THIRD COMMITTEE CONTINUES DEBATE ON ABUSE OF CHILDREN"S RIGHTS, ALSO HEARS INTRODUCTION OF DRAFT RESOLUTIONS

Press Release
GA/SHC/3538

THIRD COMMITTEE CONTINUES DEBATE ON ABUSE OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS, ALSO HEARS INTRODUCTION OF DRAFT RESOLUTIONS

Sexual exploitation of children was an increasingly transnational abuse of children’s rights which required stronger and more precise international prohibition, the Third Committee was told this afternoon by the representative of Australia, as it met to continue its consideration of issues related to promoting and protecting the rights of the child.

His country was active in responding to abuses of children’s rights beyond its borders, he continued. It had enacted extra- territorial legislation, it cooperated with law enforcement agencies of other countries, and it provided technical assistance to help combat the sexual exploitation of children. It had played an active role in negotiating the ILO Convention on child labour. Legislation enacted this year, giving greater definition and strength to the law on slavery and sexual servitude offences, contained aggravated offence provisions to protect children.

The representative of Finland, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said sexual exploitation of children was rampant. Only a world- wide ban on child pornography could be truly effective. Child pornography was a global, transnational problem. Information and awareness-raising were strong tools for preventing violations of the rights of the child.

The sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography were major concerns, the representative of Japan said. Advances in information technology had created new threats to the safety and dignity of children, many of which crossed national borders. Japan had instituted legislation to protect children and punish acts related to child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking in children for prostitution. Japan’s Overseas Development Fund would be used to improve the situation of such children.

Of equal concern as expressed today to the Committee was the related abuse of children in armed conflict. The representative of Canada said the plight of war-affected children was a most disturbing human security issue which had arisen in recent years, particularly the emerging trend targeting children both as combatants and victims.

Third Committee -1a - Press Release GA/SHC/3538 24th Meeting (PM) 27 October 1999

Canada would work closely with other States and United Nations bodies to end the violation of children’s rights in situations of armed conflict. Awareness-raising was an important component in bringing about change.

The representative of Kenya said children in conflict situations had suffered serious psychological trauma, particularly as a result of exploitation, whether by recruitment into armed groups or by sexual abuse. “How can we help these vulnerable children?”, he asked. One immediate way was to establish and encourage training and capacity- building in trauma counselling and rehabilitation at local levels for those dealing with children in post-conflict situations.

The representatives of Namibia (speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)), the United States, Norway, Senegal, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Jamaica, New Zealand, San Marino and Bangladesh also spoke.

In addition, the representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) made a statement.

This afternoon, as well, four draft resolutions were introduced. One concerned the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. Another concerned international cooperation against the world drug problem. The others were related to improving the status of women in the Secretariat and to the right to self-determination.

The Committee will meet again on Thursday, 28 October at 10 a.m. to continue its consideration of issues related to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.

Committee Work Programme

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to continue considering issues related to the protection and promotion of the rights of children.

Also before the Committee were a number of draft resolutions expected to be introduced.

By terms of a draft text on the African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (document A/C.3/54/L.22), the Assembly would urge States members of the Institute to make every effort to meet their obligations to the Institute. It would call upon Member States and the international community to adopt concrete practical measures, including by increasing their financial assistance, to support the Institute in developing the necessary capacity to implement its programmes and activities. It would request the Secretary-General to intensify efforts to mobilize relevant entities of the United Nations system, particularly the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, to provide the financial and technical support to enable the Institute to carry out its mandate. It would call upon the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme to work closely with the Institute. The draft resolution is sponsored by Burkina Faso.

Other draft resolutions included one on international cooperation against the world drug problem (document A/C.3/54/L.20); one on the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat (document A/C.3/54/L.19); one on the universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination (document A/C.3/54/L.25); and one on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (document A/C.3/54/L.14).

Statements

MARJATTA RASI (Finland), speaking also on behalf of the European Union, said the significance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on public policy worldwide could not be questioned. Ratification, however, was not enough. Implementation though national legislation was imperative. The most fundamental human right was the right to life. All States should refrain from applying the death penalty to juvenile offenders. Primary education to all children should be compulsory and free of charge. Poverty should not prevent anyone from securing a primary education, nor should education be denied to children because they were immigrants, minorities, in prison or indigenous children. Of equal concern was the protection and promotion of the rights of the girl child. The traditional cycle of discrimination from which girls suffered throughout their childhood and into adulthood must be broken. Eradication of prevailing psychological and social attitudes would be achieved through advocacy, information and education.

She said that in recent years, increased attention had been turned to the problem of child labour and yet some 250 million children between the ages of five and 14 years of age were still employed as child labourers worldwide. Child labour was both a consequence and cause of poverty, and must be seen in the context of strategies for poverty eradication and social development. Government must take the lead in translating into concrete action its commitment to the progressive and effective elimination of child labour.

Despite legislative progress, there were grave concerns she said. Sexual exploitation of children remained widespread and rampant. Only a worldwide ban on child pornography could be truly effective. Child pornography on the Internet presented complex challenges throughout the world. It was a global, transnational problem. Another common but not openly discussed phenomenon was the sexual abuse of children and other forms of violence children faced in their own home environments. Information and awareness raising were strong tools for preventing violations of the rights of the child.

MARTIN ANDJABA (Namibia), speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said many countries in all regions of the world had made concrete changes in law, policy and practice. Much remained to be done to implement provisions of the Convention. Of particular importance, were the efforts of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to mainstream human rights in all aspects of its work, particularly by promoting an understanding of development from a human rights perspective and on a better definition of the rights-based approach to programming.

Citing the report of the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, he said the statistics on the abuse of children under conditions of conflict were unacceptable. Concerted diplomatic efforts, tangible and bold political commitment by governments and the United Nations system were imperative. The African Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers in Maputo, Mozambique had brought more than 250 representatives of governments and civil society together. The declaration adopted at the Conference had demanded an end to the use of children as soldiers and had called for the rapid adoption of legal standards and measures at every level to prohibit any military service by children under the age of 18. Several high-level activities of particular interest to children’s rights would take place over the next two years, including the special session of the General Assembly on the follow-up to the Children’s Summit in the year 2001.

SIM FARAR (United States)said his Government was making certain that all federal agencies would make sure that they were not buying any products made with “abusive” child labour. Also, his Government was preparing a list of products by country that would form the basis for the certification requirement. That list would be published shortly. Furthermore, his Government was a strong advocate of the universal ratification of the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and had submitted it to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification. His Government had increased its contribution to the ILO’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour ten fold, to about $30 million, making it the largest donor.

Attention should not be distracted by debates on the margin of the problem, but focus on where the real abuses were with children even younger than 15 whose lives were totally destroyed by their recruitment into armed conflict becoming both perpetrators and victims. He hoped that the High Commissioner for Human Rights would look at ways to address that problem and to rehabilitate children caught up in wars. Also, the international community could not forget the plight of street children, numbered at about 100 million, and who lived in developed and developing worlds. Those children were frequently victims of national economic and political collapse or periods of transition. His country had contributed $74 million to the Displaced Children and Orphans' Funds, which financed programmes in 28 countries.

CROWN PRINCE HAAKON (Norway) said during rehabilitation and reintegration efforts, both during and in the aftermath of war, children must be the prime concern. Educational opportunities should be part of the infrastructure available to those children, many of whose lives were marked by fear, instability and hopelessness, and who needed a sense of direction.

His Government had great concern of the situation of the girl child. “She must be given the opportunity to participate under equal conditions as any other person in the process of social, economic and political development”, he said. Societies must find ways of combining what had traditionally been perceived as the appropriate role for women with the actual wishes and rights of the women and girls of today. The best measure to eradicate child labour was by providing education.

SONOKO NISHITATENO (Japan) said the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography were major concerns. Advances in information technology had regrettably created new threats to the safety and human dignity of children. Many of those threats crossed national borders. Japan had enacted a law, last May, to protect children and punish acts related to child prostitution. Under that law, soliciting children for sex, whether within the country or abroad, was subject to three years’ imprisonment. Distribution of child pornography and trafficking in children for prostitution were also punished severely.

The ILO Convention adapted earlier this year was a welcome development, she said. Along with other legal instruments, poverty eradication, and concerted international efforts, the Convention was critical for addressing the issue of child labour. Japan’s Overseas Development Fund would be used to improve the situation of such child labourers. Children should be protected not just because they were vulnerable but because they were individuals endowed with rights and human dignity who deserved respect. Attitudes toward children needed to be changed. Their words should be given serious and careful consideration while their best interest was borne in mind. That was the way to remove the greatest obstacles children faced today.

IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal) said all African nations shared a concern for abuse of children. Debt was a factor hindering implementation of the Convention. Enumerating steps being taken to improve the conditions of children in his country, he said child mortality had been reduced and efforts had been made to reduce the size of families. Among other priorities was a stepped-up effort to check violence against women in the home.

International steps, such as the adoption of the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and UNICEF’s programme for peace were very welcome, he said. Tough international action was needed to improve conditions for children worldwide.

MARCELA MARIA NICODEMOS (Brazil) said her Government had taken many initiatives to improve the situation of children in Brazil. For example, a Constitutional amendment raised to 16 years the minimum age for work. “The Brazilian resolve to eliminate child labour corresponds not only to ethical and humanitarian concerns, but also to the firm belief that child labour contributes to perpetuate the social conditions that have generated such practices”, she said. Education was the best tool to break the cycle of poverty usually linked to child labour. Different programmes in her country had aimed at enrolling and at maintaining children in school. That had resulted in the achievement of almost universal access to school for children between the ages of seven and 14.

“At the dawn of a new millennium, the affirmation that every child represents the potential of a whole new world can not remain unaccomplished”, she said. It was the duty of the international community to fulfil that promise.

SERAPHINE TOE (Burkina Faso) said a national mechanism to promote the development of children had been established in her country. Also, illegal sexual practices were punished by law. There were tough penalties for those that profited from the prostitution of children. Rape against a minor, younger than 15 years, was also penalized.

Everything needed must be done by the international community in order to protect children. Such actions included improving local value systems, supporting the family as the main pillar of education and establishing emergency help to meet the fundamental needs. In many areas of the world children were being sold for several purposes; it was extremely urgent to counteract such actions. Education could play a major role in protecting children, he added.

JOHN VON KAUFMANN (Canada) said the plight of war-affected children was a most disturbing human security issue which had arisen in recent years, in particular the emerging trend targeting children both as combatants and victims. The world had seen shocking images of children victimized in armed conflicts in West Africa, Kosovo and many other parts of the world, often perpetrated by children coerced into armed conflict by other children. Canada would work closely with other States, with the Special Representative, UNICEF and the United Nations system to end the violation of children’s rights in situations of armed conflict. Steps to accomplish that included the prevention of the targeting of children in time of armed conflict and the raising of the minimum age for recruitment.

Canada would join in awareness-raising, he said, an important component in bringing about change. Canada would host workshops on war- affected children and would sponsor a pledge for them. An important development had been the increased attention on developing ways to end the exploitation of children. The family-based focus of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children was important. Canada would be taking an active role in preparations for the special session of the General Assembly on children and would increase awareness of the event, as well as of children’s rights issues overall.

ERIC VAN DER WAL (Australia) said sexual exploitation of children was an abuse of children’s rights that was increasingly transnational in character and which needed stronger and more precise international prohibition. Australia was active in responding to abuses of children’s rights beyond its borders. It had enacted extra-territorial legislation, it cooperated with law enforcement agencies of other countries, and it provided technical assistance to help combat the sexual exploitation of children. It had played an active role in the negotiation of the ILO Convention on child labour.

This year, he said, legislation had been enacted to give greater definition and strength to the law relating to slavery and sexual servitude offences. Among others things, the act prohibited slave trading and possessing or exercising any other power of ownership over a person. It included a range of offences to combat a growing and highly lucrative international trade in people for the purposes of sexual exploitation. It also contained aggravated offence provisions to protect children. The maximum term of imprisonment for the slavery offence was 25 years and for the sexual servitude offences 19 years

ANDRES FRANCO (Colombia) said his Government was aware that the commitment towards protecting the rights of children should be reflected in the normative and institutional structure of states and in the culture of all societies. Isolated efforts by Governmental institutions were not enough. “We have intended to work on the societal, cultural behaviour emphasizing a positive change of the parents attitude on children’s rights”, he said. That initiative was embodied in the “national crusade against the intrafamilial abuse”.

“Our greatest national challenge is the achievement of peace and our children have organized themselves in a movement whose purpose is strengthening peace”, he said. As a central part of the on-going peace talks, concrete proposals had been made to stop guerrilla groups from having children in their ranks. Also, clear institutional and budgetary responsibilities had been assigned. However, the situation of boys and girls in outlawed groups was still a main concern; they numbered between 1,700 and 2,000, according to reports by NGOs. Those children carried out activities such as mine installation, intelligence and surveillance of kidnapped hostages.

ALETHIA BARKER (Jamaica) said her country would host the fifth hemisphere meeting of ministers with responsibility for children in October 2000. The preponderance of hunger and poverty, as well as the economic and financial challenges brought by the process of globalization, had reduced the resources that could have been allocated to education, health and nutrition for children. “It is evident that the growing cycle of poverty and deprivation represents one of the major factors generating some of the most regrettable forms of abuse”, she said.

The erosion of a secure and “morally sound family environment” arose from the rapid social and cultural changes that had taken place in recent years, she said. Efforts to protect the family institution were essential to avert the majority of abuses suffered by children. Appropriate policy reforms to enhance the education of parents, and by extension, the education of children should be given urgent attention by all states.

SARAH PATERSON (New Zealand) said urgent action by the international community was required to conclude the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There was general agreement that the rights of children applying in peace should also apply in times of conflict. Progress on that protocol remained slow, however. States should work with the Chair of the Working Group to bridge differences and reach consensus on an agreed text that would significantly raise the legal standards of protecting children in conflict situations.

Similarly, she said, there was general agreement that children should be protected from sexual exploitation and that increasing sex tourism and new technologies, including the Internet, had increased the risk for vulnerable children. States should work together at the coming meeting of the Working Group on that optional protocol to conclude the instrument reflecting a guardianship role that States must fulfil in relation to their children. International standards must be developed to respond to the problem in a complementary manner, she added.

F.R.O. ESHIKUTA (Kenya) said that an abomination had been unloosed on children. In the last decade, two million children had been killed, over a million orphaned, six million seriously injured or permanently disabled, twelve million made homeless and ten million left with serious psychological trauma. There was no shortage of incidents involving children and armed conflicts. Especially disheartening was their exploitation, whether by recruitment into armed groups or by sexual abuse. Despite widespread condemnation of the senseless targeting of innocent children in armed conflicts, the international community had stood by as those atrocities were repeated in many parts of the world.

He said the issue of children and armed conflict was of particular interest to Africa, where increasingly more children were compelled to become instruments of war, recruited or kidnapped to become child soldiers. It was aggravated by the easy availability of illegal arms capable of destabilizing a whole region. “How can we help these vulnerable children?” he asked. One immediate way was to establish and encourage training and capacity-building in trauma counselling and rehabilitation at local levels for those dealing with children in post- conflict situations. A holistic, integrated, action-oriented approach should combine the elements of social policy, political will and economic and financial commitment. Children were the future. Ways must be found to restore their rights. They should not be used as pawns in warfare, whether as targets or perpetrators.

MARINA FAETANINI (San Marino) said at the beginning of the twenty- first century, it seemed safer to be a soldier than a civilian. Women and children, above all, paid the highest prices for the anti- humanitarian shift that the international community was witnessing in silence. “Timing is everything and we cannot afford to lose this opportunity to exert and increase pressure”, she said. The international community had the legal tools to do so but it needed to use them.

Children only knew about life from what adults showed them, she said. “We have burdened their shoulders with our wars, our anger, and our hatred”, she said. They were fighting adults’ wars and killing adults’ enemies. “They are the unmistakable mirror of our insane struggle for power”, she said. The same could be said about pornography, prostitution, forced labour, slavery and any kind of abuse that adults downloaded onto children for their personal or collective relief.

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said unless the international community made a dent in poverty, children would continue to be subjected to abuses and be denied of their rights. The worst example of such denial was child labour. The South Asian governments had adopted the year 2000 as a deadline to end child labour in hazardous or bonded conditions and hoped for the eradication of all child labour by the year 2010. In his country, child labour had been abolished from ready-made garment manufacturing, the largest export sector.

Conflicts could destroy local value systems, he said. Building local capacities for protection and advocacy could lessen the suffering of children. “If the community is strong enough to overcome hate, anger and the urge to recourse to violence, children’s rights would be protected”, he said. The promotion of a culture of peace would contribute greatly towards that end.

ANITA AMORIM, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said much of her organization’s work contributed directly to safeguarding and promoting children’s rights. That was particularly true of its “Education for All” initiatives on discrimination in education. She outlined three activities undertaken by UNESCO for the current tenth anniversary year of the Convention. They included an experts meeting on sexual abuse of children and associated actions; a world parliament on children; and a special edition booklet illustrating the ten principles of the Declaration.

Based on UNESCO’s past involvement in early childhood issues, the following objectives had been highlighted for the coming year, she said. UNESCO would continue to collect, monitor and disseminate information on the status of young children and their early learning environments; it would pursue and reinforce collaboration with partners to make early childhood information accessible to a greater number of users; and it would consolidate the status of non-formal, early childhood care and education approaches/programmes in member states to reinforce the status of family education in early childhood care.

Introduction of Draft Resolutions

The representative of Burkina Faso introduced the draft on the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. She made oral revisions to that draft. The new operative paragraph three now read: “Regrets the lack of adequate support and financial assistance for the Institute despite repeated calls over the past years to make available the necessary resources to UNAFRI”. Also, the old operative paragraph three became operative paragraph seven. Operative paragraph five now reads: “Requests the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Centre, as well as the United Nations Drug Control Programme and, relevant entities of the United Nations system to provide the necessary financial and technical support to the Institute to enable it to fulfil its mandate”.

The representative of New Zealand introduced a draft resolution on the Improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat (document A/C.3/54/L.19). By the 43-Power draft the General Assembly would call upon the Secretary-General to implement fully and to monitor the strategic plan of action for the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat (1995-2000) in order to make notable progress toward the goal of 50/50 gender distribution by the end of the year 2000, especially at the D-1 level and above.

Also by that draft, Member States would be strongly encouraged to

support the efforts of the United Nations and the specialized agencies

to achieve the goal of 50/50 gender distribution by identifying and

regularly submitting more women candidates for appointment to

intergovernmental, judicial and expert bodies. Also, they would be

encouraged to identify and propose national recruitment sources, which

would assist the organizations of the United Nations system in

identifying suitable women candidates, particularly from developing

countries and countries with economies in transition; and encouraging

more women to apply for positions within the Secretariat, the

specialized agencies, funds and programmes and the regional commissions,

including the areas in which women are under-represented, such as

peacekeeping, peace-building and other non-traditional areas. In

addition, Member States would be strongly encouraged to identify women

candidates for assignment to peacekeeping missions, and to improve the

representation of women in military and civilian police contingents.

The sponsor of this draft resolution were: Andorra, Argentina,

Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile,

Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador,

Ethiopia, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan,

Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mozambique, Myanmar.

Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, the Republic of

Korea, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Thailand, the former

Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, United States and Zambia.

The following States were added as co-sponsors: Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cote d’Ivoire, Denmark, Eritrea, Finland, Fiji, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Italy, Jordan, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Morocco, Mexico, Portugal, Rwanda, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Sweden, Swaziland, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

The representative of Pakistan introduced the draft resolution on the Right of peoples to self-determination (document A/C.3/54/L.25). It was sponsored by: Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Costa Rica, Egypt, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Jordan, Kuwait, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

The following States became additional sponsors: Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Djibouti, Thailand, El Salvador, United Arab Emirates and Viet Nam.

By terms of that draft text, the Assembly would, among other things, declare its firm opposition to acts of foreign military intervention, aggression and occupation, as those had resulted in the suppression of the right of peoples to self-determination and other human rights in certain parts of the world. It would call upon those States responsible to cease immediately their military intervention and occupation of foreign countries, as well as all acts of repression and other inhuman methods reportedly employed in executing those acts against the people concerned.

Further, the Assembly would deplore the plight of the millions of refugees and displaced persons who had been uprooted as a result of the aforementioned acts and it would reaffirm their right to return to their homes voluntarily in safety and honour. It would request the Commission on Human Rights to continue giving special attention to the violation of human rights, especially the right to self-determination, resulting from foreign military intervention, aggression or occupation.

The representative of Mexico introduced a draft resolution on International cooperation against the world drug problem (document A/C.3/54/L.20). It was sponsored by: Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

The following States were added as co-sponsors: Croatia, Iceland, Latvia, Niger, Turkey, Malaysia, Guinea and Gabon.

The operative sections of the draft resolution would set forth the following: respect for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law in the fight against the world drug problem; action plan for the implementation of the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of the Drug Demand Reduction; international cooperation to counter the world drug problem; action by the United Nations system; and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme.

By the terms of the operative sections, the Assembly, among other things, would urge all States to ratify or accede to and implement all the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Also, it would urge all Member States to implement the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction in their respective national, regional and international actions; and to strengthen their national efforts to fight the use of illicit drugs among their population. It would urge competent authorities at the international, regional and national levels to implement the outcome of the twentieth special session of the General Assembly, within the agreed time-frames, in particular the high priority practical measures as indicated in the Political Declaration, the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction and its Action Plan.

Also by that text, the Assembly would urge Governments, the relevant United Nations bodies, the specialized agencies and other international organizations to assist and support, upon request, transit States, in particular developing countries in need of such assistance and support, aiming at enhancing their capacity to fight illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. In addition, specialized agencies, programmes and funds, including humanitarian organizations would be urged to include action against the world drug problem in their programming and planning processes in order to ensure that the integral and balanced strategy set out at the special session was being addressed. Furthermore, all Governments would be urged to provide the fullest possible financial and political support to the Programme by widening its donor base and increasing voluntary contributions to enable it to continue, expand and strengthen its operational and technical cooperation activities.

An Annex to the draft resolution, on the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction would set forth details to the following: the commitment; assessing the problem; tackling the problem; forging partnerships; focusing on special needs; sending the right message; and building on experience.

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