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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-05-13United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSMonday, May 13, 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
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has expressed the hope that the Memorandum of Understanding between the United Nations and Iraq on the oil- for-food formula would be concluded soon, according to a UN Spokesman. The Secretary-General spent the weekend on discussions on the oil-for-food- formula negotiations. Spokesman Sylvanna Foa said today that the Secretary- General feels there is still some work to be done. In a meeting today with United States Secretary of State Warren Christopher, the Secretary-General thanked the Secretary of State for his support in resolving the UN financial problems and for his concern for the UN financial problems. The Secretary of State and UN Under-Secretary- General for Administration and Management Joseph Connor are continuing discussions on solutions to the financial problems. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali left New York Monday for Moscow for a 3-day visit to the Russian Federation, during which the Secretary-General will hold talks with President Boris Yeltsin, the Russian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. The Secretary-General has been invited to address the summit meeting of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States Friday 17 May. He will also address the State Duma and attend a state discussion on Russia and the United Nations. He is expected back at UN Headquarters at the end of the week. The ninth session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD IX) has concluded in Midrand, South Africa, adopting a Declaration that emphasizes the benefit of involving civil society which includes non- governmental organizations and academia, in the partnership for development. The Conference which took place from 27 April to 11 May, was attended by more than 200 participants from over one hundred and thirty countries. At the Conference, governments from all regions set clear priorities for policies and concrete action in a partnership for development. Labelling the Conference an important turning point in revitalizing UNCTAD, Alec Erwin of South Africa, President of UNCTAD IX, said the Conference has been a success, according to a UN Radio report from Midrand. "I think there is a very real sense of having completed a job well done," he said. The Midrand Declaration which was adopted by UNCTAD IX, stresses that countries enter into global system from very different starting points. For a certain number of developing countries, there remain problems of access to markets, capital and technology, and many grapple with the institutional transformation necessary for meaningful integration into the world economy. Others, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries are unable to benefit from trade because of weak infrastructures. The Midrand Declaration gives a strong political boost to international cooperation for development and inter-related issues in the area of trade, finance, technology, investment, and sustainable development. In the former Yugoslavia, the UN Transitional Administrator for Eastern Slavonia, Jacques Klein is continuing his diplomatic activities in the region, according to a report from the UN Liaison Office in Zagreb. He has already met with Croatian President Tudjman and attended a session of the Croatian cabinet. Spokesman for the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES), Phil Arnold, says Mr. Klein was meeting on Monday with Serbian President Milosevic. This is part of a regular series of meetings which Mr. Klein has with Presidents Tudjman and Milosevic to discuss developments of the UNTAES mission and how it is going forward and the kind of assistance and support required from both sides in order to make it a success, the spokesman said. Among the matters concerning the UNTAES mission, the general amnesty for those who were involved in the conflict and now living in Eastern Slavonia was discussed. The General Assembly has established a small United Nations Office of Verification in El Salvador to follow up on implementation of pending aspects of the peace accords in the country. The Assembly, acting without a vote, decided that the Office, to be headed by an official at an appropriate political level, should be funded within existing resources, taking into account that the Secretary-General would submit proposals by 15 May on possible means of absorption in the programme budget for the 1996-97 biennium. The United Nations has played an essential role in bringing peace to El Salvador, Ambassador Herbert Gelber, the representative of the United States said in a statement to the Assembly. He said the UN's outstanding work has set the standard by which all other United Nations missions would be judged. The representative of El Salvador Guillermo Melendez-Barahona said that despite the financial crisis facing the United Nations, the Organization has carried out work of the first order in El Salvador in its contribution to the peace process. He said it was believed that there were situations deriving from non-compliance with the peace process that required attention and support by the international community to successfully complete the process. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday made an impassioned plea to West African countries to keep their doors open to thousands of Liberian refugees fleeing fighting in Monrovia. High Commissioner Sadako Ogata specifically mentioned the Nigerian freighter Bulk Challenge with some 3,600 passengers aboard and the Victory Reefer with 700 people off Sierra Leone. She said while UNHCR understood the security concerns and preoccupations of the governments in the region, she is appealing to their compassion for "these desperate people seeking refuge". She said the situation has become desperate and "unless the door is open to them, a lot of people, many of them women and children, may die", adding that "UNHCR is prepared to help the countries that would grant asylum to the Liberians in full compliance with internationally accepted humanitarian standards". Inspite of repeated interventions by UNHCR and others, passengers of the Bulk Challenge and the Victory Reefer have not been allowed to disembark. The World Food Programme (WFP)is warning that the food situation in the Democratic Peopležs Republic of Korea has deteriorated more sharply than expected in the last few months and will get much worse this summer. A WFP statement issued on Monday, said the food supply has deteriorated more seriously than had been anticipated. WFP officials indicated that commercial food imports and food aid have been much less than expected. 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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