United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-01-09

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 9 January 1997

HEADLINES

• UN Secretary-General tells staff next five years must be time for resurgence, for healing relations between Secretariat and Member States.
• UN Secretary-General, disturbed by press reports of mismanagement within Registry of Arusha Tribunal.
• UN Convention to Combat Desertification is first international treaty to address twin scourges of poverty and environmental degradation.
• Jean-Bertrand Aristide receives 1996 UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education.
• UN Development Programme helps expand opportunities for disabled in United Arab Emirates.

The Secretary-General said that carrying the United Nations into the 21st century will need reform, adding that this was not an end in itself, but a tool to create a more relevant and a more effective Organisation.

"I do not believe the disjointed incrementalism of the past, with its baggage of duplications and overlaps, was a positive evolution. Equally, I have never believed that disjointed downsizing, with arbitrary staff cuts that weaken essential capabilities, can bring real improvement," the Secretary-General stated.

Mr. Annan said he expected staff members to be flexible and mobile, and willing to serve wherever they could best contribute to the Organisation's tasks. "As we reshape and rebuild for the future, it is quite possible that some units, functions or occupations in the Secretariat will be lost. Our task is to see this not as some unforeseen disaster but as a normal development in a constantly evolving Organisation," he noted.

He pledged to the staff to develop a new management culture in the Organisation, adding that UN senior managers across the world must understand their obligation to properly manage the staff entrusted to their care. Managing people is about enabling staff members to "make a difference, " he pointed out.

"I appeal today to every staff member in every duty station to work with me to make our impossible job possible -- to fulfill the enormous expectations the world has of us. There is no alternative to the United Nations. It is still the last best hope of humanity," Mr. Annan concluded.

A detailed investigation of the failures of the Registry of the Tribunal has been conducted by Under-Secretary-General For Internal Oversight Services Karl Theodore Pashke and it is now being circulated within the Secretariat for comment, according to the Spokesman. The Secretary-General, he added, will take decisive action once this report has been completed and he has had a chance to review it carefully.

Mr. Eckhard noted that, even before this process is complete, changes had been and will be made in the administrative area of the Tribunal. In this regard, he referred to the sending of an Acting Chief of Administration in December and a Chief of Personnel, who was about to be sent.

He said the Convention was as much about rural development, agricultural growth, and poverty alleviation, as it was about combating desertification. Therefore, it was crucial to include a broad cross- section of actors in the implementation process.

Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China, the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania, Daudi N. Mwakawago said desertification was a global phenomenon, like climate change. Thus, the Convention should be placed on an equal footing with similar instruments and its financial mechanism must be accorded the same attention and priority, he added.

Addressing the Committee, the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai, called for adequate support for the Convention in terms of resources, including finance.

"From the liberation theology you advocated as a candidate for President of the Republic in 1990 to your founding of the Aristide Foundation, we find a continuing concern with participation, sharing and dialogue," Mr. Mayor said. "Without education in human rights and democracy, there can be no lasting and conscious adherence to principles of freedom, dignity and respect for humankind."

The former President of Haiti responded that he accepted the prize "in the name of all who fight in order that there may be peace and justice on a global scale," stressing that "far from an act of charity, education is an inalienable right. To have the will to change the lives of oppressed people and build a better world requires education. Education in human rights above all."

Mr. Aristide noted that the prize fund, US$10,000, would be used to construct a building for Radyo Timoun, a radio station for children directed by children.

During the pilot phase, participants produced more than 30 tonnes of vegetables, resulting in earnings totalling about US$160,000. Because of this success, the government will soon expand the Zayed Agricultural Center for Rehabilitation to allow more people to participate and to enable production of a wider range of agricultural goods, including poultry, honey and flowers.

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

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