United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-01-07

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 7 January, 1999

HEADLINES

• Security Council expresses grave concern at rebel attacks and loss of life in Sierra Leone.
• Head of UN humanitarian office calls for an end to fighting to facilitate relief aid in Angola and Sierra Leone.
• UN mission in Angola to resume limited air operations to relocate staff and equipment.
• Democratic Republic of Congo asks Security Council to probe alleged massacres of civilians in the country.
• World Food Programme delivers emergency food and re-opens bakeries in Afghanistan.
• Caritas Internationalis and United Nations join forces to fight AIDS.
• Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe appointed Goodwill Ambassador for UN Population Fund.

In a statement read out by its President for January, Ambassador Celso Amorim of Brazil, the Council condemned the unacceptable attempt by the rebels to overthrow by violence the democratically-elected Government of Sierra Leone and demanded that they lay down their arms immediately and end all violence. It also condemned the rebels' continued campaign to terrorize the country's population, and especially the atrocities against women and children.

The Council strongly condemned those who have afforded support, including through the supply of arms and mercenaries, to the rebels. In this context, it expressed its grave concern at reports that such support was being afforded in particular from the territory of Liberia. It reaffirmed the obligation of all Member States to comply strictly with existing arms embargoes.

Stressing the importance of dialogue and national reconciliation for the restoration of lasting peace and stability in Sierra Leone, the Council welcomed the efforts of the Government of President Tejan Kabbah to resolve the conflict and endorsed the approach of regional leaders to facilitate the peace process.

Expressing concern at the potentially serious humanitarian consequences of the escalating fighting in Sierra Leone, the Council called on all States and international organizations to provide appropriate humanitarian assistance.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said in a statement issued in New York, that he was extremely concerned by the current situation in the two countries where heavy fighting and insecurity had forced humanitarian agencies to either drastically reduce their presence and activities, or in the case of Sierra Leone, to pull out all staff from the country.

Mr. de Mello, who is the Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that as violence intensified, civilians, already in an impoverished state, suffered loss of life and property and were forced to flee the fighting. Last year, hundreds of thousands of these people had become refugees or had been internally displaced in both countries, he added. Mr. de Mello urged all combatants to consider the safety of all civilians, especially women and children, and to ensure that international humanitarian law was fully respected.

Noting that the relief workers in Angola and Sierra Leone were striving to continue providing assistance to the vulnerable groups through established distribution mechanisms and communities, Mr. de Mello expressed concern that if the fighting continued, they would not be able to replenish depleting stocks. In this respect, he called on all parties involved in the conflicts in the two countries to respect and fully protect civilian populations, whatever their location, to guarantee the security and safety of those transporting humanitarian assistance and to facilitate these activities by ensuring the security of the routes travelled, including agreed air corridors.

The decision followed a commitment by Angolan President Jos‚ Eduardo dos Santos on Wednesday to the Secretary-General's Special Emissary and Security Coordinator, Benon Sevan, to cooperate in the search for the two missing United Nations aircraft and personnel in the country.

Spokesman Fred Eckhard said that the Angolan President subsequently designated the Chief of General Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces to serve as the focal point for the search and rescue operations for the missing aircraft. The Chief of General Staff in turn instructed the local commander in Huambo, in central Angola, to take the United Nations rescue teams to Vila Nova where one of the planes is suspected to have crashed.

All regional commanders were also instructed to cooperate with the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) in the withdrawal of its personnel and equipment from MONUA's sites and regional headquarters, the UN spokesman said.

Addressing a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, Ambassador Andr‚ Mwanga Kapanga said that the alleged massacre of 500 civilians in the Makobola village, in the South Kivu province in the eastern part of the country, followed another massacre which occurred at Kasika in August last year. In that massacre, more than 1,000 innocent civilians, mostly women and children were killed "in cold blood by Rwandan soldiers who are operating in South Kivu," he said.

The representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said that when the war started in his country, his Government had informed the Security Council that it had been invaded by Rwanda and Uganda. He said that the two countries had denied their involvement in the armed aggression against the Congo and attributed that war to an internal rebellion. Three months after the war started, he added, both Rwanda and Uganda acknowledged their direct involvement in the war since its beginning.

Ambassador Kapanga said that his Government had repeatedly asked the Security Council to vigorously condemn both Rwanda and Uganda for violating the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to call on the two countries to immediately withdraw their troops, and to put an end to the violations of the human rights of the Congolese people.

He said that the silence of the Security Council on the issue had encouraged the two countries to continue their occupation of his country, to pillage its minerals and timber, and to kill innocent civilians throughout the occupied areas.

WFP said that its officials in neighbouring Pakistan coordinated the logistically complex food distribution to 19 remote areas in the Hazarajat region just before the first snow closed roads in central Afghanistan. According to WFP, although local commanders had tried to thwart the distribution with threats of imminent attack at some locations, its staff persisted until all deliveries were in the hands of the pre-selected beneficiaries.

The Hazarajat region of some 1.2 million people had been controlled by opposition forces until the Taliban swept through the area in September. The Taliban takeover put an end to an 18-month blockade which had closed traditional trading routes necessary for the survival of the people in the region.

In a related development, the UN food agency said that this week it re- opened its subsidized bakeries in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan to meet the needs of the city's increasingly vulnerable population of more than 500, 000. The bakeries had been closed for more than four months after an attack on WFP's offices in the city. WFP said that all 87 Jalalabad bakeries which sell Afghan bread, or nan, at highly subsidized prices to 150,000 pre- selected beneficiaries, were operating normally since Tuesday.

At a ceremony in Geneva on Thursday, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Peter Piot, signed a memorandum of understanding with Luc Trouillard, the Secretary-General of Caritas, to foster cooperation on a response to HIV/AIDS at the local, national and international levels.

UNAIDS leads the global response to HIV/AIDS. Caritas Internationalis is an international Catholic confederation of 154 members involved in relief, development and social work operating in 194 countries and territories.

Mr. Piot said UNAIDS worked closely with many non-governmental organizations and networks, to draw on their experience and track record in building awareness and addressing the needs of people affected by HIV/AIDS. "We are very enthusiastic about this new relationship with Caritas Internationalis because of the important contribution religious organizations can make to combat the disastrous impact of HIV/AIDS", he added.

Mr. Trouillard said the Memorandum represented a great opportunity to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on society's most poor and vulnerable members. It would also open the way for Caritas' national members to cooperate with UNAIDS at the country level on access to care, policy development and accurate information about HIV and AIDS.

Mr. Achebe is regarded by many as the father of the modern African novel and his books, including "Things Fall Away (1958) and "No Longer at Ease" (1960), have sold millions worldwide. He is currently a Charles Stevenson Professor of Literature at Bard College, Annadale on Hudson, New York.

Speaking at a press conference at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Mr. Achebe said people who were comfortable, often took things like health care and family planning for granted and forgot about people who were in difficulty. "They seem rather remote, but it shouldn't be so. It is those who have difficult lives that we should be concerned about," he added.

UNFPA Executive Director, Nafis Sadik, said Mr. Achebe's standing as a legend of African writing made him a wonderful representative in Africa. The Fund was looking forward to working with him to help promote the responsibilities and rights of women and men everywhere on reproductive health, she said.

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

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