United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-03-24

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 24 March 1997

HEADLINES

• Angolan peace process is back on schedule, following a meeting between United Nations Secretary-General and UNITA leader, Dr. Jonas Savimbi.
• United Nations Secretary-General recommends to the Security Council that the Mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) be extended until the end of June.
• Inadequate water management practices are among reasons why water resources are under stress, United Nations Secretary-General says.
• Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East says the agency is facing serious financial difficulties.
• Implementation of economic, social and cultural rights for people worldwide is the joint responsibility of developed and developing countries, Commission on Human Rights is told.
• Human Rights Committee to meet at United Nations Headquarters from 24 March to 11 April.
• World economic growth is expected to increase from 2.9 to 3.5 percent by the turn of the century.
• United States Federal Agencies to increase support to UN Environment Programme's North American Environmental Data and Information Operation.
• World Health Organisation convenes experts meeting on bovine spongiform encephalopathy - a transmissible brain disease of animals.

Following his meeting with Dr. Savimbi at the UNITA headquarters in central Angola on Monday, the Secretary-General said they agreed that all the UNITA Deputies and Ministers would return to Luanda and take up their duties.

Underlining the positive outcome of their discussions, Secretary- General Annan said "we have agreed that all the UNITA Deputies and the Ministers will return to Luanda and sit in the National Assembly before my departure".

Mr. Annan hailed the UNITA decision as "an important day for Angola and the people of Angola", adding that, "today we decided to take that final and difficult step toward the formation of Government of National Unity and Reconciliation", Mr Annan said.

In an address to the Joint Commission, Mr. Annan said the main reason for his visit to Angola was to give fresh impetus to the search for peace in the country. He said the Government and UNITA should proceed without delay to implement the rest of the Lusaka protocol.

"I hope they will rise to this historic occasion, honour their commitments, and show themselves worthy of the support of the Angolan people and the international community," he said, adding that peace in Angola would be the harbinger of peace throughout southern Africa, and, ultimately, on the African continent as a whole.

During a brief stop-over in Namibia, Mr. Annan met with President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and senior Government officials, with whom he exchanged views on Zaire, African representation on the enlarged Security Council and other issues of mutual concern.

In a statement, Mr. Annan said the United Nations was pleased and proud with the success that Namibia had seen since its independence. "You have established here successful democratic institutions, respect for human rights and respect for the rule of law which is the basic requirement for a stable society", he said.

In a report to the Security Council, the Secretary-General said that the progress made since last January was generally encouraging. He said the outcome of the disarmament and demobilization exercise could be considered to be in substantial compliance with the Abuja Agreement, the Spokesman noted.

The Secretary-General pointed out that the main focus of UNOMIL must now be the forthcoming elections. In that context, he made recommendations on the role to be played by UNOMIL in the elections, the Spokesman said.

Other recommendations include the strengthening of the UNOMIL electoral unit; recruiting of 200 additional personnel from among existing UNOMIL and UN staff members, as well as from member States and regional organization's to observe the polling and the counting of votes; and that UNOMIL be authorised to make appropriate arrangements for the production and broadcast of daily radio programmes in order to ensure that Liberian voters receive neutral factual information about the electoral process.

"To reverse these troubling trends, new policies and strategies are being developed. Such strategies, to be effective, require a fusion of interrelated measures encompassing macroeconomics, water information system, legal and institutional arrangements and water demand management," he said.

In a message to the World Water Forum, which opened in Marrakesh, Morocco, last Saturday, Mr. Annan said that any sound plan of action or decision- making regime must also include, as an essential component, consensus- building among water users, especially among users of transboundary water resources. "Increasingly, dynamic planning within basin organisation and among riparian countries is being recognised as the most efficient means of responding to complex water resources issues", Mr. Annan said.

The Secretary-General said the United Nations system had long been an advocate of sustainable water management practices and water resource protection.

He said a positive and constructive response from the entire international donor community would be needed to ensure the continued provision of core services in education, health, relief and social services to over 3.3 million refugees in the region.

In a statement following his visit to the Arab Gulf countries,the Commissioner-General said he explored ways in which to build a better future for the Palestine refugees through practical measures of support to those areas most affected by the Agency's present financial situation.

"Strong potential for cooperation had been identified between UNRWA and a number of important charitable and humanitarian institutions in the region", he said. He added that until the peace process has produced a final settlement of the issue of the refugees, UNRWA would remain for many the sole provider of basic services in education, health and social welfare.

As it rounded up its debate on economic, social; and cultural rights and the right to development, the Commission heard the representative of Columbia stress that the participation of all in economic, social and cultural and political development was necessary to ensure world peace. Columbia sought to encourage dialogue between industrialised and developing countries to establish such rights.

The representative of the Republic of Korea decried the lack of commitment towards the effective implementation of those rights and warned that the promotion of civil and political rights at the expense of economic, social and cultural rights was dangerous.

Mexico and Argentina said it was time to fulfil the right to development for all countries. Economic growth could only materialise with the strengthening of human rights, the Argentinian delegate added.

The five countries presenting reports are among the 136 States parties to the International Covenant. The Committee, as a monitoring body, periodically examines reports submitted by States parties on their promotion and protection of civil and political rights. Representatives of those governments will introduce their country reports and respond to questions from the Committee's 18 members, who serve in their personal capacity.

Project LINK is an international economic research network of more than 70 economists from all over the world led by Nobel Laureate Lawrence R. Klein of the University of Pennsylvania. According to the forecast to be reviewed, the widespread economic growth expected in the next few years will be matched by increased trade among countries, with world trade expected to rise by 7 per cent in 1997.

Inflation in the industrialised world is expected to remain subdued in most countries, but real interest rates are likely to remain high in relation to their long-term trend. Within the group of developed market economies, slower growth in Japan in 1997 is likely to offset an expected acceleration in the European Union from 1.7 per cent in 1996 to 2.4 per cent in 1997. Pockets of negative or sluggish growth will persist among the transition economies, according to the forecast.

The regional node is hosted by the Earth Resources Observation System (EROS) Data Centre of the US Geological Survey (USGS) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States.

Through a world-wide network of collaborating centres, UNEP/GRID facilitates the generation and dissemination of key statistical and geographically referenced data sets as well as information products focusing on environmental and natural resource issues.

Operational since 1991, GRID-Sioux Falls assist UNEP and its partners by contributing data and information on methodology and technology that provides a scientific basis for decision making.

Some 50 specialists from about 15 countries are taking part in the consultation which is geared towards assessing the current situation among human beings, recent observations on the nature of the agent, and the current situation in animals, with special reference to spongiform encephalopathy in cattle and possibly sheep.

The consultants will also assess the safety of certain products and by- products entering the human food chain, review data on inactivation of the causative agents of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy or their removal from medicinal products, and assess risks associated with certain products, including whole blood and blood products.

The conclusions of this consultation should, therefore, be particularly important, since the possible consequences of "mad cow disease" in human beings are still a serious concern for the health authorities and customers of beef, WHO said.

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

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