United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-02-20

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 20 February 1997

HEADLINES

• UN Secretary-General calls for additional troops and resources to assist Liberia during electoral process.
• General Assembly President expresses sorrow over passing-away of paramount leader of China, Deng Xiaoping.
• Chairman of Committee on Exercise of Inalienable Rights of Palestinian People calls for complete restoration of legitimate rights of Palestinians.
• International Agency for Research on Cancer evaluates carcinogenic risk associated with dioxins.
• World Health Organisation announces influenza vaccine formula for 1997/1998.
• United Nations Development Programme mobilises African Filmmakers in fight against poverty.

Addressing the second Ministerial Meeting of the Special Conference to Support the Peace Process in Liberia, Thursday in New York, Mr. Annan said cooperation should be intensified "as we embark on a new phase of the peace process in Liberia. "We must all be committed to a common approach, as well as to a common strategy for implementation", the Secretary-General said.

The Secretary-General called on the meeting to take political decisions to support the efforts to be taken now. "Too often in the past have we embarked on critical and necessary tasks, only to have the financial rug pulled from underneath these efforts with devastating consequences," he said.

He expressed the hope that he will report soon to the Security Council with recommendations on the role the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) and the United Nations could play in assisting Liberia through the critical last phase.

"If we are to meet the 30 May deadline to which we are all committed, urgent action is required on all outstanding issues," he said.

The Assembly President said Mr. Deng Xiaoping made a monumental contribution to China, which had firmly placed it in the rank of the major countries of the world. "The Chinese people have benefitted from his wise leadership", he said.

Noting that the world at large had gained through Mr. Deng Xiaoping's efforts to underline global peace and development, the Assembly President extended condolences to the bereaved family, and to the Government and people of China.

Speaking at the opening of the 1997 session of the Committee, Ambassador Ibra Deguene Ka said it was the Committee's hope that 1997 would also be the year in which irreversible progress would be made towards the establishment of a Palestinian State and a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

The Observer for Palestine, Nasser Al-Kidwa, informed the Committee that Israel's building of illegal settlements in the occupied territories would undermine the peace process and render agreements reached useless.

In a dangerous development, many Israeli officials were indicating their intention to build a new settlement in the Jabal Abu-Ghoneim neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, he said, adding that the Committee should help ensure that the plan was not implemented.

The agency said in a statement that the Working Group reviewed all the published scientific data on the occurrence of cancer in human populations that are known to have been exposed to high levels of dioxins as a result of industrial accidents or environmental exposures.

The Working Group further assessed the evidence for carcinogenic effects of dioxins in experimental animals, and evaluated possible biological mechanisms of carcinogenesis by these substances. Dioxins are formed as unintended by-products of certain chemical reactions, including those used to produce trichlorophenol and several herbicides.

WHO said three main antigenic types of influenza viruses are currently circulating among the world's population. According to the agency, these viruses all have a remarkable capacity to change their antigenic characteristics from year to year. The viruses are known as A(H1N1), A(H3N2) and B, and composed of two influenza strains of type A and one type B strain. The agency said the latest formula recommended by WHO is: an A/Wuhan/359/95(H3N2) - like strain; an A/Bayern/7/95(H1N1) - like strain; and a B/Beijing/184/93 - like strain.

Scientists are constantly challenged to identify major emerging strains of influenza viruses, so that effective vaccines can be devised each year, according to WHO. It said that in comparison to last year's recommendations for the vaccine, one of the three influenza vaccine components had been changed.

"So far during the 1996 - 1997 influenza season, several countries have reported moderate to severe influenza epidemics. The epidemics in many countries reached a peak around the end of December 1996 or during January 1997," WHO said.

This year, FESPACO 97 will be held from 22 February to 1 March in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on the theme "Cinema, Childhood and Youth". FESPACO 1997, which will bring together some 100 filmmakers and journalists, will enable UNDP to expand its partnership with African filmmakers in an international crusade against poverty.

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

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