United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-12-15

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, 15 December, 1998

HEADLINES

• General Assembly calls for efforts to minimize excessive volatility of global financial flows.
• Secretary-General encouraged by UN-sponsored talks on Cyprus.
• United Nations refugee agency is concerned about detention of aid workers by Serbs in Kosovo.
• More than 1.5 million people remain displaced in former Yugoslavia, according to UN refugee agency.
• Envoys of Secretary-General, Portugal, Russia and United States urge warring parties in Angola to protect civilians.
• United Nations agencies call for "constructive engagement" to help people of Burundi.
• 12 United Nations volunteers are in Nigeria to help in presidential elections.
• UNICEF says natural disasters destroyed tens of thousands of schools in 1998.
• UN Population Fund documentary wins prize at Havana film festival.

Addressing a wide range of macro-economic and development issues, the Assembly adopted a total of 32 resolutions, all but one by consensus.

Among the resolutions was one inviting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to facilitate a dialogue on a possible regulatory framework for short- term capital flows and currency trades. The Assembly stressed that the IMF urgently needed adequate resources so it could provide emergency funding for countries affected by financial crises.

By another text, the Assembly urged the international community to consider voluntary measures that would allow debtor countries breathing space, through the temporary suspension of payments, while maintaining their access to interim financing.

The Assembly also urged the international community, including the World Trade Organization, to continue granting more preferential treatment to developing countries. It stressed the importance of maintaining sound national macroeconomic policies and developing effective institutional and regulatory frameworks and human resources.

Other resolutions dealt with the integration of African countries into the world economy and the special development needs of small island developing States and of landlocked developing States. Donor countries and multilateral financial and development institutions were invited to continue helping landlocked States in Central Asia and their transit developing neighbours.

In a letter to the Security Council released on Tuesday, the Secretary- General said Glafcos Clerides, President of the Greek-Cypriot- led Government and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash had indicated their wish for the initiative to continue. He commended both men for their statesmanship and vision.

The Secretary-General's Deputy Special Representative for Cyprus, Dame Ann Hercus, began a series of confidential meetings on 16 October with the two leaders. The "shuttle talks" are focusing on reducing tension, core issues and humanitarian/goodwill issues.

The Secretary-General said he also considered it positive that both sides had respected the confidentiality of the talks. They had made clear their commitment to avoid tension, build peace in Cyprus and the region, and achieve an overall settlement by peaceful means, he added.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the incident occurred last Friday in which Serb civilians detained the aid workers for four hours. The detained relief workers included an international staff member of the German agency called Cap Anamur.

UNHCR said that the aid workers were on their way to distribute relief aid at Jezerce village when they were stopped and held by Serbs at Nerodime village outside Urosevac. UNHCR said that it alerted representatives of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission who obtained the release of the three aid workers. The United Nations refugee agency noted that it was the first time that an expatriate worker was held while on an aid mission in Kosovo.

According to the United Nations refugee agency, the Serb civilians who detained the aid workers were protesting the kidnapping of two Serbs who are still missing since their abduction in July.

Meanwhile, convoy operations continued to deliver relief supplies, with 13 UNHCR-led convoys scheduled to go to various parts of Kosovo this week.

According to UNHCR, the difficulties on the return of refugees was one of the concerns which High Commissioner Sadako Ogata would express at a meeting of the Peace Implementation Council which was meeting in Madrid on 15 and 16 December.

UNHCR spokeswoman Judith Kumin said that there was still no major breakthrough on the return of refugees three years after the hostilities ended in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She said that many people who wanted to return home could not do so because they would be in areas where they would be an ethnic minority.

Ms. Kumin said that this year UNHCR had set a modest target of 50,000 "minority returns", but only about 39,000 people had gone back to areas where they were now in a minority. She said this was because of inadequate security, difficulties in reclaiming property, shattered infrastructure and poor job prospects.

In a communique issued on Tuesday, the envoys said that having received the latest information about Bie and Huambo provinces, they were deeply concerned about the humanitarian needs and human rights of the civilian population in those provinces. They called on the military forces to respect the lives and physical integrity of civilians. The communique said that men, women and children in need of food and shelter were again "forced to flee in fear into the unknown" risking encountering landmines and possible attacks.

If they stayed in their villages and towns, these Angolans risked losing their lives, according to the Secretary-General's Special Representative and the Troika, which comprises representatives of Portugal, the Russian Federation and the United States. The communique said that vulnerable groups such as children, women, the elderly and internally displaced persons were particularly at risk and needed special attention. It stressed that civilians had a fundamental right to be protected and to receive the most basic humanitarian essentials for survival: food, shelter and medical care.

The envoys urged the government and the leadership of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to permit an independent assessment of the needs of the civilian population in any part of the country and to provide humanitarian workers access to those who are in need.

Noting that the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) and international humanitarian workers had already been forced to withdraw from Kuito and surrounding areas, the envoys urged the Government and the leadership of UNITA to allow these workers to carry out their work, protect their property and guarantee the security of food and other humanitarian supplies.

In a report issued on Tuesday, UNDP and OCHA say that "there is an opportunity to choose hope in Burundi today. Speaking to reporters in New York, Kathleen Cravero Kristofferson, the UNDP Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator in Burundi said that the report, entitled "Choosing Hope: A Case for Constructive Engagement in Burundi" was an expression of concern for the people of Burundi. Burundi is facing sanctions which were imposed by neighbouring countries in July 1996 following a military coup d'etat.

Ms. Kristofferson said that the report explained an innovative approach which is being pursued to encourage community-based initiatives that contribute to peace, stability and good governance. It appeals to donors and the international community to help the United Nations system develop a comprehensive response to the prolonged crisis in Burundi. The response includes recovery, peace-building, human rights and economic growth, said Ms. Kristofferson.

The UNDP official said that the report calls on the international community to extend the boundaries of humanitarian assistance beyond the distribution of relief supplies to support for community rehabilitation and development.

Ms. Kristofferson stressed that the United Nations agencies did not define constructive engagement as a plea for support for government policies nor an apology for any of the opposing groups. "Constructive engagement in Burundi is support for concrete actions for communities moving to a peaceful coexistence." She said that the time to act is now and that "later may well be too late."

According to the latest publication of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the volunteers include experienced electoral personnel and specialists in logistics and communications. The twelve volunteers will join a group of United Nations volunteers who are already working in Nigeria. The volunteers will set up offices and work programmes for hundreds of international election monitors in Nigerian cities.

The involvement of United Nations volunteers in Nigeria was recently announced by Kieran Prendergast, the United Nations Under-Secretary- General for Political Affairs. The election in Nigeria is viewed as a crucial step in the country's return to democracy after years of military rule, said UNDP.

In China, the worst floods in four decades along the Yangtze River basin damaged or destroyed more than 48,000 schools, affecting more than 9 million children, UNICEF says. In Bangladesh, a long monsoon season ruined 14,000 schools.

Although figures on school destruction in Central America following Hurricane Mitch are not yet available, UNICEF says rebuilding the educational infrastructure should receive high priority.

UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy said on Tuesday that a child's prospect for completing education was at greatest risk when there was no school for an extended period. Special contingencies must be developed to protect education when catastrophes hit, she continued. Repairing the infrastructure in developing countries would require tremendous international commitment and financial institutions and the donor governments were key to the massive rebuilding effort, she said.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which sponsored the documentary announced the award on Tuesday. Titled, "Asi es esta Historia" ("Such is History"), it shows women in the Peruvian region of Alto Cusco learning to read and write while discussing their reproductive and sexual health, gender roles and family and community status.

The film was competing with 208 other documentaries at the XX International Festival of the New Latin American Films. The Cuban National Union of Writers and Artists, which gave the award, said the documentary highlights efforts to save women destined to a life of child bearing and farming.

UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Nafis Sadik said the award was a great encouragement for UNFPA's work to publicize the plight of women. Similar literacy projects are underway in the Bolivian provinces of Chuquisaca and Potosi and others are planned in Paraguay and Mexico.

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

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