United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-04-20

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 20 April, 1998

HEADLINES

• In San Francisco, Secretary-General says UN is experiencing "best and worst of times".
• Globalization and financial turmoil discussed at special Economic and Social Council/Bretton Woods meeting.
• Secretary-General committed to making UN remain close partner with Asia and Pacific nations.
• Commission on Sustainable Development begins annual session at UN Headquarters.
• Head of United Nations Iraq Programme is in London to attend European Union discussion of oil-for-food programme.
• UNICEF calls for immediate release of aid workers held hostage in Somalia.
• Exhumations of mass graves sites in former Yugoslavia begins.

"I am emboldened to think ambitiously for our United Nations. At the same time, I am constrained and disturbed by the Organization's precarious and perpetual financial instability," the Secretary-General said. It was no exaggeration to say that the United Nations is on the edge: on the edge of scaling back its operations, on the edge of being unable to meet the most basic expectations of the world's people, he said.

The United States was the biggest debtor, but only 56 nations had paid their current assessments, the Secretary-General continued. "The lack of commitment runs wide and deep, despite successful diplomacy with Baghdad; despite my 'quiet revolution' of UN reform and renewal; and despite a long list of UN achievements spanning more than half a century. This problem has not gone away; it may be getting worse."

The recent agreement in Baghdad on access by UN weapons inspectors showed what a united and determined international community could achieve through the United Nations, Mr. Annan said. What had been achieved in Iraq, must also be achieved across the entire agenda: the fight against drug trafficking, for example, the struggle to uphold human rights or the negotiations to establish an International Criminal Court.

Coming on the heels of the recent semi-annual meeting of the Bretton Woods institutions in nearby Washington, D.C., the event offered participants an opportunity to confront the challenges of globalization and other issues, including the recent turmoil in East Asia's markets.

In his opening address, Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenged those present to deal with the negative impact of globalization. "The question to be addressed is whether we can find ways to preserve the benefits of open financial markets while reducing the risks of crises and designing tools to deal with them that will be less costly in human terms," he said.

Mr. Annan called for a wide-ranging exchange of views on the subject, saying that the moment was right for a policy dialogue. "The United Nations is no longer constrained by the East-West rivalry of the past, while membership of the IMF and the World Bank is becoming increasingly universal, " he noted, adding, "Even more important, there is now far greater consensus on the nature of the development process."

"There is universal recognition that global financial integration is not an option -- it is an historic shift," said Council Vice-President Ambassador Paolo Fulci of Italy, who chaired the meeting. Summing up the discussions, he noted that participants shared a widespread and deep concern about the adverse consequences of East Asia's financial crisis for vulnerable groups, and the profound consequences for poverty. "There was unanimity that special efforts need to be made to protect the poor and other vulnerable groups in times of crisis," he said. "The wide- ranging nature of the fall- out from the crisis calls for a collective response involving all our institutions to varying degrees," he added.

IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus said that too many crises arose because the opinion of the international community was not heeded. "Surgery" then had to be applied. Countries showed their problems when it was too late to avert the crisis, he said, adding that the IMF was at the service of any country or group of countries which needed help to overcome their economic problems.

The Managing Director of the World Bank, Sven Standstrom, said he had no doubt that the Asian miracle would resurge. He stressed the need to ensure that globalization was a strong force for poverty reduction, noting that there had not been mention at the special meeting of the strong performance of poor countries in Africa where growth had increased to 4 per cent. He called for better collaboration and coordination between the Bank and United Nations agencies at the agency and country levels, with governments in the driver's seat.

Panelists at the high-level meeting included Philippe Maystadt, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Belgium and Chairman of the IMF Interim Committee; Anwar Ibrahim, Minister for Finance of Malaysia and Chairman of the Development Committee of the World Bank; Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development of the United Kingdom, speaking on behalf of the Intergovernmental Group of 10; Abdelkrim Harchaoui, Minister for Finance of Algeria and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Group of 24; Fuad Bawazier, Minister for Finance of Indonesia and Chairman of the "Group of 77" developing countries; James Michel, Chairman of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee; Eduardo Fernandez, Vice-Minister for Finance of Colombia, Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement; and Antonio Casas Gonzales, President of the Central Bank of Venezuela and former chairman of the Group of 24.

In a message to the 54th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand, the Secretary-General said that although it was an especially difficult time for the region, there was room for optimism. "Sound fundamentals, abundant natural resources and a well-educated work force are grounds for optimism", Mr. Annan noted.

ESCAP's Executive Secretary Adrianus Mooy challenged delegates to promote good governance. He said there was a crying need for policies that would promote good governance and the development of societies where people were aware of the key social issues. "What we need to do is to ensure that the required social safety nets are in place to cushion the impact of the crisis in such areas as productivity and employment, health care and education, Mr. Mooy stated.

The Commission monitors implementation of Agenda 21 adopted at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. This year, for the first time, a new "industry segment" will provide an avenue for direct dialogue between governments, the business community, trade unions, and civil society.

Commission Chairman Cielito Habito of the Philippines, said the innovative segment will help make the Commission more responsive to the needs of those beyond government. Speaking at a UN press conference Monday morning, he said great value must be placed on the role of civil society and the private sector in the kind of work that the Commission must keep doing in order to truly and meaningfully push Agenda 21 forward.

At several preparatory meetings, there was agreement on basic principles concerning freshwater management, including the responsibility of ensuring that people everywhere had adequate access to potable drinking water and sanitation, Mr. Habito said. There was also agreement on the need to work together on such economic issues as the pricing of fresh water and cost recovery, with the proviso that sections of society unable to pay the actual costs of water receive appropriate subsidies. The main points of contention concerned such "ticklish issues" as management of shared water resources, Mr. Habito added.

Representatives of United Nations agencies participating in the programme are also attending.

United Nations Spokesman Fred Eckhard reminded reporters on Monday that before leaving for London, Mr. Sevan had briefed the Security Council on the issue. His briefing had highlighted the main points in the Secretary- General's report to the Security Council on Iraq's capacity to produce and export oil, Mr. Eckhard pointed out.

The Secretary-General recommended that the Security Council allow Iraq to purchase $300 million worth of spare parts and equipment to repair its oil infrastructure.

In a statement Monday, UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy, asked the Somali faction leaders holding the hostages to recall the ICRC's great contribution to all Somali citizens during the most difficult times in the country. "The Somali leaders must remember the basic principles of African and Somali culture which respect human life, " Ms. Bellamy said.

Ms. Bellamy visited the Badera region of Somalia Sunday and stressed that humanitarian work was still possible in many areas. However, she said that incidents such as the recent kidnapping of ICRC staff made it virtually impossible for aid agencies to work in the country. She stressed that the kidnapping must be quickly and peacefully resolved to enable the international community to support the Somali people in rebuilding their country.

A international team of forensic experts from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia visited the first site located on the plateau of the dam at Brnice, near the Serb-held town of Zvornik. Once that operation is completed, the international investigators will move onto a new site, the spokesman said.

The exhumations are conducted where it is believed significant evidence can be obtained to support existing or potential indictments by the International Tribunal.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

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