United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-05-21

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 21 May, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council authorizes 30 more posts for International Police Task Force in Bosnia.
• Security Council holds consultations on situations in Somalia, Afghanistan and Angola.
• Secretary-General says he is relieved at orderly transition of power in Indonesia.
• Head of UN peacekeeping operations stresses importance of humanitarian and development factors in mine action.
• UN food agency team crosses dangerous frontlines to assess food needs in Taliban enclave in Afghanistan.
• Head of UN refugee agency says armed elements should be separated from legitimate refugees in camps.
• Executive Director of UN environmental agency announces plans for reorganization.

In its unanimous adoption of a resolution, the Council emphasized the importance of specialized training for local police in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the areas of critical incident management, corruption, organized crime and drug control.

The Council supported improvements in IPTF's overall management by the Secretary-General, his Special Representative and the IPTF Commissioners and personnel in Bosnia. It stressed the importance of continued reform and strongly encouraged the Secretary-General to take further improvements, particularly on personnel management issues.

Member States were encouraged to intensify their efforts to provide, on a voluntary basis, and in coordination with IPTF, training, equipment, and related assistance for local police forces. The Council recognized that establishing an indigenous public security capability is essential to strengthening the rule of law in Bosnia.

On Somalia, he said the Council had been briefed about the postponement of the National Reconciliation Conference scheduled for 15 May. Council members expressed concern over the breakdown in the peace process and called on Somali leaders to set aside their factional differences and work towards an early convening of the Conference. They also expressed support for the initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and its efforts to contribute to the peace process.

Ambassador Mahugu said the Council also called on Somali leaders to cooperate fully with the regional efforts to resolve the conflict and expressed support for the Secretary-General's plan to hold a second ambassadors' meeting on Somalia next month. The Council also commended the role of the humanitarian agencies and condemned kidnapping of humanitarian personnel.

With regard to Afghanistan, Ambassador Mahugu said the Council was concerned that the Taliban had decided to discontinue participation in the Ulema process. It condemned intensified hostilities and emphasized that the use of military force was not an option in the Afghan conflict.

The Council, he said, called on the parties to return to the negotiations table and cooperate fully with the United Nations in the political and humanitarian fields. It also called on the parties to lift restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian assistance and allow its resumption. The Council welcomed the Secretary-General's intention to convene a meeting of concerned countries. It called on all States to adhere to relevant resolutions on the supply of arms to Afghanistan.

Finally, on Angola, Ambassador Mahugu said the Council was briefed on the deteriorating situation there in recent weeks, including armed attacks by the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) on personnel of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola. They also heard about mine- laying activities, troop movements, acts of banditry and that government propaganda has been stepped up.

The Council was also briefed on the plan proposed to the Angolan parties by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Angola, Alouine Blondin Beye. The parties have accepted to abide by the steps outlined in the crisis resolution plan which foresees completion of important tasks by the end of May.

However, he said, should the parties fail to implement these steps, the Council will consider imposing further measures. It expressed its concern on the alarming situation in Angola and condemned the most recent attacks on MONUA personnel. Members of the Council are continuing consultation on possible action, he added.

The Secretary-General now hopes that Indonesia will be able to rebuild social peace, based on democratic principles and values, and revive its economy, Mr. Eckhard said.

Mr. Miyet was speaking at the Washington Conference on Global Humanitarian Demining, organized by the United States Government. Action must include humanitarian and developmental components, sometimes before basic mine eradication programmes are in place, he stressed.

UN mine action policy, he said, must include four main components: mine awareness and risk reduction; survey, mapping, marking, and subsequent clearance; victim assistance, rehabilitation and reintegration; and advocacy to stigmatize the use of landmines and support a universal ban on anti-personnel landmines. A UN mission will leave for Ethiopia and Somalia next week and 10 such missions were planned for 1998, he added.

He said successful mine action programmes depended on efficient management information about the full scope and impact of the mine problem, as well as action to abate their disastrous effect. By focusing on three activities -- databases, technology and assessments -- the international community would be better equipped to coordinate global landmine activities.

Ghorbund valley is a Taliban enclave in the conflict zone northwest of Kabul in Parwan province. It can only be reached by crossing frontlines and a mined no-man's land separating the Taliban and the opposition Hezb i Wahdat. WFP has stressed that it will not deliver aid until it assesses food needs and security in and en route to Ghorbund.

The team left from Bamyan in Central Afghanistan. Its mission is a first step before WFP can begin long-awaited deliveries to the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, where an estimated 167,000 people are running out of food.

The Taliban said it would allow the import of 800 tons of wheat to Hazarajat -- under opposition control and a Taliban blockade -- on the condition that WFP brought 200 tons of food to Ghorbund. For nearly two weeks, WFP and UN officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan have been seeking assurances of security and access from relevant authorities.

During the hour-long programme, Ms. Ogata spoke with journalists in Sydney, Delhi, Johannesburg, Cologne, Hilversum in the Netherlands, Tokyo, Washington, D.C. and Rome. They touched on a wide range of issues, including forced repatriation and the current situations in the former Yugoslavia and Africa.

Asked how criminals and combatants hiding among refugees should be dealt with, Ms. Ogata said they should be separated when people first fled and camps were being set up. Armed elements who crossed borders should be made to give up their arms, demobilized and kept in detention. Militias were harder to identify than former soldiers, but withholding assistance could endanger the lives of people who were already weak.

When the refugee crisis in the Great Lakes region of Africa began in 1993, combatants mixed in with the Rwandan refugees were very strong and the host countries, particularly the then Zaire, lacked the capacity to maintain law and order in the camps. She said the UNHCR is taking care of 260,000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania, while ensuring the camps maintain their civilian character.

On the issue of compulsory repatriation, Ms. Ogata said preventing forced return was an important principle of refugee protection. However, in some cases, such as the refugees hiding in Zairian forests, the UNHCR tried to save lives by helping them return home.

Participating radio networks included the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); All India Radio (AIR); Channel Africa; Deutsche Welle; Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK); Radio Netherlands; Vatican Radio and Voice of America.

Mr. Topfer told environment officials and other senior government officials, gathered in Nairobi for the fifth special session of UNEP's Governing Council, that his plan will focus on four main areas in the short and medium term.

They include development of an emergency response capacity and strengthening of early warning and assessment of UNEP; coordination and development of environmental policy instruments; freshwater; and industry and technology transfer.

A strong information, information and assessment capability was a precondition for environmental policy, Mr. Topfer said. A well- coordinated UN system-wide response is required to ensure that manageable emergencies do not develop into major humanitarian crises, he added.

Mr. Topfer said that "a solid financial base is an essential prerequisite for UNEP's ability to discharge its strengthened mandate and to meet the growing environmental challenges worldwide." One of his principle objectives in the medium term, he said, was to seek, with the cooperation of Governments, to restore the Environmental Fund to at least its 1993 level of over $65 million.

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

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