Published Weekly by the United Nations Information Centre New Delhi

55 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi 110003

18 September, 2004
 

Table Of Contents

 

UN General Assembly Opens 59th Session 1

H.E. Mr. Jean Ping

The United Nations General Assembly opened its 59th session in New York on 14 September with a clarion call from its new President for urgent and effective action as the world body approaches its 60th anniversary amid multiple threats and challenges ranging from wars and terrorism to disease and poverty.

"Confronting such a situation, the peoples of the world more than ever have their eyes turned towards the United Nations, the sole institution with a universal vocation where the concerns and aspirations of all humankind are expressed in all their diversity," Foreign Minister Jean Ping of Gabon told the opening meeting.

"The multiplicity of zones of conflict and humanitarian crises, the proliferation of weapons, the recurrence of terrorist acts, the increase in poverty and other afflictions such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the degradation of the environment, the resurgence of trans-national crime, illicit drug trafficking, the violations of human rights as well as assaults on the rule of law and democracy are, each and every one, concerns for which we must urgently find answers," he said.

Such topics will most likely be among those addressed during the annual gathering of world leaders for the Assembly's general debate, which gets underway on 21 September in New York.

Mr. Ping, who succeeds Julian R. Hunte of St. Lucia, President of the 58th session, highlighted the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its impact on international peace and security, the "deeply troubling" situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan and the recent massacre of Congolese refugees in Burundi.

He called for revamping coordination in the field between inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, enhancing measures to prevent conflict and demobilize combatants, and above all boosting resources for post-conflict reconstruction.

But he warned that the daily requirements of peace and security must not detract from other pressing questions such as development. "That is to say how necessary it is that we act simultaneously in both fields," he declared.

He underscored the importance of fulfilling development pledges such as those contained in the UN Millennium Declaration aimed at halving extreme poverty and hunger, reducing infant and maternal mortality and boosting access to education and development, all by 2015, in order to slash disparities between and within nations.

Mr. Ping recited a litany of needs crying out for a solution, from the famine and malnutrition that afflict marginalized populations to fair global trade to debt payment and development funding.

"It is thus fitting, and it can never be said too often, to reinforce the role and authority of the UN and endow it with all the resources necessary for accomplishing its multiple missions," he declared.

 

General Assembly Ends 2004 Session With More Positive Outlook 2

The United Nations General Assembly concluded the work of its fifty-eighth session on 13 September, with the outgoing President praising the body's genuine drive to overcome the crisis of confidence that had gripped the United Nations in the wake of the war in Iraq.

Julian R. Hunte of St. Lucia noted that during the 2003-2004 session, the Assembly had proceeded to make real headway on such issues as sustainable development, revitalizing the body's work and reform of the Security Council, which had languished on its agenda without comprehensive resolution for ten years. Reviewing the strides the UN's main deliberative organ had made during the past year, he said that multilateralism had been the guiding principle of his presidency and the basis on which decisions were made on the issues on the Assembly's wide-ranging agenda. The "negotiating table" had been given a central role.

"This is how it ought to be" when addressing global challenges such as terrorism, HIV/AIDS, poverty and nuclear proliferation, he said, recapping the Assembly's actions in those areas and highlighting related events that had taken place during the session, such as the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development and commemoration of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda.

 

S-G: World's Cities Must Embrace Inclusiveness Or Face Poverty And Conflict 3

In a world of increasing globalization yet one beset by conflict and intolerance, the world's cities must become genuine examples of inclusiveness and equity where cultures can enrich each other and educate all about the planet's "wondrous diversity," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on 13 September.

"Otherwise, they will remain reservoirs of poverty and potential flashpoints of conflict _ and ultimately, barriers to advancing the human condition," he told the UN World Urban Forum in Barcelona, Spain, in a message delivered by Mervat Tallawy, Executive Director of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). 

"A globalizing world of movement and migration brings with it fears and tensions, which governments and local authorities can overcome only with sensitivity and skill," Mr. Annan said.

"Only by bringing all communities and all citizens, new and old, into the development process and into the halls of urban governance as full partners, will we stand a chance of achieving sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals."

These goals set by the UN Millennium Summit of 2000 seek to halve extreme poverty and hunger, reduce infant and maternal mortality and achieve other social goals, all by 2015. 

"I urge you to intensify your diplomatic efforts by working with your fellow citizens and local authorities across the world, and within your borders, too, by fostering cooperation among your often disparate communities," Mr. Annan declared.

Some 3,000 delegates are attending this second gathering of the UN Human Settlements Programme's (UN-HABITAT) World Urban Forum, a ground-breaking global initiative held every two years to address the main challenge of the new Millennium _ the planet's transition to an urban world. The theme of this year's forum is "Cities: Crossroads of cultures, inclusiveness and integration?"

 

ESCAP Urges More Holistic Approach To Achieving Gender Equality 4

Recommitting themselves to achieving gender equality and empowering women for decades to come, countries from Asia and the Pacific meeting at the United Nations regional commission in Bangkok (ESCAP) on 10 September called for a more all-embracing approach to understanding the issue.

At a high-level intergovernmental meeting convened at ESCAP to review achievements, gaps and challenges since the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, participants agreed on the need to promote economic and social rights, work with men to achieve gender equality, and forge partnerships.

The four-day meeting, which ended in the Thai capital on 10 September, highlighted five levels of partnerships: between men and women; between governments and civil society; among government ministries; between and among countries in terms of regional cooperation on trans-boundary issues such as trafficking, migration and the spread of HIV/AIDS; and at the global level.

Its recommendations and strategies will serve as the regional input to the global review and appraisal of the Beijing Platform for Action _ adopted at the 1995 conference _ to be held next March. More than 450 delegates from over 40 countries attended, including ministers or government representatives, participants from numerous civil society organizations, and officials from UN agencies and their development partners.

Delegates reported significant progress since 1995 including national action plans to promote gender equality, improvements in women's health, longer life expectancy, revision of discriminatory domestic laws and regulations, and affirmative measures to improve women's political participation.

They also stressed increased basic education levels and significant decrease in women's illiteracy rate, as well as poverty reduction and alleviation through providing small loans known as "micro credit," encouraging female entrepreneurship, and income-generating activities.

But several countries identified persisting common gaps and challenges such as women's disproportionate representation among the poor, the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among women, low level of women's participation in the decision-making at various levels and all forms of violence against women, including trafficking.

 

UNIC New Delhi Organizes Seminar for NGOs 5

In conjunction with the annual NGO Conference organized by UN-DPI in New York, UNIC-New Delhi organized a seminar for NGOs on 10 September 2004 on the same theme: "Millennium Development Goals: Civil Society Takes Action".

Speakers: (l-r): Mr. Ajay Mehta, Director, National Foundation of India; Dr. Mohini Giri, Chairperson, Guild of Service; Unic Director Ms. Shalini Dewan, seminar Chair; Dr. Pronab Sen, Adviser, Planning Commission; and Dr. A. K. Shiva Kumar, Economist.

 

Sec-Gen: Lessons Of Iraq War Underscore Importance Of UN Charter 6

Secretary-General Kofi Annan believes that the Iraq war in 2003 demonstrated the need for the international community to address the issue of preventive action in the context of Charter principles and showed the importance of joint efforts on matters of use of force, a United Nations spokesman said on 16 September.

Responding to media questions about the Secretary-General's comments in a BBC interview, spokesman Fred Eckhard told a press briefing in New York that in his remarks the Secretary-General had reiterated his well-known position that the military action against Iraq was not in conformity with the UN Charter.

In the interview, Mr. Annan was repeatedly asked whether the war was "illegal." "Yes," he finally said, "I have indicated it is not in conformity with the UN Charter, from our point of view, and from the Charter point of view it was illegal."

The Secretary-General said the war in Iraq and its aftermath had brought home painful lessons about the importance of resolving use-of-force issues jointly through the UN. "I think that in the end everybody is concluding that it is best to work together with allies and through the UN to deal with some of those issues.

"And I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time," the Secretary-General told the interviewer, noting that such action needed UN approval and a much broader support of the international community.

Mr. Eckhard stressed that this had been the Secretary-General's longstanding view. The spokesman added that one of the purposes of a High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which the Secretary-General had established, was to look at the issue of preventive war and to see how it could be employed in conformity with the Charter, which does not allow pre-emptive attacks.

"He has over the past more than a year used the words `not in conformity with the Charter' to describe his view of 

the Iraq war and of course one of his purposes in establishing the UN panel on change was to look at the question of preventive war and try to bring that in conformity with the Charter principles, which do not promote preventive war," Mr. Eckhard said.

"Since the war he has been emphasizing the need for nations on the Security Council and the UN membership as a whole to pull together, saying it is in everyone's interest that stability be restored to Iraq," the spokesman said. "So once the invasion took place, he did not look back, he looked forward."

"But the principle of the Charter, called into question in his view by the invasion, needs to be addressed in a serious way," Mr. Eckhard added. "And he asked the high level panel to look specifically at that issue. That panel is supposed to report by the end of this year and the Secretary-General would formulate his recommendations and put them to the General Assembly."

 

Threat From Al-Qaida And Taliban Constantly Evolving, Security Council Told 7

Calling on the Security Council "to stay ahead of the curve," the head of the Council's committee that monitors sanctions against Al-Qaida and the Taliban said on 13 September that the world needs "to think of new ways to defeat terrorism and its perpetrators" because the threat from the two groups keeps changing.

In an open briefing to the Council, Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of Chile, Chairman of the sanctions committee, said while it was wrong to suggest that the sanctions approach to terrorist groups had failed, the response could be more effective by being both vigilant and flexible.

"The nature of the threat is constantly evolving, just as Al-Qaida itself has evolved from an organization with a structure and hierarchy into a global network of groups unbound by organizational structure but held together by a set of overlapping ideological goals," he said.

Mr. Muñoz said closer cooperation between States on operational issues was one example of how it could be much more difficult for terrorist groups to carry out their work.

He also called on States to submit fresh names to the Committee's list of individuals and entities belonging to, or associated with, Al-Qaida and the Taliban. Currently 429 names, or "only a small fraction of the actual number," appear on the list, he said.

"I understand that there can be many reasons for not submitting names to the Committee, including concerns regarding due process, delisting and potential stigmatization. I strongly believe, however, that Member States and the Committee can resolve such concerns together."

Improving the quality of the list was a priority for the Committee, he added.

Mr. Muñoz said he was also encouraged that the monitoring team, which examines what steps individual States have taken to comply with the relevant resolutions against the Taliban and Al-Qaida, has observed stronger interest from many nations in helping the Committee with its work.

The Council first imposed sanctions after the indictment of Osama bin Laden for the 1998 terrorist bombings of United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, which left hundreds of people dead.

 

S-G Condemns Attacks On UN And Partners In Afghanistan 8

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has condemned the 12 September attacks against United Nations offices, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Independent Human Rights Commission in strife-torn western Afghanistan's Herat province.

"As stated by President Hamid Karzai, these attacks, perpetrated by a tiny group who tries to undermine the Government's efforts to restore security and stability in this part of the country, are rejected with indignation by the population of Herat and the people of Afghanistan," the Secretary-General said in a statement released by his spokesman in New York.

He pledged the UN's firm commitment to support the Afghan peace process "in all fields _ humanitarian assistance, reconstruction, democratization and institution-building."

The statement also called on all concerned, including Afghan and international security forces, to help create a safe environment for Afghanistan's upcoming election.

 

UNFPA Releases The State Of World Population 2004 9

The world has made genuine progress towards achieving the ambitious programme outlined at the 1994 Cairo population conference, a United Nations review released on 15 September finds, but a serious funding shortfall is obstructing efforts to provide universal access to reproductive health care, combat HIV/AIDS and improve maternal health.

The State of World Population 2004, issued by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) a decade after the landmark conference in Cairo and nearly halfway into the 21-year timetable for achieving its goals, shows that donors have given only half of what they promised.

In Cairo, international donors pledged to give $6.1 billion a year by 2005 for population and reproductive health programmes, but in 2002 _ the most recent year with available figures _ donors were giving only $3.1 billion.

The report indicates that the huge funding gap is having a negative ripple effect, retarding progress in health, education and other fields, especially for women and girls.

More than 350 million couples worldwide, for example, do not have access to a full range of family planning services; at least 500,000 women die each year from problems caused by pregnancy or childbirth, and most of those deaths are preventable; countless girls are unable to attend school; and five million people were infected with HIV last year.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS picture is especially grim: 25 per cent of the workforce there is HIV-positive, reducing economic productivity and strangling opportunities for economic development.

Adolescent health care also remains a problem, with early marriage and childbearing the norm for girls in many countries, and women aged below 24 disproportionately represented in statistics for sexually transmitted diseases.

But the UNFPA review finds there have been many advances since 179 governments agreed in 1994 that poverty could be reduced and economic growth sustained if women were given greater rights and access to reproductive health services was made universal.

The percentage of couples using modern contraception has risen from 55 per cent to 61 per cent; laws and policies to protect the rights of women, especially against violence, have been put in place; and population issues have become integrated into the heart of poverty-reduction strategies.

Many nations are also much more aware of the need to tackle the scourge of HIV/AIDS, improve adolescent reproductive health and expand training schemes for health care, according to the report.

 

WFP: Malnutrition Jeopardizes Asia's Tremendous Economic Potential 10

With the greatest number of hungry people in the world living in Asia, the region must take decisive steps to reduce malnutrition or risk losing much of its tremendous economic potential, a top official of the United Nations emergency feeding agency said on 15 September.

"Malnutrition will be a millstone around the neck of the countries in their progress toward economic prosperity," World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu told the opening session of a regional conference on maternal and child malnutrition in New Delhi.

"It is vital for everyone to play their part in making sure women and children, particularly adolescent girls, get proper nourishment," she added, noting that Asia's catastrophic malnutrition levels are the single greatest barrier to the evolution of a modern, knowledge-based work force that can manage the economic powerhouse it has the promise to become.

WFP and the Indian Government are co-hosting the three-day conference _ the Regional Ministerial Consultation on Maternal and Child Nutrition in Asian Countries _ which focuses on food and nutrition as a top priority in poverty-reduction strategies.

Ms. Sisulu explained that a mother weakened by iron and vitamin A deficiency cannot give her children the upbringing needed to complete their education and achieve their full social and economic potential. As the primary caregiver of the family, a mother needs essential micronutrients in order to do her job well.

It is also crucial for infants and young children to get good nutrition at this vital stage of their development, she said, pointing out that malnutrition in early childhood undermines children's physical stature and cognitive abilities and impedes their performance in school. Undernourished adolescent girls bear underweight babies, who then continue the insidious cycle of malnutrition into the next generation. "Adolescent girls are the vital link in the chain to the future of Asia," she declared.

Noting that fortified foods can be made available at affordable prices for the poor, like Indiamix, the low-cost blended infant food pioneered in India by WFP, she urged countries with a nutrition crisis to increase the fortification of staple foodstuffs lacking micronutrients, so that the poor get the necessary vitamins and minerals.

According to UN statistics, more than 500 million Asians do not get enough food to meet daily needs for nutritional well-being. Micronutrient deficiencies are especially serious: babies are born mentally retarded as a result of iodine deficiency, children go blind and die of vitamin A deficiency, and enormous numbers of women and children are sapped by iron deficiency anaemia. At the same time, World Bank studies show that productivity losses due to various types of malnutrition in low-income Asian countries constitute about two to three percent of the Gross National Product (and eight per cent in Bangladesh).