DAILY HIGHLIGHTS FOR: 28 December 1995
Press Release
DH/2050
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS FOR: 28 December 1995
19951228 * Secretary-General pays three-day official visit to Kuwait; meets with Amir at Al Bayan Palace and addresses UNIKOM staff.* FAO and WFP warn Democratic People's Republic of Korea will experience severe food shortages and possible starvation without substantial food aid.
* United Nations launches global study on civilian-owned firearms, small arms trafficking and firearms regulations.
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Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali began a three-day official visit to Kuwait on Tuesday. In a statement made at the airport, he said the main objective of his visit was to further strengthen relations between the United Nations and Kuwait.
The Secretary-General was received yesterday by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah at the Al Bayan Palace. He expressed his appreciation to the Amir for attending the World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen last March, and the special commemorative meeting of the General Assembly, held at Headquarters in October. The Amir's participation in both summits demonstrated Kuwait's strong support for the United Nations.
Mr. Boutros-Ghali conducted a tour d'horizon of United Nations activities and peace-keeping operations, including the Organization's forthcoming role in Bosnia and Herzegovina; the situations in Rwanda, Burundi, Angola and Somalia; and developments in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Georgia. He also reviewed the recent elections in Haiti, which were conducted successfully with United Nations assistance.
The Secretary-General highlighted his continuing efforts to persuade Iraq to accept Security Council resolution 986 (1995). He hoped that there might be a change in the Iraqi Government's position, which would contribute to the alleviation of the suffering of innocent Iraqi women and children. He then reviewed the situation in Western Sahara and his efforts to persuade the
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parties to allow the identification process to move forward. The Secretary- General and the Amir also exchanged views on the dispute between Yemen and Eritrea over islands in the Red Sea.
The Amir thanked the United Nations for its role in the liberation of Kuwait, and expressed his appreciation for the Secretary-General's efforts to secure world peace and development.
The Secretary-General then met with the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, His Highness Sheikh Saad Al Abdallah Al Salem Al Sabah, who welcomed him on behalf of the Kuwaiti Government and people. He also visited the National Assembly and met with its President, Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al Sadoon, before addressing a joint meeting of the Committees for Foreign Affairs and for the Protection of Human Rights. The Secretary-General later met with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber, and discussed regional and international affairs.
Today, Mr. Boutros-Ghali addressed the staff of the United Nations Iraq- Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM). He said the Mission's mandate was typical of the new generation of United Nations missions. It had been established by the Security Council in 1991, under Chapter VII of the Charter, to monitor the Khor Abd Allah and the demilitarized zone, and to observe any hostile or potentially hostile action by one State against the other.
The Secretary-General will leave Kuwait for a two-day visit to Yemen, followed by a visit to Eritrea. He will then travel to Egypt, Italy and the United Kingdom, before returning to New York around mid-January.
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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will experience severe food shortages and possible starvation in the coming months if it does not receive substantial food aid, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). In a joint report released today, they said recent flooding had caused extensive damage to agriculture and infrastructure, exacerbating an already bad food supply situation.
The report estimated the total grain requirement of the People's Republic for 1996 at about 6 million tons. However, it pointed out that domestic production, imports and food aid already received would only cover 4.8 million tons. The FAO and WFP appealed for more funding for humanitarian relief operations in the country.
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With the end of the cold-war era and a shift from inter-State conflict to insecurity resulting from violent crime, the United Nations is turning its attention to a class of armament that is killing more people than major
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weapons -- civilian-owned firearms. Such arms are increasingly associated with crime, accidents and suicides, and are a major source of illicit profits for transnational criminal networks.
In order to assemble data on the problem, experts meeting in Vienna have launched the first world-wide survey of firearms ownership and related issues. The survey is aimed at obtaining clear and practical information on arms ownership by civilians, the relationship between firearms and crime and the status of regulatory measures in about 50 selected countries. The data compiled can be used by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and Member States in the development of related strategies.
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