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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-02-18United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSTuesday, 18 February 1997This 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 Kofi Annan has expressed appreciation towards the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhumonov for his successful intervention with Tajik rebels which resulted in the release of five remaining United Nations hostages from the village of Obigarm on 17 February, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard said today. Mr. Annan also expressed appreciation for the competence of his Special Representative in Tajikistan Gerd Merrem in managing this tense affair, the UN Spokesman noted, adding that the hostages were currently being debriefed in Dushanbe, and given stress management counseling. There are fifteen UN personnel that remain in Tajikistan at this time, and the security situation is under review, but still standing at phase four, according to Spokesman Fred Eckhard. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also welcomed the release of the hostages, adding that the hostages themselves had repeatedly said they thought they would never come back alive. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed concern at the escalation of war in Zaire as a result of the bombing of Bukavu by government planes on 17 February, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard said, pointing out that Mr. Annan had deplored the casualties of innocent civilians. The UN Spokesman noted that the United Nations could not confirm reports of additional bombing runs today. He added that the World Food Programme (WFP) had said that there have been no such bombing runs over Bukavu. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Bukavu has reported that the situation is tense after the bombing raid. The situation was otherwise normal, it reported, with children going to school and its international staff working normally at the office. "We have no reports that the local population is fleeing," UNHCR said. Meanwhile, Mr. Annan has received a report from the United Nations/Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative to the Great Lakes Region Ambassador Mohammed Sahnoun outlining elements of a peace agreement that the Special representative is negotiating with the parties, according to the UN Spokesman. Ambassador Sahnoun is in Kinshasa today, and is expected to go to Kigali on 19 February, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General said, adding that he will eventually arrive in Geneva on 20 February where he will meet with humanitarian agencies. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today received the new permanent representative of the United States, Ambassador William Richardson, who presented his credentials. The President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail of Malaysia, also met with Ambassador Richardson. They discussed a number of issues, particularly relating to the reform of the United Nations. Ambassador Razali emphasised the need for Member States to work together to move ahead in the reform process, and underlined the role of the United Nations. Meanwhile, a group of United States congressional staff members arrived today to the United Nations on a visit arranged through the United States Mission to the United Nations. Their agenda included a meeting at a working level to discuss reform efforts with a United Nations group chaired by new controller Jean-Pierre Halbwachs. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has approved the recommendation of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to appoint a new board of trustees for the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations composed entirely of indigenous persons and with a majority of women members. The High Commissioner expressed his pleasure at the Secretary- General's affirmation of his recommendations, stating: "It is the first time that any United Nations body of this importance has an entirely indigenous composition and one that reflects also the important contribution being made by indigenous women to the struggle for justice and human rights. I believe the decision is very much in line with the theme of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People -- Indigenous people: partnership in action." Every year the Fund allocates around $200,000 for 40 travel grants to indigenous people, helping organisations that might not otherwise be able to raise the necessary means to participate in United Nations activities. The UN Department for Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) has launched a Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the Sudan, which calls for $120.8 million to meet the emergency humanitarian needs of an estimated 4.2 million war affected and displaced persons in the Sudan, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard said today, pointing out that, of this number, 630,000 are children under the age of five. Persistent insecurity combined with natural disasters, including crop failures and floods, have worsened the plight of vulnerable groups who area already living below subsistence levels, the UN Spokesman said. DHA hopes that donors will be in a position to lend generous support to this appeal, he added. About 200 Somali refugees have returned to northwest Somalia at the start of a voluntary repatriation for 290,000 refugees in Ethiopia organised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The refugees, consisting of 35 families, boarded six buses from Teferi Ber camp outside of the northwestern town of Jiga for the 25-kilometre trip to dispersal centres across the border in northwest Somalia, from where they will proceed to their home communities, according to UNHCR. The 290,000 Somali refugees are in nine camps in eastern Ethiopia, coming most of them from Somalia's northwestern region. At its peak in the late 1980s, Ethiopia provided asylum to more than 600,000 Somali refugees. A new forecast presented at the joint United Nations and the Economic Commission for Europe Gas meeting indicates gas exports from Russia, the world's leading gas exporter, are expected to almost double within the next 20 years. The meeting held in Geneva heard that despite the fall in economic activity in Russia, the gas sector achieved good results in 1996. Russia is the major gas exporter to central and western Europe and the latest forecasts exceed those of just one year ago. A Strategic Planning Meeting on Capacity-Building for Metropolitan Governance of Nairobi, organised by the UN Department for Development Support and Management Services (DDSMS) in cooperation with the Kenyan Ministry of Local Government, the Nairobi City Council and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), will be held in Nairobi from 24 to 26 February. The meeting will review and finalise the Sector Review Report prepared by DDSMS, identify priorities and agree upon strategies, incorporating the views and consensus of all relevant interested parties, for the enhancement of the capacity for the metropolitan governance of Nairobi. A technical assistance programme/action plan will be also formulated to facilitate the short-, medium- and long-term implementation framework for it. 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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