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Friday, 22 November 2024
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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-05-22United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSWednesday, May 22, 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 has called upon the parties in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium to comply strictly with their obligations under the Basic Agreement of 12 November 1995 on the region. The Secretary- General had informed the Council that the military component of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) had been deployed and demilitarization began on 21 May 1996. In a presidential statement today, read out by the Council President for May, Ambassador Qin Huasun of China, members of the Council reminded the parties of their role in the successful implementation of the Basic Agreement. They noted that the law of amnesty recently passed in the Republic of Croatia was a step in the right direction and called upon the Croatian Government to grant amnesty with appropriate exceptions. The faction leaders have very clearly demonstrated their total disregard for the aspirations of the Liberian people for peace and they have shown wanton disrespect for the United Nations, for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and for the international community, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said in a report on Liberia to the Security Council, according to United Nations Spokesman Sylvanna Foa. The Secretary-General was concerned that ECOWAS would "wash its hands of the situation", which would be catastrophic for the whole region and further jeopardize the future of the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL), she said. The Secretary-General was recommending that the UNOMIL mandate be extended until 31 August, said Ms. Foa. Some 256 soldiers of the Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA) were quartered yesterday, according to UN Spokesman Sylvanna Foa. She said that brought the total to 33,941 and recalled that UNITA had promised to quarter 50,000 of its soldiers by 15 June. Military talks between the Angolan Government and UNITA, on the incorporation of UNITA soldiers into the new national army and further mobilization of troops, had begun in Luanda on Monday, the Spokesman said. As it concluded its three-week, fourteenth session in Geneva, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights announced conclusions and recommendations on reports made to it by Paraguay, Spain, Guatemala and El Salvador. Among its recommendations, the Committee called for increased emphasis by the Government of Guatemala on social welfare programmes and for steps to protect vulnerable groups against the impact of budget cuts in Spain. The Committee also noted that Guinea had not submitted a single report under the Covenant, although it had been a party since 1978. The 18-member Committee of experts is charged with monitoring implementation of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The "Group of 77" developing countries and China may support a General Assembly decision to authorize the Secretary-General to commit the resources needed to implement new mandates in Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador and Rwanda, the Administrative and Budgetary (Fifth) Committee was told yesterday as it discussed the impact of the new mandates on the $2.61 billion 1996-1997 budget. The mandates are for relevant United Nations operations in those countries and, according to a report of the Secretary- General, they would cost some $65.7 million in 1996 and 1997. The Group of 77 and China had noted the Secretary-General's assertion that it was impossible for him to absorb the expenditures for the new mandates within the budget limits approved by the Assembly. There was no agreement among Member States on how to absorb them, either. Meanwhile, Herbert Gelber, the representative of the United States said, "It was inconceivable to my Government that space cannot be found for them within the existing budget". He requested the Organization to exercise utmost fiscal responsibility. To seek ways of gaining wider application of existing United Nations standards in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice begins a two-week session today in Vienna, Austria. High on the agenda of the Commission, are issues related to trends in transnational criminality. In addition, the Commission will review initiatives under way to acquire, process and distribute crime-related data. Recommendations for concerted action on national and transnational crime and related criminal activity as well as for preventive measures have been submitted to the Commission. How best to implement the decisions of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, was the task before the Commission for Social Development as it began an eight-day special session yesterday. Under Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development Nitin Desai, said it was crucial that the Commission should "provide a high-level political forum to ensure that issues raised at the Social Summit continued to be highlighted". During the current session, the Commission will also review its mandate, terms of reference and scope of work and focus attention on the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme of Action adopted at the Summit, especially the aspects dealing with the goal of poverty eradication. The World Food Programme (WFP) has today inaugurated a site on the Internet's World Wide Web to better provide information on its activities. The site (http://www.unicc.org/wfp.) is designed to give donor and recipient countries, other UN agencies, NOGs and the general public access to WFP's data bank of information. 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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