The environment in the news wednesday, 15 August 2007 unep and the Executive Director in the News
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
Download 361.33 Kb.
|
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL13 August 2007 _____________________________________________________________________________ The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Michèle Montas, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Good afternoon all. **Statement on Sierra Leone We have a statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the conduct of the Sierra Leone elections. The Secretary-General was pleased to learn that polling in Sierra Leone’s presidential and parliamentary elections was successfully conducted on 11 August in a generally peaceful atmosphere, with high voter turnout. The Secretary-General congratulates the people of Sierra Leone for showing their commitment to the consolidation of peace and democracy in their country, and commends the National Electoral Commission and Sierra Leone’s security agencies for putting in place security and administrative arrangements that facilitated the efficient conduct of the polling process. He also thanks all national and international stakeholders that provided material and technical support to the Electoral Commission, or fielded observers for the elections. As the counting of ballots continues over the coming days, the Secretary-General urges all Sierra Leoneans to preserve an atmosphere of calm and public order, and to resolve any potential disputes through the established legal channels. ** Sierra Leone Also on Sierra Leone, the Executive Representative of the Secretary-General, Victor Angelo, also appealed to all -- women, men and youth -- to let the National Electoral Commission and its polling officers do their work. He asked them to keep the same spirit of tolerance that was shown during the campaigns. Concerning questions raised about the processing of the election results in the districts of Kailahun and Kenema, the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone stresses that the process is being followed exactly as planned and remains within the established procedures. And you can find Mr. Angelo’s message upstairs in my office. ** Western Sahara On Western Sahara, on Saturday, as you know, representatives of Morocco and the Frente Polisario concluded a two-day meeting in Manhasset, New York, continuing their discussions under the auspices of the Secretary-General. Representatives of Algeria and Mauritania were also present at the opening and closing sessions, and were consulted separately during the talks. Following the conclusion of the meeting, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, said that he is pleased that substantive talks were held in which the parties interacted with one another and expressed their views. He added that, at his initiative, the parties heard presentations by United Nations experts on specific issues, such as natural resources and local administration. Confidence-building measures were also proposed for discussions. The parties acknowledge that the current status quo is unacceptable and that the process of negotiations will continue. We have the communiqué issued by van Walsum upstairs. **Statement on Afghanistan The Secretary-General -– another statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the release of the two hostages in Afghanistan –- the Secretary-General is pleased to note that two hostages from the Republic of Korea have been released in Afghanistan. He hopes that the remaining Korean, Afghan and German hostages will be released in the coming days. **Security Council Security Council -- François Lonseny Fall, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, briefed the Security Council this morning on the recent developments in that country. You’ll recall that, last week, Ambassador Fall addressed the National Reconciliation Congress in Mogadishu, urging the Transitional Federal Government to invite opposition groups to join the debate. ** Somalia Still on Somalia, Eric Laroche, the UN Resident and the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, has strongly condemned the killing of two prominent figures in the Somali independent media within hours of each other on Saturday. He called for decisive action to ensure the freedom and safety of the media. These are the most recent in a spate of attacks against the media in Somalia, which brings to six the number of journalists killed in the country this year. Laroche calls on all authorities and other groups throughout the country to respect the right of all to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information through any media. The violent events of the last days show how vulnerable freedom of expression remains in Somalia. We have a press release upstairs with more details. **Timor-Leste On Timor-Leste, UN police in Timor-Leste have arrested more than 30 people in relation to the violence in the eastern part of the country over the past few days. Also, further police investigations are continuing into the violence that has taken place over the past week. At the same time, the situation in the capital, Dili, and the district of Baucau have been calm over the past few days, and the UN police and international forces continue to maintain a strong presence across the country. We have a press release from the UN Mission in Timor-Leste upstairs. The fighting has caused hundreds of people to flee their homes and, today, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducted a rapid preliminary assessment by helicopter. The Government of Timor-Leste has provided 5 metric tons of rice to be distributed tomorrow morning, and we are providing air transport and facilitation. ** Liberia On Liberia, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Alan Doss, called on communities to help prevent violence during the recent opening of a new police station in the New Kru Town Community in Monrovia. Doss used the opportunity to assure Liberians that security remained the top priority for the UN Mission in Liberia. We have a press release upstairs with more details. ** Sudan – Humanitarian On Sudan, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the fourth Darfur emergency food security assessment got under way today in all three states of Sudan’s Darfur region. The UN is supporting the survey, which is led by the Government of Sudan. Also from OCHA, on the flooding in South Asia, the UN is offering Governments up to $20 million for their response to the heavy monsoon rains there. We have more information in a press release upstairs. **Women Security Officers The Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General attended, this morning at Headquarters, a ceremony to welcome the first class of 12 female security officers. This is the first all-female class since the recruitment of the first three female officers in 1975. Welcoming the recruits to the UN family, the Secretary-General stressed his commitment to gender parity at all levels of the United Nations. “We need to be exemplary and to be the first organization to keep the internationally agreed commitment of having full gender balance,” he said. Also speaking at the induction ceremony, the Deputy Secretary-General, Asha-Rose Migiro, said the class was an important signal of the direction in which we must go to achieve the 50-50 gender balance in the staff of the United Nations, as called for by the General Assembly. She stressed the Secretary-General’s leadership role in this, as well as her own commitment to working towards that goal. The first all-female class will start their training today. **UNICEF Ambassadors UNICEF has announced the appointment of two new ambassadors. South African couturier and humanitarian activist Gavin Rajah has been named a Goodwill Ambassador, and basketball star Manu Ginobili, a triple NBA champion and Olympic medallist, has been appointed UNICEF’s newest Argentina Ambassador. We have more information in press releases upstairs. This is all I have for you. Thank you. **Questions and Answers Question: The rebel leader, Suleiman Jamous, has threatened to turn –- needs an operation -- has threatened to turn himself over to Sudanese jails if the UN doesn’t fly him out, because the UN says it can’t do it now in Darfur, and he wants an answer by Thursday. Is there a yes or no response, or what? Spokesperson: We don’t have a response yet, but I’ll get that for you. Question: Is there going to be one by Thursday, one way or another? Spokesperson: I don’t know yet, but there is concern expressed about this upstairs, and I can tell you there will be a response. Question: Could you, and I hope I didn’t miss this, could you tell us what happened with the hacking of the UN website yesterday? Spokesperson: Yes, well we had two attacks that occurred during the day. In the morning -– it started at 9 a.m. in the morning, but we managed to get the services back shortly before 12. A number of sites were attacked -- our own, the Secretary-General’s site, statements in particular, were replaced by a statement made by the hackers. It lasted a few minutes, but we managed to get them off, and change that. We also had to change our archives and to redo, actually rebuild the whole site. However, measures have been taken for this not to occur anymore. We are very concerned that this happened. Quick action, as I said, was used to prevent damage to our own computer system, and the Department of Public Information is working with the Information Technology Services Division to prevent future occurrences. Question: Any suspicion of an inside job? Spokesperson: At this time we are still investigating. We don’t know. It was -– the message was signed by three hackers. Of course, they were all pseudonyms. We can’t really know their names, but these are real people. Question: Over this UN re-engagement in Iraq. Has the United Nations been given a guarantee by the Iraqi Government about the security of personnel, or any guarantees have been received by the occupying force, by the UN so that it can send its personnel there? Spokesperson: As the Secretary-General mentioned when he spoke to you on Friday, we’re working on this, and we’re working on the security guarantees before, of course, we deploy the people who should be deployed there. Question: On Somalia, there’s a report out today by Human Rights Watch, which calls for even the Secretary-General to support additional human rights monitors in Somalia and take other steps. I understand that the Security Council has its own consideration, but the Secretary-General, what’s the Secretariat’s response to the call that they should do more in Somalia and that the human rights violations by the TFG and others…? Spokesperson: Well, those human rights violations have been a constant concern. I mean, we have talked about it before and this is not the first time they occur. As I read earlier, you know, the UN Representative there spoke about the murder of those two journalists. There are some concerns. Will there be people deployed there in the near future? I don’t know at this point, but I will definitely inquire. The human rights office in Geneva should be able to give us some answers. Question: And I wanted to ask one question about the building. There was a story in the Washington Post on Saturday about the City of New York seeming to say that even tours would be cancelled if repairs of the building don’t move faster. One thing I want to know is whether the reported violations, whether the UN is going to release it. Spokesperson: [talkover] Yes? Question: …the 866 either violations or recommendations. Can we get a copy of the report to see what the violations are? Spokesperson: Yes, and we can also get you copies of a series of letters which have been exchanged between the UN and the Mayor’s office. To me, it is important to note that the Secretary-General and his team are truly committed to the safety of our staff. They want a safe and secure environment for the staff here and also for the visitors to the UN complex. And we have made clear that we are going to work -– and we have been working -- with the City of New York on this in a spirit of constructive cooperation. So that has not changed. The last meeting was on 31 July. There was a letter on 9 August written by the Under-Secretary-General for Management, Alicia Bárcena. She wrote New York City Commissioner Margaret Tiven to detail the steps taken so far to improve the UN Headquarters building, even before the Capital Master Plan is started. We have activated this month a direct notification system, which links the UN with the New York City Fire Department. The equipment is installed, so that part of it is done. By the end of September, we expect to sign a contract for smoke detectors. And I think we have significantly expedited the procurement process to allow these changes to take place. But, as you know, we have to go through procurement for those expenses. And, for instance, the fire code regulations, to really enforce all of the requests we would need about $4 million. Question: [Inaudible] the Sun first reported this, but I also wanted to know… Spokesperson: That’s true, he’s right. Question: The last thing I have on this is whether the report –- the initial report that the City gave to the UN saying there’s 866 things to be fixed. I’m just wondering if that document, either we as the press or people that work here, can see. Spokesperson: I can ask for you, but I know, since then, a number of improvements have taken place and this continues. As you know, there are, of course, some limitations. It’s very difficult, for instance, to install fire walls when you have a number of Heads of State here for security reasons. They can be only installed afterwards. So that’s one of the… Question: [talkover] Follow-up on that? Spokesperson: Yes, sure. Question: Specifically in the letter, in the Margaret Tiven letter, she mentioned the question of the sprinklers, and she said the pace of installing them is unacceptable. She used the word “unacceptable”. The question is, what did she mean? I mean, is it acceptable that, after such a long time, the New York Fire Department says, you have to put these in, they are still waiting for contracts? Spokesperson: No, I think it’s a question of, you know, there are a number of other measures that have been taken. For the sprinkler system, it’s going to be an extremely expensive system to install right now, in an old building, which, as you know, is going to be refurbished completely. So it’s… Question: You’re waiting for a contractor. That means you don’t even know how much money it will cost. Spokesperson: Well, I think you can have that information. We have an idea of how much it will cost. Question: An idea, but if you haven’t even picked a contractor, I mean, that’s a long, long process just to pick a contractor. Spokesperson: Well, you know, considering where we were when that first series of violations was sent to the UN, and where we are right now, I think we have gone a long way. And I think you should consider that also. Let me ask you. Let me ask you. I can ask the people who are dealing with Mrs. Tiven to come here and explain to you what has been done, and give you the details you want. Yes. Correspondent: [talkover] Question: Ms. Bárcena, I think, already tried that at her press conference last week, but the point is, do we know briefly what has been done, because they have been complaining for quite a while. Like in the last year, what has been done? When the Mayor was here he also raised it. In the last year, what has been done, if anything? Spokesperson: Well, this is why I said if you want more details I can get someone. Yes? I didn’t hear that, I’m sorry. Question: We keep hearing the same thing all the time, and it doesn’t matter, you know -- we don’t want to know every little detail, just the important things, like sprinklers and smoke detectors, and things that guard the alleged safety of the staff. It doesn’t matter if the Secretary-General is concerned. What has been done? Spokesperson: Well, I mean, I just gave you examples of what has been done in terms –- now the contacts are direct with the Fire Department. There was equipment installed -- communication equipment -- which allowed us to get in touch immediately with the Fire Department, which did not exist before, and if you need more details on what has been done step by step, you’ll get it. Yes? Question: Today is supposedly the start of a workshop in Afghanistan on the protection of civilians. Do you have any more details on that, exactly who’s involved or anything else? Spokesperson: Not yet, not yet. The question was raised this morning, but we don’t have any details on it yet. But we should get that a little later this afternoon. Question: Michèle, welcome back. The negotiations on Western Sahara in Manhasset this past weekend, even though they touched on substance, as you indicated, were by all accounts inconclusive. What are the plans of the Personal Envoy at this stage? Is he going to report to the Security Council or the Secretary-General? Is he going to travel to the region? Is he going to concentrate on the proposals before the negotiators or is he going to make some suggestions? What are his plans? Spokesperson: Well, he’s not going to report to the Security Council. In fact, he’s supposed to travel today. But he is certainly going to speak to the Secretary-General. As soon as a conversation takes place, I will let you know what was said during that conversation. Question: Just to follow-up on the Long Island talks. Again, is there anything -- kind of more detailed briefing -- of what these two sides have been talking about, because very little has been leaked? We want to know how much progress has been made, where the next session is going to be held. Spokesperson: Well, we don’t have the date or a place for the next session yet. What we know is that they are talking, and they have decided to keep on talking. That’s really what we can say, which is, I think, a positive thing. Since they haven’t spoken for so long, I think the first meeting that was held in Manhasset was a good step. Now there was another one taken. Obviously there was no breakthrough. Of course not. And I think it’s going to take a while. Question: [Inaudible] I know you were not there, but we received promises that we were going to get some facilities to cover these talks by the Deputy Spokesman. You were away and, as usual, the journalists ended up being stranded on the street for two days, without any access at all, and I just hope that, if this will ever happen again, that you treat us a little bit better if possible. Spokesperson: Well, yes, thanks for telling me that, but I can tell you that the parties themselves don’t want the press to be present. So I think that’s one essential problem. Yes, Mark? Question: Just back to this cyber… Spokesperson: Welcome back. Question: Thank you. Just back to this cyber attack. There’s a certain amount of sort of crowing on various hackers’ sites, that the UN uses pretty antiquated technology and that’s how they’re able to use this fairly simple technique to get it. And a lot of surprise expressed that such an international organization laid itself so wide open to an obvious attack. Are there any plans to sort of redo the system on which you base your website? Spokesperson: Yes, definitely. I think one of the dangers is, of course, that, you know, the fact that we could post information so fast and so readily might be hampered by that. But of course there will some measures taken. Question: Did you also talk to UNEP (the United Nations Environment Programme)? Because the UNEP site in Paris was attacked as well. Spokesperson: Yes, they also attacked the ECOSOC site. They also attacked the CyberSchoolBus site, so there were a number of sites attacked at the same time. Question: And just on slightly similar things, like security, is it true that UNDP has hired cyber security experts to try to track who has been leaking information to journalists. Spokesperson: That I don’t know. That I don’t know. I can check. Sure. Pardon me? Question: Follow-up on that? Are any of the internal systems, have they been compromised in any way, you know, the financial systems? Spokesperson: No, no. Question: You know that for a fact? Spokesperson: Yes. We know that for a fact. We know exactly which sites were attacked… Question: Only the public ones? Spokesperson: Only the public ones were attacked. Yes. Question: All of the people were Sudanese? All of them? Spokesperson: We have no idea what they were. Those are the names -– pseudonyms -- that were used. We don’t know what they are. Why are you assuming they are Sudanese? Correspondent: [talkover] Question: I thought everybody knew these were people representing themselves as Turks. A Turkish website, right? Spokesperson: No, only one of them claimed to be Turkish. We don’t have yet the information, the results, of… right now, what we are doing is just protecting our sites. Question: Are you investigating this as UN, or are you hiring in any kind of national cyber security helpers or any private companies, or something like that? Spokesperson: Well, for the time being it’s being investigated within the house. Question: And why were you using such an antiquated, leaky system? Spokesperson: Well, essentially, because the UN, like the building, you know, we are improving slowly, and it takes some time. Question: [Inaudible] Spokesperson: Exactly. The start of it. Question: One other thing on this cyber thing. Are you looking at this more as a nasty prank, or is this a form of cyber terrorism? And as follow-up, what is the UN doing about the issue of cyber terrorism, since one of the things the UN looks into is counter-terrorism efforts? And then I have a couple of UNDP questions. Spokesperson: Yes, the cyber terrorism is an issue that has been discussed for a while in the house. Is this seen as cyber terrorism? I don’t know. I think it was seen more like a prank. And this was done before to other sites. The UN is not the only site, I mean, the same hackers have gone to other sites in different places. And, in fact, when you go through the names, you see the number of sites that they have invaded in the last few years –- few months. It’s not just the UN. Question: You said the same hackers have gone into other sites. Does that mean you have identified them and know who they are? Spokesperson: No, they just have their pseudonyms. Correspondent: The same pseudonyms. Spokesperson: The same pseudonyms -- people using the same pseudonyms. Are they the same people? I don’t know. Yes? Question: There was a report that what was posted on the Secretary-General’s site was criticism of Mideast policy and the United States. Can you confirm that? Directory: cpi -> briefs briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news Download 361.33 Kb. Share with your friends:
|