United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-06-02

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, 2 June, 1998

HEADLINES

• Disarmament Conference hears statement by 46 countries condemning nuclear tests by India and Pakistan.
• More choppers needed for relief aid to Afghan victims of earthquake, says United Nations Spokesperson.
• UN official says Sierra Leone should be pilot project for global response to needs of war-affected children.
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees seeks $7.3 million to assist Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea and Liberia.
• World Food Programme urgently dispatches relief food to Chad to feed Sudanese refugees and their hosts.
• United Nations refugee agency rushes relief supplies to refugees from Kosovo who have fled to Albania.
• United Nations refugee agency says 80 per cent of the population of Gali in Abkhazia has been displaced.
• Parties to United Nations Climate Change Convention meet in Bonn to discuss Kyoto Protocol's implementation.
• United Nations Children's Fund hails proposal to eliminate all forms of hazardous child labour.
• Young African members of UNESCO associations rally for the culture of peace.
• Deputy Secretary-General travels to Switzerland and Burkino Faso.
• UN General Assembly to elect additional judges to Rwanda and Former Yugoslavia International Criminal Tribunals.

Ambassador Clive Pearson of New Zealand read out a statement on behalf of 46 countries condemning the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan. The statement says the tests are "totally irreconcilable with claims by both countries that they are committed to nuclear disarmament".

International security will not be enhanced by provocative and dangerous acts, Ambassador Pearson continued. Nor will regional or global security be improved or maintained by indulging in competitive manoeuvres to further develop nuclear capability and delivery systems. He said the approach that India and Pakistan seem determined to pursue belongs to a by-gone age.

The statement calls on India and Pakistan to immediately end all testing and renounce their nuclear weapons programmes. It also calls on both countries to become parties to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

In an interview with United Nations Radio, Spokesperson Sarah Russell the situation in the remote villages of northeastern Afghanistan devastated by the massive earthquake on "particularly bad." The earthquake, which registered 7.1 on the Richter Scale, left 2,000 to 3,000 people dead and 45, 000 homeless.

According to Ms. Russell, although relief supplies such as tents, blankets and plastic sheeting are available for the next week, or so, the problem now is getting these supplies to the affected people.

She said what roads there were in the area, which was struck by another earthquake in February, "have been wiped out by landslides." The main problem at the moment, Ms. Russell pointed out, is getting to the people who live in villages of these steep mountain slopes.

Ms. Russell said that at the moment the United Nations has one helicopter which it borrowed from the United Nations in Tajikistan and other two helicopters rented from Tajikistan by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Unfortunately, Ms. Russell added, there aren't any more helicopters available from the company which has rented out the helicopters. "So we are appealing to anybody in any neighbouring country who has a helicopter who could lend it to us so that we could get the assistance to the earthquake victims," she said.

Just back from a four-day visit to the country, Mr. Otunnu said destabilization remained a problem in parts of Sierra Leone, but he added that "there is still a large space -- political as well as geographic -- for serious engagement in terms of programmes for rehabilitation and reconstruction."

Describing "one of the most harrowing sights" he had ever seen, Mr. Otunnu told reporters in New York that there were hundreds of unaccompanied children in the country, many younger than six years old, who were in desperate need of food, clothing and shelter.

Mr. Otunnu also recounted with horror the existence of what he termed "the emergence of a new community of people -- persons without limbs." These victims had had their limbs deliberately severed by members of the deposed junta, mainly in the northern and eastern parts of Sierra Leone. Approximately 300 victims were treated in May at Connaught Hospital in Freetown, and this is estimated to constitute only a small proportion of those maimed by the atrocities. "I will never forget the words of a young boy of about five years old who told me that after severing his hands, the RUF [Revolutionary United Front] soldiers told him, 'Go tell [Sierra Leonean] President [Ahmad Tejan] Kabbah that we are still here'."

During meetings with various key players in the country, Mr. Otunnu secured a number of agreements to protect children in Sierra Leone. The Monitoring Group of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOMOG) forces, as well as the civil defence forces, known as "Kamajors," together agreed to stop the recruitment of children under the age of 18. They also agreed to establish a joint task force to oversee a systematic procedure for the demobilization and reintegration of child combatants.

"The challenge of children in Sierra Leone is very serious, but not overwhelming," Mr. Otunnu emphasized, cautioning that the opportunity to bring about positive change must not be lost. "If the international community does not act now, I fear it will be too late," he said.

"The people who fled Sierra Leone are in terrible shape, and we have to do all in our power to help them," said Assistant High Commissioner Soren Jessen-Petersen, who just returned from the country. He urged donors to respond quickly to the appeal so that UNHCR could provide life- saving relief to the refugees.

Since early this year, 182,000 refugees have arrived in Guinea from Sierra Leone, while 55,000 have arrived in Liberia. Most of the new arrivals are women and children. Many of them are suffering from severe malnutrition and various diseases contracted while hiding in the bush to evade rebel atrocities before crossing the border.

According to UNHCR, other victims reportedly died before reaching safety in Guinea and Liberia.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday appealed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to provide military trucks to deliver emergency food to the Sierra Leonean refugees. In a message to NATO, WFP's Regional Manager for the coastal countries of Africa painted a compelling picture of the need for assistance. "With rains making the road less accessible by day, trucks are urgently required for immediate use to move food to remote areas," said Paul ArŠs.

The United Nations World Food (WFP) announced on Tuesday hat it is moving the food aid before the rainy season intensifies and renders the roads impassable in the region where 4,000 Chadians are sharing their meagre resources with 8,500 Sudanese refugees.

The refugees crossed into Chad between January and March after three separate attacks by members of another ethnic group in the Darfur Province of Western Sudan, according to WFP. During the attacks, WFP added, entire villages were destroyed and more than 15,000 people were internally displaced or forced to seek refuge in Chad.

WFP said that the Sudanese have been given asylum by villagers belonging to the same ethnic group in the Oudai Prefecture in Eastern Chad. The villagers gave the refugees plots of land to cultivate and are sharing their limited food stocks with the refugees.

"We are rushing food aid to the region to alleviate the suffering of the refugees and their host communities," Mamo Desta, WFP Representative in Chad said.

WFP is feeding the refugees to allow them to remain at their present localities to cultivate using seeds and tools provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The refugees, who are fleeing a dramatic intensification of fighting in Kosovo, in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, have been arriving in the towns of Gegaj and Tropoja, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

According to the UNHCR field Office in Bajram Curri, the refugees have fled heavy shelling which has devastated a number of Kosovo villages along the border. The refugees also said that their towns and villages have come under heavy mortar, tank and machine gun fire. Some of them said they fled in a hail of bullets, UNHCR reported.

The United Nations agency added that many thousands of the people have been displaced in Kosovo itself and not made it across the border, but it is impossible to determine their number and whereabouts. Refugees in Albania report that large numbers of inhabitants fled the Kosovo towns of Junik and Decane.

UNHCR said that Serbian forces seem to be using artillery to drive ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo's border zone with Albania. Regardless of the military rationale behind the actions of the Serb security forces, UNHCR points out, it is again the civilian population which suffers the most.

UNHCR estimates that close to 30,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, except those too old to walk to safety and some men trying to defend their property.

According to the United Nations agency, the Abkhaz authorities have declared a state of emergency in Gali, Ochamchira and Tkvarcheli districts, which permits them to control potential movements of people back to their homes.

UNHCR says the state of emergency is of concern to the newly displaced, many of whom would like to go back to tend their fields. The refugee agency added that the authorities were, however, only letting women and children across back into Gali and the two adjoining districts.

United Nations monitors in Gali report that there has been extensive destruction of public and private buildings. Houses which were rebuilt after the fighting in 1992 and 1993 have been burnt down again, according to UNHCR. "It is clear that anyone wishing to return again will have to start from scratch", the United Nations agency concluded.

The two-week session in Bonn will prepare for the Fourth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, set to be held in Buenos Aires in November.

The Kyoto agreement, which contains binding targets for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, was a "critical milestone on the road to effective global action on climate change," observed Michael Zammit Cutajar, the Convention's Executive Secretary. "There will also be much at stake in Buenos Aires, where governments plan to finalize the rules of the game for several activities designed to lower the costs of meeting the Kyoto targets for emissions cuts," he added.

Under the Protocol, a "clean development mechanism" will enable industrialized countries to receive credit for financing emissions- reduction projects in developing countries. An international "emissions trading" regime will allow industrialized countries that reduce emissions beyond their agreed targets to sell the excess emissions credits to others. The operational details for these schemes - viewed enthusiastically by some, skeptically by others - must still be elaborated, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Among the issues under discussion in Bonn is the agenda for the Buenos Aires meeting. This may lead to a debate about whether or not to address the issue of voluntary commitments by developing countries, UNEP reports. During the 1997 talks in Kyoto, a provision allowing developing countries to adhere voluntarily to emissions targets was dropped as part of the final compromise. While many developing countries are pursuing national development policies that result in slower emissions growth, for example by using energy more efficiently, the large majority resist formal commitments that would put an upper limit on their national emissions, according to UNEP.

Thirty-six countries as well as the European Union have signed the Kyoto Protocol. For it to enter into force, the Protocol must be ratified by 55 countries, including developed countries accounting for at least 55 per cent of that group's 1990 carbon dioxide emissions.

UNICEF said on Tuesday that, if adopted, the convention, which is being debated at the ILO's annual conference in Geneva, will be a milestone in the worldwide campaign to eliminate all forms of hazardous child labour.

Among the proposed provisions in the convention are measures for the immediate halt to extreme and exploitative forms of child labour and the creation of national programmes to protect every young person, especially girls. The convention would also establish criteria for determining work hazards and designating practices to be considered criminal offenses.

Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's Executive Director stressed the need to get rid of working practices which expose children to injury, illness and death. She said it is only by getting rid of such practices "will we be on the road to abolishing all forms of labour which deprive children of their fundamental rights."

Ms. Bellamy applauded the march of thousands of young people who arrived at the Conference with the slogan "From Exploitation to Education." When the marchers reached the conference site, their final destination, they were joined by French actress Emmanuelle Beart, UNICEF National Ambassador, and Greek singer Nana Mouskouri, a UNICEF Honourary Spokesperson.

The head of UNICEF said the marchers' slogan gets to the core of UNICEF's drive against child labour. "Along with government action to combat poverty, universal education for children is necessary to provide a viable alternative to entering the work force," she added.

UNICEF estimates that it would cost $6 billion a year, in addition to what is already spent, to put every child in school by the year 2000. According to the children's agency, that amount is less than one per cent of what the world spends every year on weapons.

The forum, entitled "Youth and inter-cultural dialogue in daily life in Africa" organized by UNESCO from 25 to 30 May in Grand Bassam, Cote d'Ivoire, included other young people's non-governmental organizations from thirty sub-Saharan African countries.

The event, which received logistical support from the Cote d'Ivoire government, focused on reinforcing dialogue for peace and developing young people's interest in cultural diversity to help consolidate democracy in Africa.

At the end of their discussions, participants decided to establish a pan- African network of youth associations and movements for inter- cultural dialogue for peace. They also devised an action plan outlining a dozen projects for mobilizing the youth.

The projects include setting up reforestation camps and other forms of action to protect the environment, restoring world cultural heritage monuments and sites, scheduling cultural and artistic events, organizing literacy campaigns, study tours and training sessions for young Africans.

Participants invited Federico Mayor, the Director-General of UNESCO to present their initiatives to the African heads of state and government attending the 34th Summit of the Organization of African Unity in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 8 to 10 June.

In Bern, Switzerland, Ms. Fr‚chette will represent the Secretary- General at a ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation, the Spokesman said.

In Geneva, she will join the President of the Swiss Confederation, Flavio Cotti, at the presentation of the Palais Wilson to the United Nations. The Swiss Government has renovated the historic building, which originally housed the League of Nations. It is being presented as a gift and will be home to the UN human rights establishment in Geneva.

It took this action following decisions by the Security Council on 30 April and 13 May, respectively, to establish third Trial Chambers for the two tribunals. The judges on the Rwanda Tribunal will serve a term of office to expire on 24 May 2003. The three new judges for the Former Yugoslavia Tribunal will serve until the expiry dates of the terms of the existing judges -- 16 November 2001.

In adopting its resolution concerning Rwanda, the Council had cited the need to increase the number of judges and Trial Chambers in order to enable the Tribunal to try without delay the large number of accused persons awaiting trial.

In the case of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Council had responded to an urgent appeal from the Tribunal's President, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, who had indicated that the recent dramatic increase in the number of persons accused of crimes under the Tribunal's Statute made it necessary to establish new facilities to carry out its work.

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

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