Forty-first General Assembly lays foundation for a 'better United Nations for a better world'; reform measures called 'blueprint' for a more efficient organization.

Reform measures called |blueprint' for a more efficient Organization

"We have just concluded what was in many ways a historic session", declared General Assembly President Humayun Rasheed Choudhury of Bangladesh on the evening of 19 December, shortly after the 159-member plenary had ended its work for 1986.

In opening the forty-first Assembly three months before, on 16 September, he had made a plea to the international community to Work towards a "better United Nations for a better world". By the time the world body suspended the session, it had, he believed, moved closer to that goal.

This Assembly had begun its work as "a deepening financial crisis was gathering force and momentum," a situation "exacerbated by the erosion of confidence in the United Nations system on the part of many Members", Mr. Choudhury recalled.

"We took on the crisis and confronted it boldly", with "grim determination and unflinching commitment" to the principles of the Charter, he affirmed. And he was confident that, as the session ended its work in December, "global confidence in the credibility of the United Nations system has been largely restored".

The crucial issue on the 146-item agenda was a review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations. The session's crowning achievement was agreement on wide-ranging reforms involving nearly every aspect of the running of the Organization, in particular the programme budget process.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who was appointed to a second five-year term on 10 October, called the measures a "blueprint for a more efficient United Nations". He told the Assembly on 19 December the measures were of "cardinal importance for the future of this Organization as an effective force for progress and for peace".

"What we tried to get", President Choudhury explained, "was the broadest possible agreement on budget preparation, recognizing the need for the long-term financial viability of the United Nations and ensuring that every Member State's concerns are met." And, he added, "every art and procedure known to the profession of diplomacy was applied to arrive at the agreed draft resolution".

An intricate

process

In that respect, the 1986 Assembly is likely to be remembered not just for what it did, but also the way it did it. The reform measures emerged from one of the most intricate diplomatic processes in the history of the Organization, extending over nearly the entire year. Lengthy closed sessions of the 18-member Group of High-level Inter-governmental Experts appointed to study the system's functioning yielded 71 recommendations for its improvement. The recommendations were then discussed exhaustively throughout the Assembly session by the plenary, contact groups set up by the Assembly President, and the Assembly's Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), before culminating in a resolution (41/213) calling for implementation of nearly all of the "Group of 18" recommendations and setting forth new guidelines for the programme budget.

Adoption of the reforms amply demonstrated that "given commitment and political will we can solve any issue, however complex, however sensitive", President Choudhury said.

Commitment and political will were evident throughout the 1986 session, as delegates - at times surprising even themselves, it seemed - took to heart the Assembly President's exhortation to adhere to schedules and work programmes, and to carry on their work in a manner that would ensure what President Choudhury called "constructive, purposeful and coherent discussions aimed at achieving practical and implementable decisions".

Through "mergers where possible, consensus where desirable and reductions where practicable", the number of resolutions was reduced, President Choudhury pointed out. At the forty-first session, 310 resolutions and 92 decisions were adopted, compared with 346 resolutions and 96 decisions at the fortieth session. An unprecedented number of resolutions - 159, or more than half - were adopted without a vote.

Consensus was achieved in some critical areas where it had not seemed possible before. Protracted negotiations in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial), for example, led to agreement on eight elements to be taken into account in addressing the external debt problems of developing countries, "with a view to reaching equitable, durable and mutually agreed solutions, taking into account the particular circumstances of each country".

Even on a day-to-day basis, the 1986 Assembly accommodated itself to economies dictated by the United Nations immediate financial crisis. Meetings started on time, cutting down staff and facilities costs. The need for a quorum was dispensed with in some cases, to aid punctuality. Committees finished their work within the recommended 10-week time-frame. And Member States honoured the request to cut down on documentation.

"I do not think we would have been able to reach our goals during this session had it not been for an expression of the political will to succeed", asserted the Assembly President. "I have detected in every Member State a political commitment to the United Nations".

Action

In addition to agreeing on certain reforms to facilitate the Organization's long-term viability, the Assembly took steps to ease its current financial straits, approving economy measures to resolve a projected $85 million shortfall against the 1987 budget of $735 million, and urging States to pay their assessments promptly and clear up arrears.

But despite the focus on finances, the forty-first Assembly was hardly a one-issue session. As in past years, it considered the full range of questions on the international agenda, acting on the recommendations of its seven Main Committees as well as on matters considered directly by the plenary.

In the political sphere, the Assembly approved broad measures aimed at the policies of South Africa, vehemently denouncing the practice of apartheid. It urged the Security Council to impose a mandatory oil embargo against South Africa and decided to establish an intergovernmental group to monitor the supply and shipping of oil and petroleum products to that country

The Assembly condemned South Africa's continued illegal occupation of Namibia and demanded the immediate independence of the Territory, in accordance with the United Nations plan embodied in Security Council resolutions 385 (1976) and 432 (1978). Bernt Carlsson, Sweden's Under-Secretary of State for Nordic Affairs, was appointed United Nations Commissioner for Namibia for a six-month term beginning 1 July 1987, replacing Brajesh Chandra Mishra of India, who has held the post since 1982.

The Assembly called for a durable and comprehensive solution to the problems of Palestine and the Middle East under United Nations auspices, endorsing a call to set up a preparatory committee to work towards covening an international peace conference. It urged the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and Kampuchea. Disarmament issues were a focus of concern.

Comorian sovereignty over the island of Mayotte was reaffirmed, and Argentina and the United Kingdom were again asked to begin negotiations on the Falklands (Malvinas) Islands.

The Assembly called for immediate compliance with the June 1986 Judgment of the International Court of Justice in which the Court found illegal the military and paramilitary activities conducted in and around Nicaragua by the United States. The United States military attack against the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in April 1986 was condemned and the Security Council was asked to remain seized of the matter by the affirmative vote of just over half of those present, with the remainder either opposed or abstaining.

The Contadora Group and Support Group were asked to continue their peace efforts in Central America. The Secretary-General announced a new initiative in support of Contadora efforts, including a visit to Central America in January 1987.

The Atlantic Ocean between Africa and South America - the South Atlantic - was declared a "zone of peace and co-operation". And in a significant step towards implementing resolution Il of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Assembly agreed on a formula for registering pioneer investors in seabed mining.

In considering implementation of the 1960 Declaration on decolonization, the Assembly decided that New Caledonia was a Non-Self-Governing Territory and affirmed its peoples' right to self-determination and independence.

All countries and the United Nations system as a whole were urged to co-operate in establishing a new world information and communication order.

Observances: The Assembly marked the end of the International Year of Peace (1986), and launched the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless, to be observed in 1987. It proclaimed a World Decade for Cultural Development (1988-1997), and invited the Economic and Social Council to consider declaring 1989 as International Literacy Year, as part of a campaign to wipe out illiteracy by the year 2000. The first World HABITAT Day and the first International Volunteers Day were marked during the session.

At a special meeting on 3 November, the Assembly commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the International Covenants on Human Rights, later calling on States to mark the event by strengthening measures to implement those instruments. It began preparations to celebrate in 1988 the fortieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Also during the session, the fortieth anniversaries of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) were observed.

Conferences: The Assembly reviewed the results of four global meetings in 1986 relating to African issues: the special Assembly session on the critical economic situation on the continent (27 May-1 June, New York), which adopted a five-year Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery; the World Conference on Sanctions against South Africa (16-20 June, Paris), which called for a mandatory system of economic measures against the apartheid regime; the International Conference for the Immediate Independence of Namibia (7-11 July, Vienna), which also urged sanctions; and the second special Assembly session on Namibia (17-20 September, New York).

The Assembly noted with appreciation the Final Declaration adopted by the second review conference on the bacteriological (biological) weapons convention (Geneva, 8-26 September 1986).

Preparations continued for four global United Nations meetings in 1987: the seventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD VII), to be held. 9-31 July in Geneva; and international conferences on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy (23 March-10 April, Geneva), drug abuse and illicit trafficking (17-26 June, Vienna), and disarmament and development (24 August-11 September, New York). That last conference had originally been scheduled for 1986.

Preparations continued for a midterm review in 1987 of the United Nations Decade for Disabled Persons (1983-1992), and a global meeting of experts in 1987 to follow up world-wide African aid efforts. The Assembly decided to convene the third special General Assembly devoted to disarmament in 1988, establishing a preparatory committee to meet in May and June 1987 in New York.

It decided to convene in 1990 a conference to review the set of principles and rules against restrictive business practices adopted in 1980.

During the session, there was again a call for an international conference on the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace, as well as for a World Disarmament Conference.

On the recommendation of the Second Committee the Assembly transmitted to its forty-second session a draft resolution on a proposed international conference relating to money and finance for development.

The Assembly also asked for a report on the current international monetary situation for submission to its forty-second session, to provide information on proposals for convening an international conference on money issues.

Conventions: A set of 15 principles relating to remote sensing of the Earth by satellite - 12 years in the making - was adopted, as were declarations on the protection and welfare of children and on the right to development.

The Assembly welcomed the adoption of two new conventions on nuclear safety, commending the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for its speedy action in response to the April 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian SSR. It also expressed satisfaction at the "significant number of States" that had signed and ratified the Convention against Apartheid in Sports, adopted in May 1986.

The Assembly welcomed adoption in 1986 of conventions on the registration of ships and on the law of treaties between States and international organizations. It also noted the draft guidelines for confidence-building measures submitted by the Disarmament Commission, and welcomed confidence-building measures adopted in September 1986 by the Stockholm Conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and Disarmament in Europe.

Work continued in 1986 towards conclusion of international conventions on chemical weapons, non-use of force, illicit drug trafficking, and the training and use of mercenaries, as well as conventions to ensure the rights of children and of migrant workers.

The Assembly noted that work had also proceeded on draft principles on the legal implications of remote sensing, on the use of nuclear-power sources in outer space and for the protection of prisoners. In addition, work continued on a code of conduct for the transfer of technology, a declaration on the non-use of force in international relations, guidelines for treatment of those detained on the grounds of mental ill-health, and a Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind, under consideration for more than 20 years.

Committee work

The 65 resolutions on disarmament adopted on the recommendation of the First Committee (Political and Security) included calls for a comprehensive nuclear test ban, adequate security measures for non-nuclear States, prevention of an arms race in outer space, reduction in military budgets, and commitments to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Other action included condemnation of collaboration with South Africa in the nuclear field and reaffirmation of the need for a chemical weapons ban.

The Assembly agreed to keep open the item on the comprehensive programme of disarmament requested in the Final Document of the first special Assembly session devoted to disarmament, in order to permit the Conference on Disarmament to submit a complete draft of the programme in 1987.

A study on deterrence and its implications for disarmament was commended by the Assembly, which also requested a study on the economic and social consequences of the arms race. The Secretary-General was again asked to carry out a study on the climatic effects of nuclear war, including nuclear winter, that was postponed in 1986 due to the United Nations financial crisis. He was also asked to present the available material on a study on the military use of research and development requested in 1982, indicating where agreement had not yet been reached.

The Assembly welcomed the establishment in January 1986 of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Development in Africa at Lome, Togo, and decided to establish, in January 1987, a regional centre for peace, disarmament and development in Latin America, to be located in Lima, Peru.

Again in 1986, the Assembly was unable to reach consensus on the question of Antarctica, adopting instead three separate resolutions, with a majority of the Antarctic Treaty Parties declining to participate in the voting. The texts contained calls for an updated report on the question, a moratorium on negotiations on a minerals regime and exclusion of South Africa from meetings of the Treaty Consultative Parties.

The Assembly also took action on the question of establishing a comprehensive system of international peace and security, a new item inscribed on the 1986 list at the request of socialist States.

Economic questions: On the economic front, the Assembly's achievements in 1986 were also "noteworthy", according to Assembly President Choudhury, in particular the consensus resolution on strengthened international co-operation to resolve external debt problems. Other significant action taken on the recommendation of the Second Committee included a text on food and agricultural problems providing directives for joint efforts by the international community. The Assembly also endorsed coordinated measures to fight the locust and grasshopper infestation destroying crops in Africa.

The Assembly reiterated the need to take steps to stem the net transfer of resources from developing to developed countries, called for action to address international commodity trading problems, and urged co-operation in Central America to help reduce the "negative effects" of the United States trade embargo against Nicaragua. Measures to encourage indigenous entrepreneurs in developing countries were approved, as was a plan for restructuring the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

The Assembly agreed that the consolidated list of products harmful to health and the environment should continue to be published as one document, urging Governments to cooperate in its preparation.

The United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development was re-established as the United Nations Trust Fund for Science and Technology for Development, under the aegis of the United Nations Development Programme.

Special economic assistance programmes were approved for the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Yemen, Djibouti, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands, Uganda, Vanuatu and the front-line States. On 14 October, the Assembly approved emergency aid to El Salvador, following the earthquake that had devastated San Salvador and adjoining villages four days earlier.

Urging further efforts to meet Africa's emergency needs, the Assembly welcomed mechanisms set up by the Secretary-General to continue monitoring the situation.

Social and humanitarian: Action on a wide range of social and humanitarian questions was approved on the recommendation of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). As in past years, a number of resolutions concerned human rights. The Assembly expressed deep concern at the human rights situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, regretted the lack of substantial improvement in Chile and El Salvador, and welcomed the process of democratization in Guatemala.

The continued occurrence of summary or arbitrary executions was condemned, and there was a call for contributions to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. The Assembly acknowledged further progress in a study of the effects of racial discrimination in the field of education, training and employment on the children of minorities, particularly migrant workers.

The Assembly denounced the increased use of mercenaries in southern Africa, Central America and other developing areas, and called for assistance to victims of situations resulting from colonial occupation or foreign domination. The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights' Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities was urged to continue updating his list of banks, transnational corporations and other organizations assisting the South African regime.

Priority measures to assist women as follow-up to the 1985 Nairobi Conference on the United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985) were requested, as were policies and programmes to aid young people as follow-up to the International Youth Year (1985). Efforts to assist the aging and disabled were also urged.

Member States were asked to respect the conclusions and recommendations of a four-year study on ways to avert refugee flows, and to make "generous efforts" to meet the needs of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA). The international community was urged to provide assistance to refugees in various African countries.

Budget and staff matters: The Assembly adopted the revised 1986-1987 programme budget, entailing an increased appropriation of $48.5 million, and noted revised income estimates for the biennum of $304.7 million, representing a net decrease of $12.7 million. An increased assessment of Member States to finance 1987 appropriations was approved, along with adjustments to their share in the Tax Equalization Fund, in line with revisions in staff assessment income.

Regarding personnel matters, the Secretary-General was urged to lift as soon as possible the recruitment freeze put into effect in response to the Organization's financial difficulties, and to report on alternatives to the freeze by 21 March 1987. He was also urged to meet, to the extent possible, recruitment targets for unrepresented or underrepresented States.

Elections: On 16 October, five new non-permanent members of the Security Council were elected for a two-year term beginning 1 January 1987: Argentina, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan and Zambia, to replace Australia, Denmark, Madagascar, Thailand and Trinidad and Tobago.

Also on 16 October, the Assembly elected eighteen States to the Economic and Social Council for a three-year term beginning 1 January 1987: Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Iran, Norway, Oman, Poland, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, USSR, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Zaire.

Matters deferred

The Assembly deferred to its forty-second session action on the question of launching global negotiations on international economic co-operation, on a proposed increase in Security Council membership, and on a draft resolution by which it would have decided to expand the membership of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) from 21 to 36 Member States. It also postponed consideration of establishing an office of Ombudsman and streamlining appeals procedures.

Deferred until resumption of the Assembly's forty-first session at a date to be announced were items on the question of Cyprus, implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations, and the consequences of the prolongation of the armed conflict between Iran and Iraq.

Three agenda items on which action was taken at the 1986 session were kept open for further consideration at the resumed session: the comprehensive programme of disarmament, the United Nations current financial crisis, and the need for immediate compliance with the Judgment of the International Court of Justice concerning military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua.

|A year of transition'

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, at his first press conference of 1987, which took place on 13 January at Headquarters, said that the work done by the forty-first General Assembly so far was of "great importance for the Organization's future". But, he stressed, "the major requirement for making this house stronger and more effective is the full compliance by Member States with the Charter in all its aspects, including, of course those of a financial nature.

"As I said to the General Assembly, 1987 will be a year of transition. To implement the reforms asked for by the Assembly, common sense and fairness will be essential, as well as the co-operation and understanding of Member States. We all know that deep political differences are at the origin of the difficulties which we have experienced in the United Nations. I believe that the reforms which are being introduced can and must mitigate the effects of those differences on the functioning of the Organization.

In the interest of peace, however, these differences must be reconciled and the conflicts that reflect and encourage them resolved."

Two texts on

International Year

of Peace, 1986

On 24 October, the General Assembly adopted two resolutions in connection with the observance in 1986 of the International Year of Peace.

Recognizing that the ideals and objectives contained in the Proclamation of the International Year would remain "a valuable source for future dialogue and action to promote and achieve peace", the Assembly, in adopting resolution 41/9 without a vote, underscored the contribution made to that observance by the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, the mass media and others, and the importance of future activities to promote lasting peace among peoples. The Secretary-General was also asked to use the Trust Fund established for the International Year of Peace for the promotion of peace.

In adopting resolution 41/10 by a vote of 104 to none, with 33 abstentions, the Assembly recalled the adoption of the Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace on 12 November 1984 and called on all States to do their, utmost to contribute to its implementation by adopting appropriate measures at the national and international levels. The Secretary-General was asked to invite States and international organizations to inform him of measures they were taking.