United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-07-09

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 9 July 1997

HEADLINES

• Cyprus talks get under way in upstate New York as UN Secretary- General urges the parties to bring the dispute to an end.
• Concerned at continued escalation of crisis in Afghanistan, Security Council calls for an immediate end to fighting.
• UN Secretary-General says El Salvador enjoys a climate of tolerance unlike any the country has known before.
• World Food Programme appeals for more than $45 million to feed children in Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
• United Nations to launch a system-wide poverty alleviation programme for northern Namibia.
• International Law Commission, marking its fiftieth anniversary, grapples with diverse legal issues at a session in Geneva.

Speaking at the opening of the talks, Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed that if the two parties agreed to his suggestions, they would be signalling their commitment and determination to reach a comprehensive settlement. He noted that the elements needed to work out a settlement were at hand. "I strongly believe that what is needed now is to explore, without further delay, specific and concrete solutions to each of those issues, and to do so in their proper context. This can be achieved only if we being consideration of the actual documents and legal instruments that will constitute the comprehensive settlement", Mr. Annan said.

The Secretary-General also underscored the significance of the fact that the process would be conducted under the auspices of the United Nations, pointing out that his aim was not to have to report, yet again, to the Security Council about another opportunity missed. Mr. Annan stressed that there was a sense of greater urgency, more of a consensus than ever that the Cyprus dispute must be brought to an end. The consequences of failure were likely to be more dire than at any time in recent decades he said. On the other hand, by reaching agreement, the Cypriot communities would earn the international community's "profound relief at the removal of a potential flashpoint from international relations in the Eastern Mediterranean and, most important, provide a prosperous and peaceful future for all Cypriots", said Mr. Annan.

In a statement read out by its President, Peter Osvald (Sweden), the Council called on all Afghan parties to return to the negotiating table immediately and to work together towards the formation of a broad-based, fully representative government that will protect the rights of all Afghans and abide by Afghanistan's international obligations.

The Security Council stressed that peace and stability in Afghanistan could best be attained through intra-Afghan political negotiations under United Nations auspices with the active and coordinated assistance of all countries concerned.

The statement urged cessation of all external interference in Afghan affairs and called on all States to end immediately the supply of arms and ammunition to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan. The Security Council also voiced its concern at the continuing discrimination against girls and women and other violations of human rights, as well as at violations of international humanitarian law.

Calling on the Government and donors to continue with implementation of the important programmes related to the peace process, the Secretary- General notes that despite the advances that have been registered in the process of national reconstruction and development, the technical and financial assistance of the international community remains necessary. He says that without such assistance, efforts to consolidate economic growth and improve the living conditions of the poorest segment of the population would be severely hindered.

The Secretary-General recommends that in view of the sufficiently advanced stage of the implementation of peace accords, the support unit of his envoy in El Salvador be closed down as a separate entity at the conclusion of its mandate on 30 June 1997. With the proposed withdrawal of a separate political presence of the United Nations from El Salvador, Mr. Annan says that he will rely yet more fully on the United Nations Development Programme would maintain and strengthen its support for the consolidation of the peace process.

WFP also announced that it was expanding its monitoring staff in DPRK to ensure that the aid provided by the international community reached the children and members of other vulnerable groups.

Catherine Bertini, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, said that of all the people her agency was assisting in the country young children were the most vulnerable. "Our staff in the country estimate that 50 to 80 per cent of the children they have seen in nurseries are under weight and markedly smaller than they should be for their age. They are literally wasting away", Bertini said.

The $1 million-programme for the country's poorest and most populous region joins several UN agencies and funds in a common fight against rural poverty and underdevelopment in a region where 48 per cent of the people are illiterate and 72 per cent lack access to clean water. In addition to UNDP, UN agencies participating in the programme include the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

Since its establishment by the General Assembly in November 1947 to encourage the progressive development of international law and its codification, the 34-member Commission has been at the centre of standard setting in its preparation of drafts that have served as the bases of the adoption of legal rules to regulate relations among States.

In his address to the Commission's current session, UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan stressed that the body had "succeeded greatly" in setting forth basic rules in most of the key areas in international law. He added that some of the treaties drafted by the Commission, such as the those regulating diplomatic matters, had laid the very foundation of the practice of international relations.

The Commission members, elected by the General Assembly for a five- year term, serve in their individual capacity as international law experts and represent the principal legal systems of the world.

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

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