GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION ENCOURAGES USE OF `WHITE HELMETS' IN EMERGENCY RELIEF AND REHABILITATION

28 November 1995

Press Release
GA/9014

GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION ENCOURAGES USE OF `WHITE HELMETS' IN EMERGENCY RELIEF AND REHABILITATION

19951128 Assembly also Begins Discussion of Security Council Report

The General Assembly this afternoon encouraged voluntary actions aimed at making national volunteer corps, the "White Helmets", available to the United Nations system on a stand-by basis for emergency relief and rehabilitation, by the terms of a resolution adopted without a vote.

The Assembly also encouraged the Department of Humanitarian Affairs to make use of the While Helmets and other United Nations Volunteers. Further, the Assembly recognized the operational role of the United Nations Volunteers in the selection, training, deployment and effective utilization of the White Helmets. Finally, it called upon countries in a position to do so to contribute to such activities through the distinct window created for that purpose within the Special Voluntary Fund of the United Nations Volunteers.

Also this afternoon, the discussion began on the Security Council's annual report to the Assembly. Many of this afternoon's speakers said improvement was still needed regarding the transparency of Council deliberations and several expressed their lack of satisfaction with the report. For example, the representative of Malaysia said the report was a mere compendium of meetings and decisions. It would have been ideal to have received an analytical and substantive report, for instance in the format of the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization, he said.

The representative of Brazil said the bulk of the Council's activity was more and more concentrated in informal meetings, "the contents of which only reach the general membership through voluntary briefings by delegations or by the President of the Council". The fact that legally binding decisions, such as those to extend sanctions regimes, were taken in informal consultations remained an anomaly, he said.

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More positively, the representative of Japan said the flow of information and exchange of ideas with Member States had improved, and the more frequent formal meetings, orientation discussions and presidential briefings were extremely helpful.

The representative of the United Kingdom said that to make its working more transparent, the sanctions Committees of the Security Council would increase the practice of issuing press releases after meetings. A list of all other decisions by each active committee would be prepared by the Secretariat on a regular basis, available to any delegation that requested it. And an annual report of the Council would be prepared by each committee.

The Security Council report was introduced by the representative of Oman, speaking in his capacity as President of the Council. Statements were also made by the representatives of Ukraine, Indonesia, Austria, Malaysia, China, Algeria and Germany.

Statements on the White Helmets resolution and on related humanitarian issues before the Assembly were made by the representatives of Madagascar, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and the observers of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 29 November, to continue consideration of the report of the Security Council.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this afternoon to continue its consideration of strengthening the coordination of United Nations humanitarian and disaster relief assistance as well as the participation of volunteers, "White Helmets", in the Organization's activities in the field of humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and technical cooperation for development. It had before it several reports and draft resolutions. (See Press Release GA/9010 of 27 November.)

The Assembly also had before it the Security Council's report to the Assembly for the period 16 June 1994 to 15 June 1995 (document A/50/2). During that period, the report states, the Council held 152 formal meetings, adopted 70 resolutions and issued 82 Presidential statements. In addition, Council members held 274 consultations of the whole, totalling some 420 hours. The Council considered about 100 reports by the Secretary-General, and nearly 300 communications from the President of the Council or the Secretary-General and more than 1,000 documents and communications from States, regional and intergovernmental organizations.

Also during the year, the Council appointed a new Prosecutor and a new Registrar for the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The report states that the Prosecutor for the International Tribunal has initiated field investigations and prepared indictments against 22 persons suspected of such violations. Further, the report notes that on 8 November 1994, in resolution 955 (1994), the Council established the International Tribunal for Rwanda. It decided that the seat of the Tribunal would be Arusha (United Republic of Tanzania).

Over the past few years, the Council has passed several resolutions relating to rationalizing its documentation and other procedures and to the question of providing information to Member States who are not members of the Council. Accordingly, the appendices listing resolutions and Presidential statements provide cross-references to the relevant chapter, section and subsection of the report for each resolution and Presidential statement. And the report contains more information about the activities of each Security Council committee.

The main body of the report consists of four parts. Part I deals with questions considered by the Council under its responsibility for international peace and security. Reflecting the growing number of issues the Council has had to address in carrying out that responsibility, it includes the situation in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, Haiti, Somalia, Liberia, Burundi and Georgia, and the situation between Iraq and Kuwait.

Other issues in Part I include Somalia, Angola, Mozambique, Central America, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Tajikistan. Part I also covers such developments as the agreed framework of 21 October 1994 between the United

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States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the proposal by the five permanent members on security assurances, the situation in Nagorny Karabakh, and the commemoration of the end of the Second World War in Europe.

Part II deals with other matters the Council considered, such as the Presidency of the Council, the current draft report, the election of members of the International Court of Justice, admission of new United Nations Members, and Council working methods and procedure. Part III of the report covers the work of the Military Staff Committee. Part IV lists communications on matters brought to the Council's attention, but not discussed at formal meetings during the period covered.

In addition to reviewing the work of the committees, the report describes the work of the following subsidiary organs of the Council that were active during the period in question: the Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission, set up by the Council to review claims resulting from Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait; the Special Commission set up to monitor the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; and the Security Council Committee set up by the terms of resolution 751 (1992) concerning Libya.

Regarding Council membership, the report states that the Assembly last year elected Botswana, Germany, Honduras, Indonesia and Italy to fill the vacancies resulting from the expiration on 31 December 1994 of the terms of office of Brazil, Djibouti, New Zealand, Pakistan and Spain. Also during the period under review, the Council dispatched six special missions, composed of Council members, to Burundi (on two occasions), Mozambique, Somalia, Rwanda and Western Sahara.

Statements on Humanitarian Assistance

JEAN PIERRE RAVELOMANANTSOA-RATSIMIHAH (Madagascar) congratulated the Secretary-General for his concise and accurate report on Madagascar, a country that was continuously exposed to cyclones and their impact. Responding to those challenges, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had carried out critical work in a coordinated manner. He hoped that the whole family of United Nations bodies would join in those efforts. For its part, Madagascar had created a national fund for reconstruction and development.

All emergency measures were merely panaceas, he said. Efforts were needed to enable vulnerable countries to address their long-term development needs. He called for the implementation of the results of the 1994 World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction. Natural disasters represented one of the great challenges confronting mankind and the international community must mobilize to increase the response capacity of small countries. In 1995,

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Madagascar had not been victim to cyclones of the same magnitude witnessed during the previous year. Nevertheless, measures for reconstruction and prevention must be pursued.

SLAHEDDINE ABDELLAH (Tunisia) said that today no region was immune to natural disasters and man-made devastation. In poorer regions, such events had a greater impact. The proliferation of disasters in poor areas over the past decade had contributed to environmental degradation. Poverty and population growth were factors that exacerbated the damage. Prompt action would enable local authorities to respond to the needs of victims of emergency situations. The contribution of the United Nations, together with that of governmental authorities, was of utmost importance. Often, the requirements of affected States exceeded their capacities, and external assistance was needed.

He went on to stress the importance of coordinating the international response to humanitarian emergencies, which should be organized principally by the Department of Humanitarian Affairs. The resources of the Central Emergency Revolving Fund should be increased in order to strengthen its operational capacity and increase its efficiency, he said. The long-term rehabilitation and development needs of affected countries must be taken into account from the very outset of an emergency. He said the continuum from emergency relief to development was particularly relevant to the countries of Africa, where a great many disasters had caused an outflow of refugees and the diversion of resources from development to emergency needs. The United Nations must help such countries pursue development, while at the same time strengthening their preparedness. The "White Helmets" initiative deserved support, as it would facilitate the transition from emergency relief to development activities.

MULUGETA ETEFFA (Ethiopia) said in order to seek a durable solution to disasters, the international community had to address at least two fundamental problems. First, it must help the affected community through rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction after the initial response to emergency. Second, it had to find workable mechanisms to address the root causes of conflicts.

He expressed concern that donor countries were less eager to contribute to recovery and rehabilitation when compared to their assistance for emergency requirements. The role of preventive diplomacy in humanitarian affairs could not be overemphasized. There was a need for effective collaboration between the United Nations, the donors, non-governmental organizations and the recipient countries. Preparedness also ought to be enhanced. He endorsed the recommendation that "a separate window with an additional $30 million be opened within the Central Emergency Revolving Fund to act as a catalyst".

PETER KUNG, observer of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), said most current conflicts had little in common with classic warfare in which belligerents were easily identifiable. In the present environment,

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hostilities were often spurred by the abundant supply of small arms, land- mines and other weapons. As a result, civilians endured a more agonizing plight and humanitarian workers were exposed to increasing security risks. Fortunately, there was also cause for hope, as positive developments in South Africa, Angola and Mozambique had demonstrated.

He went on to express concern that the neutrality and impartiality of humanitarian work could be undermined if no clear and common understanding or agreement existed with respect to the specific nature of humanitarian operations. The ICRC had repeatedly called for the preservation of a humanitarian space in situations of conflict. It would be intolerable for humanitarian aid to become, or be perceived as, being conditional on the behaviour of the warring parties. In addition, coordination mechanisms should remain as flexible as possible and should not be so time-consuming as to impede the more essential operational duties of field staff.

He stressed the need to accord attention to the transition from emergency relief to rehabilitation and development. Progress had been made, but the temptation remained strong among donors and agencies to concentrate on the emergency phase only. During the latter phase, land-mines remained an acute underlying problem, killing and maiming thousands of innocent civilians long after the cessation of hostilities. The ICRC had recently increased its efforts to press for a total ban on those weapons, which caused mass destruction in slow motion.

EIGIL PEDERSEN, observer for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the key to improved coordination of humanitarian response at the international level lay in timely information sharing, effective planning, accountability and transparency. The growing degree of violence and fear associated with relief operations called for the highest standards from relief workers. Individual workers had to be committed to neutrality, impartiality and assistance contingent on need.

In keeping with the trend towards longer interventions, he said relief workers should be able to travel with a returning population to assist in initial rehabilitation. Further, the training of relief personnel could not be overemphasized and relief work should build on local capacities. The Federation was also concerned about the humanitarian impact of sanctions. At the very least, a formal mechanism needed to be set up to assess the impact of the sanctions.

Draft Resolution

The Assembly then adopted without a vote the resolution on participation of volunteers, "White Helmets", in activities of the United Nations in the field of humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and technical cooperation for development. Tunisia, Cameroon, El Salvador, Israel, New Zealand and Ukraine joined in sponsoring the resolution.

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Report of Security Council

SALIM BIN MOHAMMED AL-KHUSSAIBY (Oman), speaking in his capacity as President of the Security Council, introduced its report to the Assembly. The report reflected the continued heavy workload of the Council, he said. Among other statistics demonstrating that fact, the number of hours spent in consultation had increased over that of the previous year.

He went on to say that the members of the Security Council recognized the value of transparency. The Council's working group on documentation had met regularly, and a number of its recommendations had been implemented. Recently, the Council had announced its intention to have greater recourse to open meetings at the outset of consideration of a given issue. On another front, the briefings given to non-members of the Council had continued this year, becoming an important and established practice. A number of improvements had been made to make the procedures of the sanctions committees more transparent. The Council had also considered ways to enhance consultations with troop-contributing countries regarding peace-keeping operations, including when aspects of an operation's mandate were being reviewed.

ANATOLI M. ZLENKO (Ukraine) welcomed steps that had been taken to ensure greater transparency of the Council's work, such as the holding of consultations between members of the Council and troop-contributing countries. The Security Council had taken the lead in discussions on preventive diplomacy, but the results had been disappointing. Instead of yielding clear- cut recommendations, the effort had been limited to general comments laid out in Presidential statements.

He called upon the Council to once again analyze the problems facing United Nations peace-making activities with a view to elaborating specific recommendations. Among the ideas that merited consideration was the establishment of a United Nations trusteeship over the process of establishing new States and restoring democracy in totalitarian countries, in order to ensure adherence to the norms of international law.

The Security Council, in accordance with its obligations under the Charter, must consider at least twice a year the limitation of the arms race and disarmament. He welcomed an attempt by Argentina to draw the Council's attention to the problem of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The work of the sanctions committees must be rendered more public, as it affected many States. He proposed that summary records of all consultations of the Council be published, so that Member States would understand the motives behind Council decisions.

JOHN WESTON (United Kingdom) said in order to make their work more transparent, the sanctions committees of the Security Council would increase the practice of issuing press releases after meetings. The status of

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communication lists under the "No Objection" procedure prepared by the Secretariat would be made available to any delegation that wished to have a copy. A list of all other decisions by each active committee would be prepared by the Secretariat on a regular basis and would be available to any delegation that requested it. An annual report of the Security Council would be prepared by each committee.

He added that the Security Council would continue to examine the work of the sanctions committees to see if there were other ways in which their procedures might be improved. As for the question of meetings among troop- contributors, members of the Security Council and the Secretariat, arrangements must be made to improve them. The Secretariat should have more of an opportunity to brief on developments in operations. Additionally, in discussions between troop-contributors and members of the Security Council, the members of the Security Council should be represented at a sufficiently senior level and the Council President should report back to the Council.

MAKARIM WIBISONO (Indonesia) said that, despite trends towards greater transparency in the Council's work, an increased number of formal and informal meetings was needed, which would allow wider participation for non-members prior to the adoption of decisions. France's proposal regarding open meetings was a step in the right direction.

He said the fundamental deficiency of the report was that it remained a mere compendium of documents and resolutions, as well as listing the decisions and actions taken by the Council. The annual report, as mandated by Article 24 of the Charter, must include more. To meet the need for greater clarity and understanding of the Council's reasoning and motives, it must contain analyses and an assessment of decisions taken on the various issues. During his country's remaining time on the Council, it would continue to work toward the further improvement of the presentation of the Security Council's report.

ERNST SUCHARIPA (Austria) said delegations with a special interest in particular situations dealt with in the Security Council should have the opportunity to offer their views at an early stage in the decision-making process. He welcomed the significant improvements introduced by the Council in the last year with a view to a better access to information. Since there were difficulties in the discussions on enlargement of the Security Council, greater attention should be given to transparency and the working methods of the Council to fulfil the need for greater legitimacy.

Substantial dialogue in the field of peace-keeping operations was very important, he said. The current mechanism for interaction among the Security Council, the Secretariat and the troop-contributors should be further strengthened. A process for exchanging opinions that would guarantee input by the membership at large should be based on a triangular exchange of views

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between the members and non-members of the Security Council and the Secretariat. Moreover, the tendency of micro-management by the Security Council must be curbed.

CELSO L.N. AMORIM (Brazil) said the rationalization of the Security Council's documentation and other procedures had contributed to greater transparency. However, further progress was still necessary to meet the call for better and more thorough reporting. The number of formal meetings, for which the document before the Assembly provided a useful reference guide, had remained at approximately the same level as the preceding year. The same could not be said for informal consultations, which had increased. "The bulk of the Council's activity is more and more concentrated in such informal meetings, the contents of which only reach the general membership through voluntary briefings by delegations or by the President of the Council", he said.

He said the widespread support for recourse to open meetings had not produced identifiable results. More open debates should be held. Furthermore, institutionalized consultation mechanisms among the Council, the Assembly and troop-contributing countries on peace-keeping operations were in the interest of all. The aim of the report in making the sanctions committee of the Council more transparent was laudable, although the measures taken so far were inadequate.

The fact that legally binding decisions, such as those to extend sanctions regimes, were taken in informal consultations remained an anomaly, he continued. The working group on equitable representation on and increase in membership on the Security Council should continue to examine such issues. While he warmly welcomed the peace agreements initialled in Dayton, during the Balkans crisis the Security Council had remained at best an informed observer of the process. It was important to preserve the Council's role in situations where international peace and security were at stake.

SHUNJI MARUYAMA (Japan) hoped agreement on restructuring and improving the functioning of the Council would be reached by the end of the current session of the Assembly in September 1996. The issue of improving the Council's working methods had been extensively debated during the forty-ninth session. The Council had indeed improved the flow of information and exchange of ideas with Member States. More frequent formal meetings, orientation discussions and presidential briefings were extremely helpful, but room remained for improvement.

Regarding the Council's provision of information to States, he regretted the recent tendency towards less frequent meetings. He suggested that papers circulated to Council members during informal consultations should be made available more systematically to non-members on the same day. It would also be useful for the Council to devise a mechanism to allow non-members to

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express their opinions. The practice of trilateral consultations with troop- contributing countries had become rather nominal, and he hoped the consultations would be improved and institutionalized.

He said a mechanism was also needed to allow non-members with a direct interest in a particular issue to convey their views to the Council. Also, there should be some means of soliciting the views of third parties seriously affected by economic sanctions. Finally, there were also many areas where the Council and Assembly could play complementary roles.

RAZALI ISMAIL (Malaysia) said the report was a mere compendium of meetings and decisions. It would have been ideal to have received an analytical and substantive report, for instance in the format of the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization. Concerning security assurances from the nuclear-weapon States, the declarations by the five Powers on that issue varied in structure and content and remained devoid of any legal force. His Government had emphasized that the situation called for an internationally negotiated, legally binding instrument, in which all the nuclear-weapon States were obligated to the same provisions and the same conditions.

Further, he said, financial responsibility and accountability had to be applied not only to the Assembly, but also to the Security Council. The financial implications of the former were evaluated by the Fifth Committee, but no such procedure existed for the Council. While he welcomed the inclusion of the information on the activities of the Sanctions Committee, that information was superficial. The Department of Public Information's press releases on the Committee's informal consultations had been quite useful, but lacked official status.

He raised questions about the Council's procedure in taking a decision in August regarding the strength of the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation. The procedure was odd and not consistent with the Council's normal practice, in which a decisions was taken in the form of a resolution. The Assembly deserved to be fully informed of the practice regarding the circulation and inclusion of communications from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), a State which had yet to be admitted to the United Nations.

WANG XUE XIAN (China) said the annual report of the Security Council reflected in a fairly accurate manner the Council's efforts between 1994 and 1995 in maintaining international peace and security. The Council had adopted some new measures to make its work more transparent, with fairly good results. The Council should act on behalf of all Member bodies. It should develop a democratic method of work, establish democratic consultation, listen to the views of the general membership, refrain from imposing the will of a few members on others, and not adopt an attitude of "take it or leave it".

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He said the Council should devote equal attention to all conflicts and refrain from applying double standards to conflicts in different regions. The Council should not exceed its functions or meddle in the affairs of other bodies. Lastly, while ensuring its effectiveness, it should increase the transparency of its work and strengthen its exchange of information and communication with the Assembly and non-Council members.

RAMTANE LAMAMRA (Algeria) said that in its contents the report didn't differ from those of previous years. During the previous session, many States had proposed ways to improve the reports and working methods of the Council. Most of those measures were not difficult to implement, yet most of them remained unimplemented. Technical difficulties was the justification usually given for continuing with the current reporting format, but the simple and reasonable ideas of the working group of the General Assembly on the reform of the Council had shown that those difficulties were not insurmountable.

He said the presentation of special reports and briefings organized by the President of the General Assembly or jointly with the President of the Security Council, with the technical support of the Secretariat, could stimulate a healthy and productive relationship between the two principal organs of the United Nations. He was concerned, however, by the report's silence on the cooperation of the Security Council and regional organizations. The promotion of that sort of cooperation justified trying to learn from current experiences, such as the cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for African Unity in Western Sahara.

TONO EITEL (Germany) said that in addition to the presentation of facts, more analytical elements might have added substance to the report of the Security Council. He hoped future reports would better reflect the Council members' views of their work and those areas where differences of opinion existed. In its present form, however, the report itself represented an important step towards greater transparency. His country continued to attach the highest importance to the need for transparency and the free flow of information. It had, therefore, briefed non-members on the work of the Council on a daily basis when it held the presidency in June.

He welcomed the decision of the Council in March 1995, reflected in the report, to provide more information on each of the sanction committees. He also supported enhancing the dialogue between the Council and the general membership, and equally supported exchange of information with troop- contributing countries.

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