United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-10-09

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 9 October 1997

HEADLINES

• United Nations Secretary-General welcomes signing of ceasefire agreement by General Nguesso in Brazzaville.
• UNITA has not completed extension of State authority in Angola as deadline for Security Council sanctions nears.
• Security Council members say UN civilian police and military observers should remain in Eastern Slavonia.
• UN spokesman in Baghdad says despite "uncertain situation" in northern Iraq, food deliveries continue.
• UN refugee agency urges Russian authorities to expedite asylum applications for non-Eastern Europeans.
• UNICEF and World Bank commit to promoting access to safe water in Sub- Saharan Africa.
• UN Environment Programme launches second edition of World Atlas of Desertification.
• Preparations are under way to commemorate International Year for Older Persons in 1999.
• World Health Organization warns that 300 million people worldwide will suffer from diabetes mellitus by 2025.

In a statement issued by his spokesman on Thursday, Mr. Annan said that he had been informed of the signing by Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun, the Joint United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) Special Envoy in the Great Lakes Region.

A ceasefire agreement was negotiated last month in Libreville by the group headed by President Omar Bongo of Gabon in the International Mediation Committee with the assistance of Ambassador Sahnoun. A ceasefire declaration was signed on 28 September by President Pascal Lissouba and the new Prime Minister, Bernard Kolelas, the former mayor of Brazzaville. They then asked President Bongo to try to persuade the former President, Denis Sassou Nguesso, to sign the ceasefire.

United Nations Spokesman Fred Eckhard on Thursday said that there were 240 remaining areas to be brought under State administration. "While there are still a couple of weeks left in October, that looks like a tall order", Mr. Eckhard added.

UNITA will face Security Council-imposed sanctions if it does not comply, by the end of October, with the 1994 Lusaka Protocol. Among its obligations, UNITA must fully cooperate to extend State administration throughout Angola; transform UNITA's Vorgan Radio into a non-partisan broadcast facility; and demobilize its soldiers.

Under resolution 1127 (1997), the Council, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, decided that if UNITA fails to comply with those demands, all States should take measures to restrict the travel of senior officials of UNITA and adult members of their families; close UNITA offices; and prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of UNITA leaders.

Ambassador Somavia was speaking to reporters following the Council's consideration of the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) and a briefing by Ambassador William Walker, the new UNTAES Transitional Administrator.

He said that members of the Council noted, in particular, that the Government of Croatia had taken positive steps and made additional commitments to facilitate the ultimate reintegration of Eastern Slavonia into Croatia. Ambassador Somavia added that members of the Council felt encouraged by Croatia's increased cooperation with the International Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

However, he said, Council members underlined their continuing concern about the many outstanding areas and issues of contention and non-compliance which required action on the part of the Croatian Government in order to comply fully with its obligations and create conditions for a successful completion of UNTAES. They also noted the need for the Serb leadership to have increased participation in the reintegration efforts. In the light of the situation in the region, Ambassador Somavia pointed out, the members of the Council shared the assessment that the present number of United Nations civilian police and military observers should remain unchanged.

Asked by a reporter if there had been hopes of reducing the number of observers, Ambassador William Walker, told the press that the last time the Council discussed the issue in September, there was hope that the military component of UNTAES could be reduced substantially. "That is going to go forward in terms of the Russian and Belgian battalions, which will both be pulling out in the next few days." He added that what was recommended in the Secretary-General's report was that the number of civilian police observers as well as a hundred of so military observers be maintained at the present level into a foreseeable future.

Concerning the medical sector, the spokesman said distribution was unsatisfactory throughout the country. "Medicines and medical equipment have been arriving too slowly because of a complicated procurement process and an approval of contracts that has sometimes been painfully long under phase I", he said, referring to the first part of the oil-for- food programme, which has since been extended by Security Council resolution 1111 (1997).

A total of $47 million worth of medical supplies has arrived in Iraq, representing 22.4 per cent of the total allotment. "Common sense shows that the range and quantity of medicines being distributed is inadequate to meet the reasonable needs of the health facilities", said Mr. Falt. "There is hope that the situation that we have known under phase I will improve during the effective implementation of phase II", he added.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called on the Moscow authorities to prevent harassment of the asylum seekers. UNHCR said that despite considerable efforts made by the Russian Federal Migration Service to implement an asylum procedure in some parts of Russia, authorities in Moscow have been slow in accepting asylum applications, particularly from non-CIS citizens.

According to the UN refugee agency, the frustration of the asylum- seekers flared into spontaneous violence on Monday when 50 of them from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo stormed into a refugee reception centre and demolished the premises.

John Horekens, UNHCR Director for Europe, said that the refugee agency had feared that such an incident might occur. "For years, these people have been living with no prospects of a better future, in conditions of great hardship, with no security or rights", he said.

The incident occurred when representatives of asylum-seekers visited the reception centre to request funeral fees for a Congolese asylum- seeker who had allegedly been killed last Friday by two unidentified Russians in Mytisi, 20 kilometres north of Moscow.

The UNHCR Office in Moscow, which informed the Federal Migration Service about the incident, will request that the authorities look into the alleged killing of the Congolese asylum-seeker.

Sadig Rasheed, Director of UNICEF's Programme Division and Peter Watson, of the World Bank's Africa Division signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Washington D.C. on Friday to work together in the areas of development and implementation of water, environmental sanitation and hygiene education programmes in villages, small towns and poor urban neighbourhoods. The agencies also committed themselves to extending sustainable services to the poor.

The two agencies have collaborated closely in the preparation and implementation of water and sanitation projects in Benin, Burkina Faso and Malawi.

According to the two agencies, over 250 million people, half of Africa's population do not have access to safe drinking water and almost 300 million do not have adequate sanitation. With the current rate of population growth and extension of water and sanitation services, the two agencies said in a press release a "business as usual approach" would result in over 500 million people without water and sanitation by the year 2020.

A large part of Sub-Saharan Africa is threatened by growing scarcity of water, deterioration of water quality, increasing costs, and conflicts among users.

The World Atlas of Desertification summarizes the current state of scientific knowledge on the drylands of the globe and portrays the seriousness of the accelerating problem of desertification.

"Most maps show land. Maps in this atlas show land that is lost, or is in the process of being lost", said UNEP Executive Director Elisabeth Dowdeswell.

The new edition has been expanded to cover related environmental issues, including concerns about biodiversity, climate change and the availability of water. The Atlas also includes new estimates of population in the areas at risk as well as a study on the impact of desertification on migration and refugees.

Developed and developing countries are adopting converging strategies geared towards productive or active ageing, according to the report. "However", the Secretary-General cautions, "in promoting active ageing, a cautious route must be forged between the two extremes of exclusionary 'ageism' and an activism that might unintentionally lead to too much demand on older persons".

"Lifelong individual development" is a new concept being explored by the United Nations Programme on Ageing. "It is based on the simple idea that both individual behaviour and national policy, which affect people at different ages, but especially the young, will shape the situation of people in older age." The report notes that youth need information on the long-term impact of "affluent lifestyles", including smoking, drinking, stress and pollution, which are taking root in developing countries. "Youth also need to know that traditional systems of support and social security are changing -- perhaps weakening -- including family and community networks, especially in developing countries."

The report recommends that the Year serve to promote research on the concept of "active ageing", which involves providing opportunities for older persons to continue participating in the life of their societies. Research should also be conducted on an appropriate caregiving mix for frail older persons, encompassing family, community and institutional care systems.

The report also recommends that governments, non-governmental organizations, foundations and the private sector support the efforts of the Untied Nations programme on ageing to catalyse a debate, reach out to non- traditional partners such as youth, and provide core services for the exchange of information as well as coordinated research.

The International Year of Older Persons will be launched on 1 October 1998, which has been designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Older Persons.

The WHO says that the number of cases of diabetes will rise to 300 million by the year 2025 as a result of ageing, unhealthy diets, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease caused by inherited and or acquired deficiency in the production of insulin by the pancreas, or by ineffectiveness of the insulin produced. According to WHO, such deficiency results in increased concentration of glucose in the blood, which in turn leads to damage of many of the body's systems, especially the blood vessels and nerves.

The price of insulin used to treat diabetes varies widely from country to country. In the Middle East, followed by South East Asia, Africa and the United States, the cost is relatively low. "However, in many African countries, the cost of a vial of insulin may be equivalent of a month's salary", according a press release by WHO.

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

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