United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-09-14

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 14 September, 1998

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• Secretary-General calls for new partnership between United Nations and NGOs.
• Secretary-General submits report on situation in Algeria to the country's UN Ambassador.
• UNESCO Director-General condemns killing of Iranian journalist by Taliban.
• UN Secretary-General mourns the death of a key figure in Guatemalan peace process.
• Film star George Clooney joins other entertainers in supporting United Nations campaign against hunger.
• Head of United Nations Development Programme to join Yale University after leaving UN next year.

"There will be times for bold actions and uncompromising words, and times for more deliberate approaches," the Secretary-General said as he opened the annual Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Conference. "Purism and pragmatism both have their place, as do public and private diplomacy. Our challenge is to know when, and then to calibrate our weapons and coordinate our actions."

The Secretary-General also remarked on the impact of new technology on the NGO community. "Linked by E-mail and the world-wide web into ever-more effective national and global networks, civil society groups are changing diplomacy and changing the world," he noted.

Mr. Annan described the ways in which the United Nations is opening up to the NGO community, saying, "We do this because we are convinced that there are no limits to what a strong civil society can achieve in partnership with governments." Noting that there was "no turning back from the global NGO revolution," he said, "let us move ahead in partnership."

This year's three-day Conference is being held in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The President of the General Assembly, Didier Opertti of Uruguay, paid tribute to NGOs' contribution to the adoption of key human rights instruments, such as the Convention against Torture. He said those treaties served to harmonize the respect for human rights and the principles of social order and peace.

In a keynote address, Egypt's First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, said human rights could only be realized in an atmosphere of equality between nations. Such equality was violated when sanctions were imposed by some nations against others, she said, noting that such punitive measures primarily affected the women and children of a society.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Nafis Sadik, stressed the need to enable women to exercise their right to reproductive health. "Harmful practices, like female genital mutilation to control sexuality, and gender-based violence, especially in the family, remain largely unchallenged in much of the world," she noted.

"We must confront these abuses of human rights honestly and forcefully, by urging governments to enact and enforce laws against them, and by ceaseless advocacy to alter the patterns of behaviour which allow them to continue," the UNFPA Executive Director said. "Representatives of civil society are essential allies in this struggle," she added.

The Panel was established in early July at the invitation of the Algerian Government with the aim of reporting to the Secretary-General on the situation in the country. During a two-week mission to the country which began on 22 July, panel members met with government officials, members of non- governmental organizations, families of disappeared persons and survivors as well as relatives of victims of massacres.

The Panel was headed by Mario Soares, the former President of Portugal. Its other members are I.K. Gujral, the former Prime Minister of India; Abdel Karim Kabariti, the former Prime Minister of Jordan; Donald McHenry, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Simone Veil, former Secretary of State of France; and Amos Wako, Attorney-General of Kenya.

The Panel's Chairman had reported directly to the Secretary-General in Lisbon on 8 August.

UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor, who had called for the release of Mr. Saremi last month, expressed hope that the journalist's death did not mark the start of a new spiral of violence in a region already devastated by years of war. He stressed that the wounds of war would not be healed by the Taliban's "barbarous rule," which was based on the misinterpretation of a humane religion.

"This is why the Taliban must not be recognized by the community of nations, which should do all it can to ensure that the voice of reason and moderation prevails in the interest of populations which have been subjected to untold suffering and abuses by successive waves of violence and repression," Mr. Mayor said.

The UNESCO Director-General urged all members of the international community to provide secure conditions for journalists. "It is UNESCO's responsibility to promote the free flow of information and to condemn all those who use violence or other unlawful means to restrict it," he explained.

"The Secretary-General has learned with sadness of the death of Mr. Ricardo Ramirez -- former Comandante Rolando Moran -- in Guatemala City on 11 September due to natural causes," his Spokesman, Fred Eckhard, told reporters at United Nations Headquarters in New York. "Mr. Ramirez was a key figure in the negotiations between the Government of Guatemala and the former guerilla group, the URNG, that led to the peace agreements which were signed in December 1996," he added.

According to Mr. Eckhard, the Secretary-General met with Mr. Ramirez during the course of his recent visit to Guatemala and was "encouraged by his deep commitment to the peace process."

Mr. Ramirez was Secretary-General of the URNG, which is in the process of becoming a political party.

On the occasion of the 55th annual Venice International Film Festival, more than 25 celebrities signed the text of FAO's Appeal Against Hunger, including Barbara Hendricks, Sophia Loren and Miriam Makeba. Some of the stars also recorded television spots intended to focus attention on the problem of world hunger.

The appeal states that the signatories, "find it unacceptable that over 800 million people in the world, including 200 million children under the age of five, should continue to suffer from chronic hunger and malnutrition." It notes that, "This is all the more outrageous in a world of surplus and waste."

Sophia Loren said she was supporting FAO's campaign against hunger because she is outraged that more than 800 million people are denied the right to food. "Together we can fight indifference," she said.

Celebrated South African singer Miriam Makeba denounced the scandal of hunger and malnutrition, calling on people of good will to stop hunger in the world.

Like celebrity football player Ronaldo last year, this year, some major sports figures have announced their support for the FAO campaign against hunger. They include tennis players Michael Chang, Carlos Moya and Greg Rusedski as well as the runner and Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia.

Mr. Speth told the UNDP Executive Board that he had accepted a position at Yale University as the Dean of its School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The UNDP Administrator is himself a graduate of Yale.

In a letter to the Secretary-General on his decision, Mr. Speth wrote, "My goal will be to make the coming year as productive as possible, completing a maximum number of the initiatives we have launched and moving forward significantly on others."

In communicating his decision to UNDP staff, Mr. Speth said the decision to leave after six years had been extraordinarily difficult. "My years here have been full, exciting and rewarding, and I have truly come to love UNDP and its people," he said.

Mr. Speth said that he was most proud of UNDP's successes in developing countries. "The heart and soul of the United Nations, I believe, is not in New York but is in the field," he stated. "Nothing is quite as rewarding as being part of a United Nations team that is working to build peace and end poverty around the world."

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

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