GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS ASKED FOR ACTION TO SECURE BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISABLED PERSONS

28 October 1997

Press Release
GA/SHC/3427

GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS ASKED FOR ACTION TO SECURE BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISABLED PERSONS

19971028 Committee Text Cites Employment, Social Services, Access; Discussion on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Concluded

The General Assembly would encourage governments and the non-governmental community to examine key social and economic policy issues relating to the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities, by a draft resolution approved by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) this afternoon.

The Committee also heard the introduction of two draft resolutions on issues related to the advancement of women and concluded its discussion on the issues of crime prevention and criminal justice and international drug control.

By the draft text on the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, governments and the non-governmental community would be asked to address such issues as accessibility, social services and social safety nets, and employment and sustainable livelihoods for disabled persons. The Assembly would also decide that the next quinquennial review of the World Programme of Action, in 2002, shall consider those key economic and policy issues.

Also this afternoon, the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania, speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and other co-sponsors, introduced a draft resolution on the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). The representative of the Philippines introduced a draft text on violence against women migrant workers.

The draft proposal on INSTRAW would urge the Secretary-General to fill the existing vacancies in the Institute to permit it to carry out its mandate. The Institute would be requested to better coordinate its activities for gender mainstreaming with relevant entities of the United Nations system, with a view to developing joint activities and work plans in appropriate areas.

By the terms of the text on violence against women migrant workers the Secretary-General would be requested to submit to the Assembly's fifty-fourth session a comprehensive report on the problem. The report would include views of Member States and all available information from organizations of the

Third Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/SHC/3427 18th Meeting (PM) 28 October 1997

United Nations system, including the International Labour Organization International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).

As it concluded its discussion on crime prevention and criminal justice, several representatives expanded on the issue of drugs and crime as they related to geographic location, calling for shared responsibility in addressing the problems. The representative of Haiti said her country's location at the "crossroads of crime" made it particularly vulnerable. Organized crime, which was new to the country, was made worse by the deportation of unwanted Haitian prisoners back to Haiti by host countries.

The representative of Malta said his country's geo-strategic location at the centre of the Mediterranean exposed it to a multitude of transnational crimes, from drug trafficking and money laundering to contraband importation and illegal migration. The international community must take action with stronger cooperation and coordination, because it was losing the fight against drug barons.

The forthcoming General Assembly special session on illicit drugs was welcome, said the representative of Libya, but it should stress the role of consumer States. Those States should demonstrate that they were making all efforts to lower demand for drugs. They must help producer countries with alternate means of development.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Poland, Turkey, Myanmar and Azerbaijan.

The Third Committee will meet again at 10 a.m., on Thursday, 30 October, to begin consideration of issues related to the rights of children.

Committee Work Programme

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to hear the introduction of two draft resolutions on issues related to the advancement of women. It was also to take action on two draft resolutions on issues related to social development. The Economic and Social Council has recommended the resolutions to the Assembly for adoption.

The Committee will also continue its consideration of issues related to crime prevention and criminal justice, and international drug control. (For details, see Press Release GA/SHC/3422 of 23 October.)

Texts on Advancement of Women

A draft resolution on the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) (document A/C.3/52/L.17), sponsored by the "Group of 77" developing countries, as well as Mexico and Turkey, would have the Assembly welcome the appointment of the Director of the Institute and take note with appreciation of the work done by the previous Acting Director. It would urge the Secretary-General to fill the existing vacancies in the Institute in order to permit it to carry out its mandate. The Institute would also be requested to better coordinate its activities for gender mainstreaming with relevant entities of the United Nations system, with a view to developing joint activities and work plans in appropriate areas.

In other terms of the draft, the Assembly would request the Institute's Director to develop a funding strategy and to establish a link between the activities of the Institute and its resource base. Member States, inter- governmental organizations, the private sector and civil society would be invited to contribute generously to the United Nations Trust Fund for the Institute.

A draft resolution on violence against women migrant workers (document A/C.3/52/L.19) would have the Assembly request the Secretary-General to submit, at its fifty-fourth session, a comprehensive report on the problem of violence against women migrant workers. The report would include views of Member States and it would be based on expertise and all available information from organizations of the United Nations system. Information from other relevant sources, including non-governmental organizations would be included, as would information about the implementation of the resolution.

In addition, the draft would urge the Governments of sending and receiving countries to strengthen their national efforts to protect and promote the rights and welfare of women migrant workers.

The draft is sponsored by Bangladesh, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Zambia.

Third Committee - 3 - Press Release GA/SHC/3427 18th Meeting (PM) 28 October 1997

Draft resolutions on Social Development

By terms of a 28-Power draft resolution on education for all (document A/C.3/52/L.11), the Assembly would ask the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and in consultation with Member States, to consider launching a decade to eradicate illiteracy, as part of the means to achieve "education for all" objectives. The Secretary-General would be asked to report to the Assembly's session in 1999 on the feasibility of such a decade.

By other terms of the draft, the Assembly would recommend that Member States, relevant United Nations organizations and non-governmental organizations provide information on implementing the strategies of "education for all", both to the Secretary-General and the Director-General of UNESCO, to enable them to report on progress and shortfalls in attaining that goal. It would reaffirm that basic education for all was an effective means for achieving the aims of eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth and achieving gender equality, as well as ensuring democracy, peace and sustainable development. The Assembly would appeal to all governments to step up their efforts to eradicate illiteracy and to direct education towards the full development of the human personality and the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The draft is sponsored by Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Madagascar, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, Sudan and Turkey.

By a 10-Power draft resolution on implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons (document A/C.3/52/L.12), the Assembly would encourage governments and the non-governmental community to examine key social and economic policy issues relating to the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities. In particular, they would be asked to address such issues as accessibility, social services and social safety nets, and employment and sustainable livelihoods. The Assembly would also decide that the next quinquennial review of the World Programme of Action, in 2002, should consider those key economic and policy issues relating to the disabled.

Governments and the private sector would be invited to continue to support the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability. The Assembly would ask the Secretary-General to develop a plan to increase the accessibility of the United Nations and its offices and meetings to persons with disabilities.

In addition, the Assembly would note with appreciation the valuable work undertaken by the Commission for Social Development's Special Rapporteur on Disability. It would also welcome the second round of monitoring the implementation of the standard rules on the equalization of opportunities and

Third Committee - 4 - Press Release GA/SHC/3427 18th Meeting (PM) 28 October 1997

the cooperation of the Special Rapporteur with the Commission on Human Rights, especially with the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The draft resolution is sponsored by Canada, Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Sweden and Turkey.

Introduction of draft texts

RADHIA N. MSUYA (United Republic of Tanzania) introduced the draft resolution on the INSTRAW on behalf of the co-sponsors of the draft text -- the "Group of 77" developing countries, Afghanistan, Austria, China, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain and Turkey.

LINGLINGAY F. LACANLALE (Philippines), introducing the draft resolution on violence against migrant workers, said Argentina, Austria, Belgium and Peru had been added to the list of co-sponsors. She said this year the draft resolution on the issue had an increased emphasis on joint action and sustained international cooperation. The resolution, therefore, included several new elements such as exchange of information, positive experiences and innovative approaches.

She amended preambular paragraph 7 as follows: the word "stressing" was changed to "recognizing". The paragraph would, therefore, read as follows: Recognizing the importance of joint and collaborative approaches .....

In operative paragraph 3, the word "including" was added to line three and deleted from line four; "the" was added to the fifth line of the paragraph. The paragraph, therefore, reads as follows: "Urges concerned governments, particularly those of sending and receiving countries, to strengthen their national efforts to protect and promote the rights and welfare of women migrant workers, including through sustained bilateral, regional, interregional and international cooperation, by developing strategies and joint action, and taking into account the innovative approaches and experiences of individual member States;"

Action on Draft Texts

On the draft resolution on education for all, Committee Chairman, ALESSANDRO BUSACCA (Italy), said the Committee was still not ready to take action.

The Chairman then called on the Committee to take action on the draft resolution on implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons: towards a society for all in the twenty-first century. He said the draft text contained no programme implications.

Third Committee - 5 - Press Release GA/SHC/3427 18th Meeting (PM) 28 October 1997

LINGLINGAY F. LACANLALE (Philippines) made an amendment to the draft, as follows: the phrase "concerned non-governmental organizations" was added to operative paragraph 8, following the clause "invites Governments". The paragraph would now begin as follows: "Invites Governments, concerned non- governmental organizations and the private sector to continue to support the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability with a view to providing additional support ......"

She named these additional co-sponsors of the draft text: Algeria, Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Korea, Iceland, Spain, India, and Ukraine.

In response to a question by the Committee Chairman, the following States also co-sponsored the draft: Germany, Belgium, Finland, Barbados, Eritrea, Romania, San Marino, Ireland, Guinea, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mongolia, Colombia, Poland, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic and the Netherlands.

The Committee adopted the draft resolution, as orally revised, without a vote.

Statements

JOANNA WRONECKA (Poland) said no State, not even the most powerful, could combat organized crime alone. Close cooperation among States was urgently needed, in particular, effective coordination between law enforcement institutions and criminal justice systems. Apart from domestic measures, the common struggle against organized crime called for a concerted response at the international level. That was the reason for elaborating an international convention on organized crime.

The proposed convention would not affect the value of or interfere with the application of the existing legal instruments, she said. The initiative was based on experience with bilateral and regional agreements and conventions regarding crime prevention and combating crime. It would not preclude the undertaking of other measures, including legal instruments or initiatives.

The substantial part of legal preparations should be done at Vienna, she concluded. Then the text should be transmitted to the General Assembly for adoption. In January 1998, Poland was hosting an intergovernmental expert group to elaborate a preliminary draft convention.

NICOLE ROMULUS (Haiti) said crime prevention and criminal justice activities had to be linked. Illicit drugs could not be separated from other scourges, such as money laundering. Haiti's geographic location at a crossroads where the drug trade crossed made it particularly vulnerable. Exchanges had taken place between Haiti, the United States and the Dominican Republic, which had led to capture of drugs, but despite such efforts, Haiti had not been able to escape crimes associated with illegal activities, especially organized crime.

Third Committee - 6 - Press Release GA/SHC/3427 18th Meeting (PM) 28 October 1997

Organized crime was new to Haiti, she said. Deportation of Haitian immigrants to their native land by host countries often increased the ranks of criminals in Haiti, when they were returned upon their release from prison in the host countries where they were undesirable. That worsened an already fragile situation, especially because the number of deported persons were equal to 10 per cent of the Haitian police force. Efforts had gone into reintegrating these deportees, or to giving warnings about their travels or activities, but such repatriates had no family structure to welcome them, nor did the government have a welcoming mechanism. Exchange of information was an important step.

AHMET ARDA (Turkey) said drug smuggling was a crime against humanity, and money from drug trafficking was the main financial source of transnational criminal organizations and in particular, terrorist groups. Turkey was a traditional poppy grower, and it had applied the "unlanced" method in poppy straw cultivation since 1974. That was the most expensive but most secure system, since it was intensively supported by Turkish law enforcement agencies and the system did not allow diversion to illicit channels.

Turkey attached utmost importance to the coming special session, he said. It would be an opportunity to take stock of achievements and an opportunity to provide political commitment and action-oriented inputs to concerted efforts in the international fight against the global problem.

JAMALEDDIN HAMIDA (Libya) said elimination of organized crime was one of the most demanding tasks before the international community, especially in areas such as drug trafficking. Sometimes new instruments were needed, but it was more important to implement existing laws. Some States had no commitment to international laws and adhered only to their views of the laws of others. There was no point in devising new instruments that would be respected only by some parties.

He said, when new instruments for international laws were framed, questions had to be asked, such as: How in line was the text with United Nations principles -- such as non-interference in internal affairs of nations? Did the convention have the possibility of finding worldwide ratification? For example, he continued, extraditions had to be a matter of bilateral agreements; States were responsible for implementing national laws in their territories.

He said the "dismal" financial situation of the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders could not fail to be mentioned. Its importance in fighting crime could not be overestimated, and it had to be properly funded.

The special session on narcotics was welcome, but all attempts to invoke the combating of illicit trafficking for political purposes, or for interfering in the internal laws of countries, were objectionable. Libya

Third Committee - 7 - Press Release GA/SHC/3427 18th Meeting (PM) 28 October 1997

objected to any measures for legalising drugs, and it wanted to stress the role of consumer states, which must demonstrate that they were making all efforts to lower demand for drugs.

U PE THEIN TIN (Myanmar) said he was disturbed that in the opening statement of the Executive Director of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention opium cultivation had been tied to Myanmar while other countries had been cited for being cooperative. That was a politicising of the issue when the Government of Myanmar was totally and irrevocably dedicated to the elimination of the opium poppy in the country.

The people of Myanmar had suffered from the opium drug from the time when it was introduced by colonialists in the 19th century to finance opium wars. The military, in operations against drug traffickers over the last ten years, had lost many lives and sustained injuries. Myanmar had made much progress, however, including in bilateral and multilateral agreements with such parties as China and Thailand, as part of the global programme of action. The United Nations International Drug Control Programme had been party to such agreements and mechanisms.

It was regretable that Myanmar had been singled out, he said. The people of his country had courageously confronted the danger of the drug, and they had come a long way against the scourge from the time when they had used opium only as a medicine for their elephants. It was hoped that in the near future, the remote border areas of the country would be free of the opium poppy for all time.

GEORGE SALIBA (Malta) said his country's geo-strategic location at the centre of the Mediterranean exposed it to a multitude of forms of transnational criminality, from drug trafficking and money laundering to contraband importation and illegal migration. The financial might of transnational criminality, given Malta's small size and limited capacity for interdiction, was a potential menace to the security of Malta's economic system and its law and order.

He said the international community's fight against "drug barons" was being lost. Stronger cooperation and coordination was needed between and among governments. The fight against drugs was among the top political priorities of the Government of Malta, and Malta's contribution to foreign organisations combating drugs was significant.

Malta reiterated its support for the forthcoming special session, which would be an opportunity for the international community to reaffirm its political commitment, and translate words into action in terms of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking.

FIKRET M. PASHAYEV (Azerbaijan) said that since the restoration of its independence, Azerbaijan had faced the negative impacts of illicit drugs,

Third Committee - 8 - Press Release GA/SHC/3427 18th Meeting (PM) 28 October 1997

as a legacy of the former Soviet Union. As a result, the number of drug- related crimes and the amount of narcotic drugs seized had increased. Among the causes of drug abuse and the growth of illegal drug trafficking were the existence of one million refugees and internally displaced persons, the high level of unemployment, a decline in living standards and the geographic location of the country, en route from Asia to Europe.

He said that, as a result of the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and the occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territory, a 132-kilometre-long section of the border with Iran was currently under the control of Armenian forces and facilitated the flow of drugs through that section of the border towards European countries. In addition, the local climate facilitated the cultivation of drug crops and this was a factor in promoting the development of synthetic drug production within the chemical industry in Azerbaijan.

Concrete activities undertaken by the Government of Azerbaijan in the fight against illicit drugs had included the preparation of a national programme to the year 2000 to fight drug abuse and the trafficking of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances, and the setting up of drug enforcement departments and expert services within the police force. Steps had also been taken to strengthen the customs and border services to control drug smuggling.

He spoke of the Baku Accord, the final document of the thirty-second session of the Subcommission on Illicit Drug Traffic and Related Matters in the Near and Middle East, hosted recently by Azerbaijan, and said the Accord had been submitted to the Economic and Social Council for dissemination to the General Assembly. He said it provided a regional perspective and a set of countermeasures to be taken within a certain timeframe to address the cultivation, trafficking, distribution and consumption of illicit drugs.

* *** *