United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-07-09

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 9 July, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council members condemn violence against civilians by Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone.
• Security Council members strongly urge India and Pakistan to enhance their dialogue on nuclear weapons issues.
• Acting Special Representative of Secretary-General to Angola strongly condemns attack on UN aircraft.
• World Food Programme strongly condemns brutal killing of aid worker in northern Uganda.
• United Nations Environment Programme spearheads renewed efforts at cooperation on biological diversity.
• Leaders of family planning and anti-female genital mutilation campaigns win 1998 UN Population Award.
• Student winners of human rights essay contest receive award at United Nations banquet.
• Chairperson of women's anti-discrimination committee says civic groups are increasingly important to its work.

Speaking to the press, Security Council President Ambassador Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation said that "the members of the Council reiterated their demand that the Revolutionary United Front lay down their arms immediately."

Security Council members welcomed the recent meeting between the Presidents of Sierra Leone and of Liberia in Abuja, Nigeria, at the initiative of the UN Secretary-General. They also welcomed humanitarian efforts undertaken by the UN and its agencies to benefit the civilian population of Sierra Leone.

Speaking to reporters following consultations, Security Council President Ambassador Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation called for the full implementation of the Council's latest resolution on the issue, which was adopted on 6 June in the wake of nuclear tests by the two countries.

By that resolution, the Council condemned the tests, demanded that the two countries refrain from further nuclear tests, and urged them to become parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) without delay and without conditions.

The Council resolution encouraged India and Pakistan to find mutually acceptable solutions that address the root causes of tensions between them, including Kashmir.

The attack took place on 7 July, when a helicopter from the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) was fired upon by of group of a dozen men during a verification flight in Uige province.

As the MONUA helicopter prepared to land in the village of Toto, some 20 rounds of small arms fire were discharged. One bullet entered the cabin and struck the frame of the aircraft near the pilot, who immediately took evasive action.

This is the sixth attack against United Nations facilities or personnel since March 1998.

Mr. Asiku and another passenger were robbed and shot dead by 12 heavily armed men as they were returning to Arua from the WFP office in Pakelle. The men later blew up the WFP vehicle.

"This is a vicious and senseless killing of one of our dedicated colleagues, " Ms. Bertini said. I call upon the Ugandan authorities to make every effort to fully investigate this tragic and inhumane act". Mr. Asiku leaves behind a wife and five children.

The Ecosystem Conservation Group (ECG) recently reconvened in Rome for the first time since 1990. UNEP Executive Director Klaus T”pfer said that "only by acting together that we can help save biological diversity and promote its sustainable use."

The Rome meeting came just days after the UNEP Executive Director held a meeting with the heads of secretariats of environmental conventions administered by UNEP in Geneva.

"We had a very productive meeting in Geneva and came to a common position on how to handle the important issue of trade and environment", said Mr. T”pfer. "Today, in Rome, I hope we can build on this spirit of cooperation and establish a structure that will help prevent further fragmentation of international policy making in the future", he said.

The ECG was first established in 1974. Current members include: UNEP, FAO, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, the World Conservation Union and the World-Wide Fund for Nature.

The annual award is given to individuals and institutions that have made outstanding contributions to solving or increasing awareness of population problems. The winners, who received a diploma, a gold medal and $25,000 each, were chosen from field of 28 nominees.

The Sabiny Elders Association was formed in 1992 to promote the development and to improve the welfare of the Sabiny community, a minority group in northern Uganda. The Association has been active in many fields, including the development of traditional medicine, promoting awareness of HIV and the preservation of Sabiny language and culture.

The award, however, was granted primarily for its efforts to curtail the practice of female genital mutilation. Its most successful programme, which reduced genital mutilation by 36 per cent in 1996, substitutes gift-giving and public celebration for the traditional practice of cutting as the rite of passage into womanhood.

Dr. Hugh H. Wynter, who is the Chairman of the National Family Planning Board of Jamaica, was rewarded for his work in promoting safe and effective family planning. He is widely credited with having helped Jamaica achieve one of the lowest rates of population growth, fertility and infant mortality in the Caribbean region.

The contest was sponsored by the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Dailey Family Foundation. Students were asked to write essays on the subject of the "United Nations and the Protection of Human Rights", and to compare the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the United States Bill of Rights.

The first place award went to Emily Maher, a junior from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Tara Fitzgerald of Van Nuys, California, took second place, while Kathleen A. Egan of Eastchester, New York, came in third.

The essays were judged by a prominent panel of experts on human rights. It included Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Bill Richardson, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations; James Gustave Speth, UNDP Administrator; Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund; and Congressman Tom Lantos, Co-Chair of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

The featured speakers at the awards ceremony were Joe Sills, Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Washington, D.C., and Felice Gaer, Director of the Jacob Blaustein Institute on Human Rights, both of whom had also served as judges.

"We also find a growing interest of human rights organizations and civil society in the work of the Committee," Salma Khan told reporters on Thursday.

The Committee monitors compliance by States parties with their obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

During its current three-week session, which will conclude on Friday, the Committee considered reports from Slovakia, South Africa, Panama, the United Republic of Tanzania, Nigeria, Peru, South Korea and New Zealand. According to Ms. Khan, Committee members observed "significant improvements in the legislative measures in most of the countries," particularly in the area of combating violence against women.

Violence against women was a central focus of the Committee, she said, citing also the adverse impact of political and economic restructuring and harmful traditional practices as major concerns. She added that the wage gap between women and men was an issue in some of the countries examined, notably the Republic of Korea and Panama.

Committee expert Hanna Beate Schopp-Schilling agreed that there was progress on the legislative side, but added that in African countries, the de facto situation was that "men pick whatever law is suitable to them."

"The other alarming factor which has come about is the increase in trafficking of women," Ms. Schopp-Schilling continued, saying this was especially prevalent in Asian countries, Central and Eastern European countries as well as Central and Latin American countries. "This seems to be becoming a major business where men make money, and this is something that certainly has to be addressed."

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

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