United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-01-19

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 19 January, 1999

HEADLINES

• Security Council members call for end to crimes against civilians in Burundi.
• Citing state of war in Angola, Secretary-General sees no "meaningful" UN peacekeeping role in the country.
• UN food agency warns of famine and starvation in Sierra Leone capital of Freetown.
• UNICEF issues $136 million emergency appeal to assist women and children in extreme danger.
• UN refugee agency says landmines pose threat to Cambodians returning from Thailand.
• International meeting of experts on sexual abuse of children opens in Paris.
• Women's anti-discrimination committee begins meeting in New York.
• UN environment agency to coordinate talks on a global treaty on persistent organic pollutants.

Following a briefing on the situation in Burundi, the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Celso Amorim of Brazil, said that Council members expressed support for the Arusha peace process and urged the international community to provide financial support. Members of the Security Council encouraged all parties, including the Government of Burundi, to negotiate seriously in Arusha so as to bring an end to the volatile situation in the country, Ambassador Amorim said.

According to Ambassador Amorim, Council members reiterated the appeal on regional leaders who imposed sanctions against Burundi to review them with a view to lifting them, or at least suspending them, on the basis of proposals by Mwalimu Nyerere, the former President of Tanzania.

In a report sent to the Security Council on Sunday, the Secretary- General says upon expiration of MONUA's mandate on 26 February, the UN would then proceed with its technical liquidation.

Citing the determination of the parties in Angola to test their fortunes on the battlefield, the steady worsening security situation and MONUA's inability to carry out its mandate, the Secretary-General says that "the conditions for a meaningful United Nations peacekeeping role have ceased to exist." He also notes that the Angolan Government has informed the UN that it does not intend to support the extension of MONUA beyond its current mandate.

Given the present pace of deployment, the report says, all MONUA team sites and regional headquarters will have been withdrawn to Luanda by mid- February and most of UN peacekeeping personnel repatriated by 20 March. The Secretary-General suggests retaining an infantry company of up to 200 personnel to protect UN property during the first few months of liquidation.

The UN leader stresses that the international community and the United Nations must not turn its back on the Angolan people and says he intends to designate a New York-based special envoy for Angola. He also suggests a continuation of UN human rights and humanitarian activities.

The humanitarian situation in the country, already critical, has the potential to develop into a full-scale catastrophe, the report says. Noting that the UN was ready to continue and intensify humanitarian assistance, the Secretary-General urges the Angolan Government and the leaders of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to guarantee access and assurances for the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and operations.

In a related development, staff from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kenema, 300 miles south-east of Freetown, reported rebel activity in nearby villages over the weekend. UNHCR and other aid agencies planned to field a larger mission next week to Kenema where the displaced population now numbers 37,000.

Meanwhile, a senior official from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) left for Sierra Leone on Tuesday to take part in a joint mission with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), according to a UN spokesman. The week-long mission will support the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Francis Okelo, and the Humanitarian Coordinator in planning and executing a humanitarian response following the recent escalation in fighting in Sierra Leone.

The agency said seldom in history had such a large number of people been in such danger. It is requesting over $136 million from international donors to provide emergency assistance in 20 countries.

According to UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, the entire picture of war had changed. Today, she said, women and children were being deliberately targeted and forced to take part in conflicts.

Ms. Bellamy cited the need for specialized child rights training for all military, civilian and peacekeeping personnel, so they understood their legal responsibilities to children, including the need to shield them from violations of their rights. She also called for increasing the accountability of those who targeted children and women and forced children to become soldiers, by hastening the process of deploying a fully empowered International Criminal Court.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that it had continued to receive reports of injuries caused by landmines in the Samlot area. The UN agency said that landmine awareness teams from the Cambodian Mine Action Centre were due to conduct awareness programmes for refugees staying in Trat province in Thailand, starting today.

UNHCR said that Cambodian refugees in Thailand continued to show interest in returning home. According to UNHCR, more than 1,000 refugees from the Phu Noi camp in Sisaket province had returned to Cambodia since the beginning of this year. A first group of 395 persons left on 12 January and a second group of 610 persons departed last Friday.

UNHCR said that the refugees had not returned to the former Khmer Rouge stronghold at Anlong Veng but had, instead, opted to travel to the agency's transit centre in Sisophon and from there to Mondolkiri and Kompot in eastern Cambodia.

The two-day meeting of experts is entitled "Sexual Abuse of Children, Child Pornography and Paedophilia on the Internet: an International Challenge." The forum brings together some 300 participants from about 40 countries representing national institutions, intergovernmental organizations, special UN agencies and non-governmental organizations.

In his opening address, UNESCO's Director-General Federico Mayor stressed the global scope of the problem and called for transnational measures to tackle it. He highlighted a series of possible measures, including legislation, law enforcement and, especially, prevention. However, Mr. Mayor warned against censorship and reminded participants of UNESCO's mandate to promote the free flow of information. He said that the "digital revolution" must become a triumph of human integrity and solidarity, not simply a triumph of technology.

Mr. Mayor said that looking for a solution to the problem of using the Internet for sexual abuse of children required searching for "a different culture of peace, based on respect for human rights, democracy, development and on responsible personal behaviour." He further called for political measures to be reflected in budgetary decisions, stressing that charity and humanitarian measures alone would not solve the problems concerning children and the future of society.

The 23 experts who serve on the Committee monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which came into force in 1981.

Countries that ratify or accede to the Convention -- often described as an international bill of rights for women -- are legally bound to put its provisions into practice and report on their efforts. They are encouraged to introduce affirmative action measures designed to promote equality between men and women.

During the current session, the Committee will examine reports by Algeria, Kyrgyztan, Liechtenstein, Greece, Thailand, China and Colombia. CEDAW has adopted general recommendations covering such issues as women's economic position; violence against women; maternity leave; measures to allow women to combine child-bearing and employment; and the impact of structural adjustment programmes.

Speaking at a press conference in New York on Tuesday, Mr. Buccini said the treaty would aim to reduce or eliminate the use or production of persistent organic pollutants, known as POPs, which are used as pesticides by industry or generated unintentionally as by-products of various industrial processes.

POPs are highly toxic chemicals and pesticides, such as DDT and PCBs, that stay in the environment for many years and cause long-term damage to humans and nature. Adverse health effects can include death, cancer, birth defects, reproductive disorders and disruption of the immune system.

According to Mr. Buccini, the chemicals are widely distributed over large regions of the planet and, in some cases, the entire globe. Even if the release of POPs ended today it would probably take "scores of years" before background levels fell to an acceptable level, he added.

The Nairobi talks, which will be held at the headquarters of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), will be attended by delegates from more than 100 governments as well as academic, industry, and public interest groups. The negotiations on the proposed treaty began in Montreal last June with the convening of the first of an expected five negotiating sessions.

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

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