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United Nations Daily Highlights 96-03-07United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSThursday, 7 March 1996This 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 status of women had improved markedly in the half-century of the United Nations existence and there had been significant progress in the in the past twenty years, according to Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. However, no society treated its women as well as its men and progress had not been uniform, he said in a message read by his Special Adviser, Under- Secretary-General Rosario Green, to mark International Women's Day. Poverty and inadequate health care had a particular impact on the lives of women and their children. The majority of the more than 1.3 billion people struggling to survive on less than a single dollar a day were women. The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing last September, declared that the empowerment of women living in poverty was central to all sustainable development efforts, he continued. Thousands of women who went to the Conference were taking the results into their communities. They were developing strategies and working to translate the global consensus into concrete action at the grass-roots level. The fresh surge of energy must be sustained and supported at all levels of the international community. It was critical for women's advancement that decisions made at major UN international conferences during the last five years were implemented. The conferences had defined an agenda for action in which women would be a positive force for change and progress for themselves and society. There was a concrete strategy in the United Nations to promote true gender balance in the international civil service, and he was holding managers accountable, the Secretary-General said. He had introduced an item on the "the status of women in the secretariats of the United Nations systems" in the Administrative Committee on the Coordination (ACC). There must be particular vigilance during the UN's financial crisis that the resolve to pursue strategies and plans were not weakened and women were not affected disproportionately, he added. Bosnian Federation police entered Hadzici today, the third of five Serb- controlled suburbs in Sarajevo which will come under Government authority and found only 50 mostly elderly Serb residents out of a total of 9,000 residents. An estimated 60,000 Serbs have evacuated the capital in the last 25 days. Gangs of thugs have been telling residents to leave the suburb and burning houses and schools. The Federation police were accompanied by 53 United Nations civilian police monitors. Officers sent to join the United Nations International Police Task Forces (IPTF) in Bosnian and Herzegovina had to be sent home after failing language or driving tests, the spokesman said. To date, 43 civilian police from 12 countries had to be repatriated, because they not have the skills to drive on icy mountain roads or speak English adequately. The United Nations would implement a pre-screening process to help Governments test police, she added. The United Nations will convene a new round of talks between the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) to be held from 27 to 29 March in Mexico City, a United Nations spokesman said today. The talks will focus on social, economic aspects of agrarian conditions in the country. The Secretary-General was encouraged by the positive outcome of the last round of talks between the parties and the rapproachment achieved at a recent meeting between Guatemalan President Alvaro Arzu and the URNG leadership. He hopes significant progress towards concluding an agreement will be made at the upcoming round of talks, the spokesman added. In Angola, over 17,000 troops from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) have been quartered in four sites, a spokesman for the Organization said today. The United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNIVEM) hopes to open four additional sites by next week to accommodate about 20,000 more troops. At a recent meeting in Libreville, Gabon, Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos and UNITA leader Joseph Savimbi agreed that the quartering of UNITA troops and the formation of a unified Angolan armed forces would be completed by June, the spokesman said. The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations has sent a report to the General Assembly containing recommendations on assistance to third States affected by UN sanctions. The Assembly was asked to consider an appropriate organizational framework to address implementation of Charter provisions on helping third States affected by sanctions imposed under Chapter VII. The Committee is mandated to examine issues relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the strengthening of the role of the organizations. It concluded a two-week session yesterday. 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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