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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-03-28United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSThursday, 28 March 1996This document is prepared by the Central News Section of the Department of Public Information and is updated every week-day at approximately 6:00 PM. HEADLINES
The Security Council outlined a series of procedures it will follow aimed at improving its consultations with troop-contributing countries, including the holding of regular meetings with them, according to a statement read out by the its President, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila of Botswana. The Council also decided to hold regular meetings with representatives of troop- contributing countries and the Secretariat, as well as to convene ad hoc meetings with them, if required. Regular meetings should be held as soon as practicable and in good time before the Council takes decisions on the extension or termination of the mandate of a particular peace-keeping operation, the statement said. In addition, the Council will hold meetings with prospective troop-contributors when it considers establishing a new peace-keeping operation. Furthermore, the President of the Council, who will chair all meetings with troop contributors, will report their views to the Council during its informal consultations. The Council decided to consider further measures in light of experience. Citing the Republic of Korea as a "summa cum laude graduate of the school of development", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that South Korea had ceased to be a recipient of donor assistance and was now a donor itself. He was addressing a gathering of some 200 UN-watchers at a dinner hosted by the United Nations Association of the Republic of Korea. The Secretary-General, who is in Seoul for the second leg of his three- nation Asian mission after a five-day visit to China, said that in the course of four decades, South Korea had moved from the devastation of war to the prosperity of a thriving economy. Dr. Boutros-Ghali said that in Africa, 220 million people lived in absolute poverty and it was the only region in the world where poverty was expected to increase during this decade. Since Africa's issues were global, the UN was searching for new ways to gain wider support for that continent's development needs, he added. He appealed to Koreans to actively engage in solving global problems. The United States, United Kingdom and France have signed the three Protocols to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Rarotonga, according to a joint declaration from those countries. In the declaration forwarded to the Secretary-General, the three countries said that their decision to sign the Protocols to the Treaty demonstrates their support for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the South Pacific and to global nuclear non-proliferation. Last year's Review and Extension of the Parties to the Non- Proliferation Treaty Conference had agreed that internationally recognized nuclear-weapon- free zones enhanced international peace and security. The Conference had also agreed that the cooperation of all the nuclear-weapon States and their respect and support for the relevant protocols was necessary for the maximum effectiveness of such zones and the relevant protocols. Many problems remain unresolved in Bosnia and Herzegovina which affect the stability of the current peace process, according to the final document of the Contact Group Ministerial Meeting on the implementation of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The document, forwarded to the Secretary-General in a letter says those problems include the release of prisoners; the implementation of the constitutional framework; the withdrawal of foreign forces; the freedom of movement; the cooperation with the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; and freedom of expression and of press. In particular, the Contact Group referred to the failure to release prisoners as a serious case of non-compliance. Release did not taken place by 23 March, as the Parties had promised. The Contact Group has said that unless the prisoners are released, the economic reconstruction Pledging Conference scheduled for 12 and 13 April will not be confirmed. The World Food Programme (WFP) has urged donors to provide $19 million just to cover the most urgent humanitarian needs in Tajikistan up to 31 March 1997. At least 400,000 people in that country risk starvation since WFP's existing food supplies (4,000 tons) will run out by mid-May 1996. The food agency is targeting the most vulnerable in Tajikistan such as war widows with children, orphans, elderly and the disabled. Before the civil war broke out in 1992, those groups were dependent on the state, which no longer can support them. The Agency says that as many as 85 per cent of the population lives under extreme poverty. Over the next five months, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will provide temporary work to 2,550 unemployed Palestinians, both refugees and non-refugees. The Short-Term Emergency Employment Creation Project is part of the Agency's Peace Implementation Programme. UNRWA says that through the programme, 1,300 to 1,500 individuals can be employed by the Agency and another 1,000 workers can be placed under municipalities and other bodies. Participants will earn a daily wage of $12, giving them a potential $312 monthly wage. The short-term project is to help combat the socio-economic hardship created by the closure of Gaza from Israel. Gaza, along with the West Bank, was closed off from Israel on 25 February following the first of four bombings which left more than 60 people dead in Jerusalem, Ashkelon and Tel Aviv. Some two million Palestinians have been affected by the closures according to UNRWA. The Government of Norway has pledged $5 million to help the Agency launch the short-term project. For information purposes only - - not an official record From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgUnited Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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