THIRD COMMITTEE APPROVES DRAFT CALLING FOR MORE CONCERTED RESPONSE BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS' NEEDS
Press Release
GA/SHC/3329
THIRD COMMITTEE APPROVES DRAFT CALLING FOR MORE CONCERTED RESPONSE BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS' NEEDS
19951122 Reaffirms Support for Efforts of UNHCRThe General Assembly would call for a more concerted response by the international community to the needs of internally displaced persons and would reaffirm its support for the efforts of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) under the terms of a 96-Power draft resolution, approved without a vote this morning in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).
By the orally amended text, States would be called upon to adopt nationality legislation with a view to reducing statelessness, consistent with fundamental principles of international law, in particular by preventing arbitrary deprivation of nationality. Furthermore, States would be called upon to promote conditions conducive to the return of refugees and to support their sustainable reintegration by providing countries of origin with the necessary rehabilitation and development assistance.
The representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Denmark, Turkey and Singapore made statements on that draft.
Also this morning, the Committee continued its consideration of the promotion and protection of the rights of children and the programme of activities of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People.
Several States called for international measures to alleviate the situation of children worldwide. The representative of Zambia called on the expert conducting the study of the impact of such conflict on children, to make recommendations on how to ensure proper medical care and adequate nutrition, as well as the protection of orphans. The expert should also address the issue of children affected by armed conflict in the context of reintegration in the extended family.
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The representative of Belize called for the Department of Public Information (DPI) to play an enhanced role in support of international efforts at raising awareness of the circumstances such as dire poverty, socio-cultural biases, pressure of urban population growth and erosion of the family that might lead to the horrible phenomena that robbed children of their very dignity.
Priority should be given to strengthening existing mechanisms and legal instruments and to reinforcing preventive measures for the protection of the rights of children in conflict situations, the representative of Bangladesh said.
Referring to the Decade of the World's Indigenous People, the representative of Brazil called for periodic evaluations of its activities at the national and international level.
Statements were also made by the representatives of Uruguay, Estonia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russian Federation, Guatemala, Sudan, New Zealand and India.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today, to conclude its consideration of the promotion and protection of the rights of children, as well as the programme of activities for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People.
Committee Work Programme
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this morning to continue its consideration of promoting and protecting children's rights. It also went on with its discussion of the programme of activities of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People.
The Committee has before it the Secretary-General's reports on: the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (document A/50/456); a study on the impact on children of armed conflicts (document A/50/537); on specific measures taken to alleviate the situation of children in armed conflicts (document A/50/672); a final report on a comprehensive programme of action for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (document A/50/511); another on the progress made at the national, regional and international levels in achieving the objectives of the Indigenous People's Decade (document A/50/565). (For detailed information on those reports, see Press Release GA/SHC/3325 of 17 November.)
The Committee is also expected to take action on a draft resolution on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (document A/C.3/50/L.20/Rev.1). By the draft, the Assembly would call upon all States that have not yet done so to accede to and implement fully the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, and relevant regional instruments on refugees, as applicable to their protection. It would strongly reaffirm the fundamental importance and the purely humanitarian and non-political character of UNHCR's function of providing international protection to refugees and seeking solutions to their problems.
Also by that text, the Assembly would call for a more concerted response by the international community to the needs of internally displaced persons and reaffirm its support for the High Commissioner's efforts. In addition, it would reiterate the relationship between safeguarding human rights and preventing refugee situations. It would condemn all forms of ethnic violence and intolerance as being among the major causes of forced displacements as well as an impediment to durable solutions to refugee problems, and would appeal to States to combat intolerance.
Further, States would be called upon to adopt nationality legislation to reduce statelessness, consistent with fundamental principles of international law, particularly by preventing arbitrary deprivation of nationality; and to promote conditions conducive to the return of refugees and to support their sustainable reintegration by providing countries of origin with the necessary rehabilitation and development assistance. Also, the Assembly would call upon governments and other donors to demonstrate their international solidarity and burden-sharing with countries of asylum.
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The draft is sponsored by Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Togo, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Statements
IMELDA SMOLCIC (Uruguay) said the international community needed to ensure the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, the world needed to avoid the cruel or degrading treatment of children and seek the rehabilitation and reintegration into society of children who had previously been soldiers. Her Government supported increasing the age of children taking part in armed conflicts to 18 years.
TIINA INTELMAN (Estonia) said her country supported all the measures taken at the international, national and local levels to deal with the problems of indigenous people and to draw the attention of the international community to issues affecting them. This year, the International Day of Indigenous People was observed in Estonia through activities organized by non- governmental organizations.
She welcomed the decision to establish an indigenous people's unit within the Centre for Human Rights to ensure that appropriate staff and adequate financial resources were devoted to those issues. Estonia also supported the idea of a fellowship that would enable indigenous people to gain knowledge of human rights instruments, access to general education for democracy and peace and to enable them to familiarize themselves with the United Nations system. Also, States should make further efforts to adopt constitutional and legislative provisions assuring the rights of indigenous people, and their full and free participation in all aspects of society.
She said Estonia proposed to host a forum of indigenous people next October during the annual Kinsmen Days. The aim was to establish closer contact between the different organizations representing indigenous people, and to adopt a declaration that would contribute to the work currently under way in Geneva on a draft declaration on the rights of indigenous people.
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MINA MIRBAHA (Iran) said the family institution, the most fundamental social unit able to nurture the needs for love, protection and dignity of children, had become tremendously vulnerable. The disintegration of the family had probably been inevitable due to the widespread emergence of new economic forms and social structures. Children were paying a heavy price for those changes.
She expressed regret at the number of young teenagers involved in prostitution which, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), exceeded 2 million worldwide. Her Government supported the consideration of an additional optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child relating to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. "While poverty and the lack of education, particularly in developing countries, provides suitable ground for the exploitation of children, the fading of moral values, dissolution of the family system, and consumerism, are also important factors in relation to the escalation of such crimes", she emphasized.
OMAR AL-EYEDI (Saudi Arabia) said children were going through difficult times. The protection and promotion of the rights of children had become essential for the betterment of societies worldwide. Social welfare programmes in his country were working hard towards the protection of the family and preventing child delinquency. Also, measures had been implemented to improve the well-being of children such as vaccination against a number of diseases. In Saudi Arabia, 91 per cent of the total number children had been vaccinated. In addition, social, educational and recreational services for children had been established.
IVAN V. KHRYSKOV (Russian Federation) said Russia was carrying out standard-setting work on securing protection of the rights of children. It had adopted framework legislation for their protection. It had also approved a number of other legislative acts. A presidential decree had also been issued establishing a programme for the protection of children's rights. That decree laid down basic guidelines for a national plan of action.
He said Russian society appreciated the difficulties faced by many children and supported the efforts of the international community for the preparation of a protocol to the Convention.
GILBERTO SABOIA (Brazil) said that in his country indigenous lands extended over a surface of 94,645,222 hectares which corresponded to more than 11 per cent of the national territory. He went on to say, 554 indigenous areas, recognized as such by the Government, provided shelter and a way of living to 224,000 persons belonging to distinct indigenous origins.
The Federal constitution in his country stipulated that indigenous communities had the right to maintain their own social organization and their
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customs, languages, beliefs and traditions. In addition, indigenous populations had the right to permanent use of the lands traditionally occupied by them, including the right to exploitation of the soil and the existing rivers and lakes. It was incumbent upon the Government to accomplish the demarcation of such lands, and Brazil reaffirmed its commitment to the completion of the demarcation process as soon as possible.
He believed that periodical evaluations of activities for the Decade of the World's Indigenous People, both at the national and international level, would be essential to identify obstacles to the sustainable development of indigenous people and to propose solutions to overcome them. He hoped for the establishment of a permanent forum for indigenous people within the United Nations.
PETER L. KASANDA (Zambia) said the trauma of war had very serious, far- reaching and long-lasting negative implications which should be addressed by the expert conducting the study on the impact of armed conflict on children. Zambia was particularly looking forward to her recommendations on measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of children affected by armed conflict. She should make specific recommendations on how to ensure proper medical care and adequate nutrition, taking into account the fact that a good number of children affected were orphans and were thus particularly vulnerable. She should also address the issue of the reintegration of children affected by armed conflict in the context of the extended family system. The role of the family, both extended and nuclear, in reintegrating those children was extremely important.
He said Zambia was greatly disturbed at the continuing deterioration in the situation of children in many parts of the world as a result of armed conflict. The best solution to that crisis was to tackle the root causes of those conflicts.
He went on to say that 10 per cent of the world's children were living in abject poverty. That tragedy was a direct result of the economic and social marginalization of the poorest nations, and the problem must be confronted. It was difficult to see how poverty could be overcome without tackling the underlying causes. The United Nations had a major role in helping to bring social development goals back within national and international sights.
LAWRENCE A. SYLVESTER (Belize), also speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), joined the calls for States to ratify or accede to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Countries in the CARICOM region had taken the lead in promoting child development education for parents, as well as sex education for teenagers and teenage parents. The CARICOM States were also taking steps to deal effectively with the increasing plight of children in especially difficult circumstances, including those with disabilities,
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street children, children of refugees and children who were victims of sexual abuse and other forms of violence.
There could be no justification for the involvement of children in armed conflict, he said. The CARICOM States supported the elaboration of an additional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to military recruitment of children and their participation in hostilities. They also agreed that there must be greater focus on the structural and systemic factors giving cause to the sexual abuse and other forms of exploitation of children. There was scope for an enhanced role for the Department of Public Information (DPI) to play in support of international efforts at raising awareness of the circumstances such as dire poverty, socio- cultural biases, pressure of urban population growth and erosion of the family which might lead to the horrible phenomena that robbed children of their very dignity.
FRANCISCO A. NOGUERA (Guatemala) said a substantial portion of his country's population were indigenous people with more than 25 ethnic groups, many of them with their own culture and language. There was also an Afro- Caribbean population with its own language. He hoped for adequate channels for coordination and communication needed in implementing the Decade of the World's Indigenous People. Its effective implementation would lead to social and economic advancement. The work of his compatriot, Rigoberta Menchu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, would promote the rights of indigenous people.
A national agreement had been made which considered the identity of indigenous people as having great historic importance for the future of his country. It also broadened and strengthened the participation of indigenous peoples in all aspects of society, he said.
LOHIDE PETER OTOLE (Sudan) said his country was among the first States to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was also among the first to launch a National Programme of Action for the survival, protection and development of its children.
He said 80.9 per cent of Sudanese infants under the age of one, in the Northern provinces, were vaccinated against polio in 1990. The Sudan hoped that with the cooperation and assistance of its partners, that disease would be eradicated by the end of this century. The Government was also trying to get rid of the guinea-worm menace. It had abided by the cease-fire brokered by former United States President Jimmy Carter, and that had enabled children in the accessible areas to be immunized. Refugee children also had access to the same facilities as the Sudanese children.
Referring to the 20,000 lost boys of Southern Sudan, he said the children in question had been abducted by the rebel movement. The Government
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hoped that the competent world bodies would do everything possible to reunite them with their families.
JAMIL MAJID (Bangladesh) said that the impact of poverty on the health status, education and overall development of children was evident in the hard statistics on the state of children in developing countries. Poverty also led to more serious crimes against children such as sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Urgent national and international action was required to combat the heinous crimes being committed against children and to address the root causes leading to such situations.
Alleviation of the situation of children subject to armed conflict also demanded urgent action. In addition to providing humanitarian assistance, he continued, priority attention should be given to strengthening existing mechanisms and legal instruments and to reinforcing preventive measures for the protection of the rights of children in conflict situations and their reintegration within their societies.
He said Bangladesh had taken important steps to keep its promise to its children in pursuance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Programme of Action for Children. It adopted a National Programme of Action in 1992, as well as a National Children's Policy in 1994, to which a national council had been established to oversee its implementation. The broad objectives of the Children's Policy included ensuring healthcare, education and psychological development of children, assistance to children in difficult circumstances and protection of the legal rights of children.
Action on Draft Resolutions
The Committee took up the orally revised draft resolution on the UNHCR.
The representative of Denmark announced the following countries as having joined as co-sponsors of the draft: Andorra, Benin, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Croatia, Ecuador, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Marshall Islands, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Uganda.
Additional co-sponsors were the Philippines, Antigua and Barbuda, and Malta.
The representative of Ukraine proposed an amendment to paragraph 23 of the text. She suggested that, after the word "notably" instead of having "in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)", the text should read "in the CIS States". Those States were different and had specific problems and interests. They had the right to be treated as independent States.
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The representative of the Russian Federation said the main co-sponsors of the draft had formulated the writing. The Ukrainian representative had not been clear. If Ukraine wanted to state its special status within the CIS, it could complicate issues.
The representative of Ukraine said the amendment was clear. However, she suggested another possibility -- to replace, "in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)" for "in the independent States in the territory of the former USSR".
The representative of Denmark said he could pursue further consultations. However, the best solution would be to refer to the "Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)", as the "CIS area". The text's intention was only to describe the geographical area.
The members concerned then undertook consultations on the matter, while the rest of the Committee returned to discussion of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People.
PATRICK RATA (New Zealand) said the success of the International Decade would depend on effective partnerships between indigenous people, governments and the international community. It required adequate coordination and planning at all levels, in particular across the United Nations system.
New Zealand supported the provision of human rights training for indigenous people, using appropriate United Nations Mechanism, he said, as well as establishment of a fellowship programme in the Centre for Human Rights and other relevant parts of the United Nations system. Such fellowships could serve to increase participants' knowledge of human rights issues. The Centre should collaborate closely with DPI in the production of materials concerning indigenous people and the Decade's activities.
Within New Zealand, it was believed that a key objective of the Decade should be to promote increased cooperation between indigenous people so as to increase their role in resolving problems affecting them. The Government also believed that to achieve sustained progress on the Decade, domestic activities should reflect specific needs and aspirations of the indigenous people in each country. Consistent with those promises, the first year of the Decade in New Zealand had been dedicated to the celebration and preservation of the Maori language.
P. UPENDRA (India) said one of the most tragic situations in the post cold-war era was the increasing number of children victimized by armed conflict. For the first time, children were being tried for genocide in some conflict areas. Those who recruited children were the ones really culpable in those crimes. Members States should take special care to enact legislation
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prohibiting the recruitment of children for wars, armed conflicts or terrorist activities.
He said that it was a matter of deep regret that child prostitution and pornography were prevalent in many societies, including developed countries. Where it occurred in developing countries, the major customers and contributors, ironically, happened to be tourists and visitors from developed countries. The international community should take immediate action to curb sex-based tourism leading to the exploitation of minors and to impose restraints on media and cyber pornography involving children. Countries should enact legislation to punish their nationals who committed such violations within or outside their national boundaries. Stronger international legislation in those areas should be explored.
He went on to say that the problem of child labour had become a matter of great concern in his country. India had launched a massive programme in September for the elimination of child labour in hazardous industries, with a budget of $270 million. The programme, which now covered 100 districts, benefitting 2 million children, would be extended gradually to cover the entire country.
The Committee then took up again the draft on the UNHCR report.
The representative of Denmark said that after consultations, it had been decided to insert in operative paragraph 23, after the word "notably in", the following words: "the countries of".
The Committee then approved that text without a vote.
The representative of Turkey said that even though his country had not co-sponsored the draft, it had joined in the consensus. The internally displaced persons could not be considered only within the mandate of the UNHCR. His Government disagreed with certain paragraphs of that text.
The representative of Singapore said his country supported the general thrust of the draft resolution but had reservations on operative paragraph 4 which "reaffirms that everyone, without distinction of any kind, is entitled to the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution". Singapore had never recognised the unrestricted or automatic right to asylum. He said the paragraph also did not accurately reflect contemporary international practice on the right to asylum which had seen several developed countries adopt more restrictive and qualified interpretation of the right to asylum. Singapore found puzzling the insistence of certain developed countries on unqualified reiteration of a principle that they themselves denied in their national practice.
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The representative of Ukraine said she was pleased with the changes made, even though they were not perfect. She expressed her gratitude to the Committee and joined in the consensus on the draft.
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