United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-07-22

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MARIE OKABE

ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE

SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, July 22, 2004

ANNAN AND POWELL TO MEET TODAY

Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, are scheduled to meet this afternoon.

They plan to hold a joint press encounter at UN headquarters around 5.30 p.m.

TOP U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIALS INTENDS TO FOCUS

ON THE WORLD'S MOST VULNERABLE

Louise Arbour,

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, met the Geneva press corps this morning for the first time in her new capacity since taking up her post on 1 July 2004.

Speaking of her priorities, the High Commissioner said she intends to focus on the most vulnerable the very poor, the imprisoned, the disenfranchised, the targets of intolerance and hatred, and that she intends to come to their assistance through the most effective legal means at her disposal.

She noted that, after 60 years of work, we have built a solid legal and institutional framework of human rights protection and promotion, a framework which is accepted almost universally. Now we have the opportunity to actually put that framework to work for people, for each individual right holder, she said.

According to Arbour, the challenges are numerous, and perhaps the most obvious and the most invidious is the magnitude of extreme poverty.

Paradoxically, she said, in an age of advanced human rights consciousness, we are also witnessing daily and on a massive scale the worst atrocities that human beings can perpetrate on one another too often with the passive acceptance of others or under the benign gaze or even at the instigation of people in a position of power and influence.

The High Commissioner answered questions on the Middle East, Iraq, Sudan, Kosovo, detainees in Guantanamo Bay, the Commission on Human Rights and human rights enforcement.

DARFUR: HUMAN RIGHTS OBSERVERS TO HEAD TO REGION;

JOINT MISSION TO ASSESS SECURITY SITUATION

[In a press release received after the noon briefing, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed deep regret today following the deaths of two refugees during efforts by Chadian government authorities to quell unrest in two refugee camps in eastern Chad. Aid workers in the area told UNHCR today that they saw two bodies, a man and a woman, that had been taken from Farchana camp following Chadian government operations to search for weapons at the site and seek out the culprits of recent attacks on aid workers.]

Eight human rights observers from the Office of

the High Commissioner for Human Rights have been granted visas to travel to

Sudan. They plan to head to Darfur to start monitoring human rights violations.

The

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that new non-governmental organizations continue to arrive in Darfur.

On the political side, starting tomorrow in Geneva, consultations with the two rebel movements of Darfur are expected to commence to prepare for a new round of substantive talks on Darfur led by the African Union. The Secretary-Generals Special Advisor, Mohammad Sahnoun, will lead the UN team there.

Meanwhile, arrangements are being made for a joint verification mission to assess the security situation in Darfur next week. The mission has been organized under the auspices of the Joint Implementation Mechanism, a body set up after the United Nations and Sudan signed a joint communiqué on 3 July at the end of the Secretary-General's visit to Khartoum, which outlined their commitments to alleviate the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Darfur.

Asked who would take part in the joint verification mission, the spokesperson said it would comprise UN officials, ambassadors from concerned countries, and members of the Sudanese Government. Final arrangements as to its exact composition were still underway.

ANNAN MEETS WITH NEW ENVOY FOR IRAQ

The Secretary-General met with his new Special Representative for Iraq,

Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, and held a joint press encounter after the meeting.

ANNAN: COSTS OF UNSAFE DRINKING WATER, SANITATION IS UNACCEPTABLE

The costs of unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation in our world today are unacceptable,

said the Secretary-General at the opening this morning of the first session of the Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. He noted that today, one person in six will drink unclean water. One person in three will not have access to proper sanitation. And around 10 thousand people will die today as a result of this preventable situation.

While noting that much good work is being done at the local and international levels, the Secretary-General reminded the Board that greater focus is required to meet Millennium Declaration commitments, namely: to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and to develop integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans by 2005.

The name of the game is not to come up with new plans, he said, but to help step up efforts to implement existing plans and meet agreed targets.

AFGHAN ELECTIONS: CONCERNS AT UNBALANCED REGISTRATION

Almost 80 percent of

Afghanistans estimated voter population has registered to vote in the upcoming polls.

The

UN mission there, however, expressed major concern at what it described as unbalanced registration such as in the Southern part of the country. A mission has been dispatched to the South where key problems have been identified - lack of security, and insufficient numbers of educated women to take part in the process.

In central and northern Afghanistan, emergency assistance continues to be dispatched to drought and flood affected areas.

ABKHAZIA, GEORGIA: DIALOGUE ON KEY CONFLICT ISSUES STILL LACKING

In his latest

report on the situation in

Abkhazia, Georgia, the Secretary-General, says that while the Georgian and Abkhaz sides continue with practical cooperation activities, a substantive dialogue on the key issues of the conflict is still lacking.

The Secretary-General welcomes the discussions that have taken place between the parties on security guarantees and the return of refugees but he urges them to pursue more actively the related recommendations made by assessment missions in 2000 and 2002. He also reiterates his appeal to the Abkhaz side to facilitate, as agreed, the deployment of UN civilian police on its side of the ceasefire line.

In the absence of a political settlement, the Secretary-General notes the important role played by the UN Mission in Georgia in preventing the resumption of hostilities and pursuing a lasting solution. He therefore recommends that the Security Council extend the mandate of the Mission for a further six months.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNAN, SECURITY COUNCIL HAS MONTHLY WORKING LUNCH: The

Security Council has no meetings or consultations as a whole scheduled for today. Council President, Romanian Ambassador Mihnea Motoc, will host the monthly Security Council luncheon with the Secretary-General.

ANNAN SPEAKS WITH BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: In response to a question about whether the Secretary-General and the British Prime Minister had been in touch, the Spokeswoman announced later that a phone call had taken place between the two leaders following the noon briefing.

SMALL UN TECHNICAL TEAM IN BAGHDAD: In response to questions about the current UN presence in Baghdad, the Spokesperson said that there is a small UN team of technical experts in Baghdad to assist in the convening of a national conference to select a consultative assembly.

FOOD INSECURITY IN KENYA REQUIRES ASSISTANCE: UN agencies will soon be

appealing for international aid on behalf of the Kenyan Government which has requested assistance to help overcome poor rainfall and sever crop failure.