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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-07-29United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSMonday, July 29, 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-Ghali has decided that the Office of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan (OSGA) should cease to exist in order to strengthen the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan and to rationalise the UN political presence in that country, the Secretary- General's Spokesman Sylvana Foa announced today. In his quarterly report to the General Assembly on the work of the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan, Dr. Boutros-Ghali said that all UN peacemaking activities in Afghanistan would henceforth be integrated into the Special Mission, comprising five political advisors and two military observers. The report noted that the objectives of a durable cease-fire and a peaceful transfer of power mandated by the General Assembly are still far from being achieved. Appealing to the Afghan leaders and the countries concerned to help the UN find constructive ways to facilitate the peace process, the Secretary- General said the preference of warring parties to seek their objectives by military means rather than peaceful negotiations appears deep and enduring. The Afghan leaders should immediately suspend hostilities and commit themselves to effective negotiations, the Secretary-General said. "The joy and global brotherhood engendered by the Olympic games can never be vanquished by the actions of a despicable few," UN Secretary- General Boutros-Ghali said in his reaction to Saturday's bomb attack at the Olympic Park in Atlanta. "This repugnant violation of the spirit of Olympic games must be denounced around the world", Dr Boutros-Ghali said. Condemning all acts of terrorism in the strongest possible terms, the Secretary-General conveyed his deepest condolences to President Clinton of the United States and to the victims and the families of those who were killed or wounded "in this vicious assault". With the end of the cold war and the dramatic economic transformations that are affecting not only the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, but also major regions of the developing world, Africa is finding itself marginalised in world affairs and in the world economy. Addressing the thirty-ninth International Seminar for Diplomats in Salzburg, Austria, Monday, UN General Assembly President Diogo Freitas do Amaral of Portugal, presented three "personal proposals" on Africa, calling on the UN University in Tokyo to give first priority to research and debate on the development of Africa. Calling for more concrete and political action on Africa, the General Assembly President said he would ask the UN Secretary-General to immediately appoint a high commissioner for the development of Africa. He also called for an emergency meeting of all creditors to reach a short term decision on debt relief for Africa. "If we do it properly and urgently, and if we do commit ourselves to the main priorities, I think that there will be hope for Africa," he added. He said much of the continent continues to be afflicted by persistent economic stagnation, mounting human misery, deep political instability and resurgent wars. "Today, Africa's crisis poses one of the greatest challenges facing the United Nations system, and indeed, the entire international community", he said. Outlining UN achievements on the African continent, he said the UN's capacity for preventive diplomacy and peacemaking, including early warning and good offices, has been strengthened, in particular in Africa, where notable successes have been achieved privately and quietly. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has received the required number of ratifications from States for the Convention on Nuclear Safety to enter into force in October this year. The Agency has received a total of 25 instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval to date, including 17 from States having at least one nuclear installation which has achieved criticality in a reactor core. According to the terms of the Convention, a preparatory meeting of the States parties will take place within six months of the Convention entering into force. The Convention, which was negotiated under the auspices of the IAEA, was opened for signature in September 1994 and has so far been signed by a total of 63 States. It is the first legal instrument that directly addresses the safety of nuclear power plants worldwide. "This is the culmination of a great deal of effort on the part of Member States...It is a major step forward in strengthening international cooperation in the safety field and towards creating a truly international safety culture," said Hans Blix, Director-General of the IAEA. "The safe use of nuclear, as of other forms of energy, will clearly remain a national responsibility, but international efforts have brought increasing recognition of the interdependence of all participants in the nuclear field, as the Convention bears witness," he noted. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has recommended that UN specialized agencies review the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Under other terms of that text, the Council requested specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system and international and regional organizations to strengthen assistance to the remaining Non-Self- Governing Territories. The Council also voted to reaffirm that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, were illegal and an obstacle to economic and social development. ECOSOC also reaffirmed the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and the population of the Syrian Golan to their natural and all other economic resources. It took note of a set of agreed conclusions on the coordination of the activities of the United Nations system for poverty eradication, including mainstreaming a gender perspective into UN poverty-eradication strategies. Other resolutions included provisions concerning the monitoring of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, noting that the Covenant was not consistent with other human rights treaties and requesting that appropriate action be taken; an orally revised resolution on the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), which called upon States, intergovernmental and non- governmental organizations to contribute through voluntary contributions and pledges to the Institute's Trust Fund; and another calling upon all relevant organizations of the UN system to integrate the results of major international conferences into their programme of work. The World Food Programme, in response to growing hunger in North Korea, has launched an expanded emergency operation that will feed three times as many people as before and will last until next spring. Donors had reacted rapidly to the WFP mid-May special alert on North Korea's dire food crisis and the expanded activities are expected to feed an estimated 1,575,000 North Koreans, according to the WFP. The WFP officials, however, warned that they were worried the remaining US$10 million needed to implement their new US$25.9 million North Korea strategy would be hard to raise. 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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