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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-06-10United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSMonday, June 10, 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 Secretary-General in his latest report has said the situation in Tajikistan was at its worst and most volatile since the end of the civil war in 1992, according to a UN Spokesman. "He warns that he is extremely concerned at the deterioration of the situation in Tajikistan", he added. Dr. Boutros-Ghali said recent developments in the region raised serious questions regarding the sincerity and intentions of the Tajik parties. The Secretary-General has recommended that the Security Council extend the mandate of the UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) for a further period of six months to give time for the activities of his new Special Representative and Head of Mission in Dushanbe to show results. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in Geneva today had several meetings with senior Government officials and Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Petrovsky, Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva; Ahmed Mahiou, Chairman of the International Law Commission, currently holding its 48th session; the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso and the Minister of Industries and Labour of the Comoros, Madi Ahamada, a UN Spokesman said. Dr. Boutros-Ghali discussed the relationship between the United Nations and the Comoros, particularly that country's economic development programmes, he added. The Secretary-General was scheduled to host a dinner in honour of President Glafkos Clerides of the Republic of Cyprus. Dr. Boutros-Ghali would be returning to Istanbul tomorrow, to attend the summit-level meeting at Habitat, the Spokesman said. Noting that several Heads of Government and Heads of State were expected, he said the Secretary- General and the President of the Republic of Turkey were among those scheduled to address the meeting. Delegates outlined their respective strategies for the improvement of human settlements, as the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) entered its second week today. The view generally expressed was that the urban crisis was part of a larger global environmental crises and might even exacerbate it, according to a UN report from Istanbul. Ms. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) told the conference that "the challenge before us is to devise new and creative solutions that will lead to economically and socially viable and environmentally sustainable cities". She called on Habitat II to bridge the polarities inherent in the definition of habitat as a "human settlement" and habitat as "eco- system". Echoing that view, the representative of Malta, Ambassador Joseph Cassar, said "the social development of a people cannot be looked at in isolation". The philosophy which inspired his country's policy was one which recognized the completeness of the relationship of man to his environment, he added. Meanwhile, Shahnaz Wazir Ali of Pakistan, suggested that revival of the agricultural sector could offer opportunities and help in reducing rural to urban migration. She pointed out that factors such as insufficient financial resources "led to ever-increasing housing shortages as well as the worsening working and living conditions" in urban as well as rural areas, particularly in developing countries. The Minister of Housing and Settlements of Trinidad and Tobago, John Humphrey, said women played a central role in meeting the shelter needs. Almost 60 per cent of squatter households in his country were headed by women. His Government was "committed to treating women as equal partners in the provision of adequate shelter for all" citizens of that country, he added. The International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda received financial boost with the General Assembly's decision to appropriate $63.6 million to their respective activities. The General Assembly also appropriated $1.44 billion to finance various peace-keeping activities, under the total of 23 resolutions and five decisions recommended by the Administrative and Budgetary (Fifth) Committee. In addition, the General Assembly decided to appropriate $53.9 million for the operation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from 1 February to 30 June. All appropriations were agreed upon without a vote, except the appropriation for UNIFIL activities, where the recorded vote was 104 in favour to two against (Israel and the United States) and two abstentions (Iran and Syria). During the same meeting, the Assembly decided to increase the number of members of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 50 to 51 States, to be elected at the 1996 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council. China, although not renouncing peaceful nuclear explosions altogether, was ready to go along with a temporary ban on peaceful nuclear explosions in order to facilitate the conclusion of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty by 28 June. Addressing the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, the representative of China, Sha Zukang said his country could agree to a treaty provision that the possibility of permitting the conduct of those explosions should be considered by the review conference of States parties to a nuclear test- ban treaty, adding that peaceful nuclear explosions, if used properly, could play a dynamic role in promoting the economic development of some countries. The Conference on Disarmament, the sole multilateral disarmament forum, is working towards agreement on a comprehensive nuclear-test ban treaty by 28 June. It is expected that the Conference, at the next plenary session on 13 June, will consider expanding its membership from the current 38 to 61 members. One more UN Member State has paid its assessed contributions to the 1996 regular budget of the United Nations, a UN Spokesman said. Laos paid $108, 770 in full and the contribution brings the total to 70 member States and two non-member states that have so far paid their regular budget assessment. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has announced the fifteen winning entries for its fifth international poster contest, which it first sponsored in 1992. One of the goals of the contest is to promote awareness of populations issues, particularly the relationship between environmental and social problems and population, according to the UNFPA. The entries were divided into five categories, according to age: 6 to 8 years; 9 to 12 years; 13 to 15 years; 16 to 18 years; and 18 years and over. There were three prizes in each category. First prizes went to entrants from Turkey, Mongolia, Indonesia, Mali and Costa Rica. There were winners also from Thailand, India, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Japan, Algeria, and Philippines. To ratify a Declaration and Global Action for the better conservation and use of genetic resources important for food and agriculture, delegates from more than 150 countries and some 50 non- governmental organizations are to meet in Leipzig, Germany, from 17 to 23 June 1996, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAO says it is organizing the International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in cooperation with the Government of Germany. 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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