Autonomy eludes two million people; Fourth Committee: Special Political and Decolonization.

More than 2 million people continue to live in some 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories, even as the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010) reached its halfway point. For that reason, the issue of decolonization, along with mine-action assistance, peacekeeping operations and the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), topped the Fourth Committee's agenda at the fiftyninth session of the General Assembly.

On decolonization, the Assembly adopted by a recorded vote of 167 to 2, with 4 abstentions, a resolution on the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. By that action, it called upon the administering Powers to cooperate fully with the Special Committee of 24 on decolonization to finalize by the end of 2005 a case-by-case work programme that would enable people of those Territories to exercise their right to selfdetermination, including the option of independence. It was in 1961 that the Assembly established the Special Committee, in accordance with resolution 1654 (XVI), to examine application of the Declaration.

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The question of Western Sahara figured prominently in Committee debate. The United Nations has been seeking a settlement since 1963 on Western Sahara--a territory on the northwest coast of Africa bordering Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria. The Assembly adopted a resolution by 50 to none, with 100 abstentions, by which it expressed the Security Council's support of the peace plan for self-determination as an optimum political solution. However, Morocco gave its "final answer, saying that it will consider the issue only in the context of autonomy of the people of Western Sahara within the sovereignty of Morocco", Committee Chairman Kyaw Tint Swe of Myanmar told the UN Chronicle.

The struggle for self-determination had gone on for too long, Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo of South Africa said, adding that Morocco's response to the peace plan indicated an unwillingness to allow those people their rights.

Michelle Joseph of Saint Lucia, also speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community, said that the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories in the region had not yet achieved a full measure of self-government based on a minimum set of standards adopted by the General Assembly. "They represented unfinished business of the United Nations in regard to the inalienable rights of people", she said. Many of the obstacles towards self-government trace back to a lack of information flowing to and from the Territories, partly resulting from a lack of serious attention to decades of resolutions on decolonization. She stressed that the legitimization of modern-day colonial dependencies and attempts to redefine them as "politically correct" could not be an acceptable approach.

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The benefits of outer space were also discussed at length during the Committee debate. "The peaceful uses of outer space could contribute to the implementation of the Millennium Declaration, as well as declarations on sustainable development, and the bridging of the information gap", Mr. Swe said. The Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on the issue.

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The year 2004 also marked the twentieth anniversary of the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, known as the "Moon Agreement", which called for freedom of scientific exploration and the use of the moon for the benefit of all people. Mr. Swe described some fruits of international cooperation in space activities, which included the International Satellite System for Search and Rescue and the Ad Hoc Group on Earth Observation that would enable continuous monitoring of the state of the planet.

The Committee for the first time introduced a new agenda item, "Assistance in mine action", which had previously been dealt with in the General Assembly's plenary. Over the past two years, there had been progress in integrating mine action into United Nations peacekeeping and mitigating the threat posed by mines and explosive remnants of war to civilian populations, humanitarian workers and peacekeeping personnel. It was in the field, however, where people were most affected.

In the debate, Ravan Farhadi of Afghanistan said that more than 100,000 persons in his country had been disabled by mine accidents. More than 8,000 local workers in the country were clearing minefields, often in areas that put them at great risk. Landmines and unexploded ordnance also had a great impact on agriculture and posed a major impediment to post-conflict reconstruction efforts.

Some $500 million would be required to clear mines and unexploded ordnance by 2012, according to the Mine Action Strategic Plan. Such an investment in mine action could generate $733 million through savings in health care and social welfare and the restoration of productive land use. Failing to reach consensus on the text on assistance in mine action, the Committee approved a decision by which the Assembly would defer the matter to its sixtieth session. "Negotiations in the framework of the informal meetings did not do well and was retired because of the difficulty to reach a consensus due to the position of some delegations when they questioned the working methodology adopted by the corresponding service of the United Nations", Eduardo Calderon of Ecuador told the Chronicle.

In addressing the Committee, Vlasta Brkljacic of Croatia said that her country had not only been active in mine action but also had had the misfortune of experiencing the full scope of mine-related problems on its very soil. It had learned the importance of proper and timely mine action that dealt with such challenges and had acquired expertise in everything, from technical de-mining to public awareness to rehabilitation of victims. She expressed satisfaction that all countries of the region were parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, known as the Mine-Ban Convention or the Ottawa Convention, and all had taken at least partial ownership of the mineaction structures. On the other hand, Jiang Yingfeng of China said it was important to counter the humanitarian effect of landmines, even though his country could not yet become a signatory to the Convention because it had not been able to reconcile it with its defensive needs.

Acting on the Committee's recommendation, the Assembly adopted 24 resolutions, 9 of which focused on the Middle East, including 4 on UNRWA and 5 on the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices. The Assembly adopted by a recorded vote of 167 to 1 (Israel), with 11 abstentions, a draft resolution on assistance to Palestinian refugees, by which it extended the UNRWA mandate until June 2008 and called on all donors to make the most generous efforts possible to meet the Agency's anticipated needs.

On the security aspect, the Committee also debated various issues surrounding peacekeeping operations. UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Marie Guehenno said that Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo illustrated the nature of the crossroads at which the United Nations found itself. There were at least two areas "crying out to be addressed as a matter of priority": one concerned getting the right capabilities on the ground in time, and the other related to how best to organize those capabilities and to integrate and rationalize the joint efforts of the United Nations system and the rest of the international community to help consolidate a sustainable peace.

Despite winding down in Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste, UN peace keeping operations over the past year had grown from 32,200 to 54,200 troops and from 9,700 to 11,600 civilian staff, with an operations budget approaching $3 billion a year, according to Mr. Guehenno. Of the 17 current operations, 5 had yet to reach their mandated troop strength. There were also key gaps where the United Nations lacked critical enabling and niche capabilities, including in the maritime, helicopter, communications and special forces fields.

Peacekeeping is central in the maintenance of international peace and security, but the question that must be asked was whether all were doing their best to make those efforts succeed, Linda Maso of South Africa said. It was widely acknowledged that most of the developing countries, while willing to contribute, lacked the capacity; the developed world, while having the capacity, lacked the will, he said. The time had come to bridge that gap through partnerships and to consider arrangements between the United Nations, troop-contributing countries and donor States. Chairman Swe said: "UN peacekeeping forces have a major role to play, and as their operations become more complex, further coordination and contribution are required on the part of all countries."

RELATED ARTICLE: Mine Terror

* The Fourth Committee introduced for the first time an agenda item on "Assistance on mine action", which failed to reach consensus, and decided to defer the matter to the sixtieth session of the General Assembly.

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* There are more than 110 million active mines spread over some 68 countries worldwide, according to the United Nations Mine Clearance and Policy Unit.

* Every month, over 2,000 persons are killed or mutilated by mine explosions; most of the casualties are civilians who are either killed or wounded after hostilities have ended.

* The cost of removing all active mines is estimated at $33 billion.

* The countries most affected by landmines are Angola, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, Eritrea, Iraq, Mozambique, Sudan and Viet Nam. Except for Iraq and Viet Nam, all are States parties to the Mine-Ban Convention.

* The Mine-Ban Convention forbids the possession and use of anti-personnel landmines and includes rules for landmine clearance, destruction of stockpiles and assistance to victims. It has been signed by 152 countries, of which 62 States parties have completed destruction of their stockpiles of anti-personnel mines, while 48 have officially declared not to have a stockpile and 11 are in the process of destroying them.--Marga Dorao-Moris

RELATED ARTICLE: The Darker Side of Diamonds

Considered a symbol of luxury, diamonds are also seen as a direct cause of poverty for countries that mine them. On the West Coast of Africa lie Angola and Sierra Leone, where these precious stones have become an illegal source of funds for rebel groups to buy weapons that fuel long and bloody civil wars. The two States account for over 4.2 per cent of the world's production of high-quality gems, and even with their wealth of natural resources, they trail behind in the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Index ranking.

The tragic conflicts in Angola and Sierra Leone, fuelled by illicit diamond smuggling, have led to action by the UN Security Council. Under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, sanctions have been applied against the rebel groups, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the Sierra Leone rebel military, including a ban on their main source of funding--"conflict diamonds" (see UN Chronicle, Issue 3, 2004, page 20). As a result, the General Assembly at its fiftyninth session unanimously adopted a resolution, reaffirming its support and encouraging Member States to be a part of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which is seen as a valuable and important contribution to the global fight against trafficking in conflict diamonds.

The process was initiated in 2000 when southern African diamond-producing States met in Kimberley, South Africa, to find a way to stop the trade in conflict diamonds and assure consumers that these precious stones have not contributed to violent conflict and human rights abuses in their countries of origin. The goal is to document and track all rough diamonds entering a participating country by having shippers use tamper-proof crates and providing detailed information about their origins to prove they were not from a conflict zone.

--Marga Dorao-Moris