DAILY HIGHLIGHTS FOR: 2 November 1995
Press Release
DH/2014
DAILY HIGHLIGHTS FOR: 2 November 1995
19951102 * Secretary-General, addressing business leaders at luncheon, appeals for help in resolving UN financial crisis.* General Assembly reiterates call to States to refrain from promulgating and applying measures which affect sovereignty of other States and freedom of trade and navigation.
* General Assembly approves spending further $21.7 million for UN Mission to Haiti.
* World Bank official tells Economic and Financial Committee new environmentalism rejects 'heavy handed' policies in most industrialized countries.
* Representatives tell Legal Committee proposed International Court should have inherent criminal jurisdiction.
* Speakers in Administrative and Budgetary Committee urge provision of adequate resources for Regional Commissions.
* Independent World Commission on Culture and Development presents report to UNESCO.
* United Nations issues 1993 Energy Statistics Yearbook.
* * *
The future of peace-keeping rests upon the correction of the distortion between the demands placed on the United Nations and the resources provided it, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said today. In a luncheon address to the Business Council for the United Nations co-sponsored by the Council and the Economist, he noted that there was not enough cash to pay for what the Organization had been told to do.
Serious reform was under way, said the Secretary-General. The Organization had cut expenses and streamlined operations. He pointed out that the impact of the financial crisis was being felt on the front lines of global problem-solving -- in a diminished capacity for peace-keeping, in less assistance for development, in less effective support for democratization and human rights. That was a crisis that threatened the very existence of the United Nations, the Secretary-General said.
- 2 - Press Release DH/2014 2 November 1995
The Secretary-General went on to say that the financial crisis was a symptom of a deeper problem: that Member States did not regard the United Nations as a priority. He asked the business leaders to speak out in support of settling arrears, and of paying future contributions on time and in full. He appealed to them -- as persons of influence, as friends of the United Nations - to help resolve this crisis.
* * *
The General Assembly, has reiterated its call to all States to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures whose extraterritorial effects affect the sovereignty of other States as well as the freedom of trade and navigation. In a resolution adopted this morning on the need to end the United States economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba, the Assembly once again urged States that have and continue to apply such laws and measures to take the necessary steps to repeal or invalidate them as soon as possible.
The Assembly acted by a vote of 117 in favour to 3 against (Israel, the United States and Uzbekistan), with 38 abstentions.
The representative of Cuba introduced the resolution and said that the attempts to submit the sovereignty of third states to the designs of the United States legislation and to subordinate international law had become more dangerous than ever.
The representative of the United States said his Government had indicated repeatedly over the past year that "it is not wedded to indefinite continuation of the embargo but is prepared to reduce its sanctions in carefully calibrated ways should there be significant political and economic reform in Cuba".
* * *
The General Assembly has authorized and assessed $21.7 million gross ($21.4 million net) for the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) for the period 1 to 30 November. The action was taken by a resolution adopted without a vote yesterday, on the recommendation of the Fifth (Administrative and Budgetary) Committee. The Assembly also authorized an additional $42.4 million gross (41.7 million net) for the period 1 August to 31 October. That was in addition to the $21.2 million gross (20.8 million net) it had previously approved. The allocations for the periods 1 August to 30 November were made on an ad hoc basis.
* * *
The imperative of implementing the Rio agenda remained as urgent as ever, according to Andrew Steer, a representative of the World Bank. Speaking
- 3 - Press Release DH/2014 2 November 1995
to the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) he said, there was a new environmentalism taking place around the world and it rejected the traditional, heavy-handed, command and control policies of most of the industrialized countries.
The World Bank representative said the new approach was pro-development and pro-people and it recognized that the real solutions would be found as implemented in communities, farms, corporations and families -- away from government offices. He pointed out that implementing the new environmentalism required partnerships and government ministries should involve other departments at the national level.
* * *
The proposed International Criminal Court should be an independent institution with inherent jurisdiction over serious international crimes, the Sixth Committee (Legal), was told during ongoing discussion of the subject.
The discussions in the Committee had demonstrated a growing consensus to restrict the jurisdiction of the court to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, said the representative of the United States, Jamison S. Borek. She disagreed with the notion that the scope of the court's jurisdiction be widened as proposed by some representatives.
Meanwhile, the representative of New Zealand, Felicity Wong, said it would be "shameful" if the permanent members of the Security Council were able to prevent the criminal court from dealing with a situation by claiming that the Council was already seized of the matter.
* * *
The budgetary resources proposed for the Regional Commissions should be retained or increased to enable them to carry out the tasks they had been asked to do, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told. The Committee is reviewing the proposed 1996-1997 budget of the United Nations.
Representatives of many African countries called for more resources for the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), for whom $79.5 million was proposed. Delegates from Asian and Central and Eastern European nations said their Regional Commissions were doing very good work and should be strengthened. An allocation of $67.7 million has been proposed for the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and $50.8 million was the proposed budgetary allocation for the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).
The representative of the United States said the Commissions lacked unique and compelling missions and their activities often duplicated those of other international organizations. The Russian Federation said the
- 4 - Press Release DH/2014 2 November 1995
administrative expenses of the missions should be reduced and the savings directed to substantive activities.
* * *
The notion of culture can no longer be dissociated from the socio- political and economic context of our time, said Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, President of the independent World Commission on Culture and Development, established in 1992. The former United Nations Secretary-General today presented the (WCCD) report to UNESCO's 28th General Conference.
Mr. Perez de Cuellar stressed that the Commission was independent of the intergovernmental process and aimed to help generate deeper and broader debate around the important interaction between culture and development. He invited intellectuals, academics and others to debate the Commission's views and recommendations.
* * *
The Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA) has just issued the 1993 Energy Statistics Yearbook. The thirty- seventh issue covers the period 1990 through 1993 and gives the energy statistics for 215 countries and areas in the world. The data includes energy production, trade and consumption of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and electricity. The publication is being made available from the Sales Section of the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and major book stores throughout the world.
* *** *