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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-01-15United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgDAILY HIGHLIGHTSWednesday, 15 January 1997This document is prepared by the Central News Section of the Department of Public Information and is updated every week-day at approximately 6:00 PM. HEADLINES
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is very much encouraged by the conclusion of an agreement regarding Hebron and other important issues, which has now been reached between Israel and the Palestinians, Acting Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard said today. Mr. Annan considers this to be an important achievement, which he hopes will now pave the way for further progress towards the full implementation of the process envisaged in the Declaration of Principles agreed in Oslo, the UN Spokesman stated. He added the Secretary-General warmly congratulated the leaders who concluded the Hebron agreement, as well as those who worked so hard to support the negotiating effort. Mail delivery to UN Headquarters resumed today after having been suspended on 14 January, Acting Spokesman for the Secretary-General Fred Eckhard said, pointing out that additional security measures were now in place for the processing of mail. UN Secretary-General today addressed the East European Regional Group, which is the first of five meetings that Mr. Annan will hold with each of the five regional groups, Acting Spokesman for the Secretary- General Fred Eckhard said. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the issue of dealing with regional problems through regional groups, and to learn how this organisation can better support regional organisations in dealing with their problems, as well as the particular concerns of this regional group, the transition to market economy, and the problems of refugees, according to the UN Spokesman. The United Nations must be strengthened as a powerful force for development cooperation, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Group of 77 and China in a message to the South-South Conference on Trade, Investment, Finance and Industrialisation, being held in San Jose, Costa Rica from 13 to 15 January. " I am with you in your commitment to development," Mr. Annan stated. "I am with you in your commitment to ensuring that South-South cooperation is not only enhanced but becomes a source of growing solidarity and strength in ensuring that the developing countries benefit, rather than suffer, from economic globalisation." The Secretary-General also said: "We must reach for a new synthesis between private initiative and the public good, which encourages entrepreneurship and market approaches together with social and environmental responsibility." Croatia has submitted a letter to the Security Council by which it has accepted the date of 16 March for elections in Eastern Slavonia as well as other parts of Croatia, Acting Spokesman for the Secretary- General Fred Eckhard said today. The letter states that Serb residents in the region at the time of the 1991 census are eligible to vote. Other Serbs who moved into the region prior to the beginning of the Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) mandate and still living in the region are also given the option to vote, according to the UN Spokesman. The Serb community is guaranteed representation in local and national government bodies. Local Serbs are also exempted from military service for the initial two years after the end of the UNTAES mandate, and after that, exemptions will be considered, the Spokesman said. The Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Alvaro de Soto will attend on 16 January the Fifth Anniversary of the Signing of the 1992 Agreement between the Salvadoran Government and the Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) in El Salvador, Acting Spokesman for the Secretary-General said today. Mr. De Soto will hold meetings with the President and other leaders to assess progress in the peace process. The world economy is expected to grow by a sustainable 3 per cent in 1997, according to UN Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA) estimates. Growth in the developed countries will continue to be about 2.25 per cent in 1997, and there will be a modest acceleration in growth among the developing countries from 5.7 per cent in 1996 to 6 per cent this year. Those projections are contained in the "State of the World Economy 1997," which will be considered by the 1997 organisational session on the Economic and Social Council, to be held at Headquarters 3 to 7 February. The UN publication, prepared by DESIPA includes other developments projected for the global economy in 1997: Growth will be unusually widespread since it is expected that 116 of the 137 countries that the United Nations monitors will increase output per head in 1997; African gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to grow by 4 per cent for the second straight year; GDP of the "economies in transition" is projected to grow slightly; and, the "soft landing" should continue in China. A multi-media training package on "Women, Environmental Management and Sustainable Development" has been released by the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). The material has been developed to assist policy-makers and development officials in integrating women's needs and participation in all phases of sustainable development and environmental management. The training package consists of a 400-page training manual, over 170 transparencies, a trainer's guide, bibliography, and audio-visual support material. Its five modules cover Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED); women and environmental health; women as agents of change in the development sector; women as managers of the environment; and women, environmental indicators and capacity-building programmes. The training project was prepared in response and as a follow-up to the World Conference on Environment and Development, particularly Agenda 21; the Plan of Action of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development; and the Platform for Action of the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women. For information purposes only - - not an official record From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.orgUnited Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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