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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-03-06United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSThursday, 6 March 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
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed the acceptance by Zaire of the five-point peace plan proposed by the joint United Nations/Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative, Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun. The peace plan calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, withdrawal of all external forces, including mercenaries, and the reaffirmation of respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Zaire and other States in the Great Lakes region. The plan also calls for protection and security for all refugees and displaced persons and for the rapid and peaceful settlement of the crisis in the region through dialogue, the electoral process and the convening of an international conference on peace, security and development in the Great Lakes region. The Iraqi government would cooperate fully with the United Nations Special Commission to ensure that all questions regarding missiles, and chemical and biological weapons are dealt with and resolved in the shortest possible time, the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Mr. Mohammed Said Al-Sahaf told Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister met Wednesday to review the oil-for food regime. The Iraqi Foreign Minister said he was pleased with the nature of discussions he had with the Sanctions Committee, adding that matters had been clarified and that procedures would be streamlined so that there would be a continuous flow of food to the Iraqi population. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Jose Ayala-Lasso has appealed to all parties in eastern Zaire to respect the right to life and all other human rights as well as refugee and humanitarian law. The High Commissioner said he had received unconfirmed reports of massacres of Rwandan Hutu refugees in various camps in eastern Zaire. "According to local press reports and Zairian human rights groups, there may be several mass graves in Eastern Zaire at various sites near Mugunga camp, Kibumba, Katale, Sake and other locations", he said. He said he was ready to consider the possibility of sending human rights observers to Eastern Zaire, provided that the parties agreed and offered sufficient security guarantees, and that the necessary financial means were made available by the international community. The Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has condemned the continuing abduction of children by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Carol Bellamy called for the immediate release of all the children presently in captivity. While earlier estimates put the total number of children kidnapped at around 3,000 over the last two years, recent calculations, based on the numbers of children who have managed to escape, suggest the total number of abductions could be as many as six to ten thousand, according to UNICEF. Armed opposition fighters of the LRA, who are particularly active in Gulu, Kitgum and other northern districts of Uganda, have been responsible for scores of deliberate killings and for the abduction of thousands of school children. A call for the implementation of economic and social policies based on the understanding that the public sector, the private sector and the welfare system have a shared interest in and responsibility for employment, and that the achievement of full employment should be a permanent goal for all of them, is among a set of guiding principles on employment contained in a draft resolution introduced by Argentina in the Commission for Social Development. The draft was one of seven texts introduced under the Commission's consideration of follow-up to the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, focusing on the priority theme of productive employment and sustainable livelihoods. The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has appointed Mr. Renato Claudio Costa Pereira of Brazil as the new Secretary- General of the Organisation for a three-year term. He will succeed Dr. Phillipe Rochet of Switzerland who has held the position since 1 August 1991. Mr. Pereira is currently President of CERNAI, the Brazilian government agency responsible for International Air Navigation Affairs. 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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