A session of 'imagination, creativity, solidarity:' historic climaxes to UN efforts witnessed, environment concerns at forefront.

The forty-ninth General Assembly--in the words of its President, Amara Essy of Cote d'lvoire--was characterized by "imagination, creativity and a spirit of soidarity". The session, which opened on 20 September and was suspended on 23 December, witnessed a number of historic climaxes to long-time, arduous UN effort, including the end of apartheid and of the UN Trusteeship System and the entry into force of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, and focused especially on some important advances to protect and preserve the world's environment.

In a concluding statement, President Essy reminded the Assembly that its current session was being held on the eve of the UN's fiftieth anniversary in 1995, at a "time of change attended both by extraordinary opportunities for the building of a genuine international community and a number of threats which, should they not be countered in time, could introduce new rifts in the international community and lead to deadlock".

He said: "We are more than ever accountable for the success or failure of our Organization. We must do everything we can to push back the frontiers of hatred, intolerance, volence, exclusion and poverty"

Noting the "emergence of a genuine spirit of consensus", Mr. Essy reported the adoption without vote of more than three quarters of the 295 resolutions approved by the Assembly.

Historic actions were many: marking the end of apartheid and hearing the first UN address by former political prisoner, now South African President Nelson Mandela: welcoming the entry into force, after nearly three decades of negotiation, of the UN Covention on Law of the Sea; and admitting Palau as the UN's 185th member, signalling the end of the 48-year-old Trusteeship mandate.

And practical advances were made in many areas, particularly the environment. The Assembly welcomed three new global environmental pacts and designated the observance of international days for each: on climate change (preservation of the ozone layer, 16 September): biological diversity (29 December): and anti-desertification (17 June). Special attention was given to the impact of unauthorized fishing in zones of national jurisdiction on the world's marine resources, as well as that of fisheries bycatch and discards. Support for the new Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Programme was expressed.

International law was further strengthened through the Assembly's adoption of a 29-article Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel, a four-part Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism, and a Declaration on enhancement of cooperation between the UN and regional arrangements or agencies in maintaining international peace and security.

Final preparations were made for three major UN world conferences to be held in 1995: the World Summit for Social Development (6-12 March, Copenhagen); the Ninth UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (29 April-10 May, Cairo): and the Fourth World Conference on Women (September, Beijing).

Golden anniversary plans

Special commemorative meetings were to be held in 1995 for the UN's 50th birthday--in June in San Francisco, the home of the Charter signing: and from 22 to 24 October (UN Day) in New York, where an unprecedented gathering of heads of State and Government and other high-level dignitaries were expected for the golden anniversary celebration.

Plans continued for other global meetings, including a high-level intergovernmental mid-term review of the Implementation of the Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the 1990s (26 September-6 October 1995, New York); and the UN Conference on Human Settlements--HABITAT II (3-14 June 1996, Turkey). To follow up on the 1994 Yokohama conference, the Assembly decided to convene, not later than the year 2000, a second world conference on natural disaster reduction to review the accomplishments of the Decade launched in 1989. A report on convening an international conference on migration and development was also asked for.

A decision was taken, in principle, to convene in 1997, if possible, the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament. Three previous sessions were held in 1978, 1982 and 1988. The possibility of holding in 1995 a 25-year review of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was considered. The Assembly asked for consideration of convening, as early as possible, an international meeting on mine clearance to promote the work of the UN in this area. A moratorium on the export of anti-personnel land mines was approved.

The Assembly agreed that a third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE) could be convened in the near future. UNISPACE II was held in 1982 and UNISPACE I in 1968. A proposal for a UN conference on South-South cooperation remained under study.

The end of two International Years--of the Family and of Sport and the Olympic Ideal--observed in 1994 was noted. The UN Year for Tolerance is to be observed in 1995, as is the World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War. The year 1995 was also recognized as commemorating the millenium of the Kyrgyz national epic, Manas--an 850-page poem reflecting the history and culture of the nomad tribes of Central Asia.

Plans for the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty (1996) included an in-depth study of the nature, causes and consequences of all types of poverty in developing countries. The Assembly proclaimed 1998 as the International Year of the Ocean. To mark the tenth anniversary in 1995 of the observance of International Youth Year, the Assembly decided to devote four plenary sessions of its fiftieth session to considering the adoption of a World Programme of Action for Youth towards the Year 2000 and Beyond.

International Decades launched

The Assembly launched the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1994-2004) and declared the ten-year period beginning January 1995 as the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. It also approved a revised Programme of Action for the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003).

Working groups were set up on: the new "Agenda for Development"; the establishment of an international criminal court; and the UN's continuing financial difficulties.

The results of three major UN conferences in 1994 were endorsed: the 20-year Programme of Action and Declaration approved by the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, September); the Action Plan of the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction (Yokahama, JaPan); and the Declaration and Programme of Action approved at the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (Barbados, May).

A Long-Term Strategy to Implement the 1982 World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons to the Year 2000 and Beyond, put forward by the Secretary-General, was called to Member States' attention.