Fifty-ninth General Assembly

Second Committee

37^th Meeting (PM)

second committee approves Text calling for timely international response

to joint 2005 appeal for emergency assistance for ethiopia

 

Draft Resolution on Humanitarian Aid, Six Others Approved Without Vote

Expressing serious concern over Ethiopia’s persistent health, water and other humanitarian needs, the General Assembly would call on the international community to provide a timely response to the joint 2005 appeal for emergency food and non-food assistance to that country, according to one of seven draft resolutions approved without a vote today by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

Also by that text, on humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation for Ethiopia (document A/C.2/59/L.39/Rev.1), the Assembly would strongly encourage efforts by the Ethiopian Government, the international community and civil society to strengthen existing mechanisms to respond to such emergency situations.  It would also express appreciation of their endeavours to increase food availability through local produce procurement and to ensure access by needy households to food, health and water facilities, sanitation, seeds and veterinary services.

By other terms, the Assembly would stress the need to address the underlying causes of food insecurity, issues of recovery, asset protection and the sustainable development of the affected areas.  It would welcome in that regard the programme prepared by the Coalition for Food Security in Ethiopia and encourage the international community to support the Coalition in breaking the cycle of food aid dependency in the next three to five years, thus enabling 15 million vulnerable people to engage in sustainable productive activities.  Further, the Assembly would call on development partners, in cooperation with the Government, to integrate relief efforts with recovery, asset protection and long-term development, including structural and productive options needed to stimulate accelerated rural growth.

By a text on assistance to Mozambique (document A/C.2/59/L.33), the General Assembly would encourage the Government of that country to continue fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and to implement the National Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (2001-2005), as well as national development plans aimed at achieving internationally agreed development goals, fighting absolute poverty, improving national capacity for education and governance, reducing the population’s vulnerability, and promoting economic growth and sustainable development.

Also by that text, the Assembly would stress the importance of international assistance for development programmes in Mozambique.  It would request that the Secretary-General make all necessary arrangements to continue mobilizing and coordinating humanitarian assistance from specialized United Nations agencies, as well as international assistance for national reconstruction and development.

A draft on assistance for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Liberia (document A/C.2/59/L.44/Rev.1) would have the Assembly call on all signatories to the 18 August 2003 Comprehensive Peace Agreement to uphold its provisions, promote socio-economic development and a culture of sustained peace in the country, and refrain from actions that may jeopardize the work of the National Transitional Government.  It would urge the National Transitional Government and all States to facilitate and support the return and reintegration of ex-combatants into their home communities, with special attention to children.

The Assembly would, by other terms, urge the National Transitional Government to create an environment conducive to the promotion of socio-economic development, peace and security, including a commitment to uphold the rule of law, national reconciliation and human rights, establish inclusive processes that would ensure free and fair presidential and general elections in October 2005 with maximum participation by the citizenry, as well as a commitment to ensure transparency in managing government expenditures and donor funds.  It would also invite the international community to provide financial and technical assistance to the National Transitional Government to facilitate those elections.

Another draft, on implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (document A/C.2/59/L.57) was introduced by Committee Vice-Chair Ewa Anzorge (Poland).  By its terms, the Assembly would call upon governments, relevant international and regional organizations, the Economic and Social Council, United Nations bodies, international financial institutions, the Global Environment Facility and other intergovernmental organizations and major groups to ensure the effective implementation of and follow-up to the commitments, programmes and time-bound targets adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002).

Further by that text, the Assembly would encourage governments to participate with representatives from relevant departments and agencies in water, sanitation and human settlements and finance, in the intergovernmental preparatory meeting for the thirteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development.  It would also invite donor countries to consider supporting the participation in that session of developing-country experts in water, sanitation and human settlements.

The text would have the Assembly request that the Secretary-General submit thematic reports on water, sanitation and human settlements to the Commission’s thirteenth session.  The Assembly would stress the importance of the Commission’s taking policy decisions on measures and options to expedite implementation in the thematic cluster of water, sanitation and human settlements; and mobilizing further action by all implementation actors to overcome obstacles in implementing Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

By a draft on the Convention on Biological Diversity (document A/C.2/59/L.55), the General Assembly would encourage developed-country parties to the Convention to contribute to its trust funds, in particular so as to enhance full developing-country participation in all its activities.  It would urge the States parties to facilitate technology transfer for the effective implementation of the Convention.

Further by that text, introduced by Ms. Anzorge, the Assembly would stress the importance of harmonizing the reporting requirements of biodiversity-related conventions, while respecting their independent legal status.  It would invite countries that had not yet done so to ratify or accede to the Convention, and further invite parties that had not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention’s Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to consider doing so.

A draft on activities undertaken during the International Year of Freshwater, 2003, preparations for the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”, 2005-2015, and further efforts to achieve the sustainable development of water resources (document A/C.2/59/L.52), would have the Assembly call upon the United Nations system to step up efforts to make the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life,” 2005-2015, a decade of delivering promises through the use of existing resources and voluntary funds.

By other terms of that text, also introduced by Ms. Anzorge, the Assembly would encourage Member States, the Secretariat, organizations of the United Nations system and major groups to continue their efforts to achieve the internationally agreed water-related goals set forth in Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, the Millennium Declaration and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

According to a draft resolution on international migration and development (document A/C.2/59/L.54), the Assembly would call upon all relevant United Nations bodies as well as intergovernmental, regional and subregional organizations to continue addressing international migration and development, with a view to integrating migration issues more coherently in implementing agreed economic and social development goals.  It would also encourage governments of origin, transit and destination countries to increase cooperation on migration-related issues.

Further by that draft, introduced by Committee Vice-Chair Antonio Bernardini (Italy), the Assembly would reaffirm the need to adopt policies and undertake measures to reduce the cost of transferring migrant remittances to developing countries.  Further, it would reconfirm that the Secretary-General would report to the Assembly’s sixtieth session on organizational details of the 2006 high-level dialogue on international migration and development.

Also today, the Committee approved an oral decision (contained in document A/59/409 and Corr.1) on the participation of non-governmental organizations as observers in the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, to be held in Mauritius in January 2005.

In addition, the representative of Qatar, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, introduced a draft resolution on the importance of further strengthening efforts towards achieving internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, in the promotion of peace (document A/C.2/59/L.56).  That text, he said, stressed the need to view economic and social development, as well as development goals, as part and parcel of efforts to achieve peace and security.

At the end of the meeting, Committee Chair Marco Balarezo (Peru) noted that the General Assembly had allocated to the Committee a new sub-item on “rendering assistance to the poor mountain countries to overcome obstacles in socio-economic and ecological areas”.  The representative of Kyrgyzstan would be submitting a draft resolution on that topic by 6 December.

The Second Committee will meet again at a date and time to be announced in the Journal.

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