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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-04-18United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSFriday, 18 April 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 says economic constraints and lack of information on technology are among the factors that have prevented governments, private enterprises and consumers, in developed and developing countries alike, from acting in conformity with the goal of sustainable development. In a message to the International Conference on Sustainable Development of Countries with Economies in Transition, held in Minsk, the Secretary- General said nations making a transition from a centrally planned to a market economy face a particular set of challenges. "Efforts to integrate environmental considerations into economic, fiscal and sectoral policy-making, and to involve all major groups and individual citizens in decision-making, are threatened by weak or inadequate legislation, a lack of managerial skills and shortfalls in financial resources", Mr. Annan said. He said it was particularly laudable that, for the first time, a subregion's minister's of the environment and their counterparts in economic and finance ministries have come together to discuss policies for sustainable development. "Regional cooperative frameworks in Europe will be essential for implementation of the actions this Conference will recommend, " the Secretary-General noted. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the reform efforts are aimed at making the Organisation much more effective, relevant and better adapted for the challenges ahead. Addressing the staff members of the United Nations agencies and programmes based in Bonn, Germany, Mr. Annan said the objective was not "cuts" but to reposition the Organisation "as we move into the next millennium". The Secretary-General said he would want to see a United Nations and its agencies that pool their efforts, that coordinate their activities, eliminate duplication and aim at having a greater impact on society. Earlier, Mr. Annan met with the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Helmut Kohl exchanging views on environmental issues the reform of the Security Council. He also met with the Transitional Administrator of the United nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium. In an address, on the occasion of the signing of the Golden Book of the City of Berlin, Mr. Annan recalled the history of Berlin and said that when looking around the world today and seeing conflicts, whether in Bosnia, in Albania, in Georgia, in Zaire, or in Afghanistan, the world takes inspiration and hope from what had happened in Berlin. "If it can happen here and people reach out to each other...and try and rebuild a city that was once united, in unison, then there is hope for the work I am trying to do in the United Nations and for those who live in strife-torn societies", he said. The Transitional Administrator for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES), Mr. Jacques Klein says the recently held elections in the region was the beginning of a new phase in the continuation of peaceful reintegration of the region and its people into Croatia. He said the elections marked the establishment of legitimate and accepted authorities in the region, and opened the way, after 6 years of war and conflict, to address the real human tragedy of war by enabling all displaced persons to return. "These elections are a victory for reconciliation, for return, and for a better future for all. Now is the time for all parties and people to recommit themselves to peaceful co-existence, reconciliation and return to conditions of democracy, equality and respect for all human rights", he said. Commending the local population for their patience and determination to exercise their democratic rights, Mr. Klein said the fact that some 70,000 residents of the region voted was the strongest demonstration that all technical difficulties were resolved during the course of the elections. He said international monitors played a vital role in confirming the legitimacy of the elections. The Transitional Administrator stated that the successful holding of free, open and fair elections in the region was an historic milestone in the peaceful reintegration of the region. The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday that its food stocks in Kisangani were looted by hundreds of Zairian villagers from a warehouse. The agency said that on Friday morning hundreds of members of the local community protested against the assistance being given to the refugees and blocked WFP staff and other aid workers, travelling by barge across the Zaire river en route to the camps. Villagers then attacked WFP's two main warehouses on the east and west bank of the river, the WFP said. It said two WFP staff members were severely beaten and one hospitalised. The agency said the incident comes at a time when WFP had been boosting its logistical operation in an effort to increase overall food supplies in Kisangani. "It has been WFP's intention to use this food not only to feed the Rwandan refugees who have no resources, but also to begin providing food assistance through special programmes to local Zairian families who had been negatively affected by the large influx of refugees to the area," the WFP said. Some 650 million children currently exist on less than $1 a day, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "Contrary to what the world might expect, the poor are getting poorer, the number of poor is increasing, and the disparity between rich and poor has never been greater", said UNICEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy. According to statistics released by the World Bank in its latest report on World Development Indicators, more than 1.3 billion people currently live on less than $1 a day, and a further 2 billion are only marginally better off. The agency said it believed that children accounted for at least 50 per cent of the total number of poor people. The Commission on Human Rights has harshly condemned what it called "all- pervasive repression and oppression sustained by broad-based discrimination and widespread terror" on the part of the Government of Iraq. It also adopted resolutions criticising human-rights situations in Cuba and East Timor. In a resolution on the situation in Iraq, the Commission strongly condemned the massive and extremely grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the Government of Iraq. The Commission called on the Government of Iraq to abide by its freely undertaken obligations under international law involving human rights. A representative of Iraq charged that the measure illustrated the bitter truth that some countries insisted in politicising human rights and making then a political tool to establish political agendas, adding that instead of cooperation and dialogue, the language of condemnation, threat and ugly words were reflected in the resolution. In reference to the state of affairs in Cuba, the Commission expressed profound regret over numerous reports of violations of human rights and urged the Government of Cuba to ensure freedom of expression and assembly and freedom to demonstrate peacefully. It called for the release of numerous persons detained for political activities and to grant access to prisons by non-governmental humanitarian organisations and international humanitarian agencies. The recently held meeting of States with influence in Afghanistan, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has reaffirmed that there could be no lasting military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. The meeting took place at United Nations Headquarters earlier this week and assessed the situation in Afghanistan. The delegates were unanimous on the need for an immediate cease- fire, a national accord agreeable to the entire Afghan people, the end of the flow of arms into Afghanistan and the preservation of the territorial integrity and unity of Afghanistan. All delegations reconfirmed their full support for the central role of the United Nations as a neutral and impartial element in facilitating a peaceful dialogue among the warring factions and for the role of the head of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan, Mr. Norbert Holl. They stressed that all the various initiatives for peace in Afghanistan should be closely coordinated with the United Nations. The participants made a number of suggestions to reinforce existing United Nations arrangements to promote the peace process, including more frequent meetings. The World Food Programme (WFP) says food relief must be pledged and urgently delivered into North Korea to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. In an update on the recent international appeal for US$95.5 million or 203, 000 tons of emergency food aid to cover immediate needs of some 4.7 million people, the agency said time was running out for North Korea. It said donor response has been quick but more food and cash must be pledged to meet the dire needs in the country. Noting that it has so far received confirmed pledges totalling US$34 million, the WFP called upon the international community to make additional pledges for its emergency operation in North Korea and to ensure that pledges are delivered quickly. The United Nations Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Mr. James A. Baker III is scheduled to start his visit to the region on 22 April 1997, according to the Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-general, Juan Carlos Brandt. Mr. Baker will visit Rabat, Tindouf, Algiers and Nouakchott for consultations with the Government of Morocco, the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO and meetings with the Governments of the two neighbouring countries, Algeria and Mauritania, he said. "Mr. Baker will make a fresh assessment of the situation and will examine, together with the parties and the neighbouring countries, obstacles blocking the implementation of the Settlement Plan for Western Sahara", the Spokesman said. In another development, the Secretary-General has appointed Mr. Diego Cordovez of Ecuador as his Special Adviser as from 28 April 1997. The decision follows an earlier announcement that Professor Han Sung-Joo would no longer continue in his position as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Cyprus beyond 30 April 1997. According to the Spokesman, the Secretary-General was determined to press ahead with the intensified effort to bring about a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue. In a ceremony in Madrid earlier this week, Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain signalled her involvement in the fight against heart diseases in the developing world. Meeting with the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima and representatives of the International Society and Federation of Cardiology (ISFC), the Queen announced that she would chair a Committee of prominent individuals who will work to raise funds and develop greater awareness of the threat of heart disease. The effort will also focus on threats originating from rheumatic fever and Chagas' disease in children and the youth. Special emphasis will be given to the control of risk factors, such as tobacco smoking, inactivity and an unbalanced diet, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The establishment of the Committee of Honour, involving WHO, UNESCO and (ISFC), is part of a long-term strategy to fight heart disease. The objective of the campaign is to protect the health and welfare of school- age children, especially in developing countries, through the prevention of rheumatic fever/ rheumatic heart disease and Chagas' heart disease. 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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