United Nations Daily Highlights 96-08-28

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, August 28, 1996

HEADLINES

• UN Secretary-General says the Guatemalan government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca have scrupulously observed the cessation of offensive military action.
• Burundi calls on the Security Council to despatch an ad hoc mission to the Great Lakes region.
• UNICEF calls for global effort to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
• The UN Development Programme announces agreement to expand Internet access and information technology to developing countries.
• An Agreement for a Bank for Economic Cooperation and Development in the Middle East and North Africa is deposited with the United Nations.
• Eritrea withdraws from Lesser Hanish islands in the Red Sea.
• A Finnish soldier from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon sustains slight injuries following a mortar attack.
• Germany offers premises to UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
• The proposed international criminal court should be operational before the turn of the century, Preparatory Committee told.
• Delegates and Mission staff to benefit from a workshop on research and documentation.

The parties were discussing the agenda item on strengthening civil power and the role of the army in a democratic society. At the previous round of UN moderated talks two weeks ago, the two parties had committed themselves to finalising a comprehensive peace agreement before the end of 1996.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that the unilateral cessation of offensive military action declared by the URNG on 19 March , followed by a similar unilateral declaration by the Government on 20 March, had been scrupulously observed and no casualty, military or civilian, had been registered since.

In a letter to the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary- General said after the signing of the final peace agreement and the entry into force of all agreements reached between the parties, the UN would be called upon to verify implementation of these agreements and to assist the parties in complying with them.

Addressing an open meeting of the Council on the situation in Burundi on Wednesday, the Permanent Representative of Burundi, Ambassador Terence Nsanze said that having obtained the facts from the source itself, it would be easier for the Council to provide solutions that were based on existing realities.

"Burundi has proposed the convening and holding of a regional summit devoted to the entire crisis. It has begun talking with the armed factions that are determined to put down their weapons and separate themselves from Nazi ideologies of extermination and genocide," Ambassador Nsanze said.

He said consultations were underway to establish a transitional national assembly, noting that all the deputies of the former national assembly would be members together with certain representatives of civil society and of other socio-political categories. The new assembly would be convened in regular session in October, he added.

The representative of Ireland, speaking on behalf of the European Union said it was essential that a dialogue be organised without delay to bring together all of Burundi's political forces without exception to negotiate a democratic, institutional consensus capable of ensuring security for all.

He said political mechanisms had to be found to share power in a way that would allay the fears of both sides and gradually build up the confidence that would enable them to live in harmony.

Canada deplored the coup d'etat which put an end to the legal institutions in Burundi and said a new political agreement, which respected democratic principles and the rights of minorities would contribute to resolving those problems.

Addressing the World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Stockholm, Ms. Bellamy called for urgent international cooperation to put an end to the violation of children's rights. "We are here to affirm, without compromise, that children are not property to be bought or sold, that their human rights are to be taken with utmost seriousness and that their voices must be heard in the fulfillment of those rights," she told delegates.

According to UNICEF, each year more than 1 million children worldwide are reportedly forced into child prostitution, trafficked and sold for sexual purposes, and used in the production of child pornography.

The vast majority of victims were girls, the UNICEF Executive Director said, adding that only by ensuring girls and women full equality and opportunity in all spheres of life could the international community begin to get to the roots of sexual exploitation. "While there is no single remedy for this complex problem, our work has shown us that education is indeed a strong force for change", she said.

The World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation, the first global conference of its kind, is being hosted by the Government of Sweden in cooperation with various non-governmental organisations and UNICEF. It was expected to develop strategies that would help to fight those gross violations of children's rights.

The agreement would help expand the use of Internet and computer systems for environmental protection, economic development and related social issues. According to a joint statement, China and Mexico were among the first countries that would benefit from the agreement, which linked together an international development organisation and a leading, global supplier of information technology.

The communications revolution, according to the UNDP Administrator, James Gustave Speth, was enabling millions of people to improve their standard of living by becoming better informed and by helping them participate in the decision-making process.

He said the Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP), a non- profit, global communication initiative, capitalised on the global thirst for information by identifying key sources of critical data and by supplying that data via electronic networks to developing countries.

The SDNP, founded in 1992, links government bodies, universities, non- governmental organisations, the private sector and individuals in 30 developing countries for the purpose of exchanging critical information on sustainable human development.

The Agreement would promote private sector investment, regional infrastructure development and regional economic cooperation. The new institution was designed to support the Middle East peace process by strengthening and expanding the economic foundation necessary for a durable peace in the region.

The Bank would be located in Cairo and could begin operations once prospective members have completed their domestic ratification procedures and the agreement entered into force. It was expected to complement the work of existing institutions such as the World Bank and would support regional efforts to establish an open, competitive regional economy characterised by cooperative relations and sustainable economic growth.

She said that the United Nations consider the incident in a serious light because it was the first shelling incident since the Organisation was assured that UNIFIL areas could be considered as safe, adding that UNIFIL lodged an immediate protest with the Israeli Defence Forces and the South Lebanon Army.

Suggesting that the court should enter into operation before the turn of the century, the representative of France said that the Preparatory Committee should proceed with care to establish a universal court which was as widely adhered to as possible.

He said the court should only concern itself with hardcore crimes, leaving to the Security Council the job of determining what constituted aggression.

The workshops would focus on developing skills in retrieving information and documentation generated by various principal and subsidiary bodies of the UN, with a special focus on the General Assembly and the Security Council.

It was expected that the workshops would prepare delegates and staff of Permanent Missions for a more effective use of the various information resources and technologies available at the Dag Hammarskjold Library.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

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