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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-04-28United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSMonday, 28 April 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
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he was encouraged by the decision of the leader of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo/Zaire to take personal charge of the grave humanitarian situation of Rwandan refugees in eastern Zaire. In a statement on Monday, Mr. Annan said he was also pleased that Mr. Kabila pledged to cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian agencies to resolve the problem. Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Sadako Ogata said the plight of the large numbers of refugees who are still in Zaire remained precarious. Addressing United Nations correspondents following a briefing to the Security Council, Ms. Ogata said her agency obtained a commitment from the rebel leader to cooperate with the humanitarian agencies. The High Commissioner, however, expressed concern that Mr. Kabila set a deadline for the agencies to complete their work. The General Assembly on Friday encouraged efforts at national reconciliation and called upon the parties to the conflict - Tajikistan's Government and the United Tajik Opposition - to comply fully with all obligations they had assumed and, in particular, to respect the cease- fire agreement signed in Tehran in September 1994. Adopting a resolution on the emergency international assistance for peace, normalcy and rehabilitation in Tajikistan, the Assembly deplored the deterioration in the security situation that had necessitated the suspension of United Nations humanitarian activities. It encouraged Member States to respond promptly and generously to the consolidated inter-agency donor alert on urgent humanitarian needs for the period 1 December 1996 to 31 May 1997. The Assembly also encouraged States to contribute to the voluntary fund established by the Secretary-General in support of the implementation of the Agreement on a temporary Cease-fire and the Cessation of Other Hostile Acts on the Tajik-Afghan Border and within the Country for the Duration of the Talks. Condemning terrorist acts in Tajikistan, the Assembly encouraged the parties to cooperate in order to reduce the threat from the indiscriminate use of land-mines to the civilian population and those providing humanitarian assistance. The President of the General Assembly and Chairman of the Open-ended Working Group on the reform of the Security Council, Ambassador Razali Ismail of Malaysia says the reform of the Council is the most politically charged subject before the United Nations and will have a significant bearing on the future thrust and direction of the Organisation. In his remarks to the Open-ended Working Group on Monday, Ambassador Ismail said the Working Group needed to examine individual or group basic positions and to determine the parametres within which adjustments can be made. Such action, he said, should enhance the "representativeness, credibility, legitimacy and the authority of the Security Council in discharging its primary function to maintain international peace and security on behalf of all Member States". The Assembly President said a more legitimate Council necessitated sharing decision-making through an increase of permanent as well as non- permanent members from the various regions. The outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), first reported in April 1996 in Cote d'Ivoire, has been brought under control and no new outbreak has been reported in the country since October 1996, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The agency said more than 100,000 pigs died or were slaughtered during the outbreak, mainly in the Abidjan area, where the virus was initially introduced and where 90 percent of Cote d'Ivoire's commercial pig breeding is located. Pigs transported by some breeders and traders caused the disease to spread rapidly through the central and western regions of the country. African Swine Fever is a viral disease known in Africa for almost a century. The virus is extremely resistant to destruction and remains in the infected animal's tissues, as well as its bodily fluids, whether the animal dies from the disease or survives, thus easily spreading the disease. The Commission on Human Settlements on Monday began its sixteenth session in Nairobi to discuss, among other items, its role in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, the Global Plan of Action adopted at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) held in Istanbul in 1996. As a policy-making organ of the United Nations and as Habitat's governing body, the main task of the Commission is to set and promote policies, priorities and guidelines regarding existing and planned work in the field of human settlements. A number of important decisions pertaining to the implementation of the Habitat Agenda are expected to be taken, including whether or not to expand its membership to include representatives of local authorities, non- governmental organisations (NGO's) and the private sector. A new manual to provide companies with a step-by-step approach to eco- design has been issued jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Rathenau Instituut and Delft University of Technology. The manual, Eco-design: A Promising Approach to Sustainable Production and Consumption, addresses the issue of product development and offers a methodology to companies which want to make a start on eco- design. The manual's modular structure allows a company to gain experience in the field of eco-design, and then to tailor the initial step-by-step approach to produce an eco-design programme suited to its own situation and needs. Although the primary audience is product managers, developers and designers, many of the issues addressed are relevant to marketing managers, production planners and buyers as well. The manual also contains valuable information for students and teachers in industrial design engineering or, more specifically, eco-design. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday appointed Robert van Schaik, former Permanent Representative of the Netherlands, as his Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan. Ambassador van Schaik succeeds Ambassador Vieri Traxler, who resigned last September on account of ill health. The Sudanese population has been severely affected by the civil conflict, which is now in its fourteenth year. Over 1 million lives have been lost and some 4 million persons are displaced internally. Meanwhile, it was announced in Geneva late last week that a Commission of Inquiry had been established to investigate allegations of massacres and other Human Rights violations in eastern Zaire. The Commission includes the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in eastern Zaire, Mr. Roberto Garreton (Chile), the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and/or arbitrary execution Mr. Waly Bacre N'Diaye (Senegal), and a member of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance, Mr. Jonal Foli (Ghana). The Commission members are scheduled to travel to Zaire early next month. 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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