United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-03-02

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 2 March 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council endorses memorandum of understanding signed in Baghdad, stressing that any violation would have "severest consequences" for Iraq.
• UN Official who accompanied the Secretary-General in Baghdad says careful preparations led to agreement.
• Security Council members express concern at harassment of Serbs in Croatia and strongly condemn negative trends.
• United Nations refugee agency seeks $159 million for operations in African Great Lakes region.
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea's warning on food shortages confirms UN food agency's assessments.
• Head of UN Environment Programme speaks of need to address potential conflicts over natural resources.

Following days of intensive deliberations, the Council adopted resolution 1154 (1998) by a unanimous vote. The resolution invokes Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which allows for enforcement.

The resolution commends the Secretary-General's initiative and requests him to report to the Council as soon as possible on the finalization of procedures for Presidential sites. Mr. Annan is requested to prepare his report in consultation with the Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) charged with overseeing the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and with the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Council reaffirmed its intention to act in accordance with the relevant provisions of resolution 687 (1991) -- which spells out conditions for lifting the sanctions against Iraq -- and noted that "by its failure so far to comply with its relevant obligations Iraq has delayed the moment when the Council can do so".

The Council further decided to remain actively seized of the matter "in order to ensure implementation of this resolution and to secure peace and security in the area".

"Whether the threat to international peace and security has been averted for all time is now in the hands of the Iraqi leadership," Secretary- General Kofi Annan told the Security Council as the meeting began. "It is now for them to comply in practice with what they have signed on paper."

Mr. Annan said that with the Security Council's resolution, Iraq should understand that "if this effort to ensure compliance through negotiation is obstructed, by evasion or deception, as were previous efforts, diplomacy many not have a second chance". The Secretary-General further looked forward to the day "sooner or later -- and we pray sooner" when a fully disarmed and peaceable Iraq would be able to rejoin the family of nations.

The Secretary-General also predicted that if the agreement succeeded, it would spell "an enduring and invaluable precedent for the United Nations and the world community."

"If, ultimately, we have learned the right lessons of this crisis, then this planet's age-old prayer for enduring peace with justice may be within our reach," Mr. Annan said. "It was that prayer, from people of every faith and every frontier, that sustained me on my journey for peace in Baghdad. I pledge today, before this Council and the world, to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield in the fulfilment of my duty," he concluded.

"Any -- repeat any -- attempt by Iraq to provide less than immediate, unrestricted, unconditional access to any site will, as this resolution states, result in the severest consequences for Iraq," said United States Ambassador Bill Richardson. "Unless Iraq demonstrates that it is ready to rejoin the international community and abide by the rules of civilized behaviour, it can expect nothing but certain punishment and continued isolation," he warned.

China's Ambassador said his country still had misgivings about the "possible abuse" of the resolution. "Therefore, I wish to stress here that the passing of this resolution in no way means that the Security Council automatically authorizes any State to use force against Iraq," said Qin Huasun. He further emphasized that the Council should not predetermine the future course of action.

This view was shared by Russia's Ambassador, Sergey Lavrov, who said the resolution clearly gave the Security Council responsibility for its implementation. "Any hint has been excluded about automaticity with regard to the application of force, which would be unacceptable for the majority of the Council." If the memorandum was violated -- and it was hoped that it would not be -- the Council would discuss what action to take. "No one can ignore the resolution adopted today and attempt to act by bypassing the Security Council," he stated.

Ahmad Fawzi, the Director of the United Nations Information Centre in London, said the Secretary-General's extensive consultations in advance of his trip had mobilized consensus support for the mission. "Before he boarded the plane, he already had the support of the Security Council, the support and encouragement of the leaders of the region, and his own assessment based on a thorough study of the file of the inspections portfolio." Mr. Fawzi further noted that the Secretary- General had sent a mapping team to the presidential sites before he even left New York.

In an interview with United Nations Radio, Mr. Fawzi also attributed the success to the Secretary-General's diplomatic skills, noting that in Baghdad, "most of the intensive consultations and talks with the Iraqis were quite constructive."

Echoing the views of others, Mr. Fawzi said that in addition to averting a military confrontation, the conclusion of the agreement had served to reassert the prestige of the United Nations as a peacemaking body and the role of the Secretary-General as a "statesman of goodwill" who works according to the Charter to reduce tensions and avert military confrontation throughout the world.

In a statement read out by its President, Ambassador Abdouli Momodou Sallah of Gambia, following informal consultations on Monday, members of the Council expressed concern about the continued harassment and intimidation of Serbs in the country.

Council members called on the Croatian Government to fully implement its obligations under the Dayton and Paris Accords.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the money is for funding operations in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The five countries are sheltering 400, 000 refugees, more than half of whom are in Tanzania.

The new funding will finance UNHCR's ongoing projects to repatriate and reintegrate refugees, including the rehabilitation of health centres, schools, water supply, forestry, crop production and livestock rearing.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata who recently visited the region, has expressed fears about being unable to raise sufficient funds for UNHCR's projects, especially in Rwanda.

Mrs. Ogata has also emphasized the role of women in rebuilding shattered communities. The United Nations refugee agency has earmarked $4.4 million to help Rwandan women and to promote income-generating projects for the women. Several thousands of these women are head of households following the death or disappearance of their husbands and fathers.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) assessments were that the country would be unable to feed itself this year and was in need of urgent international assistance.

WFP Programme Coordinator Rolf Huss said that a statement issued by the country's Flood Damage Rehabilitation Committee that the country might run out of grain stock by mid-March confirmed the agency's assessment that the food situation in the country was critical.

A committee spokesman said that the country distributed an average of 300 grams of grain per person in January but only 200 grams in February. However, Mr. Huss pointed out, the government warning did not appear to focus on aid provided by WFP and other agencies but on its own national food stocks.

In January WFP launched an appeal for 657,972 metric tonnes of food to help more than 7 million Koreans, almost a third of the population. The appeal was based on the findings of a joint assessment mission by WFP and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"Our assessment was that food stocks would run out around April/March, which is worse than last year when they ran out in June, said Rolf Huss. "WFP appeals to the international community to contribute quickly and generously," he said, adding that the harsh winter and shortage of food had left the population particularly vulnerable. The food appeal is for corn- soya blend, sugar, cereals, pulses, vegetable oil and fortified high energy biscuits. So far, the United States has pledged 200,000 tonnes of commodities.

98,000 tonnes of grain which WFP is currently supplying to 4.7 million of the country's most vulnerable groups, mostly children, is expected to last through this month, according to WFP.

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Topfer on Monday said early-warning systems were needed to alert nations of potential conflicts over common, shared resources. He said this was especially true of global freshwater resources. "In UNEP, we should focus our attention towards forging a regionalized global programme of action on water," he said. "This would be an innovative instrument of disarmament in hot-spots of water security."

Mr. Topfer addressed his remarks to UNEP's High-level Committee of Ministers and Officials, which began three days of meetings in Nairobi on Monday. Much of his speech was devoted to the need to tackle environmental disasters such as the forest fires burning in Indonesia as well as the effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

"Environmental disasters such as the forest fires are mirrored in many forms in many parts of the world," said Mr. Topfer. "The United Nations must be ready to respond to these challenges promptly and effectively." He added that UNEP was entrusted with the task of developing the capacity to sound early warnings and catalyze action within the United Nations system and beyond.

Mr. Topfer noted that UNEP has achieved much in the past 25 years, but added that "five years after the Earth Summit in Rio, international commitment to the concept of sustainable development has weakened." World leaders, he said, were preoccupied with resolving regional conflicts and with certain distortions in the economy and financial markets.

"We are faced with the challenge of bringing the concept of sustainable development back to the centre of the international political agenda," said the UNEP Executive Director. "Of the challenges facing the world community in the next century, none will be more formidable than the attainment of a sustainable balance between economic growth, poverty reduction, social equity and the protection of the earth's resources, commons, and life- support systems," Mr. Topfer said. He appealed for the full support of all present.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

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