Crisis in the area of the Persian Gulf casts long shadow over forty-fifth Assembly.

Crisis in the area of the Persian Gulf casts long shadow over forty-fifth Assembly

The crisis in the area of the Persian Gulf, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, was on the mind of each and every delegate as they assembled in the huge blue, green and gold General Assembly Hall on 18 September for the start of the world body's forty-fifth session.

Would the crisis be resolved peacefully or would it end in death and destruction on a massive scale? That was the question that troubled government representatives from all over the globe as they met at UN Headquarters in New York. They knew full well that hundreds of thousands of troops were in the region and had military hardware on a colossal scale to support them. The situation could very easily escalate into a major confrontation.

Guido de Marco, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Justice of Malta, who was elected Assembly President by acclamation soon after the opening session began, told the gathering of world statesmen that "events over the last few weeks have brought about the realization that there are still serious problems which continue to pose threats to the world's political, economic and social development".

Speaking on the same day, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said, in reference to the crisis, that the world faced "the tremendous threat" of a "global war". The "terrible problem" could end up in a "tremendous conflagration, not only a political conflagration, but an economic disaster for the whole world as well".

The "world crisis" held "potentially fatal dangers", he stated. The situation was "very serious", and it could "easily become more serious still". An escalation of the current situation could "bring doom to countless lives and jeopardize, if not destroy, the future of a vibrant rec onob the world that is also a cradle of civilization".

In a statement on 10 October at the end of the general debate, Assembly President de Marco said the crisis had inevitably dominated the attention of all 155 participants. Two common themes flowed from the unanimous conviction that the invasion and annexation of Kuwait constituted both a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, as well as a most serious threat to international peace and security.

On the one hand, he stated, there was the firm demand, voiced by practically every speaker, for the restoration of Kuwait's sovereignty and territorial integrity, in full conformity with relevant Security Council resolutions. At the same time, there was the widely expressed view that efforts for a peaceful outcome to the crisis continue on a collective basis, within the framework provided by the Charter.

In speaking about the situation in the area of the Gulf, Mr. de Marco pointed out, participants in the debate also looked at the wider regional framework in which the crisis was unfolding. Here, again, two common themes emerged. There was an absolute rejection of any direct linkage between the invasion of Kuwait and other outstanding issues in the Middle East. At the same time, it was clearly acknowledged that the firm intrenational reaction to the invasion of Kuwait was setting a new high moral standard of action.

He observed that there was recognition that the new standard of action must be seen to be applicable also to efforts towards the solution of the other problems of the region, especially in bringing about a just and permanent solution to the question of Palestine through the early convening of the long-awaited peace conference.

On 19 September, at Kuwait's request, the Assembly added to its agenda an item on Iraqi aggression and continued occupation of Kuwait.

Some of the other new agenda items pertain to the elaboration of norms for conciliation rules of the UN, an additional protocol on consular functions to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and observer status for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar, in his annual report (A/45/1) which traditionally provides a keynote for the Assembly opening, observed that the UN had entered the post-cold war era as "a central point of constancy in the midst of flux".

The very change that had rendered obsolete the whole architecture of the cold war served to reveal afresh the design for peace which the UN was meant to execute, he said.

Apart from the situation in the area of the Persian Gulf--and the Middle East in general--other principal issues to be considered by the Assembly would be debt and development, the environment, drugs, poverty, and refugees who currently number 12 million throughout the world. In addition, the Assembly was expected to take up specific situations still unresolved around the world, such as Cambodia, Western Sahara, Afghanistan, Central America and Cyprus. Apartheid would also be closely scrutinized.

The Assembly's agenda lists 155 items--three less than the record 158 considered by the 1989 Assembly. Some 50 of those items were to be considered directly in plenary.

The question of international economic co-operation, in particular the matter of the revitalization of economic growth in developing countries and problems faced by the least developed countries, would continue to be discussed by the Assembly, notwithstanding the fact that a number of countries feel that the specialized agencies and the international financial institutions should deal with those problems.

Trend towards consensus

In 1989, 65 per cent of the 335 resolutions adopted were by consensus. The previous year, 58 per cent were adopted by consensus. It was expected that the trend towards adoption of resolutions by consensus would continue in 1990.

On 17 September, the Assembly formally ended its forty-fourth session, which began on 19 September 1989.

In his closing remarks, then Assembly President Joseph N. Garba of Nigeria said the forty-fourth session had witnessed the "gradual assumption by the United Nations of a new confidence and status as it crossed the threshold to regain its long-vacant post of facilitator of world peace and security".

He stressed that the UN could "never be anything but a mirror of the world as it is". The Organization was "merely an assemblage of the multiplicity of individual national States with all their imperfections". It was "as good or as bad as the States which compose it".

In a statement issued following a meeting on 28 September with Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar, the Foreign Ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council--China, France, United Kingdom, United States and USSR--welcomed the "considerable successes achieved by the UN over the past year". Agreeing that the Organization faced important new opportunities and challenges, they stressed the crucial contribution which it could make "in this new era of intensified co-operation and interaction among States".

On 18 September, the General Assembly elected its 21 Vice-Presidents and the Chairmen of its seven Main Committees.

Day of Peace

The ninth International Day of Peace was observed on 18 September.

In a brief ceremony on 1 October, Assembly President de Marco accepted from Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and a Plan of Action for implementing the Declaration. The Declaration was signed by 71 Heads of State or Government. Both documents had been adopted at the World Summit for Children, held at Headquarters on 29 to 30 September. Mr. Mulroney was Co-Chairman of the Summit. The other Co-Chairman was President Moussa Traore of Mali (see story on page 64).

On 10 October, the Assembly approved a plan for electoral assistance to Haiti that will include providing an observer mission before and during the balloting scheduled for 16 December 1990. The international community was also urged to increase technical, economic and financial co-operation with Haiti.

Some time during the session, the Assembly was expected to mark the tenth anniversary of the University for Peace, based in Costa Rica, and the fortieth anniversary of multilateral technical co-operation for development in the UN system.

Among the 155 participants in the general debate, which had begun on 24 September, were 27 Heads of State, one Vice-President, 15 Prime Ministers, eight Deputy Prime Ministers who are also Foreign Ministers, 86 Foreign Ministers, three other Ministers and 15 chairmen of delegations.

The total number of 155 speakers was a record. Also, never before had 27 Heads of State addressed the same General Assembly session.

Liechtenstein was admitted as the UN's newest member State on 18 September, raising the Organization's membership to 160. However, when the two Germanys merged on 3 October, the membership dropped back to 159.

The forty-fifth session is scheduled to recess on 18 December 1990 and officially conclude on 16 September 1991.