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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-05-16United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSThursday, May 16, 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 and Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin reviewed the situation in a number of regional conflicts to which, in cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Russian Federation, the United Nations is involved in seeking a solution. President Yeltsin said he was particularly pleased with the agreement signed this morning between Russia and Georgia on the settlement of the Georgia-Ossetia issue. They also discussed the situation in Tajikistan. President Yeltsin expressed his strong support for the Secretary- General's efforts to reform the United Nations and for the role of the UN in peace and development. The Secretary-General expressed his support for President Yeltsin's initiative to convene a third "International Peace Conference" on the eve of the 21st century. The Secretary-General and President Yeltsin were joined by Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, Presidential Foreign Affairs Advisor Dmitri Ryurikov and Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Sergei Lavrov. Under-Secretary-General and Special Advisor to the Secretary- General Chinmaya Gharekhan and Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Petrovsky accompanied the Secretary-General. The role of the Russian Federation is essential for the United Nations to fulfil its objectives, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said. In a statement at a round table discussion on Russia and the United Nations organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Federation of Russia, Dr. Boutros- Ghali said that in order to maintain the democratization of international relations there must be major actors who are interested in international affairs. The public was not interested in international affairs, he said. Noting that, "because of globalization, there is a deep interconnection between the domestic problems and the international problems", he urged those present to pay heed to the link and its impact on their work. The Secretary-General has recommended to the Security Council that a new UN office be established in Rwanda for an initial period of six months, a UN Spokesman said today. In a report to the Council, the Secretary-General said the office would be a political office, headed by a Special Representative, whose name would soon be proposed to the Council. The Spokesman said the Secretary-General "will present his proposal to the General Assembly for the budget of this office in Rwanda very soon". The proposed budget is around $1.3 million for the first six months, according to the Spokesman. The United Nations has achieved 773 of the 800 vacancies needed to keep the 1996-1997 budget within its $2.61 billion limit, Under- Secretary-General for Administration and Management Joseph E. Connor has told the Administrative and Budgetary (Fifth) Committee. Addressing the Committee as it took up the Secretary-General's interim report on how he would slash $154 million from the budget, Mr. Connor said more than 350 issues had been identified for efficiencies. Efficiency measures would not be a one-time exercise and the next biennial budget would institutionalize them, he added. The representative of Uganda, Nester Odago-Jalomayo, said the United Nations could not survive if it were ruled by the legislature of one of its Members, however powerful that State might be. Budget decisions strenuously negotiated and agreed to by consensus should not be unilaterally repudiated or distorted with threats of dire consequences, he said. One more UN Member State has paid its assessed contributions to the 1996 regular budget of the United Nations, a UN Spokesman said. Benin has paid $108,770 in full and the contribution brings the total to 62 member states and two non-member states that have so far paid their 1996 regular budget assessments. The UN Transitional Administrator for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) Jacques Klein heads for Skopje where a coordination meeting, bringing together all heads of UN missions in the Former Yugoslavia, will be held tomorrow. UNTAES Spokesman Phil Arnold pointed out that all United Nations activities in the region are closely interrelated and this would be the first coordination meeting since March this year. Meanwhile, the dismissal of Prime Minister Kasagic of the Republic of Sprska by Radovan Karadzic has not been welcome by any of the international organizations present in Bosnia-Herzegovina. UN Spokesman Ahmad Fawzi says the United Nations would like to join the chorus of people who have condemned the dismissal of the Prime Minister. "This outright attack on the international community led by forces that had brought Europe, at the end of the 20th century, ethnic cleansing, concentration camps and the destruction of cities should not be tolerated", he added. Some 70 young people and 30 teachers from 25 European countries will arrive in Dubrovnik, Croatia, next week for discussions and other programmes designed to familiarise them with the World Heritage Convention in general and the situation in Croatia in particular. They will be participating in the World Heritage Seminar and Youth Forum from 22 to 30 May, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Dubrovnik, a World Heritage site, was damaged by artillery attacks in 1991. 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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