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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-06-05United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSWednesday, June 5, 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 learned with shock and great sadness of the murder yesterday of three Swiss workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Burundi, according to a UN Spokesman. In a statement, the Secretary-General expressed his condolences to the ICRC, to the Government of Switzerland and to the families of the victims. He called upon the parties in Burundi to refrain from such acts of violence and to allow the humanitarian agencies to carry out their work unhindered throughout the country. The Secretary-General also called upon the international community to support efforts towards attaining conciliation and peace in Burundi. The future of our cities would increasingly determine not only the future of nations but also of the planet in its entirety, Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said in his World Environment Day message. He warned that "we ignore the issue of sustainable management of cities at our own peril". Dr. Boutros-Ghali said the future development of cities should be based on environmentally sustainable considerations. World Environment Day was a call for conscience. He urged that action be taken "now" and said "the environmental crisis allows no time for delay". A general exchange of views on the state of human settlements, including strategies for their improvement, was the thrust of the third day of deliberations at the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II). Achieving full parity between men and women would enhance women's status and fuller participation in the activities which affect their daily lives, said the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Nafis Sadik. She called for the full involvement of women in policy and decision-making processes. Women were central to sustainable human settlement strategies, she added. According to a UN Radio report from Istanbul, developing countries called for development partners to commit themselves to supporting the implementation of the Habitat agenda in the poorer countries. The Minister of Local Government and Housing in Namibia, Dr. Liberthina Amathila, said no country was safe as long as there were people on the globe for whom poverty was perennial. She urged that the growing needs of developing countries, "especially Africa, must be recognized" and called for new and additional financial resources for Africa. Antigua's Minister of Housing, Urban Development and Renewal, Henderson Simon, said increasing urbanization as well as migration from neighbouring islands had created a housing problem, unsanitary conditions and squatter settlements in the capital, St. Johns. However, the Government, in partnership with other sectors of society, was working on improving living and working conditions on an equitable basis. A representative from Cuba said the country's housing development programme had been seriously hit by a crisis caused by changes in Eastern Europe and the disappearance of the Soviet Union in 1991. Cuba had enjoyed the highest proportion of its trade and cooperation with those countries. Some 1,109 soldiers of the Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA) were quartered yesterday, according to UN Spokesman Sylvana Foa, bringing the total number of UNITA soldiers quartered so far to 39, 370. However, only 34,029 remain in the quartering site because over 5,000 have absconded and 39 have died. UNITA had promised to quarter 50,000 of its soldiers by 15 June. The Expert Group Meeting on Violence against Women has concluded its five- day session in Manila by adopting a series of recommendations to the General Assembly for improving coordination and indicators to determine the situation of women migrant workers. the Group also recommended that certain actions should be taken to protect women migrant workers. The meeting was opened by Angela E.V. King, Director, UN Division for the Advancement of Women, on behalf of the Secretary-General. Ms. King said despite a long-standing recommendation that sending and receiving States enter into bilateral arrangements to ensure that migrant women workers' rights were protected, many issues remained to be addressed. Senator Ramos-Shahani of the Philippines reminded the participants that women migrant workers were "mothers, wives, sisters and daughters" who left family and the familiar and risked working "in a foreign land with an alien culture". In their attempts to ensure the survival of their families, women migrant workers fell prey to violence, "their rights and dignity violated", she added. Some 5,000 participants from all regions of the world, are to attend the First Global Women Entrepreneurs Trade Fair and Investment Forum in Africa in Accra, Ghana, at the end of this month. The United Nations Development Programme was "proud to be among the sponsors of this Fair which seeks to enhance women's economic empowerment", said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa, (UNDP), one of the sponsors. The Fair was in line with commitments made at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing last September, she added. The Fair is expected to help promote women's economic empowerment through entrepreneurial development and foster economic cooperation among developing countries. Some 200 leaders from around the world are to gather in Amman, Jordan, from 16 to 19 June to assess what has been achieved since the 1990 World Conference on Education for All held in Jomtien, Thailand. At that Conference, 155 governments and donors pledged to provide primary education to all children and reduce illiteracy before the year 2000. The Amman meeting would be a milestone as it would show the track record of what countries had done or had failed to do in this regard in the last six years, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Assistant Director-General for Education, Colin Power. "There is a sense of urgency about social development, and education is at the core of it", Mr. Power added. Among the issues participants are to explore at the four-day meeting are: education for girls and women and teachers' working conditions. The panel will include children and adult learners. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has called for an urgent concerted global effort to dispose of hazardous waste resulting from large amounts of unused pesticides in developing countries. A study, released by the FAO, estimates that there are more than 100,000 metric tonnes of pesticides in developing countries, 20,000 of which are in Africa. Several countries in Asia and Eastern Europe have stocks in excess of 5,000 metric tonnes each. Among the highly toxic and persistent substances are DDT, Dieldrin and HCH (Hexachlorocyclohexane). "Obsolete pesticide stocks are potential time-bombs, says Nick van der Graaff, head of FAO's Plant Protection Service. "Leakage, seepage and various accidents related to pesticides are quite common and widespread. Storage conditions rarely meet internationally accepted standards. Many pesticide containers deteriorate and leak their contents into the soil, contaminating groundwater and the environment," according to van der Graaff. An enormous variety of pesticides have been imported by countries through donations by aid agencies or governments. As a result, the FAO study says, there is an international responsibility to assist recipient countries in addressing the problem. It is estimated that the costs of disposing of obsolete pesticide stocks in Africa alone exceed $100 million. 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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