FOURTH COMMITTEE ADOPTS PROGRAMME OF WORK AND ELECTS VICE-CHAIRMEN
Press Release
GA/SPD/83
FOURTH COMMITTEE ADOPTS PROGRAMME OF WORK AND ELECTS VICE-CHAIRMEN
19961001 The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) this afternoon adopted its programme of work for the current session, electing Sonia R. Leonce-Carryl (Saint Lucia) and Anastasia Carayanides (Australia) as Vice-Chairmen. The election of the Rapporteur was postponed.In opening remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Alounkeo Kittikhoun (Lao People's Democratic Republic), who was elected on 17 September, said the Committee had been allocated 28 meetings and every effort should be made to complete its work by 29 November.
Also this afternoon, the Committee agreed to take a decision next Monday on requests by petitioners to make statements. The Chairman said those interested in the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) would be heard in the Committee in conjunction with consideration of the item in plenary.
The Rapporteur of the Special Committee on decolonization, Farouk Al- Attar (Syria), introducing its report, said that priority should be given to strengthening and diversifying the economies of the Non-Self-Governing Territories. Administering Powers should promote economic and social development in the Territories, while preserving cultural identity; they should also protect the Territories against environmental degradation.
The Acting Chairman of the Special Committee on decolonization, Utula Utuoc Samana (Papua New Guinea), said the Committee had, since its establishment in 1961, made a more than modest contribution to the Organization's success in promoting the exercise by the peoples of colonial Territories of their fundamental right to self-determination and independence. Some 60 former colonial Territories representing more than 80 million people had joined the United Nations as sovereign Member States since the adoption of the General Assembly Declaration on decolonization in 1960. He called on the administering Powers to cooperate and participate in the work of the Special Committee.
Statements were also made by the representatives of Morocco and Algeria on the issue of petitioners and documentation.
The Committee will meet again at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, 7 October, to begin its general debate on decolonization issues.
Committee Work Programme
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this afternoon to elect its Vice-Chairmen and Rapporteur and to consider its organization of work for the fifty-first session. It was also expected to begin its general debate on decolonization questions.
The Committee has before it the report of the Special Committee on decolonization (document A/51/23, Parts II to VII). It reviews the implementation of the 1960 General Assembly Declaration on decolonization with regard to the Territories of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. It also reports on the situations in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gibraltar, New Caledonia and Western Sahara.
The report also deals with information transmitted from Non-Self- Governing Territories under Article 73 e of the United Nations Charter, as well as the activities of foreign economic and other interests impeding the Declaration's implementation by United Nations specialized agencies and related international institutions. The Special Committee also transmits several draft resolutions recommended for adoption by the Assembly.
In part II of the report, the Special Committee submits a draft resolution on the question of dissemination of information on decolonization. It would have the Assembly request the Department of Political Affairs and the Department of Public Information (DPI) to continue their efforts to publicize the work of the United Nations in the field of decolonization through all available media, including publications, radio and television, as well as the Internet.
The two departments would be requested to maintain a working relationship with the appropriate regional and intergovernmental organizations, particularly in the Pacific and Caribbean regions. The involvement of non-governmental organizations would also be encouraged. All States, including the administering Powers, would be requested to cooperate in the dissemination of the information on decolonization.
Also in part II of the report is a draft decision adopted by the Special Committee stressing the need for periodic United Nations visiting missions to Non-Self-Governing Territories to facilitate the full, speedy and effective implementation of the Declaration on decolonization with respect to those Territories. Administering Powers were called upon to cooperate with the United Nations by receiving the visiting missions in the Territories under their administration. The Special Committee's Chairman was requested to consult with the administering Power of Guam, the United States, to facilitate a mission to the Territory.
Part III of the report contains a draft resolution on activities of foreign economic and other interests which impede the implementation of the Declaration that is also recommended for action by the Assembly. By the
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draft, the Assembly would urge administering Powers concerned to take effective measures to safeguard the inalienable right of the peoples of the colonial and Non-Self-Governing Territories to their natural resources and to establish control over the future development of those resources. They would also be urged to ensure that no discriminatory working conditions prevailed in the Territories under their administration and to promote a fair system of wages.
Also in part III is a draft decision concerning military activities and arrangements by colonial Powers in Territories under their administration. It would have the Assembly urge the administering Powers concerned not to involve those Territories in any offensive acts or interference against other States. They would also be called upon to terminate such activities and to eliminate such military bases which impede the implementation of the Declaration on decolonization.
Part IV of the Special Committee's report contains a draft resolution on the specialized agencies' implementation of the Declaration on decolonization. Under its provisions, the agencies would be requested to formulate appropriate assistance programmes for the Territories. The Assembly would also request administering Powers concerned to facilitate the participation of representatives of those Territories in relevant meetings and conferences of specialized agencies.
Also in part IV of the report is a draft resolution on information from Non-Self-Governing Territories which would have the Assembly request that the administering Powers transmit to the Secretary-General information under Article 73 e of the United Nations Charter with regard to each Territory. The Special Committee would be requested to continue to discharge its functions and to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session.
Part V of the report states that concerning East Timor and Gibraltar, the Special Committee decided to continue consideration of matters in those two Territories at its next session, subject to any directives from the Assembly during its current session. Concerning Western Sahara, the Special Committee heard petitioners and decided to transmit the relevant documentation to the Assembly at its current session.
Also in part V, the Special Committee recommends for adoption by the Assembly a draft resolution on New Caledonia by which it would urge all the parties involved to maintain their dialogue in the spirit of harmony and to promote a framework for the peaceful progress of New Caledonia towards self- determination.
Part VII of the report contains a draft resolution on Tokelau by which the Assembly would welcome the assurances of the Government of New Zealand that it would meet its obligations with respect to the Territory and abide by the freely expressed wishes of the people on their future status.
Also before the Committee are reports of the Secretary-General on matters related to the Declaration. On the activities of the specialized
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agencies of the United Nations and international institutions concerning their implementation of the Declaration on decolonization (documents A/51/212 and E/1996/85), the Secretary-General states that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is funding a number of assistance projects in close collaboration with other agencies and organizations of the United Nations in response to the Programme of Action adopted at the 1994 Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. The UNDP is contributing to the establishment of a network to facilitate access by those countries to vital environmental information, called SIDS/NET. In order to enhance the coordination of follow-up activities in the Caribbean, a joint consultative mechanism has been set up by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the UNDP in Trinidad and Tobago to coordinate resource mobilization. The UNDP is also helping to implement a technical assistance programme to promote cooperation on sustainable development.
In addition, the report continues, the UNDP is implementing projects on human resources development and economic planning and management in Anguilla and the Cayman Islands. In the British Virgin Islands, the work of the UNDP is focused on providing policy advice and inputs for institutional strengthening, and the formulation of an integrated development strategy. In Montserrat, UNDP programmes emphasize support for environmental and natural resources management programmes. In the Turks and Caicos Islands, the UNDP was supporting public sector management, education, and environmental management.
Another report of the Secretary-General (document A/51/373) records that 46 Member States have offered to make scholarships available for inhabitants of Non-Self-Governing Territories. According to the report, the United Kingdom states that in 1995-1996 it offered 64 scholarships to students from the British Non-Self-Governing Territories. Austria also said that its Development Cooperation Programme regularly provided vocational training and capacity-building in the infrastructure and educational sectors for inhabitants of Western Sahara. Furthermore, specific assistance was being provided on a regular basis for the training of kindergarten teachers from that Territory.
In a further report (document A/51/316), the Secretary-General states that in 1996, information was received under Article 73 e of the Charter from New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.
Statements
In opening remarks, ALOUNKEO KITTIKHOUN (Lao People's Democratic Republic), Chairman of the Committee, said items such as decolonization, Palestinian refugees, Israeli practices in the occupied territories and Western Sahara, which had been before the Committee for some time, deserved to be addressed in earnest so that the problems involved could be resolved as rapidly as possible.
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As regards the item relating to the situation in the occupied territories of Croatia, he expressed the hope that the concerned parties would exercise patience and endeavour to find a solution acceptable to all. No less important were other items of the Committee's agenda, including peace-keeping operations, the peaceful uses of outer space, United Nations activities in the field of public information and the effects of atomic radiation. Strong and constructive spirit of mutual understanding and, above all, cooperation and flexibility, should be shown by the parties directly concerned to achieve progress in those matters.
FAROUK AL-ATTAR (Syria), Rapporteur of the Special Committee on decolonization, urged the international community to usher in the twenty-first century in a world free from colonialism. He recalled that the Assembly last year had requested the Special Committee to continue to work towards decolonization, paying special attention to the small Territories.
Introducing the Committee's report, he said that in its work to foster independence, the Committee had recommended that priority should be given to strengthening and diversifying the economies of the Territories. Administering Powers should promote economic and social development in the Territories, while preserving cultural identity. It was the responsibility of the administering Powers to make concrete efforts in that regard, such as establishing programmes of political education, to enable the exercise of the right to self-determination in the Territories. Administering Powers were further urged to protect the Territories against environmental degradation.
He called on administering Powers to assist the Special Committee by inviting the United Nations visiting missions to monitor the status of the Territories, and by continuing the transmission of information as called for in Article 73 e of the Charter. Noting with regret that France, United Kingdom and the United States, as administering Powers, had not participated in the Special Committee's proceedings during the current year, he called on all administering Powers to give full support to the Special Committee.
Following a statement by the CHAIRMAN on the Committee's organization of work, EL HASSANE ZAHID (Morocco) stated that receiving documentation in advance of meetings, and in more than one official language, was extremely important to ensure effective participation by Committee members. It was very important to know what positions had been expressed during the deliberations of the Special Committee in order to hold relevant debates in the Fourth Committee. The Organization's downsizing was supposed to have only positive, not negative effects. If downsizing had led to delays in documentation, then the Secretariat should inform Committee members of that problem.
Matters concerning decolonization were debated in the Special Committee and again in the plenary of the General Assembly, he continued. That duplication should be examined, particularly in the light of the high financial cost of meetings. Debate in the Assembly took at least two meetings.
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The Committee Secretary, ABDUR RAZZAQUE KHAN, said the Committee was not able to control the availability of documentation.
Mr. ZAHID Morocco said the summary records of the Special Committee should be discontinued. He would make an official proposal that if documents could not be given to participants on time, then the summary records should be abolished.
The Secretary said the production of summary records was the work of the Office of Conference Services, which could respond to questions about delays in their production.
Mr. ZAHID (Morocco) said it would be better to recommend that the Committee do without summary records of the Special Committee if they could not be produced on time.
LARBI KATTI (Algeria) said the Special Committee should be allowed to decide how it organized its work. His delegation wanted the Assembly to have the benefit of all records of meetings.
Mr. ZAHID (Morocco) said the Fourth Committee was competent to make recommendations on how the Special Committee operated, adding that it could thus consider the issue of overlapping of work.
The Committee then adopted its programme of work.
The CHAIRMAN announced that on the question of the Falklands Islands (Malvinas), organizations and individuals with an interest in the issue would be heard in the Committee in conjunction with the consideration of the item in plenary meeting.
UTULA UTUOC SAMANA (Papua New Guinea), Acting Chairman of the Special Committee on decolonization, said the Committee had, since its establishment in 1961, carried out its mandate faithfully. The United Nations success in the field of decolonization was indeed one of its most well known and respected successes of which it was justifiably proud. The Special Committee had made a more than modest contribution to the Organization's success in promoting the exercise by the peoples of colonial Territories of their fundamental right to self-determination and independence. The composition of the membership of the Organization was a clear testimony to the achievements of the Special Committee. Since the adoption of the Declaration, some 60 former colonial Territories representing more than 80 million people had joined the United Nations as sovereign Member States.
The Special Committee had over the years and even at the height of the cold war diligently pursued its noble task, he said. It continued to review the situation in the Non-Self-Governing Territories -- hearing petitioners; sending visiting missions to learn about the political, economic and social conditions in the Territories; disseminating information on decolonization to mobilize public opinion; and formulating suggestions and recommendations on
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the progress and extent of the implementation of the Declaration in its reports to the Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.
To ensure success in carrying out its mandate, the Committee had continued to keep its approach and method of work under constant review, he said. It had adjusted its methods to changing circumstances, as well as to improve its efficiency. That continuing process had gained renewed impetus since 1990, due in small measure to the changing international situation since that time. The Special Committee had, in recent years, demonstrated a practical, flexible and innovative approach to its work. That approach was reflected in its recommendations to the Assembly.
He recalled that the Assembly had set the goal of complete decolonization by the year 2000. To give impetus to that goal, the period 1990-2000 had been declared as the International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. It was aimed at ushering in the twenty-first century a world free from colonialism. Complete decolonization by that year would require innovative and realistic solutions.
He said that during a regional seminar of the Special Committee held in June in Papua New Guinea, the importance of continued and sustained economic and social development of the Territories had been clearly recognized. Such measures would facilitate the exercise of their right to self-determination and independence. In response to those concerns, the Special Committee had assiduously concentrated its efforts, within the context of the International Decade, on the search for specific measures which would promote the development of those Territories.
Once again he had, on behalf of the Special Committee, stressed to the administering Powers of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, the importance the Special Committee attached to their cooperation and participation in its work. The Special Committee had expressed its readiness to work with them in a spirit of constructive cooperation to achieve the goals of the United Nations in respect to the Non-Self-Governing Territories. It was the Special Committee's view that United Nations visiting missions to the Territories were the best means of obtaining first-hand information on the conditions and problems confronting the people there. It was imperative that the Special Committee obtained that information and heard the views of the people concerned. The Special Committee remained ready to adjust to changing circumstances without losing sight of its mandate.
Mr. ZAHID (Morocco) asked whether information about the petitioners on Western Sahara could be provided, as well as the justification for their appearance.
The Secretary read out the petitioners' names.
Mr. ZAHID (Morocco) said he might take the floor in future on the issue. The practice was that requests for appearance by petitioners were usually circulated in advance, he added.
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The Secretary said there was no "hard and fast rule" on the matter.
Mr. ZAHID (Morocco) said that his understanding was that the petitioners would not appear before the formal approval of their requests. He needed time to prepare questions for the petitioners. The work of the Committee should be transparent, he stressed.
The Secretary said the requests would be circulated by Thursday, 3 October, and the Committee should be in a position to hear them on Monday, 7 October.
Mr. ZAHID (Morocco) said it had been decided last year that documents on such requests should first be circulated for a decision to be taken on them. The Committee could not take a decision on the basis of the information just provided by the Secretary.
The CHAIRMAN said the Committee had not decided on the appearance of the petitioners. He proposed that it take that decision on Thursday.
Mr. KATTI (Algeria) said petitioners appeared before the Committee on their own and should therefore know in advance what to expect. A decision should be taken now on when they should appear.
The Secretary said he had provided the names of the petitioners on Western Sahara on the basis of the question from the representative of Morocco. He added that the Secretariat had planned for the hearings to start on Monday, but the final decision rested on the Committee.
The Committee then agreed to consider the requests of the petitioners next Monday, 7 October.
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