United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-11-23

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 23 November, 1998

HEADLINES

• Any decision on Security Council reform will need affirmative vote from two thirds of membership, Assembly resolves.
• Security Council members concerned about political stalemate in Haiti.
• Asia is "epicentre" of world's tuberculosis emergency: United Nations health agency.
• United Nations commission warns that situation in the Great Lakes region is heading towards a "catastrophe."
• Votes are being counted in Central African Republic after elections that "went well" according to UN observers.
• Netherlands contributes $250,000 to Trust Fund for Preventive Action.

The Assembly took this action by adopting, without a vote, a brief consensus resolution submitted by the President of the General Assembly, Didier Opertti of Uruguay. According to the Assembly President, the adopted text was a result of broad consultations and reflected the shared intentions of all delegations to reach consensus on the sensitive issue. The President informed the Assembly that co-sponsors of a draft resolution on reform, introduced by Egypt on the first day of debate, and those that had sponsored amendments to the draft later introduced by Belgium, had decided to withdraw both texts.

Following the adoption of the resolution, the President of the Assembly informed members that he would soon reconvene the Open-ended Working Group on Security Council reform under the co-chairmanship of Ambassadors of Sri- Lanka and Sweden.

Following a discussion of the situation in Haiti, Ambassador Peter Burleigh of the United States told the press outside the Council chambers that virtually all the delegations in the Council said they were very worried about the lack of political and economic progress in that country. Ambassador Burleigh said that Council members had noted that there had not been a Prime Minister in Haiti for 18 months, and that the elections had been postponed.

It was noted in the Council that there had to be some transitional arrangements planned before November 1999 so that other agencies of the United Nations, such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), could take over and focus on development.

In a just released report on Haiti, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that four years after the re-establishment of constitutional order, there has been progress in the human rights field. However, he adds, the absence of well-established institutions made such progress fragile. According to the Secretary-General, rising intolerance and polarization have already cast shadows over the full enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedom in Haiti. He says that concerns over the security of the State have impinged on respect for due process and the rule of law.

The Secretary-General recommends that the United Nations component of the Organization of American States/United Nations International Civilian Mission to Haiti (MICIVIH) be extended for a period of one year with the current mandate and staff level. He says that the Mission should continue to focus on institutional consolidation and provide appropriate technical assistance to the justice system during the implementation of the judicial reform.

In a statement issued on Monday at the Global Congress on Lung Health, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, warned that unless there was concerted action in Asia, the epidemic would continue to rise and jeopardize global control efforts. "If we cannot control TB in Asia we will never stop TB globally," Ms. Brundtland said. She added that factors such as HIV, multidrug-resistant TB and the financial crisis in Asia were increasing the complexity of the epidemic making it far more difficult to contain.

Ms. Brundtland said that 4.5 million of the 8 million new cases that occur each year were in India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines. She said that the six high-burden countries accounted for over 50 per cent of the TB epidemic.

The head of WHO invited participation in a new 'Stop TB' initiative to act as a catalyst for a global coalition of partners from all sectors of society, led by WHO, to address the problem of TB in Asia and the rest of the world.

In its latest and final report to the Security Council, the International Commission of Inquiry stressed that the situation called for urgent, comprehensive and decisive measures by the international community.

The report says that former Rwandan government forces have gathered again in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It adds that these forces, which were formerly scattered throughout Africa, are fighting alongside the troops of Congolese President Laurent Kabila.

Commenting on the report, the Chairman of the Commission, Ambassador Mahmoud Kassem of Egypt, told a press conference at UN Headquarters that the danger of a repetition of the tragedy comparable to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, but on a sub-regional scale, could not be ruled out.

The Commission's report concludes that free flow of arms into and within Africa is a major long-term cause of insecurity and instability in the central African subregion. It is fuelled by the presence of a multitude of rebel groups in the Great Lakes region who enjoy a large measure of governmental support.

The International Commission of Inquiry was established by the Security Council in 1995 to, among other things, collect information and investigate reports relating to the sale, supply and shipment of arms and related material to former Rwandan Government forces and militias in Central Africa. The Commission was also mandated to identify parties aiding and abetting the illegal sale or acquisition of arms by former Rwandan Government forces and militias.

In the latest report to the Security Council, the Commission has made a number of recommendations, including the establishment of mechanisms to monitor and ensure the implementation of Security Council resolutions, to gather information and to preserve evidence.

The United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) reported that the elections had gone well, without serious hitches or violence. High voter turnout was reported in the capital city of Bangui. Preliminary results were expected to be known by the middle of this week.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Central African Republic, Oluyemi Adeniji visited some 30 polling stations yesterday, according to a UN spokesman.

Meanwhile, United Nations electoral observers were returning to Bangui and the short-term observers would leave the country late on Tuesday. The second round of elections is scheduled for 13 December.

Spokesman Fred Eckhard explained that the Fund, which was established last year, provided flexibility for the Secretary-General's peacemaking initiatives and unforeseen expenses. As an example, the Fund financed the Secretary-General's Eminent Persons visit to Algeria.

Approximately $5 million had been donated by Member States so far, and the Fund's current available balance is about $2 million Mr. Eckhard said.

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

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