GENERAL ASSEMBLY REQUESTS SECRETARY-GENERAL ENSURE PERSONNEL RECRUITED BY ORGANIZATION HAVE COMMAND OF AT LEAST ONE WORKING LANGUAGE

Press Release
GA/8985

GENERAL ASSEMBLY REQUESTS SECRETARY-GENERAL ENSURE PERSONNEL RECRUITED BY ORGANIZATION HAVE COMMAND OF AT LEAST ONE WORKING LANGUAGE

The General Assembly this afternoon requested the Secretary-General to ensure that personnel recruited by the Organization would have a command of at least one of the United Nations working languages, or -- in the case of staff members who were going to work for another body of the Organization for two years or less -- the personnel should have a command of one of the working languages of that other body. That resolution was the subject of five votes over the course of two days.

The amended resolution as a whole was adopted by a vote of 100 in favour to 35 against, with 29 abstentions. (For details of the voting, see Annex IV.)

The Secretary-General was also requested to ensure that the use of another of the six official languages of the Secretariat was duly encouraged and taken into account, particularly when promotions and incremental steps were under consideration. The resolution also urged the delegations of Member States and the Secretariat to endeavour to avoid holding internal meetings without interpretation. The Assembly stressed the need to ensure that the necessary resources were available to guarantee the proper and timely translation of documents into the official and working languages.

That adoption followed the rejection of two amendments, proposed by Malaysia and Japan, respectively, and the incorporation of amendments proposed by Australia. The former two would have referred to the difficulties faced by personnel whose mother tongue was not one of the Organization's official languages. Under the terms of the Australian amendment, which was adopted without a vote, it was stated that, for the Economic and Social Council, the working languages would be English, French and Spanish. Further, it stated that the appointment of the staff of the Organization should be carried out strictly in accordance with the Charter.

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The amendment proposed by Malaysia was defeated by a vote of 88 against to 37 in favour, with 28 abstentions. (See Annex I.) The amendment proposed by Japan was defeated by a vote of 93 against to 26 in favour, with 37 abstentions. (See Annex II.)

Another vote was held on the resolution's provisions relating to recruitment of personnel. That provision was retained by a vote of 97 in favour to 36 against, with 29 abstentions (See Annex III). [The Assembly yesterday voted to defeat a motion to adjourn the debate on the item to a later date, thus paving the way for today's action.]

In explanation of vote, several countries said more time should have been devoted to consultations in order to reach consensus on the resolution. The representative of France, as a co-sponsor of the draft, said that the co- sponsors had showed great understanding of concerns expressed by other States.

The representative of Mexico said the objective of the resolution was very simple, centering on effectively using the official and working languages of the Organization. It was a question of restoring a healthy balance in the use of all of those languages.

The representative of Swaziland asked why the Assembly was not spending time on global issues that were more problematic than on which languages were to be used for recruiting members of the Secretariat. Were Africans to be reminded of the time when those official languages had been imposed on them by nations who had sought to divide them? The United Nations should not be seen to be playing the role of the colonizer among the developing nations, he said.

Other statements were made by the United States, Malaysia, Finland, Spain, Argentina, Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan, Thailand, Mexico, New Zealand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Croatia and Uganda.

The General Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 6 November, to consider the issue of building a better and more peaceful world through sport and the Olympic ideal.

Assembly Work Programme

The Assembly met this afternoon to continue consideration of a draft resolution on multilingualism along with amendments to that resolution submitted by Japan, Malaysia and Canada. (For background, see Press Release GA/8983 issued today.)

Under the terms of the Australian amendments (A/50/L.14), the fourth preambular paragraph would be revised to add that, for the Economic and Social Council, the official languages would be Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, and the working languages would be English, French and Spanish. Operative paragraph 3 would be revised to say that the appointment of the staff of the Organization would be carried out strictly in accordance with the terms of Article 101 of the Charter and with regulations established by the General Assembly pursuant to that Article.

Statements Made

VADIM PERFILIEV, Director, General Assembly Affairs Division, announced that the draft resolution had no programme budget implications.

DAVID E. BIRENBAUM (United States) said his country had requested the vote on the draft and would vote against it. He fully appreciated and respected multilingualism and the importance of providing interpretation and access to United Nations documents in the Organization's official languages. Concern arose, however, that the provisions of the draft went beyond accepted concepts of multilingualism within the United Nations system. The text as currently drafted raised a number of issues, not the least of which was the fact that it would alter existing rules without following the proper procedures.

He went on to describe what he termed inconsistencies in the draft, including its call for applicants for United Nations positions to have a command of two of the official languages. Budgetary considerations impacted all activities of the Organization and could not be ignored, he said. "We are not aware of any mandate which requires that the United Nations become, in effect, a language school for Member States and staff." The issue of language training would be considered in the Fifth (Administrative and Budgetary) Committee.

As drafted, he said, the text would request the Secretary-General to ensure that competence in two languages be a factor in promotions at all levels of the Organization, while the current rules on language competence did not apply to support staff. Concern arose also over the draft's call for equality of the two working languages in hiring and promotions. "We assume that it is not the intent of this language to establish a quota system for hiring, much like the geographic distribution system. However, the provision

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is ambiguous in that regard." The draft also should have made mention of the question of resources for its implementation.

V. YOOGOLINGAM (Malaysia) appealed to the Assembly to give careful consideration before voting on the proposed amendments to the draft on multilingualism. He said the draft would contribute to the promotion of multilingualism in the Organization but it would place those countries with mother tongues other than one of the six United Nations languages at a serious disadvantage. It was ironic that in the quest to strike parity among the official languages of the United Nations, those already disadvantaged would be further discriminated against.

He said that although the revised operative paragraph 3 in draft A/50/L.6/Rev.1 attempted to address some of the difficulties pointed to by those countries whose mother tongue was not one of the official languages, it was inconsistent and did not adequately cover their concerns or safeguard their interests. It would have been helpful if the co-sponsors of the draft resolution had been prepared to accept the word "encourage" instead of "ensure". The word encourage had been used in previous resolutions and could help the Assembly to reach consensus.

Stating that there was insufficient time to consider the draft resolution in question, he requested that the sponsors be patient with those delegations that had problems with paragraph 3.

MARITA EERIKAINEN (Finland) said there would have been room to seek compromise on the draft, and efforts should have been made to adopt the draft by consensus. On that basis, Finland would abstain from any and all votes on the draft today. Finland's voting must not be construed as being in any way against multilingualism; it supported strict observance concerning equality of the six official languages as well as the working languages of the Organization.

HERVE LADSOUS (France) said that Japan, before making its amendment, had sought understanding about the situation of nationals whose mother tongue was not an official language of the United Nations. In response, the co-sponsors had showed great understanding of Japan's concerns. As it stood, command of a working language of the Secretariat or another body in the United Nations was called for. Knowledge of a second working language would be taken into account in promotions. That accorded with what had already been agreed upon in previous resolutions. The amendment proposed by Japan was deliberately vague and could be open to many interpretations. For those reasons, he appealed to all to vote against Japan's proposed amendment, as well as that proposed by Malaysia. On the other hand, he expressed support for the amendments proposed by Australia [formerly oral amendments, now contained in document A/50/L.14].

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ARTURO LACLAUSTRA (Spain) said he believed that the revision to operative paragraph 3 in document A/50/L.6/Rev.1 respected the concerns of the co-sponsors. He expressed regret that the proposers of amendments A/50/L.7 and L.8 had maintained their amendments, which Spain would vote against. It would vote in favour of Australia's two amendments, contained in A/50/L.14.

SILVIA A. FERNANDEZ DE GURMENDI (Argentina) said, regarding amendments A/50/L.8 and L.9 [submitted by Japan and Malaysia, respectively], that Argentina well understood the difficulties of those whose mother tongue was not one of the six official languages of the Organization, but that those amendments would alter the existing legal regime of the Organization. In- depth study, including examination of the budgetary implications, would be required before making any such changes. Therefore, Argentina would vote against those two amendments. It would vote in favour of A/50/L.14, which significantly improved the text of the resolution.

JEAN-MARIE K. GERVAIS (Cote d'Ivoire) said that adopting the Malaysian proposal would be a step backward because it would consecrate monolingualism. It would create two categories: those whose mother tongue was one of the official languages and those whose mother tongue was not. That disparity should be avoided. The idea of a mother tongue deserved some reflection. For example, in his country approximately 40 mother tongues were spoken. He could not accept either the Malaysian or the Japanese amendment.

SULIEMAN MOHAMED MUSTAFA (Sudan) said his country would join the list of the co-sponsors of the draft resolution. He shared the concern of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) concerning the possible adverse effect on the programme of training for all the official languages in the United Nations. Translation and interpretation of United Nations bodies should be commensurate with the needs and should not be subject to budgetary constraints.

ANNANO CHINVANNO (Thailand) said he would vote against the draft resolution. He expressed regret that the Assembly was taking that course of action on an issue involving the entire membership of the Organization. He had reservations on operative paragraph 3, even with the amendment proposed by Australia; it required the command of two official languages and would place at a disadvantage those countries for whom one of the official languages was not their mother tongue. The concept of tolerance should be extended to those countries which, by circumstances of culture, were not exposed to one of the official languages.

MOSES MATHENDELE DLAMINI (Swaziland) asked why the resolution was a necessity. Why was the Assembly not spending time on global issues that were more problematic, he asked. Did they intend to undermine international solidarity? The draft resolution discriminated against those nations that did not have one of the official languages as their mother tongue. Moreover, the

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resolution did not indicate a time-frame in which applicants for employment in the United Nations were to be trained to meet the qualifications.

What was the role of the United Nations? he continued. Was it not to promote peace, unity and solidarity? The colonizers had had their own agenda when they imposed their languages upon Africans. "Should we allow the same history to divide us again?" he asked. He asked that serious consideration be given to the draft resolution to allow delegations to consult formally and informally so that the United Nations should not be seen to be playing the role of colonizer among the developing nations.

GUSTAVO ALBIN (Mexico) said the essential aspects of concerns being expressed had been taken care of in the revised version of the draft. The proposed amendments contained elements which would, if adopted, change current United Nations practice. The objective of the draft was very simple, centering on using effectively the official and working languages of the Organization. It was a question of restoring a healthy balance in the use of all those languages. Mexico would vote against the amendments. It could, however, support the proposals put forward by Australia, which were constructive.

Action on Draft and Amendments

The amendment proposed by Malaysia was taken up first. According to that text, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to take into account the difficulties faced by applicants whose mother tongue is not one of the official languages when recruiting and promoting personnel for different bodies of the Organization.

The amendment proposed by Malaysia was then put to a vote. It was defeated by 88 against to 37 in favour, with 28 abstentions. (For details of the voting, see Annex I.)

The amendment proposed by Japan was taken up. It would have the Assembly request the Secretary-General to take into account the difficulties faced by applicants whose mother tongue was not one of the official language when recruiting and promoting personnel for different bodies of the United Nations.

That amendment was defeated by a vote of 93 against to 26 in favour, with 37 abstentions. (See Annex II.)

The Assembly took up the amendments proposed by Australia. Under their terms the fourth preambular paragraph would be revised to add that, for the Economic and Social Council, the official languages would be Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, and the working languages would be English, French and Spanish. Operative paragraph 3 would be revised to say

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that the appointment of the staff of the Organization would be carried out strictly in accordance with the terms of Article 101 of the Charter and with regulations established by the General Assembly pursuant to that Article.

The amendments were adopted without a vote.

The draft as a whole was then taken up. A separate vote was requested on the whole of the amended third operative paragraph, which concerns languages required and encouraged for recruitment to the United Nations staff.

That paragraph reads as follows: "Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that, upon recruitment, personnel recruited by the different bodies of the Organization have a command of and use at least one of the working languages of the Secretariat or one of the working languages of another body of the Organization, in the case of staff members who are to work for that body and whose tenure of appointment does not exceed two years; also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the use of another of the six official languages is duly encouraged and taken into account, particularly when promotions and incremental steps are under consideration, in order to ensure the linguistic balance of the Organization".

By a vote of 97 in favour to 36 against, with 29 abstentions, the third operative paragraph was adopted. (See Annex III.)

The entire amended draft was then adopted by a vote of 100 in favour to 35 against, with 29 abstentions. (See Annex IV).

Statements after Vote

DAVID PINE (New Zealand) said his country was disappointed that the Assembly had been unable to accommodate the concern of countries for whom any United Nations language was a second language. It seemed that some of the co- sponsors were not really interested in celebrating diversity, but in extending current privileges at the expense of other linguistic groups which were operating under a greater hardship. New Zealand would also like the record to reflect that the current resolution had not been given the proper budgetary and administrative consideration.

YUJI KUMAMARU (Japan) said he had voted against the resolution because the text penalized persons whose mother tongue was not an official United Nations language. It was a matter of regret that no real effort had been made to reach an agreement prior to the vote. Japan believed in the importance of preserving and promoting cultural diversity in the Organization. Due respect must be accorded to cultures not associated with the Organization's official languages.

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SOONG CHULL SHIN (Republic of Korea) said he had voted against the resolution. The United Nations should not penalize personnel whose mother tongue was not an official language of the Organization. A significant number of States had voted against the resolution. That fact should be duly considered during its implementation.

VLADIMIR DROBNJAK (Croatia) said it would have been preferable if there had been more time for consultations in order to reach consensus on the issue. Croatia firmly supported the principle of multilingualism. Croatia's language was not one of the six official languages of the Organization, and its citizens had to learn one of the working languages of the Organization if they wanted to work for it. The resolution should have taken account of applicants whose mother tongue was not one of the official languages.

Mr. KATENDE (Uganda) said his country encouraged the principle of multilingualism but it was a matter of regret that action on the text had been taken in haste. Certain provisions in the resolution should have been the subject of further consultations. Since Uganda had been denied further opportunity to consult, it had abstained on the draft.

(annexes follow)

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General Assembly Plenary Press Release GA/8985 49th Meeting (PM) 2 November 1995

ANNEX I

Vote on Amendment by Malaysia to Draft on Multilingualism

The General Assembly rejected an amendment by Malaysia (document A/50/L.9) to the draft resolution on multilingualism (document A/50/L.6/Rev.1) by a recorded vote of 37 in favour to 88 against, with 28 abstentions as follows:

In favour: Azerbaijan, Barbados, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Georgia, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States.

Against: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakstan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Swaziland,

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Sweden, Togo, Tunisia, Ua Emirates, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zaire.

Abstaining: Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Belize, Botswana, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Libya, Maldives, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Slovenia, South Africa, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia.

Absent: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bahamas, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malawi, Mozambique, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe.

(END OF ANNEX I) General Assembly Plenary Press Release GA/8985 49th Meeting (PM) 2 November 1995

ANNEX II

Vote on Amendment by Japan to Draft on Multilingualism

The amendment by Japan (document A/50/L.8) to the draft test on multilingualism (document A/50/L.6/Rev.1) was rejected by the General Assembly by a recorded vote of 26 in favour to 93 against, with 37 abstentions as follows:

In favour: Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mongolia, Namibia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe.

Against: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakstan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine, United States,

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Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zaire.

Abstaining: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Latvia, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Saint Lucia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia.

Absent: Algeria, Angola, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malawi, Mozambique, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu.

(END OF ANNEX II)

General Assembly Plenary Press Release GA/8985 49th Meeting (PM) 2 November 1995

ANNEX III

Vote on Third Operative Paragraph of Draft on Multilingualism

The amended third operative paragraph as a whole of the draft resolution on multilingualism was adopted by the General Assembly by a recorded vote of 97 in favour to 36 against, with 29 abstentions as follows:

In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakstan, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Niger, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovakia, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Togo, Tunisia, Ua Emirates, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zaire.

Against: Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia and

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Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Thailand, Turkey, United States.

Abstaining: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Estonia, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Iran (Isl R), Latvia, Maldives, Mongolia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Saint Lucia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia.

Absent: Algeria, Angola, Dpr of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malawi, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe.

(END OF ANNEX III)

General Assembly Plenary Press Release GA/8985 49th Meeting (PM) 2 November 1995

ANNEX IV

Vote on Draft on Multilingualism

The draft resolution on multilingualism was adopted by the General Assembly by a recorded vote of 100 in favour to 35 against, with 29 abstentions as follows:

In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakstan, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Niger, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovakia, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zaire.

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Against: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Marshall Islands, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Zambia.

Abstaining: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Croatia, Estonia, Federated States of Micronesia, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Iceland, Iran, Latvia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Saint Lucia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom.

Absent: Angola, Dpr of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Malawi, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe.

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