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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-09-04United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSWednesday, September 4, 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 has been appraised of the deteriorating situation in the Sudan by Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghany, the leader of the National Democratic Alliance of the Sudan, an umbrella organization for an array of Sudanese opposition parties and movements, the Secretary-General's Spokesman Sylvana Foa announced today. During the meeting, Mr. Al-Mirghany emphasized that the ongoing situation constituted a serious violation of the basic human rights of the Sudanese people. He urged the international community to lend its attention to the suffering people of the Sudan. The Secretary-General reviewed with Mr. Al- Mirghany the various peace initiatives aimed at reaching a peaceful solution to the civil war in the Sudan. He reaffirmed the role that the United Nations continued to play in alleviating the humanitarian situation in the country through Operation Lifeline Sudan, the Spokesman concluded. The Government of Croatia has responded to calls for financial assistance to the local administration and public services of the region. The Government committed itself to providing 4.5 million kunas ($860,000) per month, until the end of the current mandate on 15 January 1997, Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said in a monthly report to the Security Council. In the report on the activities of the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES), the Secretary- General said, "while this will cover only approximately half the monthly costs, it is a most welcome contribution and a further signal of political support for the efforts of UNTAES". Another positive development, he said, was the Agreement on the Normalisation of Relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The two parties "agreed to declare general amnesty for all acts committed in connection with armed conflicts, except for the gravest violations of humanitarian law characterized as war crimes", the Secretary- General said. However, the Secretary-General noted that against those positive signs were the unhelpful attitude of some hardline elements in the local Serb leadership, continuing uncertainty over the duration of the mandate of UNTAES, the need to resolve certain major policy issues if elections are to be held in February or March 1997. There were also questions concerning reliable assurances from the Government of Croatia for the preservation of a multi-ethnic society once the UNTAES mission ended, he concluded. The Convention to Combat Desertification was one of the first conventions to embrace the comprehensive approach to environmental problems envisaged in the 1991 Rio Earth Summit's Agenda 21, Under Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai, told the International Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification. The Under-Secretary-General assured delegates that his Department would continue to provide support to the interim Convention. He commended the Committee for its approach in taking into account the role of local communities and the participatory approach. "It is therefore very important that the processes of implementation of this Convention be strongly supported, carefully watched because we are going to learn a lot of lessons from this which perhaps may be applicable in other areas", Mr. Desai said. The Chairman of the International Negotiating Committee, Bo Kjellen of Sweden, said the development of the Convention had led to an upsurge in interest in the drylands, their problems and possible solutions. The representative of Ireland, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the problem of desertification, particularly in Africa, was a major development issue. Over the last five years, the European Union had spent 950 million European Currency Units on projects in which the fight against desertification constituted a large or significant share, he added. In Geneva, a joint UN International NGO meeting/European NGO Symposium on Palestine has urged that the momentum of the peace process be maintained. In a statement to the meeting, the Director of the UN Office in Geneva, Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Petrovsky, speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General said recent developments had sparked concern that the peace process might be losing momentum. He said it was essential that the parties should abide by agreements already reached and exert every effort to fulfil the hopes of all peoples in the area for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. The Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People Ibra Dugeune Ka of Senegal, expressed the hope that Israel would maintain the momentum of the peace negotiations and respect and implement in full agreements already reached. Participants expressed concern that the Middle East peace process was threatened under the Government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyanhu. They called on the Prime Minister and his Likud party to live up to international agreements already signed on Palestine. Cambodia has become the 87th United Nations Member State to pay its regular budget dues in full. It paid just over $108,000. Member States were still to pay their dues in full as of today. A United Nations Spokesman said the United Nations was still owed a total of $2.9 billion for both its regular and peace-keeping budgets. 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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