United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-06-17

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: [email protected]

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 17 June, 1999

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• Thousands of jubilant refugees rush home to Kosovo despite UN warnings about landmines.
• ILO adopts landmark convention banning worst forms of child labour.
• Confrontation between Azeri and Armenian ethnic forces draws call for restraint from UN Secretary-General.
• Praised for dedicated service, Secretary-General's envoy for Tajikistan leaves for top job at OSCE.

A UNHCR spokesman in Kosovo's provincial capital, Pristina, said that although it was nice to see smiles on the faces of the returning refugees it could not stress enough the danger of spontaneous mass returns. At least two returnees were killed in mine blasts this week in Kosovo. UNHCR said there were eleven landmine incidents on the Kosovo side of the border Wednesday, while UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund, reported 20.

Fewer refugees from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are joining the rush back to Kosovo, with only about 5,000 crossing the border at Blace in the last two days.

Meanwhile, a UNHCR expert who had flown on a helicopter mission to survey damage to housing in southwest Kosovo, described the scope of destruction as "shocking" and said winterizing the homes would be extremely difficult. The original plan was to use plastic sheeting to winter-proof at least one room per house. UNHCR said it might have to erect tents in the yards of homes too damaged to be immediately habitable.

(Visit UNHCR's for in-depth coverage.)

In a display of what ILO Director-General Juan Somavia called "moral resolve," the agency's International Labour Conference concluded its annual session in Geneva today by unanimously adopting a landmark treaty, "Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999".

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia announced that the UN agency will immediately launch a worldwide campaign for ratification and declared that the new treaty would become one of the ILO's "core Conventions" which cover the fundamental principles and rights at work agreed upon at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen.

Welcoming the treaty's adoption, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan described the ILO move as a "victory for children everywhere." A statement released by his spokesman said Mr. Annan expected that all countries would act on it so that children were at last "truly protected from slavery, conscription, prostitution and other gross violations of their human rights."

The new Convention, which will apply to all children under the age of 18, calls for countries to prohibit and eliminate the worst forms of child labour "as a matter of urgency." For the first time, the treaty defines what constitutes exploitative practices -- such as slavery, debt bondage and child prostitution -- and includes a ban on forced recruitment of child soldiers.

The treaty also requires ratifying countries to provide support for removing children from dangerous labour and ensure access to education or vocational training. The accord also says the "special situation of girls" should be taken into account.

According to ILO estimates, some 250 million children between 5 and 14 years of age work in developing countries, with about half working full time. Other ILO surveys show that 50 million to 60 million children between the ages of five and 11 worldwide are working in hazardous circumstances.

A spokesman for the Secretary-General said Mr. Annan had learned with concern of a large-scale confrontation along the ceasefire line separating Azeri and Armenian ethnic force.

"The Secretary-General calls upon all concerned to exercise restraint and to adhere strictly go the provisions of the ceasefire agreement of 1994, thus facilitating a political settlement of this protracted conflict," the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the Secretary-General said he was "deeply grateful" to Mr. Kubis, a national of Slovakia, for his efforts to keep the peace process in Tajikistan moving ahead despite difficult circumstances. Mr. Annan looked forward to working closely with Mr. Kubis on this and other issues in his new capacity as OSCE Secretary-General, the spokesman said.

Mr. Kubis's resignation is effective 21 June and consultations are currently under way concerning his successor, the spokesman said.

Serving as Special Representative for Tajikistan since June 1998, Mr. Kubis has been also the head of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT), which helps to promote peace and reconciliation in the country and assists in implementing a peace agreement.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: [email protected]

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