United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-12-03

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 3 December, 1998

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• Security Council extends UN presence in Angola, urges parties to cooperate in search for peace.
• Members of Security Council call for immediate signing of ceasefire in Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Secretary-General confirms plan to travel to Libya on Saturday to discuss Lockerbie affair.
• Secretary-General says international community must include perspectives on disability in all development efforts.
• United Nations humanitarian agencies appeal for $28 million for relief assistance in Sierra Leone.
• United Nations marks 50 years of cooperation with non- governmental organizations.

In resolution 1213 (1998) adopted unanimously, the Council, among other things, endorsed the Secretary-General's recommendation to continue to adjust the deployment and force structure of MONUA, as needed, in accordance with security conditions and its ability to implement its mandate.

In the light of security conditions, the Council recognized that the Secretary-General might make further recommendations regarding MONUA before 26 February. It asked him to report by 15 January 1999 on the status of the peace process, the future role and mandate of the United Nations in Angola and the force structure of the Mission.

The Security Council called on the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to cooperate immediately in the withdrawal of MONUA personnel from Andulo and Bailundo. The Council said that it held the leadership of UNITA in Bailundo responsible for the safety and security of United Nations personnel.

Stressing that there could be no military solution to the conflict in Angola, the Council called on the Government and UNITA to cooperate fully with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, including facilitation of his contacts will all the key players in the peace process.

The Security Council expressed its growing concern for the security and freedom of movement of MONUA personnel throughout Angola and called on the Government and particularly UNITA to ensure the Mission's safety.

The Council demanded that UNITA comply immediately and unconditionally with its obligations , particularly with regard to demilitarization and the extension of state administration throughout the country. It also demanded that UNITA withdraw immediately from territories which it had reoccupied through military or other action.

Concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation, the Council called for full cooperation with international humanitarian organizations, an end to mine-laying and respect for humanitarian, refugee and human rights law.

Following consultations on the situation in the country, President of the Security Council for the month of December, Ambassador Jassim Mohammed Buallay of Bahrain, told the press that Council members welcomed the results of the Paris meeting hosted by President Jacques Chirac last week. They also expressed their support for the regional mediation efforts and the initiative of the Secretary-General that he undertook in the Paris conference, Ambassador Buallay said. He added that the elements of that initiative centred on putting an end to the war through peaceful means.

The members of the Council emphasized the importance of national reconciliation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a prerequisite for a sensible ceasefire, the Council President said. They called on the participants in the upcoming Lusaka meeting to be held on 14 and 15 December to try their utmost for a positive outcome of that meeting.

At a press encounter in Tunisia, the Secretary-General was asked if he could confirm that he was going to Libya. "Yes," he said, "I will travel to Libya on Saturday to discuss the Lockerbie affair." Asked if he expected to meet with Libyan President Colonel Muammar Al-Qadhafi, Mr. Annan replied, "Yes, I think so."

The Lockerbie affair was triggered when Pan Am flight 103 was destroyed over Lockerbie, Scotland on 21 December 1988, killing all 259 passengers and crew as well as 11 people on the ground. The Security Council subsequently imposed sanctions against Libya in March 1992, which were further tightened in November 1993. Last August, the United Kingdom and the United States indicted that they would accept the trial of the two Libyan nationals suspected of involvement in the destruction of Pan Am flight 103 before a Scottish court under Scottish law in the Netherlands. The Council then welcomed that initiative, adopting a resolution which stated that the sanctions would be suspended as soon as the Secretary- General reports that the two suspects had arrived in the Netherlands for trial.

At the press conference in Tunisia, the Secretary-General was asked what he would present to the Libyan Government and to Colonel Qadhafi. "We will try to resolve some problems and to find solutions together," he said.

Also while in Tunisia, the Secretary-General met with the country's Foreign Minister, Said Ben Mustapha. According to a spokesman travelling with the Secretary-General, they discussed the peace process in Western Sahara and Mr. Annan's efforts to work out the details for the transfer to the Netherlands of the two suspects in the Lockerbie case. They also reviewed regional issues, as well as those relating to Africa in general. In addition, they discussed the Middle East peace process and the situation in Iraq.

The Secretary-General subsequently travelled to the Presidential palace at Carthage where he met privately with President Zime El-Abidine Ben Ali. The President then hosted a luncheon in Mr. Annan's honour. Among the issues they discussed were the problems of the Maghreb region, including Western Sahara, the Lockerbie affair, the Middle East, a series of African problems and Tunisia's role in the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). In the afternoon, the Secretary-General addressed the staff of the United Nations working in Tunisia.

In a message on the occasion of the International Day of Disabled Persons, the Secretary-General stressed that independent living, based on equal access to essential services and to opportunities for productive, gainful employment, was a pathway to the full participation of disabled persons in their societies.

Mr. Annan noted that full participation also meant access to cyberspace. "I am pleased to note that the United Nations "persons with disabilities" homepage on the Internet meets international technical guidelines for World Wide Web accessibility."

The site, designed and maintained by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, received the 1998 "Bernard Posner Memorial Award" from the People- to-People Committee on Disability, a non-profit organization working to promote international understanding and communication in this field. It can be found at www/un.org/esa/socdev/disabled.htm.

The United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Sierra Leone is aimed at assisting over 300,000 internally displaced people and providing needs for 450,000 Sierra Leonean refugees.

The appeal, issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says that the lingering conflict is making unprecedented impact on the lives and livelihoods, most accurately reflected in the increasing numbers of war-wounded and displaced populations. It says that during the six-year rebel war between 1991 and 1997, about 120 survivors of rebel atrocities were found and treated. Between March and November 1998, this number increased by more than ten times, the appeal adds.

To coordinate assistance, the United Nations agencies, in collaboration with the Government of Sierra Leone, donors, international organizations, and a consortium of non-governmental organizations, have worked out a common strategy.

The short-term goals of the appeal are intended to support the Sierra Leonean government's plans for post-conflict recovery. They seek to address the basic emergency needs to promote a viable resettlement environment for affected populations. The long-term objectives will seek to strengthen the government's social services capacity, reduce poverty through the creation of employment opportunities, and support good governance and peace-building efforts.

In a keynote address at a meeting commemorating the milestone, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette said the event came at a time when NGOs were making their mark on global society as never before. She said that over the past decade in particular, NGOs had significantly shaped the agenda and the outcome of world conferences on such vital issues as human rights, the environment, population, women and poverty.

"Thanks also to NGOs, the year 1997 can be thought of as the year of the landmine -- or should I say, the year of no more landmines," Ms. Frechette said. She noted that the Nobel-prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines had helped turn a growing awareness by ordinary people into a truly global cause. NGOs had also helped to make 1998 the year of the International Criminal Court. "More than 200 NGOs took part in that process, an unprecedented level of participation by civil society in a law-making conference," she said.

Ms. Frechette recalled that the Secretary-General had suggested that the session of the General Assembly in the year 2000 be designated the Millennium Assembly and that a non-governmental Millennium Forum be held in conjunction with that event. "I know that consultations among NGOs have already begun and I look forward to working with you to make this initiative as fruitful as possible," she said, adding that a Millennium Assembly would be unthinkable without the involvement of NGOs.

In 1948, 41 NGOs were granted consultative status by the Economic and Social Council; that figure has risen to more than 1,350 today. The number of NGOs associated with the Department of Public Information has grown from 200 in 1968 to more than 1,550 now.

Those figures, according to the Deputy Secretary-General, "mask a disturbing paucity of developing-country NGOs." Of the 1,550 NGOs associated with the Department of Public Information, only 251 were based in developing countries, she pointed out. But, she stressed, efforts were under way to enhance the presence of developing-country NGOs at the United Nations.

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

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