NEW RESOURCES, ACTION-ORIENTED COMMITMENTS NEEDED FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, THIRD COMMITTEE TOLD IN CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS
Press Release
GA/SHC/3356
NEW RESOURCES, ACTION-ORIENTED COMMITMENTS NEEDED FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, THIRD COMMITTEE TOLD IN CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS
19961015 New and additional resources and action-oriented commitments were needed nationally and internationally to ensure sustainable economic and social development, the representative of Ethiopia told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) this afternoon, as it continued its examination of social development, including questions related to the world social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family. Poverty could not be eradicated by programmes and declarations alone, he added.National efforts must be supplemented by global support, according to the representative of Bangladesh. He said the United Nations agencies and international financial institutions must coordinate their efforts. Social disintegration, chronic poverty, hunger, growing unemployment, rising crime rates, and unfavorable international economic environment continued to retard any meaningful progress towards social development and challenged efforts to achieve social justice.
A number of speakers drew attention to the problems facing youth and the importance of giving them skills so they could play a fuller role in society. The representative of Andorra said addressing the issues of access to work and the high rates of youth unemployment was a terrifying challenge.
Other speakers outlined their Governments' policies and programmes to more fully integrate persons with disabilities into society. The representative of Pakistan said they were one of the most neglected groups in United Nations programmes.
The representative of the Netherlands said the United Nations must offer greater opportunities to the young to take part in its work. The Organization should also take immediate action to ban the recruitment of child soldiers. Young people who had been fighting might not be able to readapt to peaceful conditions and could become a criminal element which endangered initial efforts towards reconciliation.
Other statements were made by Kenya, Ecuador, Republic of Korea, Trinidad and Tobago (on behalf of Caribbean Community (CARICOM)), Morocco, Indonesia, Iran, Ghana, China, Russian Federation, Qatar, Philippines, Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Mali, India, Libya, Syria, Kuwait, Burundi and Iraq, addressed the Committee this afternoon.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday, 18 October, when it will begin consideration of crime prevention and criminal justice, international drug control and the elaboration of an international convention against organized crime.
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Committee Work Programme
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to continue its examination of social development, including questions related to the world social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family.
Documents before the Committee include the 1996 report of the Economic and Social Council (document A/51/3, Part I) and the Secretary-General's report on the role of cooperatives (document A/51/367). (For background information see Press Release GA/SHC/3355 of 14 October.)
Statements
ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) placed social development on the global agenda for action for the first time and provided the opportunity to refocus attention on urgent priorities. However, the forces of social disintegration -- chronic poverty, hunger, growing unemployment, rising crime rates -- and an unfavourable international economic environment continued to retard any meaningful progress towards social development and challenged any endeavours for achieving social justice.
Therefore, he said it was important for relevant United Nations agencies and programmes to intensify their efforts for the development of youth as provided for in the Programme of Action, particularly at the national level. Equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities was essential to mobilize resources and to ensure integration of socially marginalized groups. Bangladesh subscribed to the statement made yesterday by Costa Rica on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China on the question of ageing. It also welcomed the framework of the programme for the observance of the International Year of Older Persons in 1999. Overall, there was a pressing need to harmonize efforts and resources for social development. National efforts need to be supplemented by global support. The Economic and Social Council should assume a more proactive and intensive role in harnessing the efforts and resources available to the functional commissions.
ADAM ADAWA (Kenya) said the key development challenge facing his Government over the next three years would be the creation of conditions for rapid and sustained growth at levels which would reduce unemployment and poverty. The first priority was to maintain a stable macroeconomic framework while continuing with structural reforms needed to accelerate economic growth. Kenya had put in place far-reaching policies and programmes which targeted the poor and vulnerable groups such as youth and women. Targeted interventions would provide income support to those who could not wait until the growth process gathered full steam, or to those who could not participate fully because of special handicaps such as geographical isolation. Current
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programmes encompassed six major themes of welfare and basic services; skills development; employment and job creation; rural development; and environment conservation.
Kenya recognized that its youth was a major human resource for development, he said. It had put in place relevant projects and programmes designed to implement the 10 priority areas identified in the World Programme of Action for Youth to the year 2000 and beyond. He appealed to the international community and non-governmental organizations to provide financial support. His Government considered the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities to be the guiding principle for overall development in the rehabilitation of disabled persons and their equal access to employment opportunities.
MONCIA MARTINEZ (Ecuador) said the right to social development was a universal and inalienable right and a fundamental part of human rights. The Ecuadorian Government attached great importance to -- and had established government programmes for -- child development, youth, the elderly, the family, women, the disabled and all other sectors of the population that were socially and economically disadvantaged. Ecuador reaffirmed its commitment to searching for the path that will lead to the ideal of a better world, free of war, hunger, discrimination, injustice and the destruction of the environment. That national effort must be supported by the international organizations dealing with those issues.
JORIS HUIJSMANS (Netherlands) said only three youth representatives -- young people chosen by young people -- would address the Committee during this session. He said the United Nations must offer opportunities to the young, enabling them to play a full part in society. He cited three examples where young people and some governments were working to achieve opportunities for development and creativity: an initiative in Indonesia, the Study Centre for Environmental Affairs, which allowed children to see the wealth nature had to offer; in the Netherlands, young people and national politicians were getting involved in the debate of the role of young people in society and the question of juvenile crime and social welfare for the young; in the United States, a system of "teen courts" which allowed young people who are arrested for minor offences to be tried by a court of their peers. That initiative had contributed to a drop in the number of repeat offenders.
He said students had played an important role in the history of democracy in Asia. In some countries, students were ordered to concentrate on their studies and prohibited from having anything to do with politics or social questions. If they strived to improve the situation of landless peasants and workers, it was considered suspect and often suppressed. But the solutions those young people offered could contribute to a better life for a great many people. Authorities should enter into a dialogue with young people, especially students.
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He also drew attention to the extent and problem of child soldiers. In the last 10 years, 2 million children and young people serving as soldiers had died in armed conflicts. The United Nations should take immediate action and there must be a ban on the recruitment of children against their will and by degrading means. Young people who had been fighting might be incapable of readapting to peace, and might constitute a criminal element that could endanger peace.
YVONNE GITTENS-JOSEPH (Trinidad and Tobago), speaking on behalf of the 13 member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said the correlation between social development and stability with peace and security could not be overemphasized. Despite the progress made towards social development for all, profound social problems persisted and continued to plague societies at all levels. The devotion of General Assembly plenary sessions to consider the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development signaled the importance and the priority accorded to achieving social development for all. Now political will and resources were needed to implement social development international declarations and plans for action so that they would not remain mere platitudes.
There were diverse forms of the family among and within States, she said, but in all States the stability of the family had been challenged. This situation was aggravated by increased unemployment and poverty. Therefore, there was a need for a greater and more inclusive family perspective in policy development and implementation. In the Caribbean, where females headed many families, the empowerment of women in the economic, social and political spheres had assumed special significance. The improvement of the economic status of women was particularly important because women constituted a high percentage of the unemployed and the poor.
YAMINA BENNANI (Morocco) said the series of recent United Nations conferences had brought some relief to the problems facing children and women, as well as to the environment, population, employment and education, health and human settlements. In 1992, the Moroccan people had voted for a revision in the Constitution which reaffirmed the universality of human rights and the priority given to the well-being of all citizens. Following a series of disasters, including droughts, falling commodity prices and rising interest rates, in 1993 the Government had instituted an economic adjustment programme. But some, especially those in rural and disadvantaged sectors of society, had not benefited.
The Government had just prepared a five-year national development plan which would focus on the rural sector and the provision of health care, education and safe drinking water. It would emphasize the protection of the family, the reintegration of women into the workforce, the education of rural girls, as well as the protection of the elderly and children. Recently, there had been successes including encouraging progress in the areas of family
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planning and falling fertility rates. Stressing that Africa deserved special attention, she referred to the Secretary-General's initiative for Africa, as that continent faced an uncertain future.
SUTJIPTOHARDJO DONOKUSUMO (Indonesia) said the Secretary-General's report on the status of cooperatives underlined their importance in alleviating poverty and in providing economic opportunities to the less advantaged. According to the Social Development Summit's Programme of Action, governments, in cooperation with international financial institutions and other international organizations, should further promote policies enabling small enterprises, cooperatives and other forms of micro-enterprises to develop their capacities for income generation and employment creation.
The role of cooperatives in socio-economic development had received support from the highest levels of the Indonesian Government, he said. Indonesia had long supported the use of cooperatives as a means of empowering the poor and providing them with a vehicle to contribute to national development and enhance their individual situations. The current aim was to improve management of agribusiness and agro-based industries to diversify food products and increase their competitiveness with imports.
SEYED HOSSEIN REZVANI (Iran) said that, despite substantial global economic and social progress in the past few decades, the problems of poverty, unemployment and deteriorating social integrations were compounded in several parts of the world by the threats of global integration, which manifested themselves in crime, violence and war. National efforts and resources alone were not sufficient to achieve the realization of the goals of poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Such challenges called for mobilizing the international community and financial support.
States should have an equitable and fair share in shaping the international economic, social and political order, he said. While the gap between the rich and poor countries persistently increased, all nations faced such common problems as high unemployment and social disintegration. Therefore, there existed a need for a system of international relations in which might and wealth did not generate rights and the principles of international law were fully observed. The coercive economic measures and unilateral actions adopted and implemented by certain States against developing countries were inconsistent with the objectives and principles of the Charter, and also contradicted the Declaration of the World Summit for Social Development.
JACOB WILMOT (Ghana) said his Government had participated actively in the work of the thirty-fourth session of the Commission for Social Development, as well as the 1996 session of the Economic and Social Council, in order to fashion and redefine a deeper social consensus on how to achieve the goals of the Social Development Summit. However, more than a year after
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the Summit not much had changed in the world situation. To the problems of poverty, disease, poor standards of education, rural and urban decay, could be added the problems of drugs, crime and ethnic strife, which had acquired global dimensions. While national action would be necessary, international action would also be needed to deal with the multi-faceted ramifications. The United Nations and its agencies, funds and programmes should create new mandates to tackle those problems.
The cooperative sector enjoyed strong government support in his country, he said. It gave those without any other productive way of life a means for economic empowerment. It was being increasingly used by local communities to assure themselves of affordable basic services, thereby contributing to the fight against poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. The disadvantaged, and marginalized, youth and persons with disabilities benefited.
JIANG QIN (China) said that questions of youth, ageing and disabled persons occupied an important part in the field of social development. In recent years, the United Nations had done a lot of useful work in those areas. Other representatives and the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai, had pointed out the importance of moving from policy-making to action so that relevant action plans could be implemented. The gap between developing and developed countries was widening. The vast numbers of developing nations, where the majority of youth, older persons and disabled people lived, were plagued by poverty, backwardness and shortage of funds. The United Nations and the international community should focus efforts on helping those countries eradicate poverty.
She said her Government had intensified its efforts on work concerning youth and had formulated a series of policies and regulations, protecting their rights and promoting their participation in the nation's political, social and economic development. In the field of ageing, an adequate network of institutions for older persons had been established. Several thousand schools for older persons, hundreds of nursing homes as well as centres for older persons had been established across the country. The Government had incorporated work for persons with disabilities in its overall development plan.
HAHM MYUNG CHUL (Republic of Korea) said that economic growth did not necessarily guarantee social development, and, therefore, governments should not rely solely on the expectation that economic growth would improve the conditions of their people. His Government firmly believed that social development should be buttressed by sustained economic growth and sustainable development. It welcomed the United Nations system-wide special initiative on Africa and urged both developed and developing countries to forge a spirit of partnership to advance the world social situation.
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It was the States' responsibility to implement the United Nations World Youth Action Programme to fully tap the potential of their youth and to encourage youth participation at all levels of development. Therefore, his Government placed particular emphasis on international youth exchanges and planned to establish an international youth exchange centre to facilitate its exchange programme with other nations.
IVAN KHRYSKOV (Russian Federation) said his Government supported a significant expansion of roles of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council in order to carry out the platform of action of the Social Summit and Assembly resolutions. It was important to keep a balance when implementing the recommendations, especially in developing countries and those with economies in transition. The United Nations system-wide efforts to implement the outcome of the Summit had hardly been exhausted and it was important to identify areas which could be strengthened. The Economic and Social Council stated that the United Nations system should help countries with economies in transition and developing nations. There must be practical solutions to resolve problems at the regional level. He proposed the holding of regional conferences to assess problems and make specific, practical recommendations which were geared to local needs.
He said his country had achieved an economic growth of 2 per cent, which although modest, represented real progress in the wake of economic reforms. A national committee to implement the recommendations of the Social Summit would be set up. Although governments had the main responsibility for implementing market reforms, they needed international cooperation to help achieve the necessary progress.
Mr. AL-NASR (Qatar) said that matters relating to youth had enjoyed pride of place in the international forum in the past few years, and Qatar has been in the forefront of the betterment of youth, especially in the field of sports. The Government had established and organized youth facilities and clubs and had adopted financial assistance projects for youth activities. The most important achievements were in the area of services, including the completion of sports and medicine centres.
A total of more than 200 athletic camps, competitions and tournaments had been organized, he said. Other sports activities had been organized, including numerous festivals, 177 local championships and 52 sports federations. Projects for youth had also reached the scientific and technological fields. Future plans encompassed the establishment of more youth sports centres, several with Olympic-sized swimming pools.
RUTH SAMONTE-LIMJUCO (Philippines) said a significant amount of the pressures on the modern family resulted from the failure of States' economies to provide equitably for the basic needs of the poorest people. Governments and the private sector should undertake initiatives to help the poor to access
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credit, develop their capabilities and engage in productive enterprises. As stated in the Secretary-General's report, cooperatives were particularly appropriate for persons who have no other vehicle for economic progress. By combining the resources of many individuals, cooperatives allowed for the mobilization of resources which were larger than what most individuals and small enterprises could ever achieve.
Her Government welcomed the World Youth Forum which would be soon held in Vienna, she said. With a youthful population, the Philippines was understandably very concerned with matters relating to youth. The National Youth Commission, created through legislation and headed by a Cabinet-level Secretary, was the sole policy-making coordinating body of youth-related institutions, programmes, projects and activities of the Government. The National Youth Development Plan, 1994-1998, provided needed direction for Filipino youth to fulfil their roles as partners in nation-building.
RI SONG IL (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said despite the efforts of the international community, the world social situation continued to deteriorate with social evils such as poverty, organized crime and drug abuse. The present inequitable world economic order had widened the gap between developing and developed countries and, as a result, more than one billion people were now living in absolute poverty and 120 million were unemployed. In order to resolve social problems, every State should formulate people-centred policies for social development and fully implement them.
He said ending disputes and armed conflicts and ensuring global security and stability were important for achieving social development. The United Nations and international financial institutions should enhance their role in developing countries. The sanctions forced upon Member States by the United Nations or individual countries, that had a negative impact upon the social development of those States and their neighbours, should be ended.
FESSEHA TESSEMA (Ethiopia) said countries like his looked forward with greater hope and aspiration to the implementation of commitments of the Social Summit. His Government had done its best to meet the basic needs of the country's fast-growing population. After many years of declining and stagnant growth, the national economic growth rate had reached 7.7 per cent in 1996. Despite radical structural readjustment programmes, inflation had been controlled and was 1 per cent. National policies and programmes dealing with population, health, women, education and youth were being executed at all levels starting from the grass roots.
He said Ethiopia's economic policy was primarily targeted at the eradication of poverty. The allocation of the national budget to the social sector had increased dramatically since 1991. A major reconstruction and rehabilitation programme had been undertaken for damaged educational and health facilities, provision of pharmaceuticals and the rehabilitation of
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social infrastructures. The international community must strive to assist countries like his to achieve the goals of the Summit, especially by finding a durable solution to the problem of high debt. Poverty could not be eradicated by programmes and declarations alone. New and additional resources and action-orientated commitments were needed at national and international levels to ensure sustainable economic and social development.
SHEREEN THAHIM (Pakistan) said that in order for the world situation to improve, the United Nations must explore ways and means for addressing the issues relating to debt. Structural adjustment programmes should be made more socially sensitive, and development aid should be a vehicle of investment and development support. Any measures for the improvement of the social situation of youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family had to be anchored on the indicators for economic growth.
The disabled were one of the most neglected groups in United Nations programmes, she said. A package for disabled persons including prevention, legislation, equalization of opportunities and necessary technical and financial resources had been conceptualized and partially implemented. This project now needed further impetus, and States should support the efforts of the Special Rapporteur and contribute generously to the United Nations Voluntary Fund.
She said Pakistan had launched a comprehensive Social Action Programme to address the urgent needs of the people in basic education, primary health care, nutrition, water supply and sanitation. The main objectives of the Programme were eradication of poverty, redress of gender inequalities, rural development and environmental protection. In addition, the Government had identified the most vulnerable groups -- namely women, youth, children, widows, orphans, the elderly, ex-convicts, migrants and refugees -- for social welfare and rehabilitation programmes.
ILLALKAMAR AG OUMAR (Mali) paid tribute to the life of United States President Franklin Roosevelt who, despite his handicap, had made a mark on history and had given hope to the disabled around the world. He then outlined his Government's efforts to implement programmes for persons with disabilities. Specific efforts included associations for lepers and the physically handicapped. A national seminar would be held on the adaption of motorized chairs and carriages which were being manufactured for the physically disabled, including children. On the level of information and consciousness raising, ministers from various departments had met to discuss how to develop awareness of the special problems of the handicapped. Other action included a training workshop; a sports championship for the disabled and publication of the International Labour Organization (ILO) handbook on employment of people with disabilities. Efforts were also being made to counteract begging and implement income-generating projects for people with disabilities.
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NAJMA HEPTULLAH (India) said the subject of social development, particularly in its relation to youth, family, the elderly and the disabled, was at the heart of the work of the United Nations. These groups constituted the basic human resource potential of a society, yet they also posed challenges in social integration. How societies were able to harness their potential and harmoniously integrate them provided lessons for the realization of one of the principal goals of social development, as well as one of the core areas of concern identified by the World Summit on Social Development.
In India, the principle challenge in addressing the problems of social development was the scale of poverty and inequality, she said. Another important feature in the social development in India at the national level had been the interplay between democracy, growth, empowerment and social justice. The solution to the various problems of social development required national and international political commitment and substantial financial resources, as well as time. Adequate programmes for special categories could be best addressed only in the context of a general development effort for which an enabling international environment was also essential.
Mr. SERIWA (Libya) said that despite the encouraging signs in economic growth, the economic situation was worsening in many countries, particularly in Africa. It was the responsibility of donor countries and financial institutions to support technical training and education programmes to help improve social and health services in less developed countries.
The human being was the main pillar of development as well as its intended beneficiary, he said. The needs of the individual and the promotion of human rights of the society should be the aim of social development. The Libyan Government had accorded priority to training, education, health care, and housing programmes. These achievements, however, were threatened because of unjust sanctions that had caused unjust harm to the Libyan people. These sanctions hampered development programmes, and services to youth, ageing, the disabled, particularly medical services and supplies. The United Nations should take due measures to eliminate the devastating effects caused by these sanctions.
JULI MINOVES-TRIQUELL (Andorra) said his Government encouraged the participation of people of all age groups in society because it recognized their importance for development. His Government was concerned that the future of youth be ensured because the world would depend on them, especially in the next century. The Social Summit's programme of action in regard to young people stipulated national programmes in the areas of health and education. The international community needed to take specific action to implement the message.
The issues of access to work and youth unemployment needed to be addressed, he said. In some countries, there were staggering rates of youth
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unemployment. And addressing that problem would be a terrifying challenge. It was important to educate young people in human rights and essential to teach them tolerance. A young man or woman was malleable and susceptible to dogmatic influences. There must be an intelligent approach to teach young people to protect themselves from intolerance and bigotry.
FAYSSAL MEKDAD (Syria) said that the international community's great interest in social development was made evident by the attendance at the 1995 World Summit in Copenhagen. However, the tide of poverty and displacement was swelling, and Syria, like many other developing countries, had realized that there was a gap between human aspirations and realities.
Syria had invested material and human resources and energies in social development with particular interest in youth, he said. The youth had contributed effectively to the movement and progress of society through organizations where they were able to defend their role and their interests, as well as take part in athletic and artistic programmes. Youth programmes took into account the rights of youth in education, employment, freedom of expression, marriage and housing.
Respect for the elderly and caring for them in Syria were part of the customs of the society, he said. The Government would contribute to the preparations for the International Year of the Elderly in 1999.
Ms. AL-AWADHI (Kuwait) said her Government offered material support and rehabilitation to persons with disabilities in many areas including sports activities and entertainment. In 1996 a law was implemented to protect the disabled and reflected the importance her Government attached to ensuring their rights. Programmes offered medical care and treatment for the handicapped, including pregnant women, special housing, shelter, rehabilitation centres and special protection.
Government bodies had worked together to bring compatibility to policies and programmes and ensure they were in keeping with international standards. The handicapped were exempt from taxes and were provided with the tools and equipment they needed. Government bodies which employed more than 50 people must employ persons with disabilities. Kuwait had worked to ameliorate the effect of the Iraqi occupation and the human indignity which had been a serious human rights violation. She noted the victims of mines laid by the Iraqis. Her Government's guidelines were in keeping with international ones concerning the handicapped and aimed to fully integrate persons with disabilities into society.
Mr. HABONIMANA (Burundi) said that the current three-year crisis afflicting his country had undermined his Government's efforts in the area of social development. The blockade unjustly decreed by neighbouring countries created a brutal obstacle to the Government's efforts and threatened to
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strangle its people. Sanitation, job training, education, the rehabilitation of the disabled, and social assistance for the elderly had all suffered because of these sanctions.
The economic blockade had also struck devastating blows to Burundi's hospitals, social centres and facilities for families, he said. As of September 1996, the economic loss to the country was $127 million, and had caused serious consequences for the poorest citizens of Burundi -- women, aged, and children -- who were the first to suffer. Support and aid from the international community and the United Nations was needed to put pressure on Burundi's neighbouring countries to remove the sanctions and give relief to an entire people.
KHALED S.H. AL-HITTI (Iraq) said social development was directly related to international peace and security and reflected the need for all States to create a sound economic environment to end the vicious cycle of poverty. Development could not happen in the absence of material tools. Imbalanced economic development between the so-called countries of the North and South had been a factor in the last decade. There had been an accumulation of wealth and material goods in industrial countries. It was necessary to reconsider bilateral arrangements and unfair practices which halted development. He said he was referring to the negative role played by some of the United Nations organs, namely the economic sanctions imposed by the Security Council and some countries.
He said the unrestricted use of sanctions in the last year against his country indicated a grave problem existed in the Charter which allowed some members of the Council to use economic sanctions as a means of starving his people and halting their development plans. The use of sanctions against Iraq was a means to deprive the Iraqi people of their rights. One country did not want to see a solid infrastructure in Iraq. The use of sanctions had become a burden on the credibility and respect of the Organization. Those who used sanctions did so to further their own ends. He then went on to detail their harmful effects, including an increase in mortality and the deterioration in living standards. They were a form of genocide against the Iraqi people, he added.
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