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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-03-10United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSMonday, 10 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
In a statement to the opening session of the 41st session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan said women must have equal access to political power and decision- making. Mr. Annan noted that the well-being and progress of society was possible only when both men and women have a clear role to play in the building of their societies. The Secretary-General stated that women must take an active part in the promotion of peace and in the prevention of aggression. "In war-torn societies, women often keep society going. They maintain the social fabric. They replace dislocated social services, and tend to the sick and wounded. As a result, women are often the prime advocates of peace. We must ensure that women are enabled to play a full part in peace negotiations, in peace processes, in peace missions," he added. Mr. Annan pointed out that the United Nations still had a long road to travel to achieve gender equality. He stressed his personal commitment to equality between women and men in the Organisation, and to the creation of a gender-sensitive workplace. The Secretary-General said the Commission had been a powerful catalyst for women's equality, adding that it was impossible to describe all of the Commission's achievements. "But one achievement stands out: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the treaty that defines international standards touching all aspects of the lives of women in every nation and every stratum of society," Mr. Annan said. The Commission on the Status of Women is holding its forty-first session at Headquarters from 10 to 21 March. This marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first session of the Commission. The Commission will employ an interactive panel format, to follow up on emerging issues brought out in the outcome of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warmly welcomed the agreement reached by India and Pakistan to hold a meeting of their Foreign Secretaries in New Delhi on 28-31 March 1997, according to the Spokesman for the Secretary- General Fred Eckhard. Mr. Annan commended the willingness expressed recently by the two Prime Ministers to improve bilateral relations, and expressed hope that the New Delhi talks will pave the way for a meaningful dialogue aimed at resolving all outstanding issues between the two countries. In a message to the opening of the 53rd session of the Commission on Human Rights, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he would be a champion of human rights and would ensure that human rights were fully integrated in the action of the Organisation in all domains. He noted that a growing alliance of efforts within the United Nations system and among Governments, regional and national organisations and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) worldwide for the realisation of basic rights and fundamental freedoms was taking hold. Mr. Annan said that the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala- Lasso, not only gave new and more action-oriented directions to the human rights programme -- particularly in response to emergencies and preventive action in the field of human rights -- but also started a process of reform and change at the Centre for Human Rights which was coming to fruition. Security conditions for Croatian Serbs living in the formerly Serb- controlled areas of Croatia or former Sectors, most of whom are elderly, continue to be unsatisfactory, particularly in the area around Knin, according to a report of the Secretary-General on the situation of Human Rights in Croatia. It states that, although there is a significant police presence throughout the region, the authorities have generally been ineffective in restoring a climate of law and order. The report also indicates that, despite the 1996 Agreement on Normalisation of Relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, there has been little progress with regard to the return of younger relatives of elderly Croatian Serbs remaining in the area. According to the report, international observers have noted the hostility which continues to characterise inter-ethnic relations in the former Sectors, as when the Croatian Serbs attempting to seek government assistance through local officials are turned away with derogatory comments based on their national origin. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has dismissed as "groundless" allegations by the Zairian Government that UNHCR's temporary withdrawal from central Zaire led to thousands of deaths. The agency said it would shortly resume relief work in the area. In a communique issued on 4 March, the Government of Zaire alleged that the departure of humanitarian workers from Tingi Tingi and Kisangani, led to the deaths of 25,000 people among displaced Zairians and Rwandan refugees. On the same day, the Government of Zaire issued an expulsion order to a number of United Nations and other humanitarian workers. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, described the expulsion as both unfair and unjustified. "We deeply regret that despite my requests and the Secretary General's own appeal of February 14, innocent civilians have again been dispersed by the conflict which undoubtedly resulted in more avoidable deaths," Ms. Ogata noted. The interagency mission to Tingi-Tingi announced recently took place on 9 March. It included Martin Griffiths, the regional humanitarian coordinator for the Great Lakes Region, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme(WFP), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Medecins Sans Frontieres of the Netherlands, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard said today. Although no refugees were seen from the air as the plane approached Tingi Tingi, upon landing some 700 badly weakened refugees emerged from the nearby forest. United Nations agencies are now planning to send medical staff to Tingi Tingi and to airlift the most vulnerable to Rwanda within the next few days, Fred Eckhard said. WFP and local staff are present in Ubundu, where up to a 100,000 people -- presumably those displaced from Tingi Tingi -- arrived on 9 and 10 March, the Spokesman noted. Sixty-five metric tons of food have already been delivered and a convoy of a hundred and twenty metric tons of food is on its way, he added. A total of 785 Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) former combatants had been registered as of 9 March at three assembly points in Guatemala, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard said. He added that some other 400 were expected to register today. The total strength of ex-URNG is reported to be over 3,600, according to the Spokesman. The process of registration, training, disarmament and demobilisation will take up to sixty days, Fred Eckhard pointed out. The Moscow round of inter-Tajik talks ended on 8 March with the signing of an agreement on military issues, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard said today. Under this agreement the armed forces of the Tajik opposition are to disarm and integrate in stages with Government forces by mid-1998, the Spokesman said, adding, that the next round of inter-Tajik talks is scheduled to start in Tehran, Iran, in April. A "cut-off" treaty on fissile material production was a logical step following the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) last year and should be given utmost attention at the Conference on Disarmament, the representative of Cyprus, Sotirios Zackheos, said at the Conference in Geneva. Equally important for Cyprus, according to Mr. Zackheos, was the negotiation of an agreement banning anti-personnel land-mines. However, the representative of Mexico, Antonio de Icaza, although agreeing that the time had come to ban all anti-personnel land-mines, said his delegation was not convinced that the Conference was the appropriate forum to conclude negotiations on an agreement to prohibit the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of such weapons. Concluding its thirty-fifth session, the Commission for Social Development called on countries and the international community to reinstate the attainment of full, productive and freely chosen employment as a central objective of economic and social policies. It took that action as it adopted, without a vote by means of a resolution, a set of agreed conclusions on its priority theme for the session: "productive employment and sustainable development." 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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