to fund WHO projects in 12 of the hardest-hit counties sub-Saharan countries Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. In these countries, the proportion of adults living with HIV/AIDS ranges from six percent in Togo to nearly 20 percent in Zambia.

COUNCIL TAKES UP WORK OF COUNTER-TERRORISM COMMITTEE

This morning the Security Council held an open meeting, to be briefed on the work of its Counter Terrorism Committee by British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, the Chair of that Committee. All Council members spoke, in addition to representatives of regional groups.

This afternoon, Council will meet in closed consultations to discuss the extension of the mandate of the UN mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

OFFICIAL UN DELEGATION FOR IRAQ TALKS IS RELEASED

In response to questions on the UN delegation to the next round of Iraq talks, the Spokesman confirmed that the following senior officials would be traveling to Vienna with the Secretary-General: Dr.Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission; Dr. Mohamed El-Baradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov, the High Level Coordinator for the repatriation of Kuwaitis and third-country nationals and the return of Kuwaiti properties from Iraq; and Hans Corell, the UNs legal counsel.

A number of experts would also be part of the UN delegation.

The Iraqis have not yet sent the UN a list of names for their delegation.

Asked if Vorontsov's presence meant that the issue of missing Kuwaitis and third country nationals and missing Kuwaiti property had been added to the agenda for the talks, the Spokesman answered that, at the end of the last round of talks, the Iraqis had announced that they had discovered a substantial amount of Kuwaiti archives to be in their possession. The Secretary-General, the Spokesman added, decided that there should be a discussion on the mechanism for the return of those archives and that the finalizing of the mechanism will be taken up in Vienna.

Should the Iraq delegation wish to bring up the issue of missing persons, the UN would be willing to discuss it during these upcoming talks, the Spokesman said.

Asked if the Secretary-General considered the issue of missing persons and property to be a diversion, the Spokesman answered that the Secretary-General considered movement in these issues to be a step forward, as well as a way improve the climate of the discussions, and not as a diversion.

Asked when the Secretary-General thought the sanctions against Iraq would be lifted, the Spokesman said that it would depend on the full implementation of the Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq.

Asked if Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, would be part of the delegation and whether issues relating to the pricing of Iraqi oil would be discussed in Vienna, the Spokesman said that Sevan would not be part of the delegation and that there was no plan to discuss those issues.

UNHCR CONCERNED OVER PRESSURES APPLIED TO AFGHAN REFUGEES IN PAKISTAN

During a press conference today in Kabul, the Representative for Afghanistan of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, expressed concern over the pressure that Afghan refugees are now facing in Pakistan.

Grandi said that since March, 1.1 million Afghans had returned from Iran and Pakistan under the assisted program of UNHCR, and there were some 200,000 who had returned spontaneously. There is a lot of pressure on Afghans to return from Pakistan, he said, local authorities, local police authorities, and even local communities putting pressure in a difficult political and economic situation in Pakistan for people to return. This pressure is mounting and is very serious, he said.

UNHCR has brought up the issue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, and has asked him to intercede with local authorities to diminish this pressure.

In Kabul today, Afghan President Hamid Karzai presented Brahimi with an Afghan diplomatic passport, which Brahimi said was an honor I value more than I can say.

The UN envoy also joked that he was unaware if the United Nations would allow a national to represent the Secretary-General, but that, now that he had an Afghan passport, he would stand in the next Loya Jirga as a candidate. Karzai, who helped to translate his comments, responded, Your excellency, you will beat me.

UN RIGHTS OFFICIAL SAYS KILLINGS TOOK PLACE IN KISANGANI

There were grave violations of human rights in Kisangani on May 14 and the following days, according to Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or arbitrary executions. Jahangir issued a statement and spoke to journalists today in Geneva following her fact-finding mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

She had been sent by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson to look into the events of May 14 in Kisangani. There had been numerous reports of killings in the days that followed an attempted mutiny against the Congolese Rally for DemocracyGoma (RCD-Goma), the de facto authority in the town.

In this preliminary report, Jahangir says RCD-Goma authorities did carry out summary executions and extrajudicial killings of civilians, soldiers and the police, in reaction to the attempted rebellion. Extrajudicial killings were also carried out by the mutineers.

While some deaths, she said, occurred as a result of indiscriminate gunfire, others lost their lives in what would appear to be targeted extra-judicial executions.

She reports that the situation in the town remains explosive, and immediate preventive measures need to be taken to avoid more bloodshed.

Asked to give an approximate number of victims, the Special Rapporteur said the minimum would be 150 but added: But what does it matter if it is 100 or 150 or 200? What is important is that lives have been lost. The fact remains that a massacre has been committed and it is a grave human rights violation.

Jahangir, who was in the DRC from June16-22, called for thorough investigations of all the reported atrocities that have been committed in the country.

MORE THAN HALF OF KOSOVO LIVES IN POVERTY, SAYS REPORT

More than half of Kosovos population lives in poverty, with 12 percent living in extreme poverty, according to a Human Development Report for Kosovo commissioned by the UN Development Programme.

The report adds that Kosovo nevertheless is ranked at a medium level of development internationally, and it calls for the strengthening of democratic institutions and greater participation by the people of Kosovo in their government institutions. It also calls for steps to deal with continuing discrimination against Kosovo Serbs and other minorities.

ACRYLAMIDE IN FRIED FOODS IS A MAJOR CONCERN, SAYS FAO AND WHO

The Joint WHO/FAO Global Expert Consultation On Acrylamide In Foods ended today in Geneva. Acrylamide is a chemical used in water purification and the manufacture of plastics, which can be found in certain starchy foods cooked at high temperatures, such as French fries, potato chips, cookies, cereals and breads.

The consultation found that the average intake of the chemical by consumers is below the level which can produce nerve damage, but said the problem of acrylamide in food was a major concern because it is a potential cause of cancer in humans.

The consultation urged further investigation of the possibilities for reducing the levels of acrylamide in foods by changing formulations and processing techniques.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Asked when the Secretary-Generals report to the General Assembly on the events that took place in the Jenin refugee camp would be released, the Spokesman answered that would be around mid-July, adding that no date has been fixed.

Yesterday in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia granted the provisional release of two former senior Yugoslav officials Dragoljub Ojdanic and Nikola Sainovic although their actual release has been stayed pending an appeal by prosecutors.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda announced that the Tribunals appeal chamber next week will sit in Arusha, Tanzania, to hear appeals in two cases: that of a Rwandan mayor who had been acquitted of all charges against him, Ignace Bagilishema, and of an Interahamwe leader sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity, George Rutaganda.

The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) today launched a set of twelve stamps and a souvenir card to commemorate the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which will take place at the end of August in Johannesburg, South Africa. The stamps were designed by world-renowned artist Peter Max, who created sets of stamps to commemorate both the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 and the Earth Summit +5 review conference in 1997.

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

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