United Nations Daily Highlights 96-08-13

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, August 13, 1996

HEADLINES

• UN Secretary-General says a significant development in recent years has been the activation of subregional organisations.
• The Head of the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan has emphasised the need to immediately suspend hostilities in that country.
• The Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court should forge a bridge between the common law and civil law systems, Committee chairman says.
• UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names meet in Geneva to prepare for the 1997 conference on standardisation.

In a report on the Cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali said the UN had remained alert to these developments and had sought to harness the potential offered by those opportunities for the benefit of member States.

A case in point, according to the UN Secretary-General, was the growing cooperation between ECO and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). "Given the fact that the 10 States members of ECO are also members of ESCAP and several of them share common problems as economies in transition, a memorandum of understanding between ECO and ESCAP was signed in July 1993," Dr. Boutros-Ghali noted.

Noting that the two Organisations undertook numerous joint activities, the Secretary-General said a framework for regular dialogue between the two bodies had been established through the Consultative Meetings between the Executive Heads of Subregional Organisations and ESCAP. The third Consultative Meeting is expected to be hosted by the ECO secretariat at Tehran during the first half of 1997.

"In his talks with the Afghan political leaders, he has been attempting to convey a sense of urgency to them, emphasising the need...to immediately suspend hostilities and start negotiations to resolve the Afghan problem," the spokesman noted.

She added that the Head of the Special Mission had also pointed out that there was a growing impatience in the international community, noting that Afghanistan had been around for too long and that it was time to get serious about peace in that country.

Addressing the Committee as it began its second three week session on Monday, Mr Bos said the mandate of the Preparatory Committee was to work on the basis of the draft statute of the proposed criminal court originally produced by the International Law Commission. He noted that the Committee had narrowed the purview of the proposed court to a concise list of core crimes.

The three week session of the Preparatory Committee is focusing on procedural items, fair trial and rights of accused, the establishment of the court and its relationship with the United Nations.

The Group aims at enhancing effective world-wide communication, by the use of appropriate geographical names which are clear, accurate, current and unambiguous. In particular, experts are expected to discuss and propose steps to encourage advancements in standardising and disseminating correct written forms of geographical names, as they are nationally recognised.

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

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