United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-10-10

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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, October 10, 2002

ANNAN URGES PATIENCE, MODERATION IN VENEZUELA

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is concerned about the possibility of renewed violence in Venezuela, according to a statement issued today.

The Secretary-General appealed to the people of Venezuela to act with patience and moderation, and seek solutions to their differences based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. He supported the efforts of the international community to facilitate a dialogue.

ANNAN TO BEGIN VISIT TO SEVEN ASIAN COUNTRIES THIS WEEKEND

The Secretary-General is scheduled to leave this weekend for official visits to China, Mongolia, and five Central Asian Republics.

He is scheduled to be in China from Sunday, October 13th to 16, going onward to Mongolia from the 16th to the 17th, Kazakhstan from the 17th to the 18th, Uzbekistan from the 18th to the 20th, Kyrgyzstan from the 20th to the 21st, Tajikistan from the 21st to the 22nd, and Turkmenistan from the 22nd to the 23rd.

He is scheduled to return to New York on October 24.

Asked about details of the Secretary-Generals trip to China, the Spokesman said it was in essence an annual visit made to a permanent member of the Security Council and was not linked to any specific current event. Annan would be expected to meet with senior officials during his stay.

ANNAN TRAVELS TO MIT TO URGE CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

The Secretary-General is scheduled to travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts this afternoon. He will address the 50th anniversary celebration of the Sloane School of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he had attended, on Friday morning.

The Secretary-General will use the occasion to make a strong pitch for global corporate responsibility. He will stress that in an age of interdependence, and at a time of economic uncertainty amid entrenched extreme poverty, progress is possible only if people and nations have confidence that global markets and the international system in general are responding to their needs. The keys to building such trust and confidence, the Secretary-General will argue, are global citizenship and shared responsibility.

He is expected to return to New York before noon on Friday.

MIDDLE EAST: UN ENVOY CONDEMNS SUICIDE ATTACK NEAR TEL AVIV

In a statement issued in Jerusalem today, Terje Roed Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, strongly condemned the suicide bombing attack that took place near Tel Aviv this morning, which killed an elderly woman and injured more than a dozen other people.

He expressed his condolences to the victims families and reiterated that such repugnant terror attacks are legally and morally indefensible and completely counter-productive to peace efforts.

Larsen called on both parties to adhere immediately to Security Council resolution 1435, which calls for the complete cessation of all acts of violence, and he also asked both parties to show restraint.

UN STUDYING LEBANESE LETTER ON HAZBANI WATER PROJECT

On Wednesday, the Secretary-General received from the Foreign Minister of Lebanon, Mahmoud Hammoud, a letter accompanying a Government position paper on the Hazbani River project.

The United Nations is currently studying the 60-page paper, but continues to support US-led efforts to mediate the water dispute between Lebanon and Israel.

TRIBUNAL: MILOSEVIC FRIEND OF THE COURT TO BE DROPPED

The judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today asked the courts registrar, Hans Holthuis, to revoke the appointment of Dutch lawyer Michail Wladimiroff to serve as an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Judge Richard May ruled that comments made by Wladimiroff raised questions about his appropriateness for the job, including comments that indicated he had formed a view of the case that was unfavourable to the accused. The statements taken as a whole would give rise to a reasonable perception of bias on the part of the amicus curiae, Judge Mays ruling said.

Milosevic has been representing himself at his trial, which began in February, but he continues to have two other lawyers who were appointed by the Tribunal as friends of the court, who are on hand to ensure that he receives a fair trial.

SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS TO DISCUSS UN MISSION IN PREVLAKA

The

Security Council is meeting in closed consultations today on the Secretary-Generals latest report on the UN Mission of Observers in Prevlaka.

Also on the agenda is the Security Councils planned mission to Kosovo.

At 3:30 p.m., the Security Council has a scheduled meeting with troop-contributing countries to the UN Mission in Prevlaka.

ANNAN NOTES JUDGMENT RENDERED ON CAMEROON-NIGERIA BOUNDARY

This morning in The Hague, Judge Gilbert Guillaume of the International Court of Justice read out the Courts judgment in the case concerning the land and maritime boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria.

Judge Guillaume afterward summarized to the press the Courts 150-page judgment, saying the Court had decided that the land boundary between the two countries had been fixed by treaties entered into during the colonial period, and it upheld those treaties validity.

Accordingly, it drew a precise boundary between the two countries, and decided that, pursuant to the Anglo-German Agreement of 1913, sovereignty over Bakassi lies with Cameroon.

The Secretary-General noted the Court's judgment and reiterated his call on both parties to respect and implement the decision.

He commended Nigeria and Cameroon for resorting to the ICJ for a peaceful settlement of their territorial dispute, and for the steps they have recently taken to restore the fraternal and neighborly relations that have traditionally existed between them.

He re-affirmed the United Nations' readiness to assist the two countries in the implementation of the Court's decision.

ANNAN SEEKS ONE-YEAR EXTENSION OF UN OFFICE IN LIBERIA

The Secretary-General, in a letter to the Security Council President, has recommended an extension of the mandate of the UN Peace-building Support Office in Liberia (UNOL) by one year until the end of 2003.

He says that the UN Office, though limited in mandate and capacity, continues to contribute to national efforts at reconciliation, while at the same time monitoring developments and assisting in the promotion of respect for human rights and the rule of law.

It also provides a useful link between the international community and Liberia, which is going through a difficult political, security and humanitarian crisis and continues to pose a threat to peace and stability in the Mano River Union sub-region

MORE THAN 40 PERCENT OF EAST TIMORESE IN ABSOLUTE POVERTY

The Secretary-Generals latest report on Timor Leste, entitled Assistance for humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and development in East Timor, outlines developments from July 2001 to May 2002 in the repatriation of refugees and reconciliation process.

It concludes that raising the economic and social status of the poor will be a major challenge, as more than 40 percent of East Timorese are still living in absolute poverty and almost two of three adults are unable to read and write.

UN OUTLOOK SAYS WORLD ECONOMIC RECOVERY HAS BEEN SLOW

On Wednesday evening, the Global Economic Outlook produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs was formally issued, and it says that, although the world economy has been recovering gradually from last years sharp economic slowdown, the strength and breadth of the upturn has not been satisfactory.

The peak of the economic recovery is now expected to be delayed by several months, arriving in the middle of 2003 rather than in the second half of this year. Also, the report warns, a number of uncertainties draw into question whether the recovery can be sustained.

During the past six months, according to the report, several adverse factors have come to the fore, including rising geopolitical tensions; the effect of corporate scandals in major industrial countries, particularly in the United States; and worsening fiscal problems in Latin America.

The report underscores that recovery for a large number of economies continues to depend significantly on the health of the U.S. economy. The U.S. economy, it says, will continue to lead the global recovery, but not with much momentum, while recovery in Japan and Western Europe is expected to remain fragile.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Asked about whether the Secretary-General was involved in talks with the five permanent Security Council members on Iraq, the Spokesman said he was not actively involved, and did not believe it was his role to intervene or mediate on that issue. He has been talking to all 15 Council members about the progress of talks on Iraq, but the matter is in the Councils hands.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima wrapped up his three-day mission to observe the effects of the drought in Eritrea, and he underscored that food aid must be complemented by equally important programs for water and sanitation.

The first UN multi-disciplinary mission departed Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, today to assess emergency humanitarian needs in the central town of Bouaké and its environs.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today issued revised figures on the cost of the response to HIV/AIDS. The revised figures estimate that prevention, care and support programmes in low- and middle-income countries would cost $10.5 billion by 2005. The new estimates also project that financial resources will need to increase significantly, and that, by 2007, $15 billion a year will be needed to fight the disease.

The annual Opium Poppy Survey produced by the Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention will come out Friday in Rome at 3:00 p.m. their time, and the head of that Office, Antonio Maria Costa, will comment then on the reports findings.

An Exhibit called Family of Woman will be opened this afternoon by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette in the Visitors Lobby. The photographic exhibit was mounted by the U.S. Committee for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) as part of its public education campaign.

Two more Member States paid their 2002 regular budget contributions in full today. Kyrgyzstan made a payment of more than $11,000 and Lithuania, more than $188,000, bringing the total for this year of fully paid-up Member States to 107.

Greece today became the 45th country to sign the protocol on firearms supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

The Spokesman responded to a question asked Wednesday about the blood pressure machine on the Fourth Floor of the UN Secretariat building in New York, which, he said, is a health information center, that will not only take blood pressure, but will provide a variety of information including details of drug interactions. The machine was donated to the United Nations by CSI HealthNet and is worth some $12,000.

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