United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-02-11

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

BY JOHN MILLS

ACTING DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, February 11, 2000

ANNAN DISCUSSES PEACEKEEPING DURING THAILAND VISIT

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on the second day of his official visit to Thailand, delivered a speech upon receiving an honorary degree in political science from Thamassat University in Bangkok. He called for a new consensus on what peacekeeping can and cannot do. Policing a cease-fire is one thing, he said; fighting a war is quite another.

Annan added that the Security Council must provide mandates that are realistic, credible, and backed by sufficient resources.

On Saturday, the Secretary-General will address the opening session of the 10th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

His speech will draw attention to the protests that occurred during the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle, Washington, last November, and urge Governments and the private sector to address the anxiety that many sectors of the population feel about globalization. The main losers of globalization, he says, are those who have been excluded from its benefits by barriers to trade.

The Secretary-General will also deliver an address on Monday in Singapore, on the United Nations and the rule of law in the next century.

Asked about the Secretary-General's comments on peacekeeping, the Spokesman noted that recent reports on UN actions in Rwanda and Srebrenica highlighted UN shortcomings. The Secretary-General, in his speech, referred to plans to address the concerns raised in those reports in a systematic way.

UNHCR REPORTS ON ITS RESPONSE TO KOSOVO CRISIS

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today released an independent Kosovo evaluation it commissioned during the emergency last spring when some concerns were raised about its initial response to the crisis. According to UNHCR, critics said at the time that the agency had been overwhelmed by the huge refugee influx, a contention that it does not dispute. UNHCR said its goal now is to determine how its response developed and to ensure that it does better next time.

The evaluation examines the initial 11-week period from late March until mid-June, when the bombing campaign ended and everyone began going home. The evaluation is critical in some crucial areas, particularly in examining UNHCR's preparedness and response capacity. In response, UNHCR said it acknowledges it has to strengthen its strategic planning and leadership capacity and speed up its response in emergencies.

UNHCR said the report's recommendations match many of its own internal criticisms that have emerged in a separate examination exercise that began last spring. It is now completing new guidelines to improve future performance in emergencies.

UNHCR also reported that the ethnic violence in the divided city of Mitrovica has led to an exodus of ethnic Albanians from the city's Serb-populated northern half, deepening division of the city along ethnic lines.

More than 639 Albanians have formally registered with UNHCR since violence erupted in the city last week. However, UNHCR believes the actual number of those who have fled is much higher, as most people leave quietly to join friends and family in other parts of Kosovo, without bothering to register.

NO SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING

There is no Security Council meeting today.

The next scheduled meeting of the Council is next Tuesday, when it is expected to hold informal consultations on Cyprus.

UN REPRESENTATIVE CONCLUDES MISSION TO BURUNDI

The Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, Dr. Francis Deng, has concluded his six-day mission to Burundi.

Today he visited the Maramvya site, a recently dismantled regroupment camp, as well as the area to which its inhabitants returned.

He also visited Kabezi site, where problems of overcrowding, inadequate shelter and the need for medical care were evident.

Deng urged the Government and the international community to work together to ensure that, at a minimum, their basic humanitarian assistance and protection needs are addressed. In particular, he encouraged measures to be taken to ensure that the displaced, most of whom are farmers, have regular access to their fields in time for the planting season this month.

FOUR HOSTAGES RELEASED FROM SUDAN NOW IN KENYA

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported today that the fourth person who was released in Sudan yesterday following a week-long detention in southern Sudan has now joined his colleagues in Lokichokio, Kenya.

The four hostages were released yesterday, with three traveling immediately to Lokichokio, and the fourth, a Sudanese national, remaining in Malakal, Sudan, for one day before joining the others.

The United Nations has begun to debrief the released individuals as part of its full inquiry into the events and circumstances surrounding their detention.

The Spokesman declined to comment about reports of a UN apology to the Sudanese Government in the incident

EAST TIMOR, AUSTRALIA SIGN MEMORANDUM ON TIMOR GAP OIL

In East Timor today, UN Transitional Administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello and Australia's representative, James Batley, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Timor Gap Treaty.

The Memorandum intends to set up a legal arrangement between East Timor and Australia on the exploration of oil in the Timor Gap. It is based on the provisions of the treaty signed between Australia and Indonesia in 1989.

The forensic examination of the 37 bodies taken from the Pssabe site in the Oecussi enclave is continuing. UN forensic experts say that the age of the victims varied between 15 and 45, with one-third of the victims under the age of 22.

In Dili, reconstruction has started on the future Culture Centre, which is to be a precursor to an eventual National Museum of East Timor.

The World Bank and the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are funding the reconstruction work, which will be ready by the end of next week. Later this month, an exhibit of photographs from international and Timorese photographers covering the past year's events is scheduled.

Click here for the briefing notes from Dili.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in Geneva that she was concerned about the recent violence against migrant workers in El Ejido in southern Spain. She is following the situation closely, and had visited Spain last month, where she had discussed the situation of migrant workers in the country and Spain's contribution to the forthcoming World Conference dealing with racism.

At the International Drug Summit, co-sponsored by the U.S. Congress and the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, which concluded Thursday in Washington, D.C., Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the Drug Control Programme, discussed a new initiative on money laundering. He announced a meeting to be held in the Cayman Islands next month where offshore centers will be asked to commit to the adoption of common global standards to deal with money from criminal sources.

The United Nations is continuing efforts to recover weapons that had been taken from Guinean soldiers last month in Sierra Leone. Former rebel leader Foday Sankoh had promised to investigate the issue and went to the area where the incident happened, but there has been no visible result so far. The United Nations is in continuous contact with the Revolutionary United Front on this issue.

Today, three countries have paid the full balance of their regular budget dues for this year. They are: Fiji, which paid just over $42,000; Poland, which paid more than $2 million; and Switzerland, a non-Member State which has observer status at the United Nations, which paid more than $3.8 million. Those payments put the number of countries that have paid in full for the year 2000 to 51. Outstanding contributions to the United Nations now stand at just under $3.4 billion, of which about $1.1 billion is owed to the regular budget.

A report on population, gender and development, which has been prepared for next month's session of the Commission on Population and Development, was made available today. Among the conclusions, the report notes that, although women continue to have universally higher life expectancy than men, increased levels of smoking by women has led to higher rates of tobacco-related mortality among them. Still, at ages 80 and older, the report says there are nearly twice as many women as men.

The World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a press release that more than one million Afghans could face severe food shortages in the next few months, at a time when funding for food appeals has met a lukewarm response. The agency says its food stocks in Afghanistan are very low, with only enough to feed targeted Afghans until April. Last month, WFP launched an appeal for $88 million to feed nearly 2.6 million people.

Irene Daes, the Chairperson of the Human Rights Working Group on Indigenous People, is currently in Mexico in order to assess the living conditions and the situation of human rights of the indigenous populations in that country.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12

The Secretary-General will address the opening of the Tenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X) in Bangkok, Thailand. Among other speakers will be UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero, World Trade Organisation Secretary-General Mike Moore and World Bank President James Wolfensohn. The Secretary-General will also deliver remarks at an UNCTAD round table with the heads of the international agencies attending.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13

Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund, begins a visit to Namibia, which will include a meeting with President Sam Nujoma and several senior ministers in Windhoek.

The Secretary-General will attend a press conference in Bangkok before leaving for Singapore.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14

The Secretary-General is expected to meet Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and other senior officials in Singapore, one day after arriving from Thailand. He will also deliver a lecture on UN contributions to international law.

At 11 a.m., Theo-Ben Gurirab, the President of the General Assembly, will hold a press conference in Room 226 on the Millennium Assembly.

The UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)'s working group on electronic commerce will meet in New York through February 25.

The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations will meet through March 10.

In Geneva, the Commission on Human Rights will begin a session by its working group formed to decide whether there will be a permanent forum in the UN system for indigenous people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the NGO Committee on Ageing and the Permanent Mission of Spain to the UN are sponsoring a briefing on "Global Ageing: A Challenge for the 21st Century," from 1:15 to 2:45 p.m. in Conference Room 5. The briefing will be by Dr. Alexandre Kalache, Chief of WHO's Ageing and Health Division, and John Langmore, Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15

The Security Council has scheduled informal consultations on Cyprus.

This is the last day of the mandate for the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic. Upon the completion of its mandate, the Mission will be replaced today by the United Nations Peace-Building Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA), which has a one-year mandate to strengthen democratic structures in that country.

In The Hague, the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will meet through Friday.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16

One day after arriving in Indonesia, the Secretary-General will address the Indonesian Council on World Affairs in Jakarta. He is also expected to meet President Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri and other senior officials.

The Security Council has scheduled a private meeting on the situation in Kosovo.

UN Children's Fund Executive Director Carol Bellamy begins a trip to Mozambique, during which she will meet with President Joachim Chissano, Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi and former Education Minister Gra&ccedil;a Machel in Maputo.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17

The Secretary-General expects to visit Dili, East Timor, where he is to deliver an address to the people of Dili. He will meet with Xanana Gusmao and his Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello. He also intends to visit West Timor if the weather permits.

The Security Council will hold a formal meeting to consider the admission of Tuvalu to the United Nations. If the Council approves of Tuvalu's admission, the matter would then go to the General Assembly for consideration, after which Tuvalu could be admitted as the United Nation's 189th Member State.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18

The Secretary-General begins his visit to Australia by arriving in Darwin. He will leave for Sydney in the evening, after meeting local officials who assisted or managed relief operations during the East Timor crisis.

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