REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which provided information about the fifth and final report of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food Programme; a statement by the Secretary-General concerning Israel and Iran; Geneva activities, the South Asia earthquake and other issues. Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the World Trade Organization participated in the briefing.

Final Report on Oil-for-Food Programme

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said a statement by the Spokesperson of the Secretary-General said yesterday that Mr. Annan had taken note of the findings contained in the fifth and final report of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food Programme. He noted that a vast network of kickbacks and surcharges had been exposed, involving companies registered in a wide range of Member States, and certified by them as competent to conduct business under the Programme. He hoped that national authorities would take steps to prevent the recurrence of such practices in the future, and that they would take action, where appropriate, against companies falling within their jurisdiction. Mr. Annan recalled that, in his speech to the Security Council responding to the Committee’s previous report, he had already accepted responsibility for management failures in the Secretariat. He also noted that the latest report confirmed the Committee’s earlier finding that the respective roles and responsibilities of the Secretariat, the Security Council and the 661 Committee – which approved all of the contracts, including the prices – were never clearly enough defined. Most importantly, the Secretary-General believed that thorough reform of the management structures and practices of the United Nations, especially those that related to oversight, transparency and accountability, was vital.

Paul Volcker said in a special briefing to Member States yesterday that the report was quite critical of the Security Council’s role. Part of the problem with the programme was that the Council did not delegate the administration to the Secretariat in any clear way. Throughout the lifespan of the programme, the Secretariat appeared unclear in its responsibilities. As a result, administration was clouded, decisions were not taken, and agreement was not reached on effective action even when symptoms of difficulty emerged. Faced with a programme of this sort, the Security Council ought to “make up its mind” about what to do and sufficiently delegate authority to the Secretariat to get it done. "If unable to do that, it raises a real question of whether the United Nations ought to get involved at all," he said.

The Spokesperson's statement said the Secretary-General had thanked the members of the Committee – Mr. Volcker, Justice Richard Goldstone and Professor Mark Pieth – and their whole team for the extremely thorough investigation they had conducted. Such an investigation was exactly what the Secretary-General had hoped for when he set up the Inquiry 18 months ago. He noted, as Mr. Volcker himself has done, that few other organizations would voluntarily expose themselves and their activities to such detailed scrutiny.

The statement by the Spokesperson of the Secretary-General as well as remarks by the Secretary-General on the report were available in the press room. The 600-page report was available on the UN website.

Statement by the Secretary-General Concerning Israel and Iran

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said the Secretary-General had read with dismay the remarks about Israel attributed to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Secretary-General reminded all Member States that Israel was a long-standing member of the United Nations with the same rights and obligations as every other member. He recalled in particular that, under the United Nations Charter, all members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. The Secretary-General had already decided to visit Iran during the next few weeks, to discuss other issues. He now intended to place the Middle East peace process, and the right of all States in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force, at the top of his agenda for that visit.

Copies of the statement by the Secretary-General were available in the press room.

Geneva Activities

Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said the United Nations Compensation Commission had made available yesterday more than $ 654 million to 15 Governments and 3 international organizations for distribution to 239 successful claimants in payment for damages during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991. A press release with more details was available, and an annex to the release listed the submitting entities receiving funds, and the amounts of money to be made available to each of them.

Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), and Theodor Winkler, the Director of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), had yesterday co-chaired the third joint UNOG-DCAF seminar, which was entitled "Security and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding: the Role of the United Nations". A press release on the seminar was available in the press room.

In conclusion, Mrs. Ponomareva-Piquier said journalists were invited to attend the "Folk Evening" tonight which was being organized by the Coordinating Council. The events would start at 7 p.m. in the Assembly Hall and would be inaugurated by Mr. Ordzhonikidze.

South Asia Earthquake

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the situation in Pakistan following the 8 October earthquake remained very serious. OCHA estimated that up to 30 per cent of the affected villages which had been hit by the earthquake had still not received any assistance. This meant that around 200,000 persons had not received any aid yet. This was a grave concern. The world still had a three-week window to reach persons in these remote villages but it was a logistical nightmare as roads remained blocked and it was unlikely they would be cleared in the next three or four weeks. Concerning funds, $ 117.4 million had so far been contributed or pledged for the revised appeal of $ 550 million. This was insufficient because the agencies had run out of money and would not be able to continue their aid operations. Member States had to understand the gravity of the situation and that the money was needed now, not in two or three months when it would be too late to save many lives.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the earthquake in Pakistan and the aftershocks had killed more than 53,000 people and had injured an estimated 75,000, including many health staff. According to the latest available assessments, 291 health facilities had been destroyed and 74 partially damaged of a total of 564 in the area. Less than half continued to operate. WHO was appealing for $ 27.57 million as part of the revised UN appeal, but only $ 11 million had been pledged to WHO so far. The funds were needed to increase WHO's support to the Ministry of Health of Pakistan in tackling increased access to health care, preventing disease and suffering, addressing mental health needs, and health coordination. A press release was available with more details about the health situation of the victims of the earthquake.

Damien Personnaz of the United Nations Children's Fund said UNICEF's Executive Director, Ann Veneman, speaking on the eve of a two-day trip to quake-devastated northern Pakistan, made an urgent appeal for more funding to support the massive relief effort. She expressed concern over the serious risks still facing thousands of children across the remote region. A press release with more details was available.

Mr. Personnaz said that 65,000 children in Pakistan had so far been vaccinated against measles and tetanus within the last 10 days.

Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said the window to reach earthquake survivors in the remote mountains and high valleys of Pakistan which were hit by the earthquake was fast closing with the onset of cold weather. With more than 1,000 tons of relief supplies now on the ground and more on the way, UNHCR was working with the Pakistan military, the UN Joint Logistics Cell and other partners to get these materials distributed quickly. This was still a life-saving operation and every minute counted.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said WFP had so far distributed 3,000 tons of food aid to half a million persons. It was insufficient in contrast to the needs. A WFP team estimated that 2.3 million persons needed food aid, but funding remained a problem. WFP had only received 16 per cent of the $ 56 million it had appealed for. The money was needed now because unless the food was pre-positioned, it would be too late.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said millions of Pakistani earthquake victims faced a bleak winter without a roof over their heads unless the international community provided more money for logistics, tents and shelter materials in the coming days. The message from the UN emergency shelter cluster was that Pakistan still faced a shortfall of up to 200,000 shelters to accommodate over three million people made homeless by the 8 October earthquake.
A lack of funding might affect how the victims were helped. IOM had appealed for
$ 60.5 million to fund emergency shelter, logistics and health projects to help up to two million vulnerable people, but it had so far received pledges for just $ 8 million, some of them unconfirmed.

Mark Oliver of the World Meteorological Organization said according to the seasonal weather outlook for Pakistan and the earthquake-affected areas, snowfall had already been reported from isolated places in calamity-hit areas of Pakistan in the last days of October. Initial overview of the regional and global parameters indicated that another harsh winter was approaching the area. Snowfall was expected to considerably exceed the normal range, both in terms of frequency and quantity. As such, the temperatures were likely to range well below normal. This outlook had just been released by the Pakistani Meteorological Department.

Human Rights

José Luis Díaz, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights, said the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Juan Miguel Petit, would be visiting Albania from 31 October to 7 November 2005 and Greece from 8 to 14 November. He would be focusing in both countries the trafficking of children for prostitution and other purposes. The Special Rapporteur was scheduled to visit Tirana, Korca, Elbasan and Athens. He would be presenting his report on the visits early next year.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said that for the meeting on avian flu which would be held at WHO from 7 to 9 November, she was trying to organize a link between WHO and the Palais des Nations so that journalists could follow the proceedings on the phone. There would also be briefings twice a day, around 12:30 p.m. and around 6:30 p.m.. She would have more details next week concerning this important meeting which more than 50 journalists had so far registered to cover.

A journalist said the media was reporting two human cases of avian flu in China and asked if more details were available. Ms. Chaib said WHO had heard about these cases in the media, a girl and her brother. WHO had asked the Ministry of Health of China to investigate the case and a team had already been dispatched to the area to investigate. WHO had offered assistance. For the time being, there was no confirmation if these were really the first human cases of avian flu in mainland China.

Aurelia Blin of the World Trade Organization said there would be services negotiations on 31 October and 3 November. There would also be meetings of the trade policy review of Bolivia on 1 November and 3 November. A complete list of the meetings for next week was available in the press room. Concerning WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, he would be meeting with the Director-General of UNOG, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, on 1 November. He would also be meeting with the Director of Medecins Sans Frontiers on 3 November.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said tropical storm Beta was threatening Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras. The worst-affected countries were Nicaragua and Honduras. They had been hit by heavy rains from the tropical storm. UNDAC teams would be arriving in Nicaragua in the next couple of days to assess the situation.

Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said that in Zamiba, the number of persons in need of food aid had increased. The poor harvest now meant that 1.7 million persons instead of 1.1 million now needed food aid. The prices had increased so much that most people could no longer afford to buy food. WFP needed $ 32.8 million to help the affected population until the next harvest. Zambia had also launched an appeal for international help.

Ron Redmond of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees said UNHCR was running rapidly out of funds for one of its biggest voluntary repatriation operations worldwide and the largest in Africa. Unless money was received immediately, UNHCR would have no choice but to reduce or even suspend the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Burundian refugees from Tanzania. It would also no longer be able to support reintegration activities for returnees within Burundi. Out of the $ 62 million UNHCR needed, it had only received $ 29 million, a shortfall of 52 per cent.

Klomjit Chandrapanya the World Health Organization said there would be a press conference on 31 October on the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize which would be awarded to "Partners in Health." The co-founders of the charity, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, Director HIV/AIDS Department, WHO, and Dr. Paul Farmer, would be speaking at the briefing, as well as Steven Hilton, Chairman and CEO of the Hilton Foundation, and Ophelia Dahl, co-founder and Executive Director of Partners in Health. The press conference would be held at 1 p.m. in Room III.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration said IOM Harare had launched a nationwide multimedia information campaign aimed at reducing the risks linked to irregular migration and HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Chauzy said according to an IOM survey, the number of people being trafficked from Lithuania to work in the sex trade had increased since the country had joined the European Union. The data, which was collected together with five Lithuanian organizations, had also revealed that internal trafficking was also on the rise, accounting for 33 per cent of all caseloads in the country.

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