United Nations Daily Highlights 96-06-14

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, June 14, 1996

HEADLINES

• Security Council condemns Iraq's failure to comply with resolution by refusing access to sites designated by Special Commission.
• Security Council extends UNMOT mandate for six months.
• Why are millions spent on arms after the Cold War? Cuban President asks Habitat II High-Level segment.
• UNDP commits $15 million to urban management programme at Habitat II Conference.
• WHO and UNICEF to cooperate in campaign to immunize 3 million children in Afghanistan, says Spokesman.
• Benin health centre receives 1996 Maurice Pate Award.
• Education for All: comprehensive information kit highlights achievements in education.
• UNESCO symposium calls for civil-military dialogue to build peace.

In a Presidential statement, the Security Council reiterated its full support for the Special Commission in the conduct of its inspections and the other tasks entrusted to it by the Council. The Council rejected attempts by Iraq to impose conditions on the conduct of inspections by the Special Commission.

The Security Council demanded once again that Iraq comply with the relevant resolutions of the Council, and, in particular, allow the inspection teams of the Special Commission immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access to any and all areas, facilities, equipment, records and means of transportation which they wish to inspect.

The Security Council requested the Chairman of the Special Commission to visit Baghdad as soon as possible with a view to securing immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access to all sites which the Special Commission wished to inspect.

The Security Council has further decided that the mandate would remain in effect unless the Secretary-General reported to it that those conditions had not been met.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, in a statement to the High-Level segment, said that both the internal and external migratory movements were originated in an unbalanced and unfair development inside and outside the countries. He pointed out that if this were not understood, it would be impossible to understand anything with regard to human settlement and its likely solutions.

President Castro questioned the assertion that funds were insufficient to meet housing needs. "How is it possible, that after the so-called Cold War, millions of millions should be spent on weapons and military activities and that the arms trade should continue to grow?" He called on delegates to proclaim, in full force, the right to breathe clean air, drink uncontaminated water, be provided a decent job, fed healthy food, be educated and not be left poor "when others were rich". Decent housing was a right that every family should enjoy, it should be considered a universal human right, he added.

The Cuban President said, "we have the right to live, and to live in peace and with honour, the right for all of us to be left to work for our peoples, the right to be spared unjust and criminal economic blockades, the right not to be exploited, not to be plundered, not to be treated with disdain or with offensive xenophobia".

Meanwhile, Ireland's Minister for the Environment said that his Government was preparing a national sustainable development strategy, which would provide a focus for integrating environment and development concerns in policy-making, decision-making and in daily life.

He said that the Government had recognized that families and households had a significant collective impact on sustainability. As a means of harnessing the strength of local communities, Ireland, with the support of the European Union, was pursuing an innovative experiment in local development; an experiment which was enabling people to take greater responsibility for their own social and economic development.

As delegates leave the Habitat II Conference to implement the Habitat Agenda or Plan of Action in their respective cities, towns and villages, the statement made by United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros- Ghali, on opening the High-Level segment, was recalled. He said that they faced a future for which the past was no guide. However, he added that the Istanbul conference had given some guidance.

"But here, in Istanbul, we have drawn a road map to that future -- we have - - launched a new process for worldwide partnerships for sustainable human settlements". He said that advanced the commitments made by international communities throughout the cycle of landmark UN conferences since the Rio Conference of 1992.

The Habitat Conference was expected to end late Friday evening with the adoption of the Habitat Agenda and the Istanbul Declaration.

UNDP has also announced Project Development Facility, a $10 million initiative aimed at promoting private investment in urban areas. Some 50 projects in such sectors as water, energy and waste management were envisioned, according to the Agency. The projects would lead to an estimated investment of $1 billion, according to UNDP.

The Spokesman said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Yasushi Akashi had called upon all the parties in Afghanistan to once again cooperate in creating an environment in which organizations involved had the security and freedom of movement to reach those in need. The Under- Secretary-General said that he was extremely heartened by the campaign.

Past recipients include Professor Ihsan Dogramaci of Turkey; the Pan- African Institute for Development; the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; the Roman Catholic Church of El Salvador; Madame Suzanne Mubarak, the First Lady of Egypt; the Child to Child Trust; the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and the All China Women's Federation.

He recalled that the World Conference on Education for All was held in Thailand, six years ago and that the Amman High-level meeting aimed at assessing what had been achieved by nations and by the international community to fulfil the commitment reached in Thailand.

The spokesman said sponsors of the information kit were the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.

A UNESCO symposium held in Paris, and attended by more than 100 participants from over 30 countries identified the need for the proposed association in order to foster dialogue on ways to prevent conflicts and build and maintain peace.

In their final declaration, participants said that, due to increasing globalization and interaction among nations, the best source of security is " a general dynamic of equitable and balanced development." The armed forces have an important part to play in this peace building effort, they noted.

"This symposium has marked the reciprocal opening of the world of the armed forces and that of the most civilized part of civilian society, the world of culture symbolized by UNESCO", said General Barnard Norlain, Director of France's Institute of Advanced Studies of National Defence (IHEDN), in his closing remarks.

Citing the fact that of the 34 major conflicts occurring in 1995, nearly all were within countries rather than between nations, General Norlain said, "World interdependence and globalization, along with a weakening of the nation and economic and cultural destabilization, are provoking a breakdown of identity and community, and disintegration of social order."

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

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