United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-04-25

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 25 April 1997

HEADLINES

• Security Council expresses disappointment at the lack of improvement in the situation in Prevlaka.
• General Assembly condemns the construction by Israel of a new settlement at Jabal Abu Ghneim in East Jerusalem.
• United Nations Secretary-General says lack of access to information will soon cease to be an obstacle to development.
• The international community should seek to create widest possible access to new media, the Joint United Nations/Columbia University roundtable on communications recommends.
• The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission is to meet from 23 - 24 June.

In a Presidential statement on Friday, the Council called on the parties to refrain from provocative actions of all kinds, to end violations of the demilitarised zone and to cooperate fully with the United Nations military observers.

The Security Council statement calls on the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to resolve their dispute over Prevlaka through bilateral negotiations in accordance with the Agreement to normalise relations, and in the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and good neighbourly relations.

By a vote of 134 in favour, 3 against (Israel, United Sates, Micronesia) and 11 abstentions, the Assembly demanded the immediate end to the construction in Jabal Abu Ghneim and of all other Israeli settlement activities, as well as of all illegal measures and actions in Jerusalem.

Calling for the halting of all forms of assistance and support for illegal Israeli activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, the Assembly stressed the need to preserve the territorial integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the need to guarantee the freedom of movement of persons and goods in the Territory.

The Assembly requested the Secretary-General to monitor the situation and to submit a report, within two months, on the implementation of the resolution.

It expressed the need for scrupulous implementation of the peace agreements reached between the parties and urged the international community to exert all necessary efforts to revive the peace process and ensure its success.

In an address to the First Formal Meeting of the Working Group on Informatics in New York, Mr. Annan said priority should be given to making available the capacity to receive, download and share information through electronic networks.

Citing the "Statement on Universal Access to Basic Communications and Information Services", issued by the recent meeting of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), which brings together the heads of all agencies within the United Nations systems, Mr. Annan said the Organisation should help to ensure that the gains of the information revolution are placed at the service of developing countries.

The ACC statement outlines immediate possible pilot projects in such fields as interactive long-distance learning, telemedicine, telebanking and micro- credit schemes, environmental protection and management, and participatory processes and good governance, the Secretary-General said.

The Secretary-General pointed out that the ACC said that, since resource flows to developing countries are not expected to rise appreciably in the coming years, innovative approaches will be needed, involving new alliances between the United Nations, Member States, and for example, the private sector, non-governmental organisations, civil society and academic institutions.

Focusing on the use of information technology within the United Nations Secretariat, Mr. Annan said the Organisation has vastly expanded the range and content of the information available electronically to Member States.

"If the United Nations used to lag behind the private sector in the use of information technology, that is no longer the case. We have begun to make inroads into old, wasteful, paper-bound administrative practices", he said.

The Secretary-General also stated that as part of the efforts to enhance effectiveness and efficiency, and to shift resources to programmes, the Organisation was committed to propose reallocations of budget that would make possible an ambitious programme of technological innovation.

Other recommendations of the roundtable were that technical, financial and training assistance should be extended to promote independent and pluralistic media using existing as well as emerging forms of publishing and communications.

It said civil society, the business community, governments and international organisations should join in partnership to develop telecommunications, hardware and software suitable to the particular needs of developing countries.

The participants at the United Nations/Columbia University sponsored roundtable recommended that the international community reject any and all efforts to impose controls or restrictions on freedom of expression in new as well as existing media.

Moreover, participants stressed that recommendations of regional seminars on independent and pluralistic media held under joint United Nations and UNESCO auspices in Windhoek, Almaty, Santiago and Sana'a should be implemented without further delay, participants stressed.

The postponement takes into account the fact that no decisions were scheduled to taken at the April meeting. At the June meeting, the Council will be asked to approve decisions regarding 50, 000 claims under Category C dealing with individual claims for damages up to US$100, 000.

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

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