UN Chronicle back issues from December 1996:
Restoring the faith. (excerpts from the speech of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annam)(Transcript)
Dec 22, 1996 ... "We must understand first of all that the crisis facing the United Nations is not one that can be dealt with by tinkering with the budget or using better cash management techniques. It is rather a political crisis - a crisis of faith in the Organization", observed Secretary-General Kofi ...
The Chronicle interview. (Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu)(Interview)
Dec 22, 1996 ... Without a new, strengthened ethical conscience, says Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in this conversation with the UN Chronicle, "we are for the birds. The Archbishop, who was in New York for the release of the United Nations study on the impact of armed conflict on children - with which he ...
Too soon for twilight, too late for dawn: the story of children caught in conflict. (includes related articles on the UN General Assembly's stand on child-related issues, participation of children as soldiers, and recommendations for the protection of children during armed conflict)(Cover Story)
Dec 22, 1996 ... In the last decade more than 2 million children have been killed, more than 4 million have survived physical mutilation and more than 1 million have been orphaned or separated from their families. All as a result of war.Joy unblemished as they play outside school, tumbling through ...
Rwanda: a case study. (includes related article on reuniting Rwandan children with their families)
Dec 22, 1996 ... Children have not been spared by the events in Rwanda which caused the serious human rights violations of April 1994 and particularly the massacres; they have been involved both as perpetrators and victims. During the hostilities, both sides made extensive use of children as instruments for ...
An experience not unique: Naira's story.
Dec 22, 1996; ... Naira was 13 when her father quit their home in the poor coastal city of Olinda, in Brazil's Pernambuco State. He was unemployed and said he was going south to Rio de Janeiro to make some money. He never came back. never telephoned or wrote.Naira is now 15 years old. She is hurt, ...
Child labor: developing country estimates double.
Dec 22, 1996 ... Some 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working in developing countries, nearly double the previous estimates, the International Labour Organization (ILO) says in a new report. Of this total, some 120 million children are working full time and 130 million work part time ...
Global employment situation 'grim.' (includes related article on the establishment of a trust fund for least developed countries)
Dec 22, 1996 ... Nearly 1 billion people around the world - approximately 30 per cent of the entire global work force - are unemployed or underemployed in industrialized and developing countries alike, says a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).In its report, World Employment ...
Assistance to third states affected by UN sanctions considered.
Dec 22, 1996 ... A set of possible guidelines on technical procedures for providing better information and early assessments for the Security Council and its organs about the actual or potential effects of sanctions on third States invoking Article 50 of the United Nations Charter was proposed by the ...
Table set thinly as Food Summit pledges to halve world hunger in 20 years. (includes related articles on the commitments embodied in the summit plans and crop patterns)
Dec 22, 1996 ... Over the past half century, agricultural production has managed to keep pace with and even outstrip population growth. Yet, there are today some 840 million people worldwide who are chronically undernourished, unable to get enough food to meet their body's energy or nutrient requirements ....
Systemwatch: an occasional series on individual members of the United Nations family.(Interview)
Dec 22, 1996 ... In spite of today's technological advances and economic growth, hundreds of millions of people are hungry and suffer from malnutrition - most of them women and children in third world countries. The lack of sufficient food will have a devastating impact on future generations in many parts of ...
World leaders launch global solar campaign. (includes related articles on production of solar energy systems and solar energy's role in health infrastructure)
Dec 22, 1996 ... The population of this already crowded planet is expected to swell by some 50 per cent over the next 35 years. Already, about 400 million homes do not have electricity, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the world's population. And according to estimates of the Food and Agriculture ...
UNreported: news on the United Nations system at work.
Dec 22, 1996 ... Of the approximately 1.1 billion workers active in agricultural production worldwide, nearly half are in wage labour. Many millions of these workers earn wages that place them on the bottom rung of the rural poverty. ladder and even below the minimum subsistence level, in spite of rising ...
Year in review: 1996. (includes related article on new appointments in the UN)
Dec 22, 1996 ... The United Nations has begun its second half-century in a mood of determination. In 1996, it had hard choices to make - principally that of deciding how to apportion scarce assets and resources to meet growing challenges. * Preventing war and upholding peace are prime missions for ...
Human rights.
Dec 22, 1996 ... In our last issue, we had quoted the observation made by Secretary-General Kofi Annan that it was important "to deal with the root causes of the problem which (lead ...) to terrorism ... Terrorism could erupt from a feeling that a person is oppressed and has no voice except through ...
Internal oversight office addresses delays and waste. (UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services)
Dec 22, 1996 ... "My overall assessment after 20 months in office is that the creation of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is one of the most meaningful initiatives taken by the General Assembly in the context of United Nations reform", Under-Secretary-General Karl Th. Paschke of OIOS wrote ...
Integration, reorientation and reallocation. (UN reforms)
Dec 22, 1996 ... As this issue was going to Press, the Secretary-General announced a number of far-reaching initiatives on reform:Secretariat activities in the economic and social areas will be integrated. The functions of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, the ...
Peace missions: speeding up the process.
Dec 22, 1996 ... Operational Stability Underscores Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters PlanThe United Nations Secretariat has received strong support for the establishment of the Rapidly Deployable Mission Headquarters (RDMHQ). When the Security Council authorizes a new operation, RDMHQ will ...
Political dialogue the priority, says Special Representative for Great Lakes region. (Mohamed Sahnoun)(includes related article on Great Lakes' Security Council)
Dec 22, 1996 ... Within weeks of assuming office as Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan announced that the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity would appoint a joint Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region. Mohamed Sahnoun of Algeria was named to the post. Ambassador Sahnoun (right), ...
Zaire: Security Council stresses humanitarian objectives. (UN Security Council)(includes related article on the UN Population Fund)
Dec 22, 1996 ... Since September 1996, the situation in Zaire had undergone a "sharp transformation", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali stated on 29 November. Fighting between that country's army and the rebels had intensified and resulted in the rebels' takeover, by 4 November 1996, of the towns of ...
Burundi: violence continues.
Dec 22, 1996 ... "Civil war continues to rage in Burundi", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali stated on 29 October. Despite the apparent lull following the coup d'etat of 25 July 1996, violence had unfortunately reasserted itself very quickly. It was more imperative than ever to get the process of ...
Rwanda: over 1 million refugees return in last half of 1996. (includes related articles on Rwanda's food economy and Women's Collective)
Dec 22, 1996 ... An estimated 1.3 million refugees returned to Rwanda between July 1996 and the beginning of January 1997, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Out of that total, an estimated 720,000 came back from camps in Zaire after the intensification of ...
Angola: phased withdrawal resumes. (UN Angola Verification Mission)
Dec 22, 1996 ... The Security Council on 11 December extended the mandate of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) until 28 February 1997, and approved the Secretary-General's recommendation to resume withdrawal, also in February, of the Mission's formed military units. ...
Liberia: Abuja accord affirmed. (Abuja II Agreement)(includes related article of political reform in Liberia)
Dec 22, 1996 ... The Security Council on 27 November extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) for another four months, until 31 March 1997. It also called on the factions to cease hostilities and implement their commitments, especially the 17 August 1996 Abuja II ...
Western Sahara: referendum reaffirmed.
Dec 22, 1996 ... The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was extended by the Security Council until 31 May 1997, while efforts to implement the 1988 Settlement Plan continued.Under resolution 1084 (1996), adopted unanimously on 27 November, the Council restated ...
Confronting conflict. (UN peace missions)
Dec 22, 1996; ... After working with the United Nations in New York for over 20 years, it was with a feeling of excitement and anticipation that I prepared for my first assignment with a peacekeeping mission in a conflict area.In 1993, I was part of the United Nations electoral team in Cambodia ...
Afghanistan: government of national unity urged. (includes related articles on restrictions on women and opium production in Afghanistan)
Dec 22, 1996 ... The Security Council on 22 October called upon all Afghan parties "immediately to cease all armed hostilities, to renounce the use of force, to put aside their differences and to engage in a political dialogue aimed at achieving national reconciliation and a lasting political settlement of ...
Tajikistan: what lies on the horizon?
Dec 22, 1996 ... An agreement to establish a Commission on National Reconciliation for the period of 12 to 18 months - within which the inter-Tajik talks and the implementation of the agreements reached during them must be completed - marked the 23 December 1996 Moscow meeting between President Emomali ...
Former Yugoslavia: 'many positive developments.' (includes related article on education on human rights)
Dec 22, 1996 ... The peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina is in a stage of consolidation in which the assistance of the international community for the tasks of economic reconstruction is vital. We observe with satisfaction the renewed commitment by the international community to contribute substantially ...
Cyprus: violent incidents deplored.
Dec 22, 1996 ... The Security Council on 23 December extended the mandate of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a further six months, until 30 June 1997, and called on the leaders of both communities to create a climate of reconciliation and confidence.Unanimously ...
Middle East: resumption of negotiations urged.
Dec 22, 1996 ... The Security Council on 28 September - in expressing its "deep concern about the tragic events in Jerusalem and the areas of Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and the Gaza Strip, which resulted in a high number of deaths and injuries among the Palestinian civilians", and about the "clashes between ...
Guatemala: basis for reconciliation. (includes related article on the peace negotiations in Guatemala)
Dec 22, 1996 ... Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 29 December - in hailing the signing of the peace agreements in Guatemala City by the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (UNRG) - declared that the event constituted a "milestone for Guatemala and all of ...
Iraq: go-ahead for 'oil-for-food' agreement.
Dec 22, 1996 ... The Security Council on 9 December gave the go-ahead for implementation of a long-delayed "oil-for-food" agreement with Iraq, enabling that country to sell a limited amount of oil on the world market for the first time since sanctions were imposed following Iraq's August 1990 invasion of ...
The UN, the US, and development cooperation: time for a reunion. (includes related articles on the strengths of the UN in development and the pillars of a new architecture for development assistance)
Dec 22, 1996; ... My first thesis is that we need more official development assistance (ODA), not less, whatever the current mood might be. Let me take on this subject by dispelling two myths.The first is that the developing world is doing pretty well and that things are basically on track. The ...
Jan Papanek: 100th anniversary: diplomat, delegate, defender of democracy. (Czechoslovakia's first ambassador to the UN Jan Papanek)
Dec 22, 1996 ... It is indeed symbolic that Dr. Jan Papanek - Czechoslovakia's first Permanent Representative to the United Nations, whose 100th birthday is on the list of UNESCO Anniversaries for 1996-1997, was born on 24 October, the day now celebrated as United Nations Day. Among other things, Dr. Papanek ...