United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-10-08

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

Thursday, 8 October, 1998

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• General Assembly elects Argentina, Canada, Malaysia, Namibia and Netherlands to serve on Security Council starting next year.
• Secretary-General, concerned at reported border clashes between Iran and Taliban, calls on parties to exercise maximum restraint.
• Top United Nations anti-drug official warns of increasing use of amphetamine-type stimulants.
• World Health Organization calls for renewed commitment to achieve polio eradication.
• United Nations refugee agency to push for wider ratification of conventions on refugees and statelessness.

The elections were held to fill non-permanent seats being vacated at the end of the year by Costa Rica, Japan, Kenya, Portugal and Sweden, which were not eligible for immediate re- election. The five other non-permanent Security Council members that will serve for another year, until 31 December 1999, are Bahrain, Brazil, Gabon, Gambia, and Slovenia.

Argentina, Malaysia and Namibia had received the endorsement of their respective regional groups and ran unopposed. The group comprising Western European and other States did not endorse any candidates, and three countries -- Canada, the Netherlands and Greece -- ran to fill the two seats being vacated by Portugal and Sweden. Canada received 131 votes, the Netherlands 122 and Greece 87.

In a statement issued through his Spokesman, the Secretary- General urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint.

"The Secretary-General expects the Taliban to cooperate with his Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, with a view to defusing the existing tensions with Iran," Spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York.

Following a four-day visit to Tehran, where he met with President Khatemi and Foreign Minister Kharrazi and other senior officials of the Iranian Government, Mr. Brahimi arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday. Mr. Brahimi intends to meet with senior Taliban representatives, as well as officials of the Government of Pakistan, during his stay in the country, according to Mr. Eckhard.

Pino Arlacchi said that amphetamine-type drugs had a "trendy" image. "Unfortunately, this makes it popular among young people who can use the Internet to find recipes for clandestine manufacture, the correct use of precursors and how to avoid law enforcement." He said the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) was dealing with the problem, especially in East Asia where it was particularly acute.

Mr. Arlacchi also said that the new global economy had stimulated the integration of criminal enterprises. "South American drug coalitions now work with their Eastern European and Asian counterparts," he said. "The Triads or Yakuza are looking outside their region to market synthetic drugs and to traffic in human beings."

Known for his success -- prior to joining the United Nations - - in the battle against organized crime in Italy, Mr. Arlacchi said, "My personal experience and research has taught me that there is nothing metaphysical in the nature of the mafia." He stressed the need to shatter the myth of the invincibility of criminal cartels and called for the adoption of a global strategy in the form of a convention against transnational crime.

"A strong convention on transnational organized crime will directly effect the lives of millions of people around the world who are victims of international criminals," Mr. Arlacchi said. "We owe it to them and all those who suffer under the various forms of criminal oppression to adopt a solid international instrument that codifies the global pursuit of equal justice under the law."

"While dramatic progress has been achieved in the eradication of polio, the force of the worldwide initiative for eradication must be maintained," said WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland. "The eradication campaign may be running critically short of funding, and we ask donors and governments to go the extra mile with us and rid the world of polio and its tragic toll on death and disability."

An estimated $600 million to $700 million is needed through the year 2000 to eradicate polio, according to WHO. Success will depend largely on the continued commitment of national governments to maintain high routine immunization coverage, conduct additional yearly immunization days, and implement effective surveillance to identify new cases of polio.

Since 1998, when a global coalition including WHO undertook to eradicate polio by the year 2000, the incidence of the disease has dropped by almost 90 per cent.

The 1951 Refugee Convention is widely considered the cornerstone of refugee protection worldwide. The Convention and its 1967 Protocol define the status of the refugees under international law. The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness are designed to prevent people from being deprived of a nationality.

"This global promotional effort will be a litmus test of solidarity and international cooperation," said Dennis McNamara, UNHCR's top protection official. Addressing the agency's governing body, he called on its members that had not ratified the treaties to do so without delay.

To date, 136 countries have ratified the 1951 Convention or its 1967 Protocol. Only 45 States have ratified the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and just 19 the 1961 Convention the Reduction of Statelessness.

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

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article