United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-04-07

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 7 April 1997

HEADLINES

• Security Council urges parties in eastern Zaire to ensure unrestricted access for humanitarian relief.
• United Nations Secretary-General calls for rapid deployment of peace- keeping force in Albania.
• United Nations Secretary-General concludes two-day visit to India; commends the members of the Non-Aligned Movement for their support of UN peace-keeping.
• United Nations Secretary-General calls for international solidarity to face risks posed by the spread of infectious diseases.
• United Nations launches a joint inter-agency appeal for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.
• Human Rights Committee completes examination of Portugal's report on the territory of Macau.
• The Preparatory Committee for the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference meets at Headquarters in New York.
• The Commission on Sustainable Development to hold fifth session at headquarters in New York.
• The Food and Agriculture Organisation announces a seminar in Dakar, Senegal to discuss food security in cities in Africa.
• UNAIDS Executive Director warns about the continuing challenges of the global AIDS epidemic.

In a statement read out by the President of the Council Ambassador Antonio Monteiro of Portugal, the Council underlined the obligations of all concerned to respect the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law.

It noted that some cooperation had recently been extended to relief agencies by the ADFL. The Council also urged the parties to cooperate fully with the United Nations in the implementation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriation plan for eastern Zaire. It also called on the Government of Rwanda to facilitate the plan's implementation.

Meanwhile, the Alliance has approved the UNHCR-repatriation plan and preparations have begun for the emergency airlift of Rwandan refugees in urgent need of medical care.

In a statement, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mrs. Sadako Ogata said workers from humanitarian agencies were attempting to identify who among the women, children, sick and elderly could be flown out within the next few days.

The agency said the initial plans were to set up an air bridge between Kisangani and Goma to fly out several hundred refugees daily. However, further negotiations were required with the Rwandan Government to determine if the refugees could be airlifted directly to Kigali in Rwanda, UNHCR said.

Noting that speed was of the essence, Mr. Annan expressed the hope that the multinational force, led by Italy would be deployed rapidly and with the support and cooperation of all concerned.

"The Security Council unanimously endorsed the peace-keeping mission for Albania in a record eleven hours precisely because it recognised the urgency and the importance of its objectives: to give humanitarian assistance to the Albanian people and to contain the situation on the ground as quickly as possible", he said.

Addressing the twelfth Ministerial Conference of the Movement of Non- Aligned Countries, Mr. Annan stressed that the reform of the Security Council was one of the fundamental issues which only the Member States could decide.

He expressed the hope that one of the consequences of an expansion in the membership would be to correct, among other things, the under- representation of non-aligned and developing countries.

Mr. Annan stated that the surest foundation for peace, stability and security was economic and social development. "That is why I intend both to reform the role of the United Nations in international cooperation for development, and to do all I can to ensure that greater resources are devoted to it", Mr Annan said.

He said the commitment to development was one of the guiding beacons of the work of the United Nations, adding that peace-keeping and peace- making may catch the headlines, but in terms of resources, the development work of the Organisation was far more significant.

Speaking at a luncheon organised in his honour by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), following his address to NAM Conference, Mr. Annan said there now existed real opportunity for extremely productive collaboration between the private sector and the other players on the national and international stage.

The United Nations system, he said, was seeking to enlist the dynamism of the private sector for the common good by fostering closer links at both the conceptual and operational levels.

He encouraged the private sector and industry in India to use the United Nations as a forum for sharing experiences and best practices as well as to consider increasing the level of assistance they provide in the implementation of United Nations programmes aimed at private sector development.

Mr Annan also mentioned the question of United Nations procurement and the potential of the Indian industry in that respect.

During his two-day visit to India, Mr. Annan met with the Prime Minister, Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda, exchanging views on a wide-range of issues, including the question of UN reform, the composition of the Security Council, disarmament, regional relations and human rights.

He also held discussions with the Minister of External Relations of India, Mr. I.K. Gujral and paid a courtesy call on the President of India, Mr. Shankar Dayal Sharma.

In a message on the occasion of the World Health Day, observed on 7 April, Mr. Annan said tremendous progress had been made in controlling some of the most terrible diseases facing humankind, due to a world-wide effort led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and involving many nations and international organisations.

"In the past 20 years alone, about 30 new and highly infectious diseases have been identified, among them Ebola and HIV/AIDS. Old diseases that once seemed under control, such as diptheria and tuberculosis, are making a deadly comeback, increasingly resistant to drugs that once cured us of their effects," he said.

Mr. Annan said the WHO was sounding a global alert and calling for a global response to the challenge of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. "There can be no clearer example of the interdependence of nations than the risks posed by the spread of infectious diseases. We need to show international solidarity by meeting these challenge with united, coordinated action," he said.

The appeal focuses on urgent needs in three priority sectors resulting from the effects of unprecedented flooding in the DPRK in 1995 and 1996. The sectors, determined through consultations with the relevant United Nations agencies and the DPRK government, are: food aid; strengthening of food security and; and health services.

The appeal launched Monday will continue and expand the activities of the UN agencies which were undertaken in the framework of previous UN consolidated appeals.

The expert from France and Committee Chairperson, Christine Chanet, said the negotiations between the Portuguese and Chinese authorities on the transition seemed to be going well. She said Macau's status as the first territory in Asia to abolish the death penalty was impressive, as was its refusal to extradite persons to countries that employed the death penalty or life sentences.

Among the issues raised during the consideration of the third periodic report of Portugal on the territory of Macau were: the condition of women lured to Macau for prostitution and drug trafficking; the status of the Covenant in relation to domestic law; dissemination of information on the Covenant; freedom of conscience and religion; and rights of the child.

The two-week session of the Preparatory Committee, open to all States parties to the Treaty, will address its own organisation and procedures, as well as those of the Review Conference, and ways to promote full implementation of the Treaty.

As provided by the Treaty, which entered into force on 5 May 1970, review conferences are held every five years. The NPT, which now has 186 States parties, is a landmark international treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and their technology and to further the goal of general and complete disarmament.

The text will be the starting point for negotiations during the fifth session of the 53-member Commission on Sustainable Development, when it meets at Headquarters from 8 to 25 April. The Commission act as a preparatory and negotiating body for the special session to be held in New York from 23 to 27 June.

The agency said most African cities would double in size within 20 years and will need dynamic and efficient food supply and distribution systems (SADAs). In order to address the issue of food security in Africa's cities, FAO said a seminar will be held in Dakar, Senegal from 14 - 18 April.

The agency will present its framework programme "Feeding Africa's Cities of Tomorrow" at the seminar. The programme comprises two phases, including the provision of technical documents on different aspects of operations in African cities and proposing an interdisciplinary method for analysing and designing programmes to develop those systems. The second phase will extend the project to every African country.

Speaking at the opening session of the Programme's Coordinating Board, the governing body of UNAIDS, Dr. Piot on Monday said the principal enemy was inaction.

"The inaction is fuelled by a new complacency that is eroding the urgency of the response as news about experimental treatments dominate media coverage. It is fuelled by the continuing denial of the epidemic in many societies. And it is fuelled by ignorance of the prevention strategies that are known to work and to be cost-effective," he said.

In his address to the meeting, Dr. Piot highlighted the achievements of the United Nations system since UNAIDS became operational in January 1996, as well as some of the problems and challenges it was facing.

He noted that the planning and funding targets set for the Programme in 1996 had essentially been met and that over 120 UN Theme Groups on HIV/AIDS, covering 150 countries, had now been established.

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