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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-05-28United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSTuesday, May 28, 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
Members of the Security Council have called on the Liberian factions to stop fighting in that country. The Council met today to discuss the report of the Secretary-General on Liberia, in which he recommends an extension of the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) for three months. Liberians appeared to be a pariah nation, said Liberian Ambassador William Bull during the discussions. He said the citizens of Liberia, fleeing a war, "have had to travel from port to port, while appeals were made that countries should honour their international and legal obligations" to grant them asylum. The Secretary-General has left New York for Geneva, according to UN Spokesman Sylvanna Foa. She said that he would open a major international conference on the problems of refugees and displaced persons in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Ministers from 12 countries of the CIS as well as about 48 from other countries will be represented at the conference, whose focus will be migration problems caused by the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. Some 9 million people have been displaced, according to the latest statistics. The Conference, organized in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is expected to adopt a set of principles guaranteeing freedom of movement, respect for minorities, a humanitarian code and respect for human rights. After the Conference, the Secretary-General "will pay an official visit to Turkey," said Ms. Foa. While there, he would address the Habitat II Conference, which opens in Istanbul, on Monday. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda will hold its first initial appearances in Arusha, Tanzania, on 30 and 31 May 1996, according to a UN Spokesman. The three accused: Georges Anderson Nderubumwe Rutaganda, Jean Paul Akayesu and Clement Kayishema had been detained in Zambia and were recently transferred to the Tribunal's Detention Facility in Arusha. The accused will be assisted by their respective counsels, assigned to them by the Tribunal. They are all indigent, according to the Spokesman. The United Nations and Ghana will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) tomorrow, regarding standby arrangements for peacekeeping operations, according to a UN Spokesman. Under the MOU, resources a member state is to provide to UN peacekeeping operations are identified in advance. Such arrangements "enhance the planning and execution of the operations", the Spokesman said. They also helped cost-effectiveness. Ghana will be the third Member State to enter into such an arrangement with the United Nations. Jordan, was the first in January 1995; Denmark followed, in May 1995. Andorra and Japan have paid their assessed contributions to the 1996 regular budget of the United Nations, a UN Spokesman said. Andorra paid $108,770 while Japan paid $167,886,832, in full contributions, bringing the total to 65 Member States and two non-member states that have paid their 1996 regular budget assessment. High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso, has said it was primarily "to the UN that the international community looks to help alleviate this suffering". Welcoming participants to the third meeting of working groups of the Commission on Human Rights and of the advisory services programme, he noted that the world was "constantly inundated with the stark images of suffering." However, the United Nations was currently facing difficulties and required to downsize and to streamline its operations. "The human rights programme has not been spared from this exercise", he added. Mr. Ayala Lasso said the Programme had undertaken a review of its operations and taken appropriate action. The result was a new structure. He said he was "confident that this new structure will enhance our ability to meet the needs of the various organs and bodies" with which the Programme cooperated. A new strategy was needed to address the issue of violence against women, the representative of Canada told the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice during discussions. He noted that emphasis, thus far, had been on developing general goals on the elimination of such violence and urged the Commission to develop practical measures towards that end in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice. Particular concern over this issue was also expressed by the representatives of Chile, Mexico and Finland. The representative of Finland commented that no Member State could truly say that it had done all it could in this area. As the Commission concluded its debate on transnational organized crime, speakers continued to express varying opinions on the need for a convention against the phenomenon. Eradication of poverty was a fundamental human right, Purification V. Quisumbing told the Commission for Social Development reading a statement on behalf of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Listing relevant strategies in areas such as education, women's rights and literacy, she stressed the potential of existing human rights mechanisms of the United Nations in harmonizing system-wide initiatives to eradicate poverty. Concerted national and international action, more resources, debt relief and fair trade practices were necessary to combat poverty, the Commission was told at an earlier meeting. The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that it will be responsible for the equitable distribution of the food Iraq will be able to buy under the United Nations "oil-for-food" resolution agreed with Baghdad last week. The operation marks the first time WFP has monitored the distribution of commercial food imports bought by a government. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, Iraq's commercial food imports will be supervised by the United Nations. 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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