United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-10-30

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 30 October, 1998

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• United Nations refugee agency says returnees in Kosovo are being prevented from entering their villages.
• World Bank, World Health Organization, UNICEF and United Nations Development Programme unite to roll back malaria.
• Inter-agency team in Guinea identifies more than 3,800 refugees who have fled fighting in Guinea-Bissau.
• United Nations human rights official urges Rwandan government to establish a national human rights commission.
• Secretary-General praises decision by Economic Community of West African States to ban light weapons in region.
• UN Conference on Trade and Development announces establishment of association for emissions trading.
• Secretary-General congratulates United States astronaut John Glenn on "yet another triumph" in heroic career.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday that in the area of Klina, in the village of Prcevo, troops had reportedly turned back hundreds of returning internally displaced persons. UNHCR said that one resident coming home after two months in the hills told the agency that he had seen armoured vehicles and tanks at Prcevo and that soldiers had stopped him from entering the village.

According to UNHCR, some military forces were still deployed on the hills and seemed to systematically intimidate returnees. The United Nations agency said that it saw 14 tractor trailers, each carrying from six to twenty internally displaced persons, stuck along the road or leaving after being prevented from proceeding to Prcevo. People said that soldiers stopped them from entering the village, UNHCR added.

In Gragobac, internally displaced persons told UNHCR that they had been turned back at gun point from their house by police a few hours after returning to their village. The United Nations agency said that although the major checkpoints had been dismantled, armoured vehicles were seen redeployed to nearby hills. The agency added that the number of internally displaced persons located above Kisna Reka, which was initially estimated at 3,500, was rapidly dwindling.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO) are uniting in a programme called "Roll Back Malaria," which seeks to reduce substantially the human suffering and economic losses due to one of the world's most costly diseases. Malaria causes an estimated 300 to 500 million acute cases per year, with most deaths occurring among children in Africa, where nearly 3,000 die each day.

"Malaria is the number one health priority of people and leaders in affected communities and countries, but their voices have not been heard," said WHO Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland. "The human suffering is unacceptable and so is the economic burden and impediment to progress," she said.

Roll Back Malaria is different from previous efforts to fight the disease in that it will work not only through new tools but also by strengthening the health services to affected populations. The initiative will implement its activities through partnerships with international organizations, governments in endemic and non-endemic countries, academic institutions, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said the new strategy would be most effective when families, communities, local leaders and other groups became fully involved in the effort. "In all of the countries seriously affected by malaria, communities have already demonstrated that rapid improvements in child health are possible when they are given the right kind of support and encouragement," she noted.

"The poor suffer the most from malaria," observed James Gustave Speth, Administrator of the UNDP. "The international community must firmly commit itself to this new partnership and to developing integrated actions that take aim at both malaria and at its greatest breeding ground which is poverty."

World Bank President James Wolfensohn said that Governments, international organizations, the research community and the pharmaceutical industry must all play a major role in the effort. "The World Bank is committed to playing its part in the mobilization of resources needed to spur such a coordinated response," he said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that approximately 9,000 people had crossed into northern Guinea in the past ten days, including several thousand returning Guinean immigrants.

UNHCR said that it was working to ascertain the nationality of 2,000 of the total influx and would issue ration cards entitling the arrivals to blankets, shelter and other basic assistance. The World Food Programme would distribute two months worth of food supplies, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) would provide medicine and potable water.

The United Nations refugee agency said that it was working with the Red Cross to prepare two sites where refugees could be transferred in a few months if the flow continued or the people from Guinea-Bissau were unable to return home.

In a report to the General Assembly, issued at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Michel Moussalli, the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Rwanda, called on the Government and the National Assembly of Rwanda to enable the commission to be fully established and to begin functioning effectively and independently.

Mr. Moussalli also called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide all the necessary support for the organization of a public workshop on the National Human Right Commission once its members have been chosen by the National Assembly. He further urged the international community to provide all necessary technical cooperation and resources to support the effective functioning of the commission.

On the situation of human rights in Rwanda, the Special Representative welcomed the release of detained persons on humanitarian grounds and noted improvement of conditions in several prisons. However, the United Nations official said that severe overcrowding in prisons was still a matter of grave concern and the reported increase of the mortality rate in prisons was alarming. He urged the Government of Rwanda and the international community to continue efforts to improve conditions of detention and to quickly seek an appropriate solution to reduce the number of detainees.

Regarding the recent verdicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Mr. Moussalli expressed the hope that the sentences on persons convicted of genocide would serve the process of national reconciliation in the country. He urged the international community to continue to support and cooperate with the Tribunal.

"At a time of tension in Guinea-Bissau and the consolidation of peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone, this bold strike against the proliferation of light weapons will greatly enhance the prospects for lasting peace," said Mr. Annan. He noted that the United Nations was proud to have supported the two-year negotiation phase of the moratorium, adding, "I am confident that it will be viewed in years hence as a critical building-block of a peaceful twenty-first century in West Africa."

The Secretary-General also welcomed the decision by ECOWAS to establish a conflict prevention and management mechanism. He pledged that the United Nations will continue to assist ECOWAS in its creation.

The Secretary-General's statement was delivered on his behalf by Ibrihima Fall, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs at an ECOWAS meeting Abuja.

The Association's establishment was sponsored by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Earth Council, a leading environmental organization.

Membership in the Association is open to companies, government agencies, industry associations, international organizations, environmental non- governmental organizations, and individuals. Its aim is to serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas, information and experience relating to international greenhouse gas emissions trading, and as a vehicle for greenhouse gas emissions trading amongst its members.

The Association's inaugural meeting will be convened in Buenos Aires on 12 November 1998, in conjunction with the fourth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Secretary-General noted that Mr. Glenn, who made his second trip into space on Thursday, was known by the world as a pioneer of the space age. "You have now become a pioneer for longevity," said Mr. Annan. He said that by returning to outer space at age 77, Mr. Glenn was helping to launch the United Nations International Year of Older Persons, which would be marked in 1999.

"Thank you and best wishes for a safe return," said the Secretary-General. "The United Nations is with you all the way."

The NGO Committee on Ageing at the United Nations, which represents older persons from all over the world, also saluted the astronaut on Friday. "We are thrilled that you initiated and are carrying out this historic second flight in space," read a statement issued by the Committee. "We are especially delighted that this trip is taking place in the earliest phase of the United Nations Year for Older Persons."

The Committee said that John Glenn personified the theme of the Year, 'towards a society for all ages,' by demonstrating that many older persons continued to be vital, vigorous and vigilant in pursuing an active, resourceful life. As such, he was a role model for all generations. "Godspeed to you and your fellow astronauts," said the Committee, wishing the astronaut a safe and successful journey.

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

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