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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-07-02United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSWednesday, 2 July 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
The head of the United Nations children's agency has said the resources to eradicate the worst aspect of global poverty were less than generally thought and do not represent an insurmountable obstacle. Addressing the high-level segment of the current session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Geneva, Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said the resources needed to deal with extreme poverty were within the means of governments willing to earmark as little as 0.7 per cent of their Gross National Product (GNP) for development. Stressing that poverty was a pressing economic issue, Carol Bellamy said that the meeting of ECOSOC was taking place at a time when abolishing poverty had never been so economically feasible. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was travelling from Hong Kong to Geneva on Wednesday, was scheduled to address the Economic and Social Council on Thursday. The Permanent Observer for Palestine at the United Nations told a General Assembly committee on Palestinian rights that the Assembly's recent emergency session on the Middle East must be resumed since Israel has not stopped building a new settlement at Jebel Abu Ghneim in East Jerusalem, as demanded by the Assembly. Addressing on Tuesday the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Palestine's Permanent Observer Nasser Al- Kidwa stressed that according to a recent report on the subject submitted by the Secretary-General, the Israeli Prime Minister and other representatives of the Government continued to reject the terms of the resolution requiring a cessation of settlement activities. UN Secretary-General's report was requested in April by the General Assembly's emergency session. The report says that as of 20 June, Israel had not abandoned its construction of a new settlement at Jebel Abu Gneim. It notes that the expansion of existing settlements, construction of bypass roads and confiscation of land continued unabated throughout the occupied territories. Mr. Al-Kidwa noted that in the light of the political facts presented in the report, Palestine believed that the tenth emergency session of the Assembly should be resumed. He said the request for the resumption of the session would be made by the Arab Group of States. Following a request of the United States authorities, Secretary- General Kofi Annan has agreed to curtail the assignment of the head of the United Nations operation in the Eastern Slavonia region, Jacques Paul Klein. Mr. Klein, presently on loan from the United States government, is the head of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES). He is now being nominated by his Government as the Principal Deputy High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Secretary-General, who has agreed to the move after consultations with the US authorities, said he regretted the departure of Mr. Klein who, in the words of the Secretary-General's spokesman, has served the United Nations "with great distinction and dedication". The Spokesman said that the Secretary-General was now considering candidates for the replacement of Mr. Klein. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has for the first time, charged a Rwandan suspect with rape and other forms of sexual violence. The Court said that the indictment of Jean-Paul Akayesu, accused of participating in the 1994 genocide would include sexual violence against female civilians. According to the amended indictment, Mr. Akayesu sexually molested women between April and June 1994 in Rwanda, with acts of sexual violence generally accompanied by explicit threats of death or bodily harm. According to the indictment, the female displaced civilians in Rwanda lived in constant fear and their physical and psychological health deteriorated as a result of the sexual violence, beatings and killings. Mr. Akayesu who was an official of the Taba Commune, is expected to appear before a chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on 22 October 1997. The City of New York has been asked to devise a "new and comprehensive programme" for diplomatic parking, a representative of the United States told the Committee on Relations with the Host Country. The Committee met on Wednesday to resume its consideration of transportation issues, host country travel regulations and other related matters. The United States representative said that following several meetings his Mission had held with the City, he was confident that the new diplomatic parking programme would be fair, nondiscriminatory, efficient and consistent with local and international law. He noted, however, that there were still some problems. Also on Wednesday, the Committee heard the complaint by the representative of Cuba who said that the host country had denied requests of Cuban Mission staff to travel within the United States. The representative of the Russian Federation said that his Government shared this concern and appealed to the United States to do its utmost for a speedy resolution to the travel restrictions problem in full compliance with international law. In response, the United States representative said that official United Nations travel had never been restricted, but those "going fishing in Colorado" might not be treated in the same way as those on official duties. He also noted that travel limitations imposed did not restrict the normal functions of the Permanent Mission of Cuba. The multinational protection force in Albania has extended its deployment and acquired further visibility strengthening reconnaissance and escorting humanitarian convoys, according to a bi-weekly report submitted by Italy to the Security Council. Sketching developments just prior to last week's elections in Albania, the report stated that the situation in the country remained tense and several clashes between rival gangs resulted in casualties, especially in the south of the country. The report stressed that the force was helping to create a secure environment for several missions of the international organizations in Albania and also facilitated a safe and prompt delivery of humanitarian assistance. World tea production reached a record level of close to 3 million in 1996 and was 3 percent higher than in 1995, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). At the same time, the Rome-based UN agency has warned that global output for 1997 is expected to be lower, which -- combined with stable demand -- is likely to leave consumers facing higher world tea prices. The UN food agency reported that in Sri Lanka and in most tea producing countries of Africa the tea production this year dropped due to the extremely dry weather. It said the production in Kenya during the first quarter was about 37 percent lower than in the same period in 1996. The FAO analyses is contained in a paper prepared for the meeting of the Intergovernmental Group on Tea which began on Wednesday in Bali, Indonesia. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Dr. Patricia Lewis, a nuclear physicist from the United Kingdom, as Director of the Geneva- based United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) to succeed Sverre Lodgaard of Norway. UNIDIR is an autonomous institution involved in independent research on disarmament and related problems, particularly on international security issues. 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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