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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-03-14United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSFriday, 14 March 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 Security Council has decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) until 15 June 1997, subject to the proviso that the Tehran Agreement remains in force and the parties demonstrate their commitment to the agreements already reached. Unanimously adopting resolution 1099 (1997) Friday, the Council said it was gravely concerned over the worsening humanitarian situation in Tajikistan. Expressing concern over continuing attacks on the personnel of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Peace- keeping Forces and other international personnel in the country, the Council called upon the Government of Tajikistan to take rigorous security measures, thus enabling the international community "vigorously to support Tajikistan on its difficult path from armed conflict to normal peaceful life". The Council deplored the deterioration in the security situation which necessitated the Secretary-General's decision to suspend the United Nations activities in Tajikistan, except for a limited presence of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT). The Security Council has expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in Albania. In a statement Thursday night, the Council President Ambassador Zbigniew Wilosowicz of Poland said the Council urged all concerned in that country to refrain from hostilities and acts of violence and to cooperate with diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis in the country. The Council called upon the parties involved to continue the political dialogue and urged all political forces to work together to lower tension and to facilitate the stabilisation of the country. It called upon the parties not to impede the provision of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population. Stressing the importance of regional stability, the Council expressed full support for the diplomatic efforts of the international community, in particular, those of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union, to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan will on Monday announce the next step in the United Nations reform process, according to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard. He said the focus would be on restructuring measures in the Secretariat and consolidation in the field, but would not include any specific personnel announcements. Meanwhile, the Secretary-General is scheduled to travel to southern Africa next week, his first official visit to Africa. He will attend the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Central Organ for Conflict Resolution Summit in Lome, Togo. Mr. Annan will leave New York on Tuesday, and will visit South Africa, Namibia and Angola. In Angola, the Secretary-General will have meetings with the Angolan President and other officials, and will visit the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) operation in Angola. He will leave Angola on 25 March for the OAU Summit in Lome. United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan Friday briefed the Security Council on Zaire and the latest efforts by the Special Representative of the United Nations/Organisation for African Unity (OAU), Mohamed Sahnoun, to get the parties to accept the 5-point peace plan endorsed by the Council, according to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard. The Secretary-General described a three-phase plan to deal with the problems of the region should an agreement be reached. The plan focuses on humanitarian assistance to refugees and the displaced, monitoring and verification of a ceasefire and, verification of the withdrawal of all foreign forces, including mercenaries. Meanwhile, the United Nations has announced the appointment of Mr. Pierce Gerety as Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes region. Mr. Gerety, a United States national, succeeds Mr. Martin Griffiths, who has resumed his functions as Director of the Geneva Office of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs. The Regional Coordinator, who will be based in Nairobi, will continue to coordinate the response of the United Nations system to the continuing humanitarian challenges in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on Friday it was closely monitoring the deteriorating situation in Albania. "The Office's involvement will depend on the nature of any outflow of persons or groups of persons to neighbouring countries, and the protection and humanitarian needs of the persons concerned", the Agency said. The UNHCR said the internal conflict, which stemmed from a spontaneous uprising rather than an organised movement, may be taking on a new dimension, given the old North (Gheg) - South (Tosk) divide in the country. It said the Government appeared to have lost the effective capacity to take control of the situation and offer basic protection to its citizens. The Refugee Agency said it recommended that persons or groups leaving Albania in the present circumstances and seeking international protection should be admitted to the territory of neighbouring countries. Their protection needs to be ascertained and they should be allowed to remain there as long as necessary, in conditions meeting international human rights and basic humanitarian standards, the Agency said. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the new outbreak of typhoid fever which has faced Tajikistan since January 1997 is still spreading, with an alarming number of cases in the capital city of Dushanbe. "The current estimate was around 5,000 cases, taking into consideration cases admitted to hospitals, estimated home caseload and unreported cases", WHO said. WHO expressed the fear that the total number of cases could reach 50,000 to 60,000. Case fatality rates of typhoid fever could rise to 10% without appropriate antibiotic treatment, according to WHO. It said that with treatment, the rate could be reduced to less than one percent. The Conference on Disarmament should start negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear- explosive devices, the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Lena Hjelm- Wallen, said. Speaking to the Conference during a plenary session, the Foreign Minister urged all delegations to show the necessary flexibility to get "cut-off" negotiations started without further delay. Regarding nuclear disarmament, she said the Treaty on the Further Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms (START II) between the United States and the Russian Federation should be ratified without delay. The Swedish Government urged the United States and Russia to overcome present difficulties and proceed towards a START III, she stated. There should be a concerted, systematic, and multi-pronged approach to speed up women's access to economic decision-making, the Commission on the Status of Women was told as it heard a panel discussion on the theme of "women and the economy". Mihye Roh, Vice-President of the Korean Women's Development Institute of the Republic of Korea, said anti-discrimination laws, changes in corporate practices and introduction of teaching aids for gender equality would go a long way in promoting such access. Mamounata Cisse, General Secretary of the Organisation Nationale des Syndicats Libres (ONSL) of Burkina Faso, stressed that if the situation of women did not improve in the work market, they would not be represented in decision-making bodies. However, it should be recognised that "when you are absent from the starting line it is difficult to be present at the end", she said. Earlier, during discussions on the theme of "women in power and decision- making", the representative of Turkey told the Commission that gender inequalities were produced and reproduced at home, adding that a woman might be a government minister, but she could still require her husband's permission to travel. Other speakers agreed that the family was the first level of decision- making. In that context, the necessity of focusing on the girl child was noted. Girls had to be educated and provided with images that were not stereotypical. The toys that they played with, the books that they read and the films that they watched were thus significant. Consensus must not become an end in itself when the subject was human rights violations, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden told the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. According to Lena Hjelm-Wallen, systematic violations of human rights continued in many parts of the world. In dealing with them, Sweden sought cooperation with governments involved in such situations. But if a government failed to abide by a consensus, other ways must be found, she added. A number of developing countries decried what they called a confrontational, selective and politicised approach in considering the human rights situations in certain States. The representative of China recalled that last year, representatives from 11 developing countries had called for cooperation against confrontation. Representatives of some developed countries had turned a deaf ear to the appeal and stubbornly clung to confrontation, he added. He appealed to developed countries to mend their ways and come back to dialogue and cooperation. Work on a mining code for the deep seabed will be taken up when the International Seabed Authority holds the first part of its third session at Kingston, from 17 to 27 March. The mining code would regulate prospecting and exploration for mineral resources that lie at the bottom of the ocean beyond the jurisdiction of any country. The Secretariat of the Authority will present a set of 41 draft regulations laying down the terms under which States and mining companies will be able to seek out deposits and accretions of the polymetallic nodules, rich in manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper, lying on or just below the ocean floor miles below the surface, notably in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The draft mining code is the first substantive matter to be taken up by the Authority since its inaugural session in 1995. Policy-makers, scholars and professionals from 45 countries have stressed the rapidly widening information gap between rich and poor countries and warned against over-regulation in the digital age, at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) inaugural Info- Ethics Congress at Monaco's Palais des Congres. "UNESCO's objective is to develop a scale of values in cyberspace, to reinforce the free flow of information, and to head off any over- reaction that might lead to excessive regulation of the communication networks", UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication, Information and Informatics, Henrikas Yushkiavitshus said at the closing session. Many participants drew attention to the lack of cultural and linguistic diversity on the Internet, noting that more than 6,000 languages are spoken in the world, yet well over 70 percent of cyber- information is in English. Other participants stressed the need for active public participation in the information age. Donald Mclean, head of the Strategic Planning Unit of the International Telecommunications Union, expressed support for deregulation of the public telecommunication sector. "Governments are overcharging the people, depriving them of the benefits of communication technologies by protecting monopolies, he added. 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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