Presseaussendungen
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NOON BRIEFING
BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Friday, January 17, 2003
UN WEAPONS CHIEF MEETS BRITISH, FRENCH LEADERS AHEAD OF IRAQ TRIP
The Executive Chairman of UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection
Commission (UNMOVIC), Hans Blix, met in Paris today with President
Jacques Chirac of France. He then traveled to the United Kingdom
where he met today with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Blix will now be making his way to Cyprus. From there, he and the
Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr.
Mohamed ElBaradei, will travel to Baghdad on Sunday for two days of
talks with Iraqi officials.
According to the regular update from Baghdad, inspectors from the UN
Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) visited
a farm and a chemical plant.
Thursday, the inspectors discovered 11 empty 122 mm chemical warheads
and one warhead that requires further evaluation. The warheads were
in excellent condition and were similar to ones imported by Iraq
during the late 1980’s. The team used portable X-Ray equipment to
conduct a preliminary analysis of one of the warheads and collected
samples for chemical testing.
Asked for a reaction to reports that the United States was about to
share more intelligence information with the weapons inspectors, the
Spokesman said he had no particular information on those reports.
But, Hans Blix, the head of UNMOVIC, has said that he would welcome
more information from those countries that had the necessary
intelligence capabilities.
UN ENVOY ARRIVES IN BAGHDAD FOR TALKS ON MISSING KUWAITIS, PROPERTY
UN High-Level Coordinator Yuli Vorontsov is to arrive in Baghdad for
two days of talks on missing persons and seized Kuwaiti property, at
the invitation of the Iraqi Government.
Vorontsov traveled overland from Amman, Jordan, where some days ago,
he followed from the margins a meeting of the new technical
subcommittee on missing persons of the Tripartite Commission.
On this trip he also visited Cairo, Egypt, on the 11th and 12th of
this month, where he met with Amre Mousa, head of the Arab League,
and Ahmed Maher, Egyptian Foreign Minister. And on the 13th, he met
with the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference, Abdelouahed Belkeziz, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
He will be in Baghdad through Monday, when he will travel to UN
Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission headquarters at Um Qasr and then on to
Kuwait City for official meetings.
Vorontsov will return to Amman on the 22nd, when the second meeting
of the technical committee will take place. He is expected back in
New York on the 24th, and will report to the Secretary-General.
Asked if there is a relation between the simultaneous visits of
Vorontsov and the heads of the IAEA and UNMOVIC to Baghdad, the
Spokesman said there was none that he was aware of except for the
fact they are both the result of Iraqi invitations.
SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS ON LIBERIA, EXTENDS AL-QAIDA SANCTIONS
The Security Council met in closed consultations on Liberia. Africa
Division Director Youssef Mahmoud of the Department of Political
Affairs briefed on security, humanitarian and human rights aspects
and preparations for elections in Liberia. The Council has also
received a letter from the Secretary-General in which he says that
the Government of Liberia is still studying the proposed revised
mandate for the UN Peace-Building Support Office in that country.
[The Council President, Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, in a
press statement on Liberia said the Council expressed regrets that
the Government of Liberia did not respond to the proposals of the
Secretary-General for a revised mandate for the United Nations office
in Liberia, and urged it to do so as soon as possible.]
[Then, in a formal meeting following consultations on the item “
Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts,
” Council members unanimously adopted a resolution to improve the
implementation of measures against the Taliban and members of the Al
Qaida organization and their associates, and to further improve
implementation in 12 months, or sooner if necessary.]
This afternoon at 3:15 p.m., there will be a Council meeting with the
troop contributors to the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG).
SECURITY COUNCIL READIES FOR MINISTERIAL MEETING TO COMBAT TERRORISM
The Security Council has scheduled consultations at 4 p.m. on the
declaration to be adopted at Monday's ministerial meeting on the
issue of combating terrorism which will take place in an open
session.
Only Council members are expected to speak during Monday's meeting.
Non-Council members who wish to participate in the discussion of this
issue have been invited to do so at an open meeting to be held on
February 20.
Monday’s debate will provide an opportunity for the Council to
examine the results of the activities of the Counter-Terrorism
Committee that was established in the wake of September 11, 2001. It
will also allow Council members to make a political assessment of the
actions that have been taken and consider formulating new guidelines
to improve the effectiveness of combating terrorism. The purpose is
to give new impetus to international action to combat the scourge of
terrorism.
At 12:45 p.m. Monday, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin,
who will preside over the meeting, will hold a press conference,
along with Renaud Muselier, minister of state for foreign affairs.
CYPRIOT LEADERS AGREE TO MEET THREE TIMES A WEEK
Earlier today, the Turkish Cypriot leader, His Excellency Rauf
Denktash, and the Greek Cypriot leader, His Excellency, Glafcos
Clerides, met in the presence of the Secretary-General’s Special
Advisor for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, in the UN Protected Area in
Nicosia.
They agreed to continue their meetings on thrice weekly basis.
COTE D'IVOIRE: UN ENVOY STRESSES STATE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE AID
On the second day of her mission to Cote D’Ivoire, Carolyn McAskie,
the Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy for the crisis in C
/span> d’Ivoire met with government leaders and stressed the
importance of the government’s role in the provision of emergency
relief to those in need regardless of their location.
McAskie also reminded the Government of its responsibilities
regarding the protection of civilians including some one million
internally displaced persons, the 50,000 Liberian refugees living in
Cote d’Ivoire as well as the humanitarian personnel working to bring
aid to vulnerable populations.
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it is
about to begin to repatriate thousands of Liberian refugees in
western Cote d'Ivoire. The return will require both bus transport and
canoes. UNHCR has requested a police security escort following days
of negotiations with local villages for safe passage. Ivorian
authorities have worked hard over the past week to calm tensions
between the local population and the Liberian refugees.
STUDY: SOMALI PARENTS PAY TO HAVE CHILDREN SMUGGLED TO EUROPE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released
results of a study on Somali children prepared by its independent
humanitarian news service known as the Integrated Regional
Information Network (IRIN).
According to the report, Somali parents are paying smugglers up to US
$10,000 to take their children abroad, as part of a lucrative and
exploitative international child-smuggling business. Faced with
desperate choices, many parents who see no future in their own
country allow their children to be abandoned by "agents" at airports
and railway stations in European and North American countries.
On the reports of children being smuggled into Europe from Somalia,
the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says the reason for this phenomenon
was largely related to education at the secondary level -- Somalis
had always placed a high value on education, and currently secondary
education was not easily available in the country.
UNDP REPORTS SEVERE POVERTY LEVELS IN EUROPEAN ROMA COMMUNITIES
In Brussels, Belgium, the UN Development Programme yesterday launched
its Roma Human Development Report, "Avoiding the Dependency Trap,"
which points out that the literacy, infant mortality and basic
nutrition rates of most of Europe's four to five million Roma are
closer to levels in sub-Saharan Africa than those for other
Europeans.
Nearly half of the Roma surveyed are unemployed, and close to one in
six is "constantly starving." Only six out of 10 households have
running water, the report says, and fewer than half have toilets in
their homes. It adds that only a third of the Roma surveyed completed
primary school, while only one percent attended college.
"The international community needs to consider Roma issues from a
broader developmental perspective and ensure that Roma people have
equal access to education and job opportunities," said Kalman Mizsei,
UNDP Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States,
who supervised the survey. The survey was carried out in five
countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and
Slovakia.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
AFGHAN REFUGEES: The World Food Programme took over responsibility on
Friday from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for the distribution of
food aid to 288,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan as part of a test project
that could be extended to all areas of the world. Previously, WFP provided
the food to UNHCR, which then distributed it to the refugees.
SRI LANKA: UNHCR officials have been meeting with Sri Lankan government
representatives and Tamil Tiger rebel leaders this week to determine the
refugee agency’s possible role in returning an initial group of over
100,000 internally displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka. Also discussed during the
meeting, held in the rebel-controlled town of Kilinichchi, was the future
return of some 84,000 refugees living in the southern Indian state of Tamil
Nadu.
HEALTH: The World Health Organization announced today in a press release
that 43 new countries have been given low cost access to health journals.
The 43 countries, all with a per capita gross national product (GNP) of
between $1,000 and $1,500, will pay $1,000 annually for access to 2,200
high-quality medical journals. These countries will join the 69 low-income
countries already participating at no cost in the Health InterNetwork
Access to Research Initiative (HINARI).
UN WORKS: The first episode of a 10-part television series called “What’s
Going On?” co-produced by UN Works, will air on Sunday on the Showtime
Cable network. The first episode will feature United Nations Development
Programme Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover and will profile children in the
Caribbean living with HIV/AIDS. The series was developed in collaboration
with the United Nations Children's Fund, UNDP, the International Labour
organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
TREATIES
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production
and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction was
ratified by Cyprus, bringing the number of parties to 131.
Nicaragua acceded to the International Convention for the Suppression
of Terrorist Bombings, which now has 79 parties.
UN BUDGET: Two more Member States have paid their 2003 regular budget
contributions in full today. Canada made a payment of more than $34 million
and Hungary more than $1.6 million to bring the total of fully paid up
Members to 20.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Monday, January 20
The Security Council will hold an open meeting, at the ministerial level,
on the fight against terrorism, on which it expects also to adopt a
Presidential statement. At 12:45, French Foreign Minister Dominique de
Villepin, who will preside over the meeting, will provide a press briefing,
along with Renaud Muselier, minister of state for foreign affairs.
In New York, the executive boards of the UN Development Programme and UN
Population Fund will meet.
In Geneva, the executive board of the World Health Organization will begin
a meeting, during which, among other things, it will consider the successor
to Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland.
The Commission on Human Rights will hold a one-day meeting to elect its
bureau for its 59th session.
Tuesday, January 21
The Security Council intends to hold consultations on Georgia and a meeting
with troop contributors for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.
Wednesday, January 22
The Security Council intends to hold consultations on Lebanon and Burundi
and will also meet with troop contributors for the UN Mission for the
Referendum in Western Sahara.
Thursday, January 23
The Security Council intends to hold consultations on Western Sahara.
Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fr袨ette will speak to the McGill Model UN
in Montreal, Canada.
In Nairobi, the Committee of Permanent Representatives for the UN
Environment Programme will meet.
Friday, January 24
The Security Council has scheduled an open briefing, followed by
consultations, on Afghanistan.
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EUROPÄISCHE JOURNALISTEN-FELLOWSHIPS in BERLIN
Journalistinnen und Journalisten aus ganz Europa sowie den USA können sich
ab sofort am Journalisten-Kolleg der Freien Universität Berlin für eines der
Europäischen Journalisten-Fellowships bewerben, die in diesem Jahr zum
fünften Mal ausgeschrieben werden. Teilnehmer/innen können zwei Semester
lang aus dem Redaktionsalltag aussteigen und ein Studienjahr in Berlin
verbringen, um Wissen zu vertiefen und an einem größeren Recherche-Projekt
zu arbeiten. Gleichzeitig ermöglicht das Programm den intensiven Austausch
mit Berufskollegen aus Ost- und Westeuropa sowie den USA. Wichtigster
Bestandteil der Bewerbung ist ein Exposé für das
wissenschaftlich-journalistische Projekt, das in Berlin verfolgt werden
soll. Der schriftliche Nachweis guter Deutschkenntnisse ist für die
Teilnahme erforderlich. Das Programm beginnt im Oktober 2003 und endet im
Juli 2004. Bewerben können sich hochqualifizierte festangestellte wie auch
freiberuflich tätige Journalistinnen und Journalisten mit mehreren Jahren
Berufspraxis. Folgende Fellowships werden geboten:
Junior-Fellowships für Journalistinnen und Journalisten aus Mittel- und
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800 Euro bis 1.250 Euro monatlich bei einer Laufzeit von zehn Monaten
dotiert.
Standard-Fellowships, die - je nach Berufserfahrung - mit 1.500 Euro bis
2.250 Euro monatlich bei einer Laufzeit von zehn Monaten dotiert sind.
Einige der Stipendien sind speziell Journalistinnen und Journalisten aus
Osteuropa mit den Schwerpunkten Wirtschaft/Politik oder Kultur, jungen
Wirtschaftsjournalistinnen aus Osteuropa sowie Journalistinnen und
Journalisten aus Berliner Partnerstädten Mittel- und Osteuropas gewidmet.
Für die ersten vier Jahrgänge wurden Journalistinnen und Journalisten
angesehener Zeitungen, Fernseh- und Radiosender aus Albanien, Bulgarien,
Estland, Frankreich, Großbritannien, Island, Italien, Jugoslawien, Kroatien,
Lettland, Litauen, den Niederlanden, Norwegen, Österreich, Polen, Russland,
Schweden, der Schweiz, der Slowakei, Slowenien, Spanien, Tschechien, Ungarn,
Weißrussland und den USA sowie aus Deutschland ausgewählt.
Die Europäischen Journalisten-Fellowships werden von renommierten Stiftungen
und Unternehmen in Kooperation mit der Freien Universität Berlin getragen.
Zu den aktuellen Förderern gehören das Deutsche Programm für
transatlantische Begegnung, die FAZIT-Stiftung (Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung), die Haniel-Stiftung, die Karl-Gerold-Stiftung (Frankfurter
Rundschau), die RIAS Berlin Kommission, die Stiftung "Brandenburger Tor",
die Stiftung Pressehaus NRZ, die Stiftung "Preußische Seehandlung" sowie die
Volkswagen AG. Auch drei politische Stiftungen, die
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, die Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung und die
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, beteiligen sich.
Bewerbungsschluss ist der 31. Oktober 2002.
Nähere Informationen und Bewerbungsunterlagen:
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