United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-04-22

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 22 April, 1998

HEADLINES

• United Nations programme on AIDS says eastern Europe threatens to become "epicentre" of HIV infection.
• Secretary-General says UN relies on ambassadors from show business and sports to raise awareness about its work.
• Security Council welcomes extension of truce and permanent ceasefire in Bougainville.
• Security Council sanctions committee improves procedures for delivery of humanitarian goods to Iraq.
• World Health Organization says new drug can treat infection of liver caused by flatworm.
• Sustainable Development Commission focuses on industry practices to protect environment.
• Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific concludes people- centred session.
• UN population fund receives $1.7 million grant from William H. Gates Foundation.
• Elements of ex-military junta in Sierra Leone punish people for not supporting junta, says UN refugee agency.
• Liberians alleged to have supported military junta in Sierra Leone seek repatriation to their country.
• More than 32,000 people are evacuated from flood-stricken northern part of Argentina.

In a report released in Moscow on Wednesday, UNAIDS says that since 1994, HIV infection rates in Eastern Europe have risen at least six-fold across the entire region and as much as 70-fold in the worst affected areas.

The report has been released to mark the launch of a year-long initiative, "Force for Change: World AIDS Campaign with Young People." The campaign is aimed at promoting the participation of young people in HIV prevention and care efforts, increasing awareness of the devastating impact of HIV on young people, and strengthening support for young people in their efforts to fight AIDS.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Dr. Peter Piot, the Executive Director of UNAIDS said "HIV infection among young people is increasing at an alarming rate." He said that UNAIDS was releasing the report to draw attention to the urgency of the crisis and to challenge governments and organizations worldwide to intensify their efforts to support young people in preventing HIV infection.

Until the mid-1990s, Eastern Europe appeared to have been spared the worst of the epidemic with only 30,000 infections estimated in the entire region in 1994, said UNAIDS. By comparison, Western Europe had more than 15 times and sub-Saharan Africa 400 times as many people living with the virus. However, the pattern changed in 1995 when the injection of drugs began to increase among young people in Eastern Europe. According to UNAIDS, by the end of 1997, some 190,000 people in the region were living with HIV -- a six fold increase. The majority of the new infections are in injecting drug users.

To counter the rising HIV infection among young people worldwide, UNAIDS is focusing its annual World AIDS Campaign this year on young people. The campaign is being led by UNAIDS and co-sponsored by several United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Speaking Tuesday evening at a Beverly Hills reception hosted by the President of the Motion Picture Association of America, Jack Valenti, the Secretary-General said the United Nations was undergoing its worst financial crisis, one which had brought its ability to function to breaking point.

The United Nations dealt with challenges ranging from climate change to AIDS, from the health and happiness of women and children in the developing world, to the fight against drug smuggling and organized crime, Mr. Annan said. It also dealt with practical issues such as civil aviation and the protection of intellectual property. "We are there, in short, to build for humankind that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and the prerequisite for peace".

As part of its growing partnership with civil society, the Secretary- General said, the United Nations was now enlisting the support of a growing number of messengers for peace -- ambassadors from the world of show business, entertainment and sports, who would follow in the footsteps of Audrey Hepburn and Danny Kaye to raise awareness of the UN's operations. These "men and women will be among our most audible and eloquent advocates in bringing home the message that everybody needs the United Nations, in the world at large and not least in this country."

In a ceremony in Los Angeles earlier Tuesday, the Secretary-General named former Los Angeles Lakers star, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, as a UN "Messenger for Peace". Mr. Johnson pledged to promote the UN in his speeches to schools and colleges.

The Agreement on Peace, Security and Development on Bougainville, known as the Lincoln Agreement, was signed in New Zealand on 23 January by the Government of Papua New Guinea, the Bougainville Transitional Government, the Bougainville Resistance Force, the Bougainville Interim Government, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, and the Bougainville leaders.

In a statement read out Wednesday by Council President Hisashi Owada of Japan, the Council expressed strong support for the Lincoln Agreement. Noting that it calls for the United Nations to play a role in Bougainville, the Council asked the Secretary-General to consider the composition and financial modalities of such involvement.

Further, the Council encouraged the parties to cooperate in promoting reconciliation so that the objectives of the Lincoln Agreement could be met. It urged them to continue cooperating to maintain peace; to renounce the use of force and violence; to resolve current and future differences by consultation; and to confirm their respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Commending efforts by countries in the region to resolve the Bougainville conflict, the Council welcomed the establishment of the peace monitoring group composed of civilian and military personnel from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Vanuatu.

The measures, which are outlined in a report released Wednesday, aim to avoid unnecessary delays in handling applications by the Committee and reduce the delay between the export of Iraqi oil and the supply of goods to the country.

They include the processing of applications within two business days; the issuance of approval letters on the basis of anticipated revenues and release on confirmation that funds are available. The Committee also adopted guidelines and points-of-understanding on simplified procedures to approve applications for foodstuffs.

The Committee notes that further efforts are needed to prioritize applications. It is ready to explore with the Iraqi authorities ways of grouping the contracts. Different options for the prompt issuance and signature of approved letters are being considered by the Chairman of the Committee.

The Security Council expanded that UN "oil-for-food" programme in February under resolution 1153 (1998), which allowed Iraq to export up to $5.2 billion worth of oil every six months -- up from $2 billion under previous arrangements -- in exchange for food and medicine.

WHO said that it had sponsored independent review of all the data from the clinical trials of the drug, known as triclabendazole. The health agency said that the clinical studies conducted thus far indicate that triclabendazole is "highly efficacious" in treating human infections and that "its use has not been associated with serious adverse events."

The Egyptian Ministry of Health, working in conjunction with WHO and Novartis Pharma Inc. has registered the drug for human use. Following the registration of the drug, the WHO Expert Committee on the Use of Essential Drugs recommended, at its December 1997 meeting that the drug be put on the list of essential drugs.

According to WHO, fascioliasis is normally a disease of domestic herbivorous animals such as sheep, cattle and goats. People are accidental hosts, "but, depending on dietary habits, there can be high prevalence in populations or particular areas," said WHO. Infection results from eating uncooked and usually unwashed, aquatic vegetables on which larval parasites are enclosed. The larvae enclosed in the vegetables escape from the cysts in the small intestine soon after ingestion and migrate across the intestinal wall into the abdominal cavity. Within 24 hours the larvae transform into immature worms and move to the liver. Once they reach the liver, they move around it for up to six weeks feeding on its tissue until they reach the bile ducts where the worms mature into adults.

WHO said that fascioliasisis which is endemic in 61 countries, has become a foodborne infection of public health importance in parts of the world such as the Andean highlands of Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, the Nile delta of Egypt and northern Iran. The agency estimates that 2.4 million people are infected world-wide.

The Commission, which is holding its annual two-week session in New York, monitors implementation of Agenda 21 adopted at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. During considerations Tuesday, on industry's role in sustainable development, three keynote speakers focused on management strategies for creating better business practices.

Cecilia Brighi of the Italian Confederation of Trade Unions said appropriate and flexible management tools must be developed to fit different situations. National, local and company policies should be designed and implemented in consultation with trade unions so their policies would reflect social and environmental needs.

George Carpenter of the Proctor and Gamble company, said that corporations had adopted management tools which had improved business practices with respect to sustainable development. Companies were providing much more accurate data on their activities to the public and were also making improvements in health and safety at home and abroad.

According to Jan-Gustav Stranenaes of UM Norway, improving management systems did not automatically improve the environment. He said industry must take a more proactive role in ensuring that development was more environmentally and socially responsible. Industry must engage in an ongoing and constructive dialogue with all other stakeholders, including consumers, governments and NGOs.

"A clear message that has emerged from this session is the central role of this unique institution in helping shape policies and in providing technical assistance -- in particular for the benefit of the neediest groups of countries" said ESCAP's Executive Secretary Adrianus Mooy in his closing address.

The Commission adopted six resolutions five of which are aimed at enhancing programmes in the social sector. The five resolutions seeking to attain the vision of "A caring society for all" are on strengthening regional support for persons with disabilities into the twenty-first century; mobilization of human and financial resources for further implementation of actions to achieve the population and development goals of the ESCAP region; promotion in 1999 of the International Year of Older Persons: Towards a Society for all ages; the Manila Declaration on Accelerated Implementation Agenda for Action on Social Development in the ESCAP region, and Strengthening the role of the family in social development.

A resolution known as the Bangkok Declaration on Strengthening regional cooperation for Industrial and Technological Development in the Asian and Pacific Region, and the Regional Plan for Industrial and Technological Development calls for concerted efforts in improving the prospects for inter- and intra-industry trade and investment-related technology transfer. It accords high priority to market-based industrial policies and programmes in achieving its objectives.

In its unanimous report, the Commission observed that the worst of the economic crisis might be over but cautioned that uncertainties still prevailed. Rebuilding of investors' confidence was the most urgent task facing the most seriously affected economies, said the report.

The Commission recognized the growing importance of ESCAP in promoting trade particularly for smaller economies. It expressed concern that the increasing use of non-tariff measures was impairing greater market access and called for the suppression of any upsurge in protectionism. It urged full implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Plan of Action of Least Developed Countries.

The session, which started on Monday, brought together more than 400 delegates from over 45 member and associate member countries, including 16 observer countries. Participants included 25 ministers and deputy ministers, representatives of United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations.

UNFPA Director, Dr. Nafis Sadik, described the grant as "a very wise investment for the future." She said it would encourage and support developing countries' efforts to create and improve their population programmes. "It is also deeply gratifying to see the private sector playing such a significant part in an area that affects all development."

Partners in Population and Development, a UNFPA programme which promotes collaboration and an exchange of technology and experience among Southern developing countries, will receive a 3-year $1.5 million grant. The UNFPA will also receive $200,000 for activities connected with a five-year review (ICPD+5) of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo.

The refugees are fleeing areas where fighting is continuing between elements of the ousted junta and West African peacekeepers who drove the junta out of Freetown.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that the refugees who have fled fighting and crossed to Guinea told the agency that the ousted militias have committed atrocities against civilians. The refugees said the civilians have been shot or maimed and killed with machetes.

UNHCR says that the refugees continue to arrive in Guinea at a rate of several hundred per day and that tens of thousands of refugees are in desperate conditions along the border. The new arrivals are concentrated in the villages of Forokonia, Kobikoro and Heremakono.

A UNHCR team at these sites has recorded a high and increasing rate of diarrhoea, malaria and respiratory tract infections, as well as many cases of severe malnutrition.

In Forokonia and Kobikoro where it has been raining, the refugees, including pregnant women and children, are sleeping in the open air, says UNHCR. The refugees can only get safe water in Kobikoro where they pay villagers for it.

UNHCR and the World Food Programme have established a community kitchen but resupply of the border area is very difficult, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday that it had been approached by several hundred Liberians who wish to be repatriated as soon as possible. UNHCR added that arrangements were being made in Conakry for a suitable boat and a first passage was planned for the end of April.

A UNHCR staff member travelled to the southeastern towns of Bo and Kenema early this month and located over 4,000 Liberian refugees. The United Nations refugee agency said that the refugees may be moved to the more secure site for the displaced persons in Waterloo near the capital.

UNHCR, which has returned to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone following the return of the elected civilian government of President Tejan Kabbah, cared for approximately 14,000 Liberian refugees before last year's coup.

According to OCHA, strong storms and abnormal rainfall attributable to the El Nino phenomenon, have caused severe floods in the area. The areas affected in particular are the Provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe, Corrientes, Misiones, Caco and Formosa. OCHA says that torrential rains have reached "historical" levels in many localities, with rivers and tributaries overflowing their banks causing serious damage to the agriculture sector, and road infrastructure. Some 17 national and local roads have been blocked, or are with restricted circulation, says OCHA.

OCHA says that so far, the Government has not issued an appeal for international assistance and that a "Joint Emergency Operations Centre" has been established. Security Forces have been carrying out relief activities in the affected areas under the coordination of local Civil Defence Committees. The National Police and the Argentinean Navy have been assisting with helicopters, vehicles and rescue teams, says OCHA.

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

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