United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-04-15

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 15 April, 1998

HEADLINES

• New United Nations peacekeeping mission begins operations in Central African Republic.
• Members of Security Council concerned at delay in identification process for Western Sahara referendum.
• Security Council members call for immediate release of aid workers taken hostage in Somalia.
• UN Human Rights Commission decides to conclude its consideration of human rights situation in Guatemala.
• Head of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development completes trip to Viet Nam.
• Philippines becomes eleventh country to sign Kyoto Protocol to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The 1,350-strong force, known as the United Nations Mission in Central African Republic (MINURCA), was established by Security Council resolution 1159 on 27 March. The Mission is part of continuing international efforts to maintain stability and consolidate national reconciliation following the army mutinies of 1996. It took over from the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of the Bangui Accords (MISAB), which had been operating in the capital city for more than a year.

The new UN mission has an initial three-month mandate. It will help maintain order in Bangui and its immediate vicinity, supervise the collection and disposal of weapons and ensure freedom of movement for UN personnel. It will also train police officers and provide technical assistance for the elections scheduled in August/September.

Council President Ambassador Hisashi Owada said on Wednesday that members of the Council had met to discuss the Secretary-General's report on Western Sahara. The report recommends a three-month extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

MINURSO is working to identify persons eligible to participate in the referendum to choose between independence and integration with Morocco. Ambassador Owada said that the recommendation to extend MINURSO's mandate was favourably received by Council members.

Addressing the press following Council consultations, Ambassador Owada said Council members had expressed hope that the hostages would be released immediately. The Council felt that aid workers should be able to go about their work safely, peacefully and without hindrance, he added.

In a resolution adopted by consensus on Tuesday, the Geneva-based Commission recommended that the Guatemalan Government ratify all international standards for the protection of human rights. The Commission also encouraged the Government to expedite and intensify assistance and services to the most vulnerable people.

In addition, the Guatemalan Government was asked to facilitate the full integration of demobilized persons into civilian life. In 1994, the Guatemalan Government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) signed an agreement on human rights which called for the establishment of a United Nations mission in the country.

Among those who Mr. Ricupero met during his trip from 5 to 11 April were Le Kha Phieu, Secretary-General of the Viet Nam Communist Party, Nguyen Manh Cam, Deputy Prime Minister, and Troung Dinh Tuyen, Minister of Trade. Mr. Ricupero also participated in a day-long technical meeting with Minister Troung, Vice Minister Nguyen Xuan Quang, and experts from the Ministry of Trade.

In discussions with these officials, Mr. Ricupero emphasized that UNCTAD was giving priority to supporting Viet Nam in its process of accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). He also outlined the range of technical assistance programmes which could benefit Viet Nam in such areas as trade efficiency, customs administration, debt management and investment policy.

Mr. Ricupero said he had been struck by the impressive vitality of the Vietnamese people, according to UNCTAD. While State and foreign- owned enterprises were playing an important role, he observed that the dynamism of the Vietnamese economy derived from the activities of over 30,000 private firms and over 1 million family enterprises which had emerged as the result of recent reforms.

The Philippines formally signed the Kyoto Protocol at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday. The Protocol contains legally binding targets for developed countries to reduce their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 per cent. It aims to lower overall emissions from a group of six greenhouse gases by the years 2008 to 2012, calculated as an average over those five years. Among other measures, the Protocol encourages governments to pursue emissions reductions by improving energy efficiency, reforming the energy and transportation sectors, protecting forests and other carbon "sinks", promoting renewable forms of energy, and limiting methane emissions from waste management and energy systems.

In addition to the Philippines, the following countries have signed the Kyoto Protocol: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles and Switzerland.

The Protocol will enter into force after it has been ratified by at least six countries representing 55 per cent of total 1990 emissions from developed countries.

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

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article