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United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-05-05United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: [email protected]DAILY HIGHLIGHTSMonday, 5 May 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 has left for The Hague where he will open the first session of a three-week Conference of the States Parties of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a UN Spokesman announced today. The first session which will be held in the Netherlands Congress Centre, is expected to last three weeks. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed gratification that Zairian President Mobutu and Laurent Kabila, the leader of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo- Zaire, have begun a dialogue on transitional arrangements in the resolution of the conflict in Zaire. In a statement issued today by his Spokesman, the Secretary-General said he was grateful to President Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Ambassador Bill Richardson of the United States for helping launch this dialogue. The United Nations leader also thanked Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun, the UN/OAU envoy, for working tirelessly over the past three months to lay the groundwork for the talks. The Secretary-General added, however, that the work of managing the process of change in Zaire had just begun. He called on all the principal players in Zaire, as well as on all interested States, to continue to work together to assure a successful completion of the process, leading to peace, democracy and prosperity in Zaire. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Monday suspended the use of trains to transport Rwandan refugees from the Biaro refugee camp, following a tragic incident on Sunday. 91 people were crushed to death and about 50 were wounded in a train carrying refugees to the transit camp in Kisangani. Meanwhile, a UN Spokesman said the rebels were now bringing trucks loaded with people without any control by the United Nations. The trucks with a capacity of 50, were arriving in Biaro with twice that number. On the repatriation of Rwandan refugees to Rwanda, the UN Spokesman announced that a total of 2,606 refugees had been returned to the country on Monday. So far, more than 7,500 refugees have been repatriated to Kigali, Cyangugu, and Gisenyi in Rwanda. The United Nations Joint Investigative Mission into human rights violations in eastern Zaire has arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, where it is awaiting final clearance from the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo/Zaire (ADFL) to begin its work. On Monday, two human rights officers assisting the Mission were expected to travel to Lubumbashi for meetings with officials of the ADFL to obtain approval for the Mission to enter the regions controlled by the ADFL and begin investigations into human rights violations in eastern Zaire. The mission's work will include the gathering of evidence and the excavation of possible mass grave sites. The Mission, which was established by the UN Commission on Human Rights, will present a preliminary report to the United Nations General Assembly by 30 June 1997 and will also report to the fifty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights, which will meet in March-April. Federico Mayor, the Director-General of UNESCO, today condemned the massacre of 36 students and seven staff members of the Petit Seminaire de Buta, a secondary school in southern Burundi. According to press reports, the massacre took place on the night of 30 April during an assault by an unidentified group. Calling the attack against a place of learning "an unforgivable crime", the head of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization said that UNESCO once again raised its voice of protest against an act "which is at once cowardly and suicidal -- attacking a school, symbol of civilization and camaraderie, and killing students, the most vulnerable of targets who hold the key to the nation's future". Mr. Mayor appealed to all the actors in the Burundi crisis to end the violence and explore peaceful solutions through dialogue. The World Health Organization (WHO) today warned of a growing "crisis of suffering" and cautioned that human and social costs of chronic diseases will rise unless confronted now. In its annual report published on Monday, WHO said cancer, heart disease and other chronic conditions which already kill more than 24 million people a year will impose increasing burdens of suffering and disability on hundreds of millions of others. The agency's "World Health Report 1997: Conquering suffering, enriching humanity" said the number of cancer cases was expected to at least double in most countries during the next 25 years. There will be a 33 per cent rise in lung cancers in women and a 40 per cent increase in prostate cancers in men in European Union countries alone in 2005, according to WHO. The incidence of some other cancers is also rising rapidly, especially in developing countries. The WHO report noted that tobacco-related deaths, primarily from lung cancer and circulatory disease, already amounted to 3 million a year, or 6 per cent of total deaths. Dr. Wally N'Dow, the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, (Habitat) has released a Revitalisation Action Plan for the Centre. Prepared in response to recent criticism of the administrative and financial performance of the Habitat, the initiative reflects views expressed at the 16th session of the Commission on Human Settlements and recommendations of United Nations oversight bodies. The 23-point plan is aimed at restructuring Habitat along the lines defined by the Habitat Agenda, the global plan of action adopted at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Habitat II, in Istanbul, in June last year. The Revitalization Plan will improve operational links between Habitat headquarters and the field, and streamline information flows within the organization. The United Nations Development Programme, UNDP'S Emergency Response Division has allocated $U.S. 700,000 to meet the needs of the people of Banteay Meanchey province in north-western Cambodia. The assistance will improve infrastructure and basic social services, including education and health care, and promote income-generating activities at the community level. It will also increase agricultural productivity and strengthen provincial administration and local development planning. The initiative will be closely tied to UNDP's CARERE-project, (Cambodia Rehabilitation and Regeneration), and supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental organizations. Banteay Meanchey province was previously inaccessible due to fighting. For information purposes only - - not an official record From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: [email protected]United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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