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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-06-25United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSTuesday, June 25, 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
UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is currently in London, to discuss various issues of international concern with British Prime Minister, John Major. The Secretary-General, in his discussions with Mr. Major, focussed on the ongoing process of reform of the United Nations, UN Spokesman, Sylvana Foa said. He reviewed the latest steps taken in streamlining the UN, reducing the budget, improving inter-agency coordination at Headquarters and in the field and efforts to find a solution to the financial crisis. The Secretary-General said he was looking forward to meeting the G-7 leaders in Lyons, France, when he would brief them on the latest progress of reform since the Halifax Summit last year. The British Prime Minister acknowledged that a great deal had indeed been achieved in the process of reform of the UN. They also conducted a general review of peace-keeping operations and in particular the status of stand-by arrangements with troop contributors. Other areas of discussion included, Cyprus, Angola, Burundi and Nigeria. During his two-day working visit, the Secretary-General will also meet the British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind and the Secretary- General of the Commonwealth, Chief Anayoku. Extreme poverty offends the most basic values of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali told delegates at the Dialogue on Poverty Conference in Geneva, today. The Secretary-General maintained that it is inadmissible that 1.3 billion people are living in absolute poverty. "It is unacceptable that 1.5 billion people have no access to the most elementary health care. And we know that women are the prime victims of poverty, for they account for over 70 per cent of the underprivileged of this earth," he said. Outlining different instruments in the promotion of social progress, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Secretary-General said when the Charter of the United Nations was signed 50 years ago, its stated aim was to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. "It is these basic texts that must constantly guide our actions," he noted. Dr. Boutros-Ghali said international law is not a set of abstract documents applicable only among States. "It must be applied to the daily lives of every man and woman in order to enhance their political, economic and social status. Pledging his support to the fight towards eradicating poverty, the Secretary-General reassured the delegates that the United Nations welcomed not only States, but also non-governmental organisations, associations, private institutions and men and women that are striving for greater human solidarity. The policies of the new, more hard-lined Israeli Government, if implemented, could have a detrimental effect on the peace process, Mr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, Observer for Palestine told the annual North American non-governmental organisations (NGO) Symposium on the Question of Palestine. Mr. Al-Kidwa added that the Israeli Prime Minister's new guidelines would make it impossible for peace to survive in the Middle-East. "Israel must continue returning land for peace, abiding by its commitments to the Palestinian side, and implementing agreements already signed in good faith." The Palestinian Authority, he cautioned, would not accept any retreat, and attempts to build settlements or to retreat from agreed commitments could have devastating effects. Opening the session, the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Ibra Deguene Ka of Senegal expressed confidence that the new Israeli Government would continue to pursue peace and abide by agreements already reached. The Symposiums programme, he noted, would promote networking and action on important issues. The Symposium is meeting this year on the theme, "Towards a just and comprehensive settlement of the question of Palestine". The contributions of the developing countries to the growth and interdependence of the global economy is disproportionately large, the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) told the Economic and Social Council as it began its 1996 substantive session, Monday. Addressing the Council's high level policy dialogue on important developments in the world economy, Rubens Ricupero said that in a new and far reaching trend, growth in some developing countries seemed independent of the "locomotive" stimulation of developed countries, adding that many Asian economies were posing growth rates in excess of 7 per cent while Japan was in recession. Mr. Ricupero, however, noted that the success of some developing economies threatened to mask difficulties in least developed countries, where levels of official development assistance (ODA) were at a 20-year low. Assessing the world growth rate, the Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Prabhakar R. Narvekar said the average world growth was expected to pick up to about 4 per cent in the period from 1996 to 1997. He noted that most investment had been financed out of domestic savings and that private capital flows had only supplemented those savings. Stressing the importance of consistent market-based, outward-looking policies and flexibility of economies, he said the Fund was working to strengthen its capacity to deal with the challenges of globalisation. Malaysia's last camp for Vietnamese boat-people closed today, ending 21- years of cooperation between the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Malaysian authorities. Some quarter-million people transited the country during that period. The closing ceremony at Sungei Besi camp, near Kuala Lumpur, was attended by Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Abdullah Haji Ahmad Dadawi and UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and marks the end of Malaysia's 21-year involvement with the boat people from Viet Nam. The ceremony took place just five days before the end of the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA), a multi-national effort that was established in 1989 to stem the flow of asylum-seekers who braved shark- infested waters and pirate attacks to leave Viet Nam and Laos. "There are few happy moments in the career of a refugee official, and this is one of them," Vieira de Mello said at the closing ceremony. "The CPA has been a model for multilateral cooperation, built on the principles of international solidarity, burden sharing, and proper acceptance of responsibilities," he noted. The CPA established an alternative, legal immigration route out of Viet Nam, permitting over half a million people to depart by air. It is estimated that since 1975, 840,000 Vietnamese asylum-seekers have arrived in the countries of South East Asia and Hong Kong. Over 755,000 departed for resettlement in the west, and more than 81,000 have returned safely to Viet Nam. Mexico and Lebanon have become the 72nd and 73rd member States to make full payment to the UN regular budget, UN Spokesman, Sylvana Foa, announced today. The contributions of the two member States amount to $108,770 and $8, 565,655, respectively, and brings the member State contributions to 58.3 percent of the regular budget. 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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