United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-09-15

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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 FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE

SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

U.N. MISSION REPORTS ON DISPLACEMENTS IN DARFUR, SUDAN

At its weekly press briefing in Khartoum, the UN mission in Sudan reported on continued clashes and violence and insecurity in the Darfur region.

The mission reported the security situation in North Darfur was relatively quiet today but noted displacements triggered by the insecurity of the last few weeks. On Tuesday night and this morning, approximately 2,000 to 4,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) arrived on the outskirts of El Fasher.

In South Darfur, some 40,000 new IDPs have been registered in one location, where about 5,000 people arrived during the past week alone.

On the political front, the parties to the talks in Abuja, Nigeria, met Tuesday with President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, current chair of the African Union, who called on them to commit to a negotiated peaceful political solution to the Darfur crisis and to act with good faith. He requested the parties to abide by the cease-fire agreement and urged them to sign the humanitarian protocol, which they agreed upon recently.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES UN OPERATION IN LIBERIA

The Security Council started its program today with a troop contributors' meeting on Liberia.

Then in closed consultations, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Liberia Jacques Klein briefed the Security Council on the latest report on Liberia, which was issued as a document today.

In the report, Secretary-General Kofi Annan notes that the UN Mission in Liberia is now moving into a new phase of its operations, during which there will be particular focus on the rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-combatants and community development; the restoration of State administration nationwide; the strengthening of the rule-of-law institutions and restructuring of the security sector; promotion of the process of recovery and reconstruction; and the organization of free and fair elections in October 2005.

The Secretary-General urgently calls for further generous pledges to ensure that the reintegration process, which is absolutely critical for the success of the peace process, is adequate, effective and completed in a timely manner.

A draft resolution on Liberia was introduced.

Also scheduled today is the monthly luncheon of the Security Council with the Secretary-General.

Then in the afternoon, the Security Council will meet with troop contributors for the UN Mission in Sierra Leone.

EMERGENCY GRANTS RELEASED TO HELP RECOVERY FROM HURRICANE IVAN

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ivans passage through the Caribbean, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released emergency cash grants of $80,000 to Cuba and $100,000 to Jamaica and Grenada each.

Preliminary assessments show that over 90 percent of the population in Grenada was adversely affected by the storm. Much work will be required to restore power, more temporary shelters are urgently needed, fuel shortages are creating a tense situation, and phone lines are down.

U.N. CORRESPONDENTS CANCEL PRESS EVENT ON TAIWAN

Asked why the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA) was not given permission to hold a press conference at UN Headquarters today on Taiwan, the Spokesman said that, although the Secretary-General respects the freedom of the press, the Headquarters building belongs to Governments.

On the advice of his Legal Counsel, the Secretary-General felt there was a contradiction between a press conference with a purported official representative of Taiwan and UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, concerning the status of China.

Taiwan, the Spokesman said, is not a recognized nation at the United Nations. That creates, in the view of the Legal Counsel, a unique case, in which the scheduled event would be in direct contradiction with a General Assembly resolution.

Asked whether the United Nations had threatened to cut the power at the UNCA Lounge, the Spokesman said there was no threat. The United Nations was in ongoing discussions with UNCA, and was waiting to hear from them. On Tuesday, UNCA made the decision to cancel the event.

FRECHETTE NOTES WOMENS ROLE IN SOLVING CONFLICTS

This morning, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette delivered the keynote address at the Conference on Gender Justice in Post-Conflict Situations held in New York.

She noted that, while women are often the first victims of armed conflict, they must also and always be recognized as a key to the solution. The United Nations, she said, is now developing a more systematic approach to consulting with women from the earliest stages of a peace process, on matters such as constitutional development, judicial reform and reconciliation.

Co-organized by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Legal Assistance Consortium, the unprecedented three-day conference has brought together women in key legal and judicial positions from over 12 conflict-affected countries.

They will discuss priority needs on gender justice and identify specific ways for the international community to provide coordinated assistance to address these needs.

UNITED NATIONS WILL NOT ABANDON GUATEMALA

The Secretary-General on Tuesday evening opened the photo exhibit at the UN Visitors Lobby, Guatemala: Images of Peace, by saying that, 10 years after the deployment of the UN Verification Mission in that country (MINUGUA), we can now look with pride at images of peace, not of conflict.

The Secretary-General said that Guatemala has now consolidated its democratic framework, allowing for the UN Verification Mission to depart. But while the Mission may leave, he promised, the United Nations will not, and will continue to work with the people of Guatemala as they struggle to deal with the legacy of a violent past.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

U.N. AGENCIES BUILD SHELTERS FOR BURUNDI DISPLACED: The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, along with UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, is constructing temporary shelters for some 25,000 internally displaced persons in Burundis Kabezi Commune, just south of the capital. The new shelter site is intended to put some distance between the displaced persons and the Governments military positions, which have been attacked regularly by the rebel National Liberation Front (FNL).

INDEPENDENT HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT NAMED: The Secretary-General has tasked Diane Orentlicher, a professor at American University's Washington College of Law, with updating the United Nations Set of Principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity. Orentlicher will serve as independent expert for a period of one year.

REFUGEE AGENCY RESUMES REPATRIATION IN WESTERN AFGHANISTAN: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says that hundreds of returning Afghan refugees, who had been stranded on the Iranian side of the border since violence broke out over the weekend in the Afghan city of Herat, resumed their journey home to Afghanistan today. The decision to resume the repatriation today was taken following assurances by authorities in Afghanistan that the returning refugees will be secure.

ASIA NEEDS TO TACKLE MALNUTRITION: With the greatest number of hungry people in the world living in Asia, the region must take decisive steps to reduce malnutrition or risk losing much of its tremendous economic potential, the World Food Programmes deputy head said today. WFP Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu told the opening session of a regional conference on maternal and child malnutrition in New Delhi that malnutrition will be a millstone around the neck of the countries in their progress toward economic prosperity.