United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-10-20

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, 20 October, 1998

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• Security Council members welcome talks between Croatia and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to settle issue of Prevlaka.
• Members of the Security Council remain deeply concerned about slow return of refugees in former Yugoslavia.
• Head of UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention to take part in peace and development conference in Colombia.
• UN-sponsored workshop in Botswana focuses on space education in African Schools.

Following discussions of the Secretary-General's report on the Prevlaka peninsula, Council President, Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, told the press on Tuesday that Council members expressed support for the bilateral negotiations as provided for in the 1996 agreement on normalization of relations between the two countries. Calling on the parties to intensify their efforts to this end, Council members reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Croatia within its internationally recognized borders and expressed the hope that discussions on Prevlaka would lead to a resolution of the question as soon possible, Ambassador Greenstock said.

Members of the Security Council expressed their appreciation for the continuing efforts of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka to provide stability in the area and to create an atmosphere conducive to a negotiated settlement, the Council President added.

After a briefing by an official of the United Nations refugee agency, the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said that Council members were concerned about refugee returns especially in and to Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Eastern Slavonia.

Ambassador Greenstock said that Council members were also worried about the serious situation in and around Kosovo, particularly in respect of refugees.

The President of the Security Council added that Council members agreed on the need to follow developments closely on refugees in the area and asked for a further detailed report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees this week.

According to David Wimhurst, the forum will mark the first time that the Government, leaders of the insurgency, and representatives of the international community will gather together to launch the initial steps of the peace process. Mr. Arlacchi's participation reflects the importance of drug control as a central element in the peace process negotiations.

Also participating in the conference, which will take place in Bogota on 22 and 23 October, will be the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. The President of Colombia, Andres Pastrana, as well as the leaders of the FARC and the ELN -- the two major revolutionary organizations in Colombia -- will also participate.

During his stay, Mr. Arlacchi is expected to sign an agreement with President Pastrana through which the Government and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme would undertake to cooperate in a number of areas, including alternative development projects to replace the cultivation of illicit crops.

The training programme, organized in 1990 by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in cooperation with the Swedish Government, aims to teach African educators about remote sensing satellites and their uses in the developing world so they can initiate courses in space technology at their own schools.

In addition to assessing the state of African education in remote sensing, workshop participants will draw up recommendations aimed at overcoming any hindrances encountered by countries in the programme. The workshop, which runs through Wednesday, is part of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications of the Office for Outer Space Affairs, which aims to boost awareness of space science and its uses in developing countries.

Taking part in the workshop are delegates from Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Participants also include representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA), Stockholm University and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

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

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