GENERAL ASSEMBLY ACCEPTS BUDGETARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, HAITI
Press Release
GA/9152
GENERAL ASSEMBLY ACCEPTS BUDGETARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, HAITI
19961104 In Other Areas, Earnings Limits for Retired Staff are Raised, Closer Cooperation with Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee is WelcomedThe General Assembly this morning raised to $22,000 the ceiling which retired United Nations staff drawing pension benefits could earn per year through re-employment with the Organization.
Nearly doubling the previous $12,000 limit set in 1982, the Assembly took that action by adopting one of five draft texts recommended by its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), all adopted without votes. The Assembly also decided that no pension-drawing retiree could be re-employed by the United Nations at a higher level than that reached at the time of separation. Nor would a retiree be paid at a level higher than a regular staff member carrying out the same function.
Acting on the other Fifth Committee texts, all relating to peace-keeping operations, the Assembly:
-- Authorized the Secretary-General to commit $12.5 million gross ($11.6 million net) for support and liquidation of the combined United Nations Peace Forces in the former Yugoslavia for the period 1 November to 31 December; and urged the Secretary-General to ask some Governments to reimburse the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNPROFOR) for its payment of at least $37 million as excise duty on petroleum, oil and lubricants since 1 October 1993, contrary to the status-of- forces agreement and United Nations general conditions on contracts.
-- Cut the appropriation and apportionment it had provided for the liquidation of United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH), beginning 1 July, from $15.9 million gross ($15.4 million net) to $1.2 million gross and net.
-- Appropriated $28.7 million gross ($27.5 million net) for the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) for the period 1 July to 31 December. As an ad hoc arrangement, the Assembly apportioned among Member States $24 million gross ($23 million net) for the period 1 July to
30 November, and another $4.7 million gross ($4.5 million net) for the period 1 to 31 December, should the Security Council extend the mandate of UNSMIH beyond 30 November.
-- Endorsed the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) that, among other things, the Secretary-General propose financial and time limits on United Nations liabilities and establish a standard format for preparing claims the Organization would consider.
In other action this morning, the Assembly noted with satisfaction the enhancement of cooperation between the United Nations and the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee. The Assembly did so by adopting, without a vote, a resolution by which it also noted the Consultative Committee's work to strengthen the role of the United Nations and its organs such as the International Court of Justice.
During a discussion on the Consultative Committee, representatives from these countries spoke: Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Ireland (for the European Union and associated States), Egypt, Iran, Kenya and India. A statement was also made on behalf of the Secretary-General of the Committee.
Also this morning, the Assembly began its mid-term review of the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. The representative of Japan introduced a draft resolution containing recommendations of the working group on the mid-term review on how to accelerate implementation of the Agenda.
Statements on the mid-term review were made by the representatives of Cameroon, Tunisia, Brazil, China, Singapore, Australia and Norway.
The Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its consideration of implementation of the New Agenda for Africa.
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Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this morning to consider cooperation between the United Nations and the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee and implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s.
It was also scheduled to take action on reports of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) on financing of peace-keeping missions in the former Yugoslavia and in Haiti.
Cooperation with Asian-African Consultative Committee
For its consideration of cooperation between the United Nations and the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, the Assembly has before it a report of the Secretary-General on the matter as well as a related draft resolution.
According to the report (document A/51/360), the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, which was invited to participate in the General Assembly as an observer in 1980, has worked towards strengthening the role of the United Nations and its various organs, especially the International Court of Justice. The two organizations conduct consultations on matters of common interest through a cooperative framework which includes progressive development and codification international law. There has also been cooperation regarding matters in the economic, environmental and humanitarian fields.
In March 1996, the Consultative Committee held a special meeting on the establishment of an international criminal court, the proceedings of which were transmitted to the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, the report states. In addition, it has actively participated in the United Nations Decade of International Law (1990-1999), identifying a number of issues and activities of interest. Forty-two Member States participated in a meeting of legal advisers convened by the Consultative Committee at Headquarters during the fiftieth Assembly session.
The Consultative Committee has been represented at various United Nations meetings concerning international conventions and has collaborated with several United Nations bodies, the report goes on, adding that representatives of United Nations bodies have also participated at the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth sessions of the Committee, at Doha, Qatar in 1995 and Manila in 1996, respectively.
The Secretary-General says that early this year the Consultative Committee organized a seminar to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the World Court and continues to follow its work closely. It also urged the full
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and effective participation of its Member States in the International Seabed Authority so as to make it useful to the international community, and especially developing countries, during the present initial period. It has also taken an interest in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services and has worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The draft resolution (document A/51/L.13) would have the Assembly note with satisfaction the continuing efforts of the Consultative Committee towards strengthening the role of the United Nations and its various organs, including the International Court of Justice, and also note with appreciation the decision of the Consultative Committee to participate actively in the programmes of the United Nations Decade of International Law and programmes on environment and sustainable development. The Secretary-General would be requested to submit a report on the cooperation between the two organizations to the Assembly's fifty-third session.
The draft resolution is sponsored by China, Cyprus, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda.
Fifth Committee Reports
The report of the Fifth Committee on human resources management (document A/51/643) contains a draft decision, which was approved without a vote on 31 October, concerning the employment of retirees. That text would have the Assembly decide to set a ceiling across the board of $22,000 per calendar year, representing an updated amount of the $12,000 limit set by the Assembly in 1982, for the employment of retired staff in receipt of a pension from the United Nations. For language services staff the ceiling would be set at $40,000 per calendar year. The employment of retirees would be limited in all cases to no more than six months per calendar year.
The Assembly would also decide that no former staff member in receipt of a pension benefit should be re-employed at a level higher than that at which he or she separated from the organization concerned. Neither should such employees be remunerated at a level higher than that at which regular staff are remunerated for the same function at the same duty station. It would also request the Secretary-General to continue to seek geographical as well as gender balance in employing retirees.
By other terms of the text, the Secretary-General would be requested to strictly observe the current practice that retirees must be medically cleared before re-employment. He would also be requested to report every two years on all aspects of the use of retired personnel, including on the possible revision of the salary limits now being proposed and on the categories and levels of those recruited.
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The report of the Fifth Committee on the financing of the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNPROFOR), the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation Croatia (UNCRO), the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) and United Nations Peace Forces in the former Yugoslavia (UNPF) (document A/51/639) recommends a draft resolution which was also approved without a vote on 31 October. Under its provisions, the Assembly would authorize the Secretary-General to commit $12.5 million gross ($11.6 million net) for the period 1 November to 31 December, for the support and liquidation of the combined forces. It would also have the Assembly apportion some $115.4 million gross ($113.9 million net), which it had previously appropriated.
For Member States that had paid up their dues to the missions, the Assembly would, by the terms of the draft, use their respective share of the unencumbered balance of about $227.4 million gross ($227.9 million net) to offset their portion of the apportioned $115.4 million gross. In the case of States which owed money to the missions, their shares of the unencumbered balance would be applied to their arrears to the missions.
Expressing its concern about the payment by UNPROFOR for items that should have been provided without cost under the status-of-forces agreement, the Assembly would, according to the text, urge the Secretary-General to ask the governments concerned to reimburse the Force for those expenditures. It would also ask the Secretary-General to withhold the settlement of claims submitted by those governments until the matter of the expenditures had been resolved. All Member States that host United Nations peace-keeping missions would be reminded of the importance of concluding and complying with status-of-forces agreements with the Organization when missions were authorized.
The Committee's report on administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of United Nations peace-keeping operations (document A/51/640) contains a draft resolution approved without a vote on 31 October, which concerns the scope of United Nations liability for the activities of United Nations forces, procedures for handling third-party claims and to limitations of liability. Under its provisions, the Assembly would endorse the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) on the subject. The ACABQ had endorsed the Secretary-General's proposals to place financial and time limits on United Nations liabilities even though the ceiling of compensation, the modalities of establishing the financial limits and the duration of limitation periods must be further studied. It had also recommended that the Organization establish a standard format for preparing claims.
The draft would also have the Assembly ask the Secretary-General to develop criteria and guidelines for the means of limiting the liability of the Organization. Those means could include financial and time limits on
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compensations, counter-claims and the recovery of some claims from States contributing contingents for the damage caused by gross negligence of an individual member of the Force.
The Fifth Committee's report on the financing of the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) (document A/51/637) recommends a draft resolution, approved by it on 31 October without a vote, which would have the Assembly reduce the appropriation and apportionment it had previously agreed on for the Mission's liquidation in the amount of $15.9 million gross ($15.4 million net), inclusive of $377,400 for the support account for peace-keeping operations. The reduced figure for the period beginning 1 July would be $1.2 million gross ($1.2 million net) and would be inclusive of the amount of $377,400 for the support account for peace-keeping operations.
The Assembly would also decide, for Member States that have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Mission, to set off against the apportionment their respective share in the reduced amount -- $1.2 million gross ($1.2 million net) -- from the unencumbered balance of $17.4 million gross ($16.7 million net) for the period from 1 August 1995 to 29 February. For those Member States that have not paid up their dues to the Mission, the Assembly would decide that their share of that balance be set off against their outstanding obligations. It would then decide that the remainder of the unencumbered balance, $16.2 million gross ($15.5 million net), for the period from 1 August 1995 to 29 February should be credited to Member States.
By other provisions of the text, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to submit detailed explanations on the circumstances which led to the overexpenditure of $6.7 million with respect to the original estimates for the Mission.
The report of the Committee on the financing of the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) (document A/51/638) recommends a draft resolution, also approved without a vote on 31 October, by which the Assembly would appropriate $28.7 million gross ($27.5 million net) for the Mission's maintenance for the period from 1 July to 31 December. That amount would include $13.4 million gross and net remaining from the appropriation that had been made for the liquidation of UNMIH -- the predecessor Mission -- and $5.8 million gross ($5.4 million net) authorized for 16 September to 15 October.
Also by the draft, the Assembly would decide, as an ad hoc arrangement, to apportion $24 million gross ($23 million net) for the period 1 July to 30 November among Member States. It would also decide, as an ad hoc arrangement, to apportion among Member States $4.7 million gross ($4.5 million net) for the period 1 to 31 December, subject to the Security Council extending the mandate of UNSMIH beyond 30 November.
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New Agenda for Africa
On the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s, the Assembly has before it the report of its Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole which conducted the mid-term review of the New Agenda's implementation, held at Headquarters from 16 to 20 September.
In its report (document A/51/48), the Committee recommends to the Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution by which it would adopt the conclusions of the mid-term review consisting of an assessment of the responses and measures to accelerate the implementation of the New Agenda, as set forth in an annex to the resolution. The Assembly would request Governments and organizations to take appropriate measures to implement fully the recommendations contained in the annex. In addition, it would decide to conduct a final review and appraisal of the implementation of the New Agenda at its fifty-sixth session in 2002.
In its report, the Ad Hoc Committee recalls that by resolution 46/151 of 18 December 1991, the Assembly adopted the New Agenda, in which African countries reaffirmed their primary responsibility for the development of their countries. In turn, the international community committed itself to Africa's efforts based on the principles of partnership and shared responsibility. Among the primary objectives of the New Agenda are the accelerated transformation, integration, diversification and growth of African economies and the internalization of the process of their development.
Many of the critical social and economic problems which led to the adoption by the Assembly of the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development and of the New Agenda still exist, and have even worsened in some cases, the report states.
It notes that the Secretary-General estimated that to achieve an average annual growth rate of real gross national product (GNP) of at least 6 per cent by African countries in the 1990s, a minimum of $30 billion in official development assistance (ODA) was required in 1992, after which it needed to grow at an average rate of 4 per cent per annum. However, ODA stood at only $26.4 billion in 1995, and the continent's external indebtedness increased from $300 billion in 1991 to $322 billion in 1995. A lot remains to be done, which is why the focus of the New Agenda has to be implementation, the report stressed.
On the economic reforms currently going on in African countries, the Committee recommends that they could, among other measures, deepen such reforms, encourage domestic savings and national and foreign direct investment, as well as continue to improve public expenditure patterns. On the subject of promotion of the private sector and foreign direct investment, measures recommended include promoting economic reforms and improving
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infrastructure, pursuing and implementing specific measures to attract investment, and encouraging further privatization measures. The Committee also recommends strengthening existing efforts to improve governance, broadening popular participation and involving non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the New Agenda in the intensification of the democratization process and the strengthening of civil society.
Addressing matters related to environment and development, the Committee recommends urgent action to combat poverty, and the implementation of the Bamako Convention of 1991, by which Africa took the step of banning the import of toxic waste into the continent. Its recommendations on desertification and drought include early ratification of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, and measures to support the elaboration and the effective implementation of national, subregional and regional action programmes.
Concerning agriculture, rural development and food security, its recommendations include implementing policies that enhance agricultural productivity, the development of rural economies, the diversification of agricultural output, the promotion of agricultural methods that use sound ecological practices and the management of food aid in such a manner that it does not undermine local food production.
Following its consideration of the human dimension of development, the Committee recommends that African countries expand access to, and improve the quality of basic education and primary health care, enhance scientific and technical capacities and integrate the gender perspective into national development programmes.
The Committee also recommends, on the subject of regional and subregional cooperation and integration, the acceleration of the process of harmonizing and rationalizing the institutional framework for regional and subregional economic integration, as well as encouraging the participation of the private sector in the process. On the subject of South-South cooperation, its recommendations include African countries intensifying consultations with other developing countries to coordinate and strengthen exchanges, and that cooperation between them and other developing countries continue to be actively pursued.
The Committee makes recommendations on how the international community can assist Africa. On resource flows, it recommends mobilization of substantial new resources from all sources and that foreign direct investment flows increase to supplement the availability of resources for economic development in Africa. Additional measures should include further improvement of the investment climate in African countries.
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Among others measures, the Committee recommends combating the African debt problem by encouraging creditors (with respect to commercial debt) to consider continuing the initiatives and efforts to address the problems of the heavily indebted. On trade facilitation and market access, it recommends that African countries continue to develop their capabilities to promote intra- African trade and to improve international competitiveness. The international community should support those efforts to enable those countries cope with the challenges and benefit from multilateral trade arrangements, it states, adding that Africa's trading partners should also consider further reducing tariffs and removing non-tariff barriers for African products.
Concerning diversification of African economies, the Committee recommends that the international community continues to support commodity diversification. The Common Fund for Commodities was invited to facilitate procedures for submitting projects. Also, cooperation between the Fund and African regional economic organizations should be intensified. Other recommendations include the Common Fund establishing a project formulation facility, using African expertise as much as possible to enhance the capacity of the least developed and other African countries to design commodity development projects. The African Development Bank and the Common Fund should also collaborate with regard to commodity development measures.
On international cooperation, the report notes that the series of United Nations development-related conferences has achieved a global consensus on the importance of the interdependence of such issues as social development, economic development, environmental protection and human rights which places human beings at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. It notes that the economic recovery and development of Africa had been proclaimed one of the top priority issues of the United Nations in the 1990s, with even a special section of its programme budget being established for it.
The recently-launched United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa is complementary to the New Agenda and is also designed to facilitate its implementation and that of the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences as they relate to Africa, according to the Committee's report. The international community should endeavour to assist African countries to establish the African economic community, to strengthen the functioning of existing subregional organizations and scientific organizations. Non-African non-governmental organizations can make greater use of thematic and other informal forums at the field level, the report states.
The Committee recommends that monitoring and evaluation for the implementation and follow-up of the New Agenda at the national, regional and global level be improved. It further recommends that in the context of country cooperation frameworks, the United Nations agencies, through the resident coordinator system, ensure that the relevant recommendations of the mid-term review are integrated and implemented. The final review and
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appraisal of the New Agenda should be conducted in 2002 by an ad hoc committee of the whole of the fifty-sixth session. The Secretary-General should also bring the outcome of the present mid-term review to the attention of the United Nations system of organizations and of other international organizations for follow-up action.
Also before the Assembly is a report of the Secretary-General (document A/51/228 and Add.1) which was before the Committee for its deliberations on the implementation of the New Agenda. It reviews some critical development issues affecting the implementation of the New Agenda and recommends measures to accelerate that implementation and generally to foster sustained and sustainable growth and development in Africa. "The imperative tense is used [in the report] in order to highlight these measures", states the Secretary-General. An annex to the report gives an account of the performance in the implementation of the New Agenda, focusing on efforts by all parties concerned. An addendum contains estimates of projected resource requirements from all sources needed for the full implementation of the New Agenda and the assessment of the actual mobilization of resources for the period 1992-1995.
Statements
RAUL GOCO (Philippines), Acting Chairman of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, introduced the draft resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the Committee. He said India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bhutan and Iran had joined as co-sponsors.
HERMAND LEONARD DE SILVA (Sri Lanka) said that his country was privileged to have worked with the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee since its inception. It had played an invaluable role since the 1950s in creating a wider appreciation of international legal issues among the newly independent States of Asia and Africa, then emerging from colonial rule. It helped in the formulation and progressive development of the existing norms and principles of international law, taking into account the political and economic needs of those developing countries.
He cited the Committee's contributions in various fields, such as the Third United Nations Conference of the Law of the Sea (especially the concept of the Exclusive Economic Zone); the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and the formulation of legal instruments that emerged from that conference; and the Convention on Bio-diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change. The draft resolution, he said, reflected the need to enhance the cooperation between the United Nations and the role of the Committee in strengthening the United Nations and its organs, particularly the International Law Commission and the International Court of Justice. The Committee's workshop with the UNHCR on refugee law would ensure an Asian- African dimension in current international negotiations.
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CHEN SHIQIU (China) said that since the Committee's establishment 40 years ago, it had become a significant and unique regional intergovernmental organization of an intergovernmental and regional nature, with its formal membership increased from seven States to the present 43. It was not only a forum for consultation and cooperation on legal issues between Asian and African States but also made important contributions to the development and codification of international law.
He hoped that effective cooperation between the United Nations and the Committee could be further enhanced, so that all societies could advance towards a just and sound new international order based on the principles of peaceful co-existence and the spirit of the Bandung conference.
MALIKUS SUAMIN (Indonesia) said the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee had oriented its activities to complement the work of the United Nations and had established close relations with the Organization and its various agencies engaged in law and economic matters. The Committee had succeeded in formulating a common approach to complex international legal issues and had assisted in opening up new vistas for the global community, so it might work together for peace, justice and development.
The Committee's role in the programme of the United Nations Decade of International Law should be strengthened, he said. The Decade provided a unique opportunity to enhance cooperation between the two organizations, particularly in the holding of seminars, workshops and scholarship programmes in conjunction with other specialized agencies. The Committee's contribution in promoting the legal texts of UNCITRAL had assisted Member States in harmonizing rules in that field.
He said Indonesia was encouraged by the Committee's initiatives in the study of refugee law and its problems. Working closely with the Office of UNHCR, the Committee had held seminars to inform the international community about legislative issues concerning the treatment of refugees.
Francis Hayes (Ireland), speaking for the European Union and Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, said the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee had made great efforts in promoting the wider use of the International Court of Justice and its active participation in the ongoing debate on the establishment of an international criminal court. The Union was grateful to the Committee for measures it had taken towards promoting the ratification and implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It had also done much important work in the area international economic cooperation for development. He cited other activities of the Committee and said the European Union was pleased to note that it had established regional arbitration centres in Cairo,
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Kuala Lumpur and Lagos to assist in the promotion and implementation of the arbitration rules of UNCITRAL and that a similar centre was planned for Nairobi.
AHMED FATHALLA (Egypt) said the Committee had oriented its programme of work to give priority to issues of interest to the United Nations, including strengthening the United Nations system. The Committee realized the need to quickly change its method of work in order to better support the United Nations effort. It had recently convened a meeting to discuss the current United Nations work to establish an international criminal court. In past years, he noted, cooperation had focused on such issues as economic development and refugees, with regional arbitration centres established by the Consultative Committee. Current steps were under way to establish a fourth arbitration centre in Nairobi.
MEHDI DANESH-YAZDI (Iran) said the nations of Asia and Africa had been eager to bring the rule of law into inter-State relations and to participate in the codification of international law and its progress development. That desire led to the establishment of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee forty years ago. Since that time, it had played a significant role in exploring and harmonizing the needs, views and positions of African and Asian countries concerning aspects of international law.
Cooperation between the United Nations and the Committee had been consolidated and had found new dimensions in recent years, he continued. Likewise, representatives of the United Nations Legal Office had participated in meetings of the Committee. Cooperation had not been limited to the lawmaking process, but had included such efforts as facilitation of the ratification process of international legal instruments.
NJUGUNA M. MAHUGU (Kenya) said that his country had had a long and productive association with the Legal Consultative Committee. It had done outstanding work in promoting interregional as well as international cooperation, with a view to strengthening the role of the United Nations in the progressive development and codification of international law, as well as in economic and humanitarian matters. As a developing country, Kenya highly valued the many studies and workshops and seminars organized by the Committee in areas of concern to African and Asian countries. He appealed to Member States to pay their outstanding contributions in full so that the Committee could continue its work.
SANTOSH MOHAN DEV, Member of Parliament of India, said his country had had the honour of hosting the Committee since its inception. He cited various activities recently undertaken by the Committee, notably its discussions on International Trade Law, refugees, the Law of the Sea and environmental law. The able leadership of the Committee, he noted, was now undertaking a rationalization of its work programmes and priorities, due to increasing
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demand stemming from the growing importance of international law. Also, the training programmes of legal cooperation between the Committee and other international bodies could only enhance its cooperation with the United Nations. Its efforts to modernize its functional apparatus within its limited budget were also praiseworthy.
K. BHAGWAT-SINGH, on behalf of TANG CHENGYUAN, the Secretary-General of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, said that since the Committee had been granted permanent observer status before the General Assembly in 1960, its work had been predominantly aimed at rendering assistance to the Member Governments of the Consultative Committee in their consideration of items before the United Nations Sixth (Legal) Committee. It had also made efforts towards strengthening the United Nations through the promotion of the ratification and implementation of key international instruments, and through such initiatives as wider use of the International Court of Justice for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
The Consultative Committee was among the first regional organizations, in the 1960s, to study the matter of the legality of nuclear weapons. The present session, he added, also marked the thirtieth anniversary of the principles relating to the treatment of refugees adopted by the Committee at its eighth session, today known as the Bangkok Principles.
He said the new international order should affirm such principles as the sovereign equality of States and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States; the non-use of force; the peaceful settlement of disputes; respect for Treaties; respect for human rights; the right to development; the protection and preservation of the environment; and the principle of the common heritage of mankind.
He said the Consultative Committee would commemorate the fortieth anniversary of its constitution by, among other things, publishing a collection of essays on international law by scholars, international lawyers and officials of Member States and United Nations bodies.
The draft resolution was adopted by the Assembly without a vote.
Reports of the Fifth Committee
Acting on recommendations of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the Assembly adopted, without votes, the following texts:
-- A draft decision on the employment of retirees;
-- a draft resolution on the financing of the UNPROFOR, UNPREDEP and the UNPF Headquarters;
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-- a draft resolution on the scope of United Nations liability for the activities of United Nations forces, procedures for handling third-party claims and to limitations of liability;
-- a draft resolution on the financing of UNMIH;
-- and a draft resolution on the financing of UNSMIH.
New Agenda for Africa
HISASHI OWADA (Japan) introduced the draft resolution on the mid-term review of the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. After introducing the draft, on behalf of the Assembly's Committee of the whole dealing with that matter, and speaking as the permanent representative for Japan, he went on to say that the "economic take-off" of a significant number of African countries through development would enhance not only the well-being of Africans, but would also benefit the international economic system. At the Group of 7 Economic Summit in 1993, his country had introduced the New Development Strategy which had served as the basis for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development held last year. Japan was now planning a second such conference in 1998, and intended to link those efforts with those of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa. He proposed establishing common targets based on a new partnership of all involved in the development process.
To implement the New Agenda, he said, Japan had proposed that south- south cooperation be put into practice in the area of human resource development in Africa and urged the Assembly to intensify dialogue with other international development agencies on strengthening collaborative efforts.
JEAN-MARC MPAY (Cameroon), for the African Group, said the New Agenda for Africa represented the concept of a new philosophy with shared but differentiated responsibilities. The African countries had fulfilled, in an overwhelming majority, the targets stipulated in the New Agenda.
Over the last five years, significant progress had been made regarding democratic reforms and better management. The majority of African countries had adopted liberal investment codes; most of them had been able to keep inflation down to around 5 per cent. Public participation was expressed through non-governmental organizations and a working group had been created, at a continental level, to coordinate their work with the Organization of African States (OAU).
New initiatives for promoting regional peace had proliferated, he said, citing the OAU mechanism for the prevention of conflict, the United Nations committee on African security, the Economic Community of West African States'
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Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) initiative in Liberia, and similar mechanisms operating in southern Africa.
He said the New Agenda for Africa, its plans and ambitious programmes, would be nothing without the political will to carry them out. He said he appealed on behalf of all of Africa, not for charity but for the removal of obstacles that constrained Africa in its path to development. The flow of capital diminished daily, development aid was decreasing, the external debt was getting heavier every day and it was increasingly difficult for African primary commodities to accede to have access to world markets.
He said Africa welcomed the initiatives undertaken by both the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), as well as recent initiatives on Africa's external debt benefiting indebted countries. At the dawn of the third millennium, Africa was still the continent facing the most challenges. The primary responsibility belonged to Africans themselves, but their efforts should be supported by the international community.
SLAHEDDINE ABDELLAH (Tunisia) said the United Nations New Agenda for Africa had committed the Organization to the economic emancipation of the continent. In 1992, he recalled, 20 African countries had had negative growth; in 1995, that number was only four. In 1992, the continent had a growth rate of 6 per cent; by 1995 that had risen to 12 per cent.
International cooperation with Africa was especially crucial today, he continued, because it involved such vital areas as the transfer of technology, consultative services, joint enterprises, trade and investment. The marginalization of Africa regarding direct foreign investment was comparable to its marginalization from world trade, which was especially worrying. The level of the debt had not gone down to the target level in the New Agenda, and development assistance was decreasing significantly. Tunisia wished to launch an appeal to the international community to help achieve the objectives of the Agenda.
CELSO AMORIM (Brazil) said the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda for Africa addressed issues that were critical to the international community as a whole. The role of the United Nations was crucial in translating commitments into concrete action. Certain areas of the Secretariat should be strengthened, in order to play a more active role; those were the Office of the Special Coordinator for Africa and the Least Developed Countries, and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Brazil, though not a major donor, could play a role. It was deploying efforts to share with African nations, Brazil's own experience in struggling for development. This was already a reality in a number of areas: management of agricultural policies, electric power generation, tropical agricultural
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techniques. Other activities were under way within multilateral initiatives such as the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic. There was already some coordination between Brazil and Africa within international organizations on primary commodities and recently there had been new modalities of cooperation. Brazil had also contributed troops for peace- keeping in Angola and was ready to increase its cooperation and commitment to the New Agenda.
WANG XUEXIAN (China) said there was no doubt that Africans would continue to undertake the primary responsibility for the economic and social development of Africa. However, the ruthless exploitation of the past, and poverty and underdevelopment, seriously hampered their efforts. International support must be based on partnership and shared responsibility. Such a partnership would involve the establishment of a favourable external environment, alleviation of debt burden and increase capital flow into Africa. Free terms of trade must be established and the access to markets in developing countries for African commodities should be increased. Concrete action must support the efforts to develop cooperation between African countries, including regional economic integration and cooperation. The choices of the African countries regarding their own development must be respected.
Strengthening cooperation with developing countries, including those in Africa, was important to China's foreign policy, he said. While continuing to provide government assistance to the African countries without political conditions, China would encourage cooperation between African countries and would work to expand the channels of trade between China and Africa.
CHRISTINE LEE (Singapore) said African countries had acknowledged that their future was in their own hands. But the international community must take concrete steps to help African countries adjust to the new global market environment. Greater investment inflows, diversification of export production and expanded access to external markets were required. The quality of international support to Africa must be improved.
South-south cooperation was a viable strategy for African development, she continued. Singapore, fully committed to such cooperation, had adopted a stage-by-stage approach for the provision of technical assistance to other developing countries. Due to limited resources, Singapore had been able to focus efforts on only four African countries. However, efforts would be expanded to include nine countries in the near future. Currently, Singapore was exploring new ways of extending the reach of its technical assistance to as many African countries as possible. Those initiatives were being assisted by Singapore's private sector. An African scholarship plan had been announced this year by which Singapore companies would offer scholarships to African nationals.
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RALPH WILLIS (Australia) said Africa's problems were clearly of such dimension that they required special and extraordinary efforts. Such efforts must be made by the international community along with the African countries. He noted the situation in Mozambique as an example of adjustments successfully undertaken by an African country, resulting in the improvement of the economic and social situation of its population. While debate over structural adjustment and poverty continued, growth dividend could already be seen in Mozambique, fostered by structural reforms and economic liberalization, with the help of international financial institutions. For all of Africa to make such social and economic progress, even greater reform efforts were required, along with enhanced support from the international community.
It was within that context that Australia welcomed the Secretary-General's initiative on Africa, he said. While part of that initiative had been enacted, such as debt relief for the most highly indebted countries by the Bretton Woods institutions, much more needed to be done. Australia supported the plan of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to sell some of the IMF's gold reserves to finance debt relief efforts. Inclusion of Africa in the global trading network was also key to generating economic growth. An economic transformation involving diversification of African economies would be needed for that effort to succeed. Also, the complicated process of developing a strong industrial base must be undertaken.
SVEIN AASS (Norway) said the mid-term review process had highlighted some of the central causes for the lack of implementation of the New Agenda. It had been hampered by the fact that it was not sufficiently anchored in the Governments in Africa, and consequently the New Agenda had not been adequately integrate into their development plans. The countries in question, he said, often did not possess the necessary administrative capacity to deal with too many donors and agencies. It was therefore necessary to ensure that initiatives were well coordinated and broad-based, and that the United Nations system act in a unified manner at the country level. Also, to secure financing, it was imperative that donors be consulted in time to ensure sufficient funding.
He said the review also suffered from the fact that there was no outline for the practical implementation of the Special Initiative. The real challenge ahead was to start the implementation at the country level, but before that could be done, modalities for coordination and cooperation should be clearly defined, so as to not lose more time. African children, he concluded, deserved a hope for the future that stretched beyond day-to-day survival.
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