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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-04-30United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSWednesday, 30 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 has welcomed the decision by President Mobutu of Zaire and the leader of the Alliance, Mr. Laurent Kabila to meet aboard a South African naval vessel. Mr. Annan expressed the hope that the talks will set Zaire on a path towards national reconciliation, democracy and prosperity, according to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard. "The Secretary-General is determined to work with the international community to ensure that this change is managed in a concerted and focused manner to avoid further loss of innocent lives", the Spokesman said. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the parties to the Georgian/Abkhaz conflict seem determined to continue their direct contacts and to broaden their bilateral relations. In a report to the Security Council on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, Mr. Annan said the determination of the parties will also make it less likely that either side would again try to resort to force to settle their respective grievances. "I appeal to both sides to pursue, in this spirit, the current discussions over the implementation of the decisions of 28 March 1997 adopted by the Commonwealth of Independent States Council of Heads of State", he stated. The Secretary-General said that he would appoint a resident Special Representative who will be based in Tbilisi and Sukhumi, and that he would convene a meeting with both sides at an appropriate location to map out the areas where concrete political progress could be made. "It is also my intention to strengthen the political element of UNOMIG, by deploying, throughout the mission area, a few additional officers specialised in political, civil and legal affairs", Mr. Annan said. The five Permanent Members of the Security Council on Tuesday reaffirmed the unacceptability of the status quo in Cyprus. Following a meeting with the Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Cyprus, Han Sung-Joo and other senior United Nations officials, the Ambassadors of the five Permanent Members of the Council underlined the importance of achieving a comprehensive settlement to all outstanding issues on Cyprus. They expressed their full support for the Secretary-General's mission of good offices, including the intensified efforts currently underway to prepare for early direct negotiations between the leaders of the two Cypriot communities, under the auspices of the United Nations. The Permanent Members called upon the leaders to cooperate fully with the Secretary-General, and to help create a climate of reconciliation and mutual confidence in order to promote the holding of direct negotiations within the next two or three months. The High Representative on the implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Carl Bildt said the peace process in the region was proceeding despite a number of challenges including the up- coming regional elections in September. Addressing United Nations correspondents following a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday, Mr. Bildt said there can be no alternative to the Dayton Peace Agreement. "The Dayton Agreement is not there to be amended, or altered or tampered with or be subjected to partial interpretation", he said. He said the peace process would require the active participation of the international community in the years to come. The Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Dr. Wally N'Dow has told the Commission on Human Settlements that while the Centre for Human Settlements espouses the idea of an assessment of its work by Member countries, it must be given the opportunity to be a full partner in the assessment process. Responding to a report of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which reviewed the programme and administrative practices of Habitat, Dr. N'Dow said that Habitat took note of the findings of the report and accepted some, but not all, of its recommendations largely because "the Centre has been unable to correlate the main findings of the report with its recommendations". The 58 - member Commission is meeting in Nairobi to review the Centre's mandate with a view to its revitalisation. The OIOS report recommends, among other things, integration of research and technical cooperation activities of the Centre, the strengthening of regional activities, improved internal communication flows and transparency, compliance with audit recommendations and introduction of a mechanism to monitor and evaluate organisational performance. Dr. N'Dow noted that several of the recommendations were already well underway and were either being implemented or being formulated when the OIOS assessment team undertook a one-week review of the Centre in September last year. "For instance, the decision to integrate research and technical cooperation programmes within the Centre had already been taken and an evaluation and monitoring officer had been on board for over a year," he stated. Dr. N'Dow said that some administrative matters had been overshadowed by preparations for the second United Nations Conference on Human settlements (Habitat II) and its many pre-Conference activities. "The Conference took its toll on our small staff and presented us with challenges we had not faced before, not least of which was limited resources", he added. The Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples is to convene a Caribbean Regional Seminar in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, from 21 to 23 May 1997. The purpose of the Seminar will be to assess the situation in the Non-Self- Governing territories, particularly their constitutional evolution towards self-determination by the year 2000. It will also identify areas in which the international community could increase and enhance its participation in programmes of assistance and adopt a comprehensive and integrated approach to ensure the political and sustainable socio-economic development of the Territories concerned. The Seminar will give pre-eminence to a broad range of views of the peoples of the Territories, and will also secure the participation of organisations and institutions that are actively involved in the political, economic, and social development of those Territories. A Roundtable on Good Local Government and Sustainable Development within the Asia region will be held in Islamabad, Pakistan, from 5 to 8 May 1997. The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development of Pakistan, Syeda Abida Hussain, is expected to deliver welcoming remarks to the meeting. The Roundtable, jointly organised by the United Nations and the Government of Pakistan, will focus on the issues of local governance at senior policy level and is expected to suggest actions for local government capacity- building programmes at the country and regional level. It will, among other things, review various aspects of good governance at local level and patterns of cooperation between central and local government and explore appropriate partners in decentralised cooperation. In the course of the Roundtable, the participants will be exposed to key issues relating to good local government and existing best policies. 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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