A turning point in UN history: towards a search for common ground.

The General Assembly a sensitive barometer Of the world's political climate-was swept at its forty-fourth session by an irresistible movement away from ideological confrontation and towards a search for a common ground, even on some of the thorniest international issues.

A "constructive and co-operative spirit" characterized debates for the most part, Assembly President Joseph N. Garba told the press on 18 December. And in an end-ofthe-year message, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar called 1989 "a historic and epoch-making year".

As the world body adjourned its deliberations on 29 December, after a 15-week session which began on 19 September, many delegates were already hailing the forty-fourth Assembly as a turning point in United Nations history-the moment when a true global consciousness was finally emerging.

An intense awareness of the need for consensus, negotiation and political settlement as tools for human survival seemed to permeate the Assembly as it took ground-breaking action on the environment, human rights, and the fight against drugs.

Other crucial issues related to peace and security, disarmament, economic and social matters, decolonization and international law.

Two landmark Conventions were adopted by consensus-on the rights of the child, and on curbing the activities of mercenaries. A historic Declaration on Apartheid and its Destructive Consequences in Southern Africa was agreed upon at the sixteenth special session, devoted to that issue (12-14 December).

In a major breakthrough, the Assembly launched negotiations on a convention to protect the Earth's climate, for adoption in 1992 at a world conference on environment and development, to be held in Brazil. It also agreed on a moratorium, by 1992, on ecologically destructive driftnet fishing.

Other achievements:

A special Assembly session in February 1990 will consider urgent action against the drug menace. The feasibility of a UN anti-drug strike force and of an international criminal court able to prosecute drug traffickers will be studied.

A protocol committing countries to the abolition of the death penalty was adopted and opened for signature.

Sixty-five per cent of the 331 Assembly resolutions were adopted by consensus. A record 161 agenda items were considered.

The Assembly decided not to discuss the successful but delicate Namibian independence process. Cyprus and Iran-Iraq were among issues deferred to the next session.

Cold war ending

In a powerful symbol of the end of the cold war, the Soviet Union and the United States, for the first time in history, jointly proposed a political resolution to the Assembly.

The General Assembly, in adopting without a vote on 15 November resolution 44/23, sought to strengthen the UN role in maintaining international peace and security. In what amounted to a vote of confidence in the future of the Organization, it encouraged all States to use the UN framework to consult and co-operate on those matters and urged them to abide by the UN Charter.

The thaw between the superPowers had a positive impact on the Assembly, as did the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe, although these were not on the agenda of the forty-fourth session. But the changing climate in the heart of Europe certainly made the atmosphere at the Assembly "more conducive to achieving positive results", Assembly President Garba said.

"The events of recent months have vividly demonstrated the dynamism that popular aspirations give to international affairs", Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar stated.

And he added: "There is little doubt that these developments have unfrozen the old fears and animosities which dominated the world for decades. They hold tangible promise of ending the incessant arms race. They strengthen respect for the principles of human rights and the self-determination of peoples. They have thus phenomenally advanced the interests of global peace."

However, he warned that the new year should be approached "with a renewed sense of purpose and hope, not with a sense of euphoria or passivity", since there were still pending in the world a number of old stubborn problems, unrelated to the cold war". Regional conflicts still raged, grave economic disparities prevailed and destitution was still the lot of the majority of the human race.

Encouraging success

The Assembly approached some of those "old stubborn problems" with an encouraging degree of success.

The world body adopted its first consensus resolution on Western Sahara since 1983. The Secretary-General and the current Chairman of the Organization of African. Unity (OAU) were asked to intensify their efforts so that a referendum on self-determination could be organized. Fifty-three countries had abstained in the vote on the 1988 resolution.

Reacting to the news that Argentina and the United Kingdom had agreed to hold talks in Madrid on the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), the Assembly postponed consideration of that question to its 1990 session.

And in a resolution that may open the way for a "Namibia-style" solution to the Kampuchean problem, the Assembly specifically stated that the UN should supervise and control withdrawal of all foreign forces from that nation and that "internationally supervised free, fair and democratic elections" should take place there.

President Garba declared that there had been "a narrowing in the areas of differences". As in past years, the Kampuchean text repeatedly cites "the non-return to the universally condemned policies and practices of a recent past" as a principal component of a political settlement.

For the second year in a row, the Assembly adopted by consensus and without debate a resolution on Afghanistan.

The "Islamic character" of that nation was added for the first time to the list of elements whose preservation would be essential for a peaceful solution. The others are sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and non-alignment. Intractable problems

While tangible progress was felt in many areas, some problems remained seemingly "intractable", the Assembly President said. One of them was the question of the Middle East. The Assembly adopted seven resolutions, calling once again for the convening of an international peace conference.

Consideration of a draft resolution seeking "to upgrade the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the Assembly" was deferred, although the matter was left open "because it is an important matter", President Garba said, regretting that "unnecessary battle lines were drawn and we were on the verge of some serious catastrophe".

On a positive note, he said that the need for peace in the Middle East "came out loud and clear" in the Assembly debates. "I think that now, more than ever before, everyone realizes the need to have a genuine peace in the Middle East, and everyone is working to achieve that result", he stated.

In another corner of the planet, the ups and downs of the Central America peace process-what Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar poignantly called "the cycle of great expectations and deep disappointments"-was compounded in late December by the United States intervention in Panama, which the Assembly strongly deplored. Earlier, it had backed once more growing UN involvement in the peace process in that region and efforts to implement the Special Plan of Economic Co-operation for Central America.

Survival and conciliation 

The emergence of a global consciousness of survival and conciliation was reflected in the fact that 22 of 59 texts on disarmament were adopted without a vote.

Three resolutions on chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons were approved without a vote, all assigning "high priority" to work on a chemical weapons convention. The world body also affirmed its "strong interest" in avoiding an arms race in nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction on the sea bed and the ocean soil and subsoil.

Another consensus resolution urged the USSR and the United States to accelerate negotiations towards "early agreement on the drastic reduction of their nuclear arsenals".

Nuclear weapons continued to dominate the Assembly's disarmament agenda. But only 3 of 21 resolutions on this issue were adopted by consensus. Among those put to a vote was one stating that a comprehensive nuclear-test ban is "the highest priority step" towards nuclear disarmament.

A new enthusiasm for peace-keeping

A more constructive international mood allowed the forty-fourth Assembly to explore in depth ways to improve UN peace-keeping and conflict-prevention capabilities.

In his annual state-of-the-UN report (A/44/1), released as the Assembly session opened in September, Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar saw "a new demand, and a new enthusiasm for peacekeeping operations" and suggested that countries earmark stand-by troops for that purpose.

In a step in that direction, the Assembly empowered the Secretary-General to ask States to identify personnel and resources they would be ready to contribute to peacekeeping operations, and to set up a registry of potential contributions.

Money remained another problem. "The financing of peacekeeping has a long and not very creditable history", Mr. Perez de Cuellar said, although the price-tag is "minimal" when compared to the costs of war, he noted.

The Assembly asked for continued efforts by the Secretary-General to improve peace-keeping funding. Setting up a special reserve fund for peace-keeping supported by all Member States was a promising possibility, among others, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said.

Averting war

Incipient conflicts should be kept under global watch so that they could be defused before they flared up, and the UN should be equipped for that task, Mr. Perez de Cuellar advised in his sweeping annual report.

The UN should assemble a solid fact-finding capability, Mr. Perez de Cuellar stated, suggesting that the world Organization have access to space-based and other sophisticated surveillance systems to enable it to monitor potential conflict situations.

"Timely, accurate and unbiased information" was a prerequisite to activate the Organization's potential to avert wars, he went on. But information available to the UN about the world's trouble spots was in most cases "manifestly insufficient", he explained.

The Assembly asked its Special Committee on the Charter of the UN and the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to give priority to the fact-finding question when it meets from 12 February to 2 March 1990.

It also decided that a commission of good offices, mediation or conciliation may be set up within the UN whenever States parties to a dispute request it. Such a commission would be made up of three States not parties to the dispute.

Economic revival sought

While war and peace issues captured the headlines, most Assembly time was spent on bread-and-butter issues-those with a direct impact on the everyday life of ordinary people: from poverty, shelter, disease, hunger and environmental threats to drugs, crime and terrorism.

The estimated $1.32 trillion external debt-intimately related to the daily suffering of millions and affecting some 70 countries world-wide-was the focus of an intense debate in the Assembly's Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

A 14-paragraph resolution voted by the Assembly listed specific measures to end the debt crisis and revive economic growth in debt-ridden countries. The issue will be high on the agenda of the special Assembly session on international economic co-operation, scheduled for 23 to 27 April 1990 in New York.

Although there was "no doubt that some progress has been made, especially on the concept of debt reduction", economic growth had not materialized, Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar told the Second Committee on 1 November.

There was concern among third world nations that the lessening of East-West tensions might further marginalize them from global decision-making. The possibility that some aid now earmarked for developing countries could be diverted to Eastern Europe was a source of worry.

President Garba cautioned: "We should not worry unduly about the rapprochement between the super-Powers", as long as the central role of the UN is accepted and multi-lateralism is given "primacy of place". The bilateral and multilateral approaches "can go in parallel together". Helping people survive

The Assembly condemned terrorism as criminal and not justifiable, "wherever and by whomever committed" and expressed concern over the growing links between terrorist groups and drug traffickers.

Organized crime increasingly had a transnational character and international efforts against it should be stepped up, the Assembly stated. The Eighth UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (Havana, Cuba, 27 August-7 September 1990) would focus on the issue.

The Assembly considered the possibility of holding a fourth world conference on women in 1995 and a world conference on human rights. Greater awareness about AIDS transmission should be promoted by Governments, the World Health Organization (WHO) and others, it said.

Emergency assistance to Caribbean countries devastated by hurricane Hugo was approved, as was continuing economic aid to a large number of countries.

UN activities supporting African recovery will continue beyond 1990. Operation Lifeline Sudan will soon enter its second phase, focusing on the displaced population. The Assembly noted "with interest" the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for socio-economic recovery and transformation adopted in April 1989.

It proclaimed the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa. Work continued on the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa, 1991-2000. Toward the 21st century

With an eye to the twenty-first century, the Assembly proclaimed the UN Decade of International Law (1990-1999), the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction starting in 1990, the International Space Year, 1992, and the International Year of the Family, 1994.

Preparations continued for the Second UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (Paris, September 1990).

Looking back, the Assembly adopted a programme to observe in 1990 the 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

It also observed the 20th anniversary of the Declaration on Social Progress and Development, the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries.

While plans to increase UN activities across the board through the end of the century forged ahead, with the Assembly approving a $2 billion 1990-1991 budget, Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar warned that the Organization's financial prospects were "very grim indeed". The crisis would only be solved when all Member States paid their dues in full and on time, he said.

Although worried by the financial state of the Organization and warning against complacency now that international relations "may be entering a new and more positive era", the Secretary-General sounded an optimistic note in his traditional UN Day Message, on 24 October.

"For all the dangers and difficulties, the time is ... full of hope", he stated, capturing the prevailing mood at the forty-fourth session of the Assembly and in much of the world. Big Five' stress important role of United Nations

The Foreign Ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council have stated that the United Nations has an important role to play "at the present time of positive change in the international political climate from confrontation to relaxation and interaction among States".

On 29 September, the Ministers-Qian Qichen of China; Roland Dumas of France; Eduard Shevardnadze of the USSR; john Major of the United Kingdom; and james Baker of the United States-issued a joint communique after meeting with Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar.

UN peace-keeping operations illustrate the vital role of the Organization in preventing and resolving regional conflicts, the Ministers said, welcoming active UN involvement in that area and in "trends towards dialogue and peaceful settlement of disputes which had developed in recent years".

The Ministers stressed the importance of the effective functioning of those operations and expressed their satisfaction at the improved working relations within the Council and with the Secretary-General.

Corridors of consensus

In the sometimes shadowy, blue and gold Hall of the General Assembly, history unfolds even as it occurs. Emissaries from nearly every nation on Earth politely cap their ideological differences, formally expressing their views on the world's affairs in at least one of six official UN languages. Seated at the curving rows of desks, arranged alphabetically by country, the delegates tune in via earphone as a colleague speaks at the black marble podium adorned with the UN seal. Sometimes they take notes, perhaps saving choice phrases for future use, sometimes they doodle.

As a matter of protocol, the speaker first addresses the General Assembly President seated above and behind him. However, it is really to the assembled dignitaries that he speaks. On occasion, a protest may emanate from the floor over inflammatory language or a point of order.

But, for the most part, words are carefully chosen and views expressed in the most polite and ceremonious terms. When all representatives have had their say, a vote is taken, with each country's position displayed in neon lights on the voting board. Business proceeds smoothly-there are few surprises. Considering the diverse backgrounds and outlooks of those present, a remarkable orderliness prevails. But the efficiency of the proceedings is somewhat deceptive. It takes complex negotiations and compromise before a draft resolution is presented for adoption. Tedious exchanges over a word, even a comma, occur. All is complicated by nuance of language, and there are so many spoken here ! And it is very often in the corridors that consensus is reached, the nooks and crannies of the delegates' lounges, the elegant hallways of diplomacy, amidst fine art, tapestries and statues. In the vast North Delegates' Lounge, the more intimate South Lounge, the Viennese Coffee Bar, the quiet Indonesian Lounge with the statues of "Peace" and "Prosperity"-these are the places where most often matters are clarified and bargains struck. It is in these more private environments, rather than in the formality of the General Assembly Hall, that the true diplomacy of consensus and conciliation takes place. -Geoff Reed

A different warmth ...

American entertainer Pearl Bailey is serving for the fifth time as a United States Representative to the General Assembly. The late Saudi Arabian Ambassador Jamil Baroody referred to her as "a Pearl, not cultured by Mikimoto, but cultured in the art of the theatre and her genuine humanitarian attitude towards all those who know her". Ms. Bailey said she sees positive changes in the world Organization since her first Assembly in 1975. "I see a different warmth, a different bending. We're moving on to something... !"

As for her duties as a delegate, she said: "We've got to be there (in the Assembly Hall), to listen to each other, to show that we care about the things others care about".