United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-04-24

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 24 April, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council hears call for world community to be more human in dealing with Africa.
• In live international broadcast, UN Deputy Secretary-General says UN impacts on almost every global issue.
• Croat crowd attacks UN police headquarters in Bosnia.
• General Assembly President marks 12th anniversary of Chernobyl catastrophe.
• UN food agency warns 1.2 million isolated villagers in Afghanistan face severe food shortages.
• UN food agency hails worldwide "day of fasting" for Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea.
• UNHCR concerned at plight of people fleeing hostilities in Sierra Leone.
• UNESCO launches international appeal to fight HIV/AIDS epidemic.
• Tribute held in General Assembly Hall for women's advocate Bella Abzug who died 31 March.
• African education ministers find more than 50 per cent of continent's women are illiterate.

The Secretary-General's report has been described as both comprehensive and candid. It identifies both external and internal causes of conflicts in the continent and proposes "realistic and achievable" measures to significantly reduce political tensions and violence within and between African states.

Speaking on behalf of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the representative of Zimbabwe, Machivenyika Tobias Mapuranga, appealed for the world community to be more human in its dealings with Africa. The continent longed to see the implementation of plans and programmes, rather than further studies and analysis, he said. Statistics, he pointed out, were largely silent about what was really happening to the African people. Some countries were actually de-industrializing and were no nearer to eradicating absolute poverty.

Ambassador Mapuranga said Africa had embarked on the protracted process of building democratic institutions where there once was autocracy and military rule. However, the seed of democracy could not thrive in the soil of mass poverty, illiteracy, hunger and disease. He appealed to the international community to assist Africa by supporting the continent's own efforts.

Gambia's representative, Abdoulie Momodou Sallah, described an initiative by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide debt relief to highly indebted poor countries, as a benevolent gesture; however, he also stressed that conditions for qualification were too stringent. The international community, he said. had contributed to Africa's debt crisis and should share the responsibility. He expressed the hope that the Secretary-General's calls for the conversion into grants of all remaining official bilateral debts of the poorest African countries would be heeded.

The representative of Japan, Hisashi Owada, who is the current President of the Council, said the increasing inflow of arms into the African continent is one of the main factors responsible for the tragic situation in the region. Those who export arms to Africa should feel a major responsibility for the situation there, he said. Japan believed that the Security Council should take the situation more seriously and look for effective ways of monitoring the export of small arms.

In an hour-long live international broadcast on Friday, Ms. Frechette spoke about her role as Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations reform, and such global issues as peacekeeping, human rights, disarmament, development, and the advancement of women.

Journalists from four continents took part in the live broadcast, including Voice of America; Channel Africa, Radio Netherlands, NHK/Radio Japan, Deutsche Welle, Vatican Radio, Radio Canada International, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and All India Radio.

As Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Frechette is expected to help Secretary- General Kofi Annan manage UN operations at Headquarters in New York and around the world. She said one of her key functions was to oversee coordination of a vast, complex organization. "I spend my time working with all parts of the system to make sure it deals with the challenges facing us, " she added.

Asked if as a woman, she brought any special qualities to the job, Ms. Frechette said she had held many responsible positions in her career and she always found the best approach was to work hard and to demonstrate one's competence. "I never found being a woman was any disadvantage." she added.

As the highest ranking woman in the UN, Ms. Frechette said she had two objectives. First, to ensure a gender perspective was taken into account in all UN resolutions and projects around the world. She was also focusing on the status of women working at the United Nations. Secretary-General Kofi Annan had named a number of women to very senior positions, she said. However, there also had to be a system within UN human resources management to ensure that women were given a fair and equal opportunity at promotion to the highest levels of responsibility.

Ms. Frechette, who is also Chairman of the Steering Committee on United Nations reform, said in the broadcast that the reform process involved much more than streamlining, restructuring or dealing with the budget. It meant ensuring that the UN remained relevant and was well- equipped to deal with the challenges the world faced today and in the future. "Reform is almost an ongoing process, rather than a set of finite activities," she said.

The attack followed a similar rampage at the town hall where the Serb mayor of Drvar, Mile Maceta, was seriously injured and the building was destroyed. Troops from the Stabilization Force in Bosnia (SFOR) succeeded in evacuating the mayor who is now undergoing medical treatment. They also evacuated most of the United Nations personnel from Drvar. A few IPTF police officers remained in the town, the spokesman added.

On 26 April, 1986, a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. According to the most recent figures released by the Ukrainian Health Ministry, "more than 12,500 recovery workers who took part in clearing up after the accident have since died."

Ambassador Udovenko described the accident as the worst technological disaster in the history of mankind. It had had a devastating effect on the social and economic life of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, he said. However, its impact transcended their borders. The accident had become the symbol of a global disaster and the cause of common concern for the entire international community.

The Assembly President also noted the active involvement of the United Nations and many of its agencies in trying to alleviate the consequences of the accident. An inter-agency appeal had been made for continued assistance to people in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine for the second decade after the accident. These far-reaching plans, however, could not be translated into positive action unless there is a prompt and generous response from the international community, he added.

In statement released Friday, the WFP says its staff has been climbing the mountains of the Hazarajat region on horseback for the past two weeks, to determine the extent of hunger among the villagers. Although the WFP riders were not due back for another week, other sources report that a major food catastrophe may be unfolding. Some people have already died of starvation and existing food stocks are exhausted.

According to WFP officials, the only solution was to lift the economic blockade to the south of the region, imposed last year by Taliban authorities, and to open food supplies to the north where WFP has food stocks. The routes are currently impassable because of the security situation.

Taliban and Northern Alliance leaders, who are vying for control of Afghanistan, are scheduled to begin meetings next week in Islamabad to discuss a cease-fire, the exchange of prisoners and the lifting of curbs on the flow of humanitarian aid.

Non-governmental organizations, religious groups and civil leaders throughout the world joined in calling for the day of fasting in the Americas on Friday and in Asia and Europe on Saturday.

"We hope this show of solidarity will give added impetus to our efforts to avert a true humanitarian catastrophe in the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK)," WFP Executive Director Catherine Bertini said in a statement.

However, the agency has warned that donors have been slow to respond to its appeal for emergency aid for the country. WFP is seeking $378 million in order to provide food aid to over 7.4 million people -- almost half the country's population -- who are facing severe food shortages. More than 5 million of the intended beneficiaries are children.

"With food stocks virtually gone, people in North Korea can no longer rely on the government food distribution system, according to Ms. Bertini. "They are looking to donors to help them survive until the next harvest in October. If we fail, the country will face a true humanitarian disaster," she added.

According to a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency was particularly worried about the physical shape of the refugees who have been arriving in Guinea. A lot of the people are ill and virtually every child under five years of age was suffering from respiratory problems, the spokesman said. Some arrivals in Guinea have been seriously wounded by militias, who have been ousted from Sierra Leone by West African peacekeepers.

Speaking on Friday at the launch of an appeal to mobilize international support to combat the epidemic, UNESCO Director-General Frederico Major, said all countries, rich and poor, were threatened by the possibility of more highly infectious mutant HIV viruses.

Mr.Major had just returned from a visit to Africa, where he got a first- hand look at the devastation being wreaked by the epidemic. He said new advances in research gave genuine hope to HIV/AIDS sufferers. However, the new treatments were constraining and extremely costly. While the health of people in developed countries had benefitted, patients in developing countries had no access to the new treatments -- a situation he described as "scandalous and unacceptable".

Mr. Major said Governments should intensify preventive action which emphasized education, scientifically accurate information, community participation and cultural values. They should also find new ways to make treatments available to developing countries and help them create local structures to ensure correct use of treatments.

The Secretary-General described Bella Abzug as "a fine lawyer, a loving wife and mother, a fearless politician, a loyal friend and a woman of vision and integrity. Like her, I believe in a partnership between NGOs and the United Nations and in a "peoples' United Nations".

Former United States congresswoman, Bella Abzug, co-founded the Women's Environment and Development Organization, an international advocacy organization, which hosted the tribute. Ms. Abzug galvanized and helped transform the UN agenda regarding women and their concerns for human rights, economic justice, population, development and the environment.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Dr. Nafis Sadik, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, and the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Angela King, attended. Tim Wirth, Lily Tomlin, Gloria Steinem and others would also pay tribute to the late Bella Abzug.

The five-day conference, which was sponsored by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), brought together more than two hundred delegates, including government ministers from across Africa.

The conference adopted the Durban Statement of Commitment on education as the lead educational instrument in fashioning the African Renaissance. The Statement contains a commitment to work towards a new vision for Africa where knowledge, democracy, respect for human rights and a culture of peace will guide action.

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

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article