United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-04-06

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 6 April, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council urges parties to Afghan conflict to agree to immediate ceasefire.
• In Jamaica, Secretary-General calls for international response to globalized drug scourge.
• Conflict prevention requires attention to root causes of unrest, Secretary-General tells Inter-Parliamentary Union.
• United Kingdom and France become first nuclear-weapon States to ratify Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• On World Health Day, Secretary-General calls for efforts to prevent high maternal death toll.
• In Tehran, Executive Director of UN Drug Control Programme finds commitment to anti-drug efforts.
• Head of UNICEF says Taliban edict restricting movement on non- Afghan Muslim women in Afghanistan is unacceptable.
• Preparatory Committee on Establishment of International Criminal Court concludes work by adopting draft statute.
• Head of UN World Food Programme will visit Democratic People's Republic of Korea to assess emergency food operations.
• International Court of Justice revises working methods to expedite examination of contentious cases.

In a statement read out by its President, Hisashi Owada of Japan, the Council deplored the fact that foreign interference in Afghanistan continues unabated, and reiterated its call on all States to stop such interference immediately.

The Council warned the parties that the resumption of large-scale fighting would seriously undermine international attempts to find a political solution to the conflict. It called on all Afghan factions, particularly the Taliban, to take steps to assure the safety of UN personnel and allow humanitarian agencies to attend to the population's needs. The Council expressed deep concern at the continuing discrimination against girls and women as well as other human rights violations in the country.

Further, the Council supported the Secretary-General's steps to launch investigations into alleged mass killings of prisoners of war and civilians in Afghanistan. It commended the convening of the "six plus two" group -- China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan as well as the Russian Federation and the United States -- and called on them to continue discussions on devising effective and impartial ways to curb the flow of arms and other war-making materials into Afghanistan.

In a speech to the University of the West Indies, which bestowed upon him an honourary degree, the Secretary-General stressed that no country is immune to the problem of illegal drugs. "The Caribbean community in particular is a vulnerable transshipment point in the drug trade," he said. "You are well aware of how drug-traffickers take advantage of open borders and open markets."

The Secretary-General noted that a large number of heads of State and government are expected to attend the General Assembly's forthcoming special session on international drug control (New York, 8 to 10 June) in order to voice their support for a renewed attack on drugs. "We certainly have our work cut out for us: at an estimated $400 billion, annually, the drug trade is larger than the oil and gas trade, larger than the chemicals and pharmaceuticals business and twice as big as the motor vehicles industry," he said. "This is an enormous challenge that affects the future of young people everywhere across the world. We must not shirk it."

The Secretary-General told his academic audience that "the worlds of the university and of the United Nations are more similar than one might think at first." Both embodied universal ideals and precepts, such as pluralism and tolerance. "We are constructs of reason, engaged in a permanent struggle against the forces of unreason," he said. "We are agents of cooperation, and of progressive change."

The Secretary-General said he looked forward to enhancing this partnership, and to advancing one of the great challenges of our times: bringing the fruits of education and knowledge to all parts, and all peoples, of our world.

In a message read on his behalf by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast to the gathering in Windhoek, the Secretary- General cited poverty, endemic underdevelopment, weak or non-existent institutions, dependence and instability as major sources of conflict. Political exclusion and lack of respect for human rights, including freedom of association and expression, contributed to political instability, he noted.

United Nations efforts to prevent conflicts were guided by the promotion of human rights, democratization and good governance, he said. Operationally, the United Nations prevention strategy involved four fundamental activities -- early warning, preventive diplomacy, preventive deployment and early humanitarian action.

The Secretary-General called attention to the important role which could be played by Member States, a regional organization, an eminent person or a non-governmental organization in efforts to prevent conflict or negotiate peace under certain circumstances. He said the United Nations looked forward to working ever more closely with African regional organizations in consolidating political efforts to prevent, contain and resolve conflicts in Africa.

"For the United Nations, there is no goal more overriding, no commitment more compelling, no aspiration more profound than the prevention of armed conflict," the Secretary-General said. "Democratization, the establishment of the rule of law, and respect for human rights are crucial ingredients," he added.

The Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, Sir John Weston and the Permanent Representative of France, Alain Dejammet, deposited the instruments of ratification at a ceremony at UN Headquarters.

The Treaty, which has been signed by 149 States and ratified by 13 (including France and the United Kingdom), will enter into force when it has been ratified by 44 named States. Of those, six have ratified the treaty: Austria, France, Japan, Peru, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.

In his message to World Health Day (7 April), which will be marked under the theme "safe motherhood - the health and survival of women during pregnancy and childbirth," the Secretary-General noted that although pregnancy carries risks in every country, in the developed world, where women have access to special care, pregnancy and childbirth rarely lead to death or disability. "Yet in Africa, one woman in 16 will die of pregnancy- related causes, against one in 65 in Asia, one in 130 in Latin America and one in 1,800 in developed nations," he noted.

Stressing that "the world knows how to prevent almost all these deaths," the Secretary-General noted that preventive efforts cost less than $3 per person per year. "But it requires initiatives to overcome the risk factors - poor maternal health, inadequate care, low standards of hygiene and inappropriate management of delivery," he added.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that although pregnancy was not a disease, it posed risks to the health and survival of a woman in addition to the risks faced by the infant. According to WHO, millions of women in developing countries lack access to adequate care during pregnancy. Only 65 per cent of women in developing countries receive antenatal care at least once during pregnancy. By contrast, 97 per cent of women in developed countries receive such care, usually during the course of several visits per pregnancy.

During a visit to Tehran on 4 and 5 April, Mr. Arlacchi met with the President of Iran, as well as the country's Foreign Minister, Deputy Minister of the Interior, and the Governors of Zahedan and Mashhad. He also visited the border areas between Iran and Afghanistan and Iran and Pakistan.

Mr. Arlacchi found that the Government of Iran fully supported UNDCP's initiatives, according to his spokesman. It requested that the United Nations step up its plans for alternative development by supporting alternatives for poppy growers in Afghanistan.

The Iranian Government and the UNDCP Executive Director agreed to jointly prepare a comprehensive plan based on Iran's experience in fighting the drug scourge over the past 10 years. They envisaged, as part of the plan, prospects for a UNDCP presence in the country. Agreement was also reached on exploring the possibility of transferring the know-how acquired by the Iranian authorities to other countries in the area.

Speaking at a UN press briefing in New York, Ms. Bellamy said a recent Taliban edict that non-Afghan Muslim women could only work if accompanied by their husbands or a male blood relative was unacceptable. The UNICEF chief told correspondents that during her visit, she also discussed equal access for girls and boys as well as men and women to education and health services. Her discussions would lay the groundwork for a negotiating team which would go to Afghanistan in about two weeks, she added.

Ms. Bellamy said the Taliban authorities told her they recognized that all Afghan children, including girls and boys, had a right to education and it was the responsibility of Islam to provide. However they gave no indication as to when they would implement that policy. The authorities had also notified her that the edict restricting the movement of non-Afghan Muslim women was under review.

During its final three-week session which ended on Friday, the Preparatory Committee also adopted the draft organization of work, the final act and the procedures of work for a Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries. The Conference, which will be held in Rome from 15 June to 17 July, is expected to finalize and approve a convention to establish the court. The draft will then be submitted to the General Assembly for consideration later this year.

The Preparatory Committee also considered the legal provisions and political implications involved in the creation of a permanent tribunal. It was decided that the court would be an independent, permanent institution open to States parties. It would have the power to bring persons to justice for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and is intended to complement national jurisdictions.

Several key outstanding issues include the definition of war crimes and whether or not State consent would apply within the court's inherent jurisdiction. There was no decision on whether the prosecutor would be able to initiate criminal action independently of the UN Security Council or State complaint. Also undecided was whether the Council could stop an investigation or prosecution that it considered a matter of international peace and security.

Catherine Bertini, who heads the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), is currently in Beijing and is scheduled to fly to Pyongyang on Tuesday.

During her four-day visit, the second in a little more than one year, Ms. Bertini will visit Sukchon County, Wonsan, Pyongsang and the port city of Nampo. She will visit nurseries, kindergartens and hospitals where WFP distributes food assistance, and will also meet senior officials.

"We know that the situation is critical," Ms Bertini said, adding that the entire population was particularly vulnerable after the harsh winter. She said her agency was most concerned about the children who would suffer lifelong mental and physical damage if they did not receive adequate nutrition.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea warned last month of impending grain shortages. The warning confirmed the findings of a joint assessment mission by WFP and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The two agencies said that the country would be unable to feed itself this year and that it needed urgent international assistance.

The country is suffering from two years of flooding followed by a drought and tidal waves last year, which compounded severe structural problems in the economy and agriculture.

In recent years, a renewed interest in the judicial settlement of international disputes has raised the number of contentious cases before the Court. Since its establishment in 1946, the Court has had to deal with 76 disputes between States and 22 requests for an advisory opinion. Of those, 28 of the contentious cases were brought before the Court since the 1980s. The average length of a procedure before the Court went from two and a half years to four years, partly because of the backlog on the Court's docket and partly because of increasingly long written pleadings by the parties to disputes.

Among the experimental measures it has taken to expedite its work, the Court has decided to proceed, on a case-by-case basis, without written notes from each Judge, which previously were translated and disseminated prior to deliberations. When the Court has to adjudicate on two cases concerning its jurisdiction, it will be able to hear them back-to-back, so that work can proceed on both concurrently.

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

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