TALKING POINTS

Afghanistan Secco Briefing

On Friday, the Security Council was briefed by the Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast. That was a regularly scheduled briefing. A few hours earlier there was a short written statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Mr. Brahimi. In it, he said that "the conclusion of the Emergency Loya Jirga marks a crucial milestone in the Afghanistan peace process."

He also qualified as "significant that, despite efforts to threaten and intimidate delegates, which the United Nations strongly condemns, most delegates did find the courage to raise controversial issues and make daring proposals." Despite its flaws, he said, "the Loya Jirga represents one step forward in a peace process that is bound to take years. I applaud the delegates for their courage and determination during the last week," he concluded.

In his briefing to Security Council members, Under Secretary-General Prendergast presented what he called a generally positive assessment of the Loya Jirga. But such view, he said, should not "give comfort to thaose who employed tactics of intimidation and fear during the Loya Jirga process. The Bureau of the Loya Jirga and UNAMA", he said, "have documented various cases of intimidation, which have been brought to the attention of the Afghan government." He added that "it is vital that the Afghan authorities highlight and address, as much as possible, the instances where democratic rights have been abused by those who still equate power with force and violence."

Prendergast also said "given the importance of peace and security in the transitional period, the contributing nations to ISAF and the Security Council may wish again to consider the possibility of a limited expansion of ISAF to areas outside Kabul."

SRSG meeting with the Loya Jirga Commission

Yesterday, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi held his last meeting with the Special Independent Commission for the Convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga. The meeting was for Mr. Brahimi to thank them for their work and also to say good-bye since the Commission will cease to exist now that the Loya Jirga has taken place.

SRSG meets Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan

Members of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission will for the first time formally meet the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Lakhdar Brahimi at 11:00 a.m. today in this conference room.

On 6 June, Chairman of the Interim Administration, Hamid Karzai, signed into law, a decree establishing the independent body. According to that decree, the Commission is charged with developing a national plan of action for human rights in Afghanistan. The 11-member body is composed of persons who were appointed based on their individual human rights expertise, personal and professional integrity as well as their competence, demonstrated independence and commitment to human rights and public credibility.

Members of the Commission will serve for a term of two years from the date of their appointment. During this tenure they shall not be subject to removal by any external authority.

We will have a photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting.

IOM - Resumption of Return Assistance for Internally Displaced Persons

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) this week restarted return assistance to Internally displaced Afghans following pledges of new funding from several donors. IOM plans to move 9,500 people fro IDP cams in Herat and 8,800 people from camps in Mazar-e-Sharif between now and the end of the month. It would then have to review the funding situation on an ongoing basis.

The limited nature of the funding would however result in a more tightly focused programme targeting only internally displaced persons, IOM informed us. Previous IOM's transport network also served refugees returning home to Afghanistan from Iran.

Another side of their programme that needs more funding is the Return of Qualified Afghans Programms (RQA). While they are expecting substantial funding from the European Union by November, right now they are in a very difficult situation. In the last month alone there was a request for the recruitment of 740 individuals for Afghan institutions in public and private sector as well as local and international NGOs. IOM has a roster of 5,494 qualified Afghans but because of the funding crisis, the RQA programme is not in a position to act on any of those 740 requests for placement of Afghans here in the country unless bridging funds are provided shortly, the RQA programme will be forced to shut down in three weeks. There are more details are in the note that IOM has distributed to you.

UNDCP/ODCCP - International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

This Wednesday, 26 June, the United Nations will celebrate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Trafficking. The theme of the 2002 international day is Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS.

The State High Commission for Drug Control of Afghanistan and the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNDCP/ODCCP) are jointly organizing an event in the auditorium of the Kabul University in commemoration of the day.

In order to tell you more details about the event, our guest next Tuesday will be Bernard Frahi, ODCCP Country Office Representative for Afghanistan.

European Union Press Conference

The European Union asked us to inform you that the Special Representative of the European Union in Afghanistan, Ambassador Klaus-Peter Klaiber, will give his final press conference at 12.00 p.m. today.

Mr. Klaiber has held his current post in Afghanistan for the last six months and will be succeeded by Mr. Francesc Vendrell in July.

The press conference will take place in the Office of the Special Representative of the European Union, near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

UNICEF - Auxiliary Midwives Training Programme Begins in Eastern Region - Chulho Hyun

An auxiliary midwives training program began on 20 June in the Shinwar district of Nangarhar. Twenty-five women were chosen by their communities to participate in the programme, which will run for one year. The goal of the programme is to increase the coverage and quality of emergency obstetrics care.

While the trainees will not be certified as full-fledged midwives, they will have the ability to practice skilled medical interventions in the event of complications at birth. This will ultimately save lives. Although this is the first midwife training programme to be organized, UNICEF and its implementation partner, HealthNet International, hope to have similar programmes in Herat and Kandahar in the near future.

UNICEF - Formation of Obstetrics & Gynecology Society of Afghanistan - Chulho Hyun

The Obstetrics & Gynecology Society of Afghanistan, the first of its kind in Afghanistan, was formed on 5 June, with technical support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The Society is open to nationals and internationals working as or trained as obstetricians or gynecologists in Afghanistan. There are 40 or more members so far.

The Society, which is a part of an International Federation based in France, is designing an exam that will be used to certify obstetricians and gynecologists. This will upgrade the standards of obstetrics being practiced throughout Afghanistan, another important step in reducing the high rate of maternal mortality.

WFP - Visit of Executive Director, UN World Food Programme - Alejandro Chicheri

James T. Morris, the Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme starts a two-day visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday.

In the morning we are preparing a field visit to which you are all invited. We will leave from the WFP office at 10:00 a.m. and Mr. Morris will be visiting one of the women's bakeries and one of the school feeding missionaries.

In the afternoon at 5:00 p.m. there will be a press briefing after Mr. Morris' meetings with high ranking officials of the Afghan Transitional Administration. He will meet with President Karzai and with SRSG Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi.

On the second day he plans to visit Mazar and Bamyan. This is Mr. Morris' first official visit to Afghanistan and he will return to Pakistan on 28 June.

UNHCR Update on Refugees - Yusuf Hassan

We have good news, the ranch border crossing in the south which was closed for security reasons has now reopened.

Since 20 June we have returnees using that route to return back home. At the same time Nawa Pass in Pakistan which was temporarily closed on Thursday because of a security incident, leaving several refugees stranded there, has reopened and is now back and fully operational and refugees are returning through that route.

A convoy of 15 trucks with supplies of shelter material left Peshawar yesterday with timber material, this is shelter material which is going to used in the housing project for returnees and IDPs. This convoy is expected to arrive in Kabul this afternoon.

At the same time the repatriation of refugees continues. We have a total of 1,042,348 Afghans returning home since the start of the repatriation operation about 15 weeks ago. 953,526 have returned from Pakistan and nearly 80,000 have returned from Iran.

If any of you are interested in covering the arrival and offloading of this timber material that has been brought from South Africa and Tanzania come and see me. We are bringing this from outside the country in order to save the forests of this country. There is simply not enough timber or beams to be able to build the 70,000 housing units that we hope to assist in housing the refugees and the returnees who may not be able to find their house intact.

Questions & Answers

Q: Could you give us a comment on the line-up of the cabinet of the Transitional Administration?
Spokesman: There are some new names. President Karzai himself, at the Loya Jirga when he announced the first group, he said how difficult a job it was for him to put the cabinet together, so I believe, that the fact that the cabinet remains just about the same number of members as it did before, probably reflects that very difficult task. It was a very difficult balancing act.

Talking about balance, it is the ethnic balance that seems to be a bit better then it was before. There are some minority groups represented. There are still two ministers to be appointed.

So, the bottom line is that it does look that it is a bit better balanced in terms of ethnic balance and obviously, what we see now does seem to indicate what the President had said before that it was a very difficult task to put together this cabinet attempting to reflect all the different forces in the country.

Q: I understand that Mr. Brahimi along with some US officials met yesterday with Mr. Qanouni. Can you confirm that and give any details about what was discussed?
Spokesman: I don't know if they met yesterday. I was with Mr. Brahimi this morning and we talked about a number of issues [but this did not come up]. That does not mean that it did not take place, but at this point I don't have the information to confirm one way or the other.

Q: Did you discuss this morning the issue of the situation with the Interior Ministry leadership and the new Deputy for Internal Security?
Spokesman: Yes we did. The transfer of authority took place yesterday. Minister Qanouni handed over to Minister Wardak. It was done in accordance with every good practice and there is a new Minister of Interior who will run the Ministry.

Q: Can you tell us any more details about how Mr. Qanouni's role as Internal Deputy of Internal Security fits into the whole picture of the Interior Ministry in terms of security?
Spokesman: No, I would not be able to comment on that. You would really have to discuss with the Afghan Authorities on that one.

Q: On the Under Secretary-General's brief to the Security Council. Was the security situation in the north of the country a topic?
Spokesman: Yes, it was mentioned. I did not mention it [earlier] as it was a very long briefing. Basically what was included in the briefing to the Council was very much what we have stated here last Saturday. [It was] formally [brought] to the attention of the Council members that situation.

Q: We have noticed that they don't have any announcement yet about the Minister of Women's Affairs. Can you tell us why?
Spokesman: No, the only information that I have is that there will be the Ministry of Women's Affairs. There is no question of doing away with it. I know that the Ministry will continue. Now, who that person might be, that is of course up to President Karzai and I would not be able to shed any light on that.

Q: So you say that it will continue as a Ministry rather than an Afghan Department is that correct?
Spokesman: That is my understanding. I understand that it will continue as a Ministry.

Q: How do you see the climate of the Vice President Hadji Ghadir? A Governor and is very famous for his financial sources from opium cultivation and it is said that the British government has expressed informally their objection for his assignment.
Spokesman: I am not familiar with that and you will have to check with the British government on how they feel about it. I don't have any comments to make other than to imagine that the President and his advisors when the President made the decision, of course, he was attempting to take into consideration the different forces. He is taking into consideration the active political forces in the country in order to include them in his government, bring them into his government. But, it would be beyond my responsibility here as UNAMA Spokesman to speculate any further on appointments of the cabinet and really, I would have to refer you to the Afghan authorities.

Q: Kabul State Television reports that of the Deputy Ministers, the Deputy Chiefs that were announced by Mr. Karzai at the end of the Loya Jirga that Mr. Fahim is first Deputy Chief. Is that your understanding of the way this situation is working? Is there one Deputy that has seniority over another?
Spokesman: I don't know.

Thank you very much, have a good day and we will see you all on Tuesday if not before.