Published Weekly by the United Nations Information Centre New Delhi

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10 January, 2004

Table Of Contents

• Secretary-General Hails Progress Towards Improved Relations Between India And Pakistan
• Meeting On UN's Future Role In Iraq
• Sec-Gen Welcomes Agreement On New Constitution For Afghanistan
• Brahimi Ends Assignment As Top UN Envoy To Afghanistan
• S-G Condemns Deadly Bomb Attacks In Southern Afghanistan
• UN Says Voter Registration In Afghanistan Insufficient To Allow For June Elections 
• S-G Welcomes Recent Statements On DPR Of Korea's Nuclear Programme
• UN Peacekeeping Official Visits South Asia
• UN Seeks $31.3 Million For 90-Day Post-Quake Rehabilitation In Iran
• Bam Earthquake Shows Need For Safer Global Housing Standards, UN Expert Says
• UNESCO To Help Rehabilitate Damaged Schools And Cultural Sites In Bam
• Toepfer Highlights Importance Of Cutting Greenhouse Gases
• FAO: World Tobacco Demand Set To Rise Until 2010, But At Slower Rate
• WHO & World Bank : Without Urgent Action Now, Lagging Millennium Health Goals Will Be Missed

Lauding new contacts between the leaders of India and Pakistan, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 5 January urged further dialogue between the two South Asian nations to settle their differences.

In a statement released by his spokesman, Mr. Annan welcomed the meetings held in Islamabad on 4 and 5 January between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India with Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, and its Prime Minister, Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

"He considers that these meetings represent another important step forward in the continuing bilateral efforts to improve relations and resolve outstanding issues between the two countries," the spokesman said. "The Secretary-General urges both sides to continue with these efforts and hopes the summit meetings will give a new impetus to serious and sustained dialogue."

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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 6 January hailed progress being made towards improved relations in South Asia after the leaders of India and Pakistan held summit talks early this week.

"I think it is wonderful news, what is coming out of Islamabad, and I am extremely happy that the talks are taking place," the Secretary-General told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. He voiced confidence that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan "will find the statesmanship and the leadership and the wisdom to move the process forward."

Looking to the broader context, Mr. Annan stressed that "improved relations between the two countries would mean a lot for the region, not just in terms of reducing political tensions, but also in economic and social terms, and it would be beneficial to all the smaller countries in the region."

"I am really excited with the developments, and I applaud the two leaders for the actions that they have taken," he added.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 6 January said he expects senior United States representatives to attend a meeting in New York later this month to discuss the future role of the United Nations in Iraq along with officials from that country.

"I'm looking forward to a very good and constructive meeting on the 19^th and I expect all the parties to attend," Mr. Annan told reporters upon arrival at UN Headquarters in New York, referring to the three-way talks that he called for last month.

Leading the Iraqi delegation to New York will be Adnan Pachachi, President of the Iraqi Governing Council for January. He is expected to be accompanied by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the President of the Governing Council for December, and Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the expected President for February, a UN spokesman said last month.

Asked at what level he expects US representation would be, Mr. Annan said he thought the meeting would be at the senior level and that he would personally participate in the talks. "I would expect the US Government to send a senior delegation, hopefully including people from Baghdad. I would not be surprised if Jeremy Greenstock is also here with them," he added, referring to the United Kingdom's senior representative in Iraq.

The Secretary-General reiterated his hope that the 19 January meeting would clarify the UN's role during the transitional period through the end of June. "I am not so much worried about the UN's role in phase two, phase two being post-provisional government," he said, adding that any return by the UN before then would have to address the question of security. "The [Security] Council itself recognized it in its own resolutions, and so it would be a factor in our decisions."

Mr. Annan noted that the UN will be opening an office in Cyprus, and will have a presence in Amman, Jordan, to carry out cross-border activities. "Of course we will monitor the security situation to determine when it would permit us to go back and establish ourselves fully in Baghdad," he said.

The Secretary-General also confirmed that he has plans to visit the region some time this year.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 4 January lauded members of Afghanistan's grand council for reaching accord on a founding charter for emerging democracy in the country.

"The Secretary-General was very pleased to learn of the Constitutional Loya Jirga's agreement on Afghanistan's new Constitution," a spokesman for Mr. Annan said in a statement, which congratulated participating delegates for completing the "difficult and complex" process.

The original draft of the text was subject to extensive public debate among Afghans, and the Secretary-General hailed the "historic achievement" as evidence of their determination to establish a stable and democratic State.

He also urged global support for the effort. "This is another important step in the peace process that justifies the commitment of the Afghan people and the international community to date and which must be sustained, if not increased," he said.

Mr. Annan said he was gratified that the UN had been able to contribute to the accomplishment, and commended his Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, "for the vital role he has played."

Lakhdar Brahimi completed his two-year assignment as the top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan just as the war-wracked country took the important step of adopting a democratic constitution.

Mr. Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister with wide experience in international diplomacy, was awarded the Order of Ghazi Amanula Khan, Afghanistan's highest decoration, by President Hamid Karzai at the end of the constitutional assembly _ known as the Loya Jirga _ on 4 January.

In impromptu remarks at the closing ceremony, Mr. Brahimi told delegates they had "every reason to feel proud" of what they had achieved and called the constitution "a new source of hope" for Afghans. But he warned that the constitution was just a piece of paper with words in Dari and Pashto, and called on all Afghans _ Government and people _ to translate these words "into a living reality."

Speaking of insecurity in the country, where a bomb exploded outside a UN building on Christmas day and a UN refugee worker was killed in November, he emphasized that the absence of the rule of law puts "fear into the heart of practically every Afghan." He also encouraged Afghan women to continue their struggle to achieve respect and their rights.

In a statement Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised Mr. Brahimi, who was appointed the Secretary-General's Special Representative to Afghanistan in October 2001, "for the vital role he has played" in the country.

Until a replacement is appointed, Mr. Annan has decided that Jean Arnault, Mr. Brahimi's Deputy for Political Affairs, will be the Officer-in-Charge of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva told a news briefing in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Reacting to the latest spate of deadly violence in Afghanistan, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned 6 January's bomb attacks, which killed 14 people, mostly children, in the southern city of Kandahar. 

Some 70 others were reportedly injured in the two explosions, which followed a separate incident in Kandahar on 5 January, when a hand grenade was thrown into the local compound of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). No one was hurt in that attack. 

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan said he strongly condemned "these heinous acts of violence" and sent his condolences to the families of the victims and the Afghan Government.

Insecurity in Afghanistan has impeded voter registration efforts, putting in jeopardy an election planned for June, a United Nations spokesman said on 8 January.

"It is close to impossible to meet the June date with the current security conditions that do not permit registration teams to go throughout the country," Manoel de Almeida e Silva said in Kabul.

According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), more than 270,000 Afghans have registered to vote so far in the country's eight main cities _ more than 215,000 men and just under 60,000 women. 

But this falls far short of what would be needed to hold elections in the coming months. In a recent report to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan points out that the number of registration centres currently open is "too low" to meet the target.

He further warns that the situation could cause rifts in the war-ravaged country. "Direct access to each of up to 10 million eligible voters must be available, and lack of access due to insecurity will result in the disenfranchisement of voters," he notes." Given that inaccessible areas are concentrated in the south, this disenfranchisement would have most damaging ethnic undertones."

The Secretary-General urges the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the coalition to expand security assistance beyond Kabul in order to promote stability and foster an environment conducive to a free ballot process.

Under the UN-brokered Bonn Agreement, which in late 2001 ushered in a new era of political transition for Afghanistan, the parties agreed that free and fair elections should be held no later than two years from the date of the convening of the country's Emergency Loya Jirga, or grand council. That session was held in June 2002.

Hoping to spur a resumption of talks on the nuclear programme of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 7 January welcomed recent statements by Pyongyang and the other countries involved in the issue.

A statement issued by a spokesman for the Secretary-General said Mr. Annan "feels that there is a growing momentum for the resumption of the six-party talks, thus advancing the Beijing process intended to resolve the nuclear and related issues in the Korean Peninsula."

In urging the parties to the talks to intensify their preparations, Mr. Annan "is encouraged by the recent statement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as well as the response to it by the countries concerned," the statement said.

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations is visiting Pakistan and Bangladesh to thank both Governments for their support of UN missions and to seek further assistance.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno's trip comes as demand for soldiers to serve in the world body's operations outstrips supply. "He's trying to drum up troop contributions for anticipated peacekeeping missions this year," explained UN spokesman Fred Eckhard in New York.

Mr. Guéhenno flew to Bangladesh on 8 January after spending a few days in Islamabad, where he met with President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mahmoud Kasuri.

The two South Asian countries are the UN's top contributors to peacekeeping. Pakistan had 5,343 military observers, civilian police and troops on UN duty and Bangladesh 4,274 as of the end of last November.

The United Nations on 8 January asked donors for $31.3 million to meet the three-month relief and rehabilitation needs of the tens of thousands of people in Bam, Iran, who were affected by the powerful earthquake which rocked the area last month.

The flash appeal was launched in Bam by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, who lauded the quick response of the Iranian Government and the Iranian Red Crescent Society to the needs created by the disaster and "the impressive international solidarity that had been displayed" in its immediate aftermath.

Of the 115,000 people who had been living in the worst-hit area, the earthquake killed more than 30,000 and injured another 30,000. The destruction of an estimated 85 percent of the mud-brick buildings has left 75,000 people homeless and levelled such prized historical structures as the world's largest mud-brick edifice, a 2,000-year-old citadel.

The greatest share of the funds sought _ $6.4 million _ will go to health and nutrition. With all three major hospitals damaged or destroyed, the money would be used to support the work of Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education in the area.

Some $6 million would go towards accelerating the area's economic recovery and rehabilitating its infrastructure, including farming. Another $5.7 million would provide latrines and rehabilitate wells, while $2.6 million would pay for the removal of tons of rubble, provide temporary shelter and prepare for the construction of disaster-resistant buildings.

About $4 million would go towards continuing the education of local children, despite the crumbling of Bam's 131 schools, and $3.7 million would pay for protection programmes, including mental health care for traumatized children.

The remaining funds would pay for the assessment of damage to and the safeguarding of Bam's important historical sites.

The UN bid for funds was launched in coordination with a complementary appeal from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Iran's recent tragic earthquake, which left up to 32,000 dead and 70,000 homeless, must drive all members of the international community to develop safe shelter conditions across the globe, according to a UN human rights expert.

"Compliance with sound housing standards achieved progressively throughout the world can ensure that the loss of life, human suffering and homelessness resulting from natural disasters are minimized in the future," Miloon Kothari, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing of the UN Commission on Human Rights, said on 7 January.

Lauding the courage shown by the survivors of the 26 December earthquake, he noted that part of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights defines "habitability" as a necessary element of the right to adequate housing.

"I would like to stress that standards dictated by `habitability,' including durability of homes to withstand earthquake and other disasters, should guide the reconstruction efforts in Bam," Mr. Kothari said.

A task force of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 6 January decided to dispatch emergency funds to help children in the earthquake-devastated Bam area of Iran.

The group, meeting at UNESCO's Paris headquarters, also pledged to assist in rehabilitating Bam's damaged cultural heritage. The city was home to the world's largest mud-brick structure, a 2,000-year-old citadel which suffered severe damage in the quake.

All 131 schools in the Bam area were damaged or destroyed in the 26 December earthquake, which is estimated to have killed some 30,000 people, according to the Government. UNESCO and other UN agencies are working together to provide the affected children with an education now, and to draw up a plan to rehabilitate the educational system in the future.

Reporting that 70 per cent of Bam's prized cultural sites were destroyed, UNESCO also said it would send technical missions over the coming weeks to assess the agency's role in rehabilitation and conservation, as well as in raising awareness of disaster prevention and preparedness.

A new report published on 8 January warning that 1 million species are threatened with extinction unless greenhouse gases are drastically reduced prompted the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to reiterate the importance of bringing into force the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement meant to cut emissions.

"If 1 million species become extinct as a result of global warming, it is not just the plant and animal kingdoms and the beauty of the planet that will suffer," UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer warned. "Billions of people, especially in the developing world, will suffer too as they rely on nature for such essential goods and services as food, shelter and medicines. Many developing countries also rely on nature-based tourism to generate much-needed foreign exchange earnings."

The paper, published in the scientific journal Nature, found that 15 to 37 per cent of all species in the six regions studied _ representing one-fifth of the planet's land area _ could become extinct under the mid-range climate warming scenarios that are likely to occur between now and 2050.

In contrast, if minimum, rather than maximum, climate warming is achieved, 15 to 20 per cent more of all land species could potentially be saved from extinction. The study, which drew the largest collaboration of scientists ever, projected the future distribution of 1,103 plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, butterflies and other invertebrates.

"Unbridled climate change is the spectre haunting many of the objectives enshrined in…the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in areas such as biodiversity, but also in ones such as water and sanitation," Mr. Toepfer said. "Unfortunately, this alarming report underlines again to the world the importance of brining into force the Kyoto Protocol."

With smoking set to continue declining in rich countries while rising in poorer States, world tobacco demand is expected to increase until the year 2010 due to population and income growth, but at lower rates than in the past, according to a new United Nations study published on 8 January.

The number of smokers is expected to grow from 1.1 billion in 1998 to around 1.3 billion in 2010, an increase of about 1.5 per cent annually, according to the report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). But consumption per adult is expected to decline by around 10 per cent by 2010, and individual consumption will probably be around 1.4 kilos per year — from around 1.6 kilos in 2000.

Applying an aggressive anti-smoking and anti-tobacco policy, consumption per person could even be cut by 20 per cent, FAO said.

Cigarette smoking is the most prevalent use, with China leading the world with some 320 million smokers. In India, the second most important consumer, smoking cigarettes accounts for only 25 per cent, with most people consuming the product in non-cigarette forms such as chewing.

Tobacco demand in developed countries is declining slowly and will reach about 2.05 million tons in 2010, 10 per cent lower than the 2.23 million tons consumed in 1998, FAO said. This can be attributed to slower population, and income growth. Increasing awareness of the damaging health effects together with government anti-smoking measures such as banning advertising and greater taxation have also reduced tobacco consumption.

But more tobacco will be smoked in developing countries, where consumption is expected to grow to 5.09 million tons by 2010 from 4.2 million in the late 1990s, an average annual growth rate of 1.7 per cent, significantly lower than the 2.8 percent rate over the previous three decades.

Many developing countries will not reach the health-related goals set by the United Nations Millennium Summit, such as slashing infant and maternal death rates, unless clear action is taken at once, followed by a concerted effort over the next 12 years, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank warned on 8 January.

Representatives of governments, donor and development agencies, UN agencies and recipient countries are meeting in Geneva 8-9 January to assess progress so far towards meeting the health goals and to map out what needs to be done if the world is to stand a realistic chance of reaching them.

At the Summit in 2000, 189 States committed themselves to eight ambitious Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for improving the health and well-being of hundreds of millions of people in the developing world by 2015. Four of them relate to health: to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters and child mortality by two-thirds, halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases, and improve access to safe drinking water and essential drugs.

"When these kinds of targets are set, it seems too soon to take urgent action, and then, after a few short years, it seems too late," WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook said in a statement in Geneva. "Where the targets are the product of a large consensus there is also the hazard of everyone waiting for everyone else to risk making the first move. We still have time to avoid these pitfalls with the targets for 2015, but to do so we have to act now."

The World Bank estimates that progress against child mortality has been so slow that no sub-Saharan African country is on target to reach that MDG. At the current pace in the developing world as a whole, only 16 per cent of countries _ representing 19 per cent of the developing world's population _ are on track for this goal. Similarly, only 17 per cent of developing countries are likely to meet the maternal mortality goal; here, Latin America and the Caribbean fare worst, with just 4.2 per cent of countries on track. In addition, only 40 per cent of developing countries are on track to reach the malnutrition target.

"Even with general economic growth and faster progress on the non-health MDGs, many regions will still miss many of the health MDG targets," said World Bank President James Wolfensohn. "We need to look at measures such as committing increased resources to meeting the health-related MDGs, and using those resources more effectively in countries."