Fourth Committee: Special Political and Decolonization; Peaceful use of space technology for agriculture and water management.

As conflicts rage the world over the concept of peacekeeping continues to come under close attention in the Fourth Committee and figured prominently in many of the total 22 resolutions adopted on its recommendations.

At the fifty-eighth General Assembly session, some countries expressed concern about how deeply a peacekeeping operation should get involved in conflict and post-conflict situations. Committee Chairman Enrique Loedel of Uruguay told the UN Chronicle that "some delegations spoke of robust strengthening of the powers of peacekeepers, some others about strengthening the collective approach to the peacekeeping operation itself I'm not sure whether there was some sort of common ground to define robust' peacekeeping."

During the Committee's session this year, Serbia and Montenegro argued for "disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, the rule of law and security sector reform" in post-conflict situations, with clear mandates by the Security Council. In a statement made available to the Chronicle, the country's Permanent Representative, Dejan Sahovic, said: "The establishment of the rule of law is of paramount importance for sustainable peace and stability; without it the risk of renewal of conflict remains real. This is why we should strongly focus on further strengthening of this aspect of complex peacekeeping operations."

Cuba took a slightly different view In an interview with the Chronicle, its Ambassador Orlando Requeijo Gual, said that there was still "no consensus among Member States regarding the so-called 'humanitarian interventions'.

On behalf of the so-called humanitarian purposes, a lot of criminal activities have been performed. We feel the international community must pronounce itself and arrive at a consensus to what it means."

Aside from these positions on the general role of peacekeeping, particular operations such as in Africa were also discussed. The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, in its 2003 report, said in part: "The goal is complementary to the obligations of Member States under the United Nations Charter with regard to their contribution to maintaining international peace and security, including in Africa, and are not intended to replace the engagement of non-African countries in peacekeeping operations on the continent."

Recalling the peacekeeping debate in the Committee, Chairman Loedel said: "Africa is a region which unfortunately has been subject to conflict more than other regions, and assistance by the international community through peacekeeping operations is obvious. Maybe that is why people speak of robust peacekeeping operations, which have turned more difficult or less efficient in terms of traditional peacekeeping operations."

The security debate progressed to the topic of avoiding an arms race in outer space and the benefits of space science", complementing the action taken by the First Committee (see page 18). The Fourth Committee recommended the resolution "International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space to the General Assembly, which it adopted by consensus. In Committee debate on space science, countries touched upon the use of space technology for benefiting agriculture, medicine and weather forecasting. Walter Lichem of Austria, a renowned expert on international water resources, brought attention to the contribution of space science and technology to the development and pragmatic usage of water resources. He told the Committee that currently 5,000 times more people die each year from water-related diseases than from terrorism, which underlined the dramatic human security-related dimension of water management. In an interview with the Chronicle, he went back to these issues: "I recall in 1967-1968 when we tried to get the Nile Basin countries to give the UN data, when no one wanted to share it With space technology, there's a quantum leap in management of surface and underground water resources. In Africa, for instance, water resources are exploited without any coordination and cooperation. What is recognized is that space can provide you with a different kind of cooperation: you cannot contest space-based data. Space has, beyond technical, also political potential for cooperation, with undeniably reliable data."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Committee also debated the future of the 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories. When the United Nations was established in 1945, 750 million people--almost a third of the world's population at the time--lived in territories that were non-self-governing, meaning dependent on colonial or other Powers. Today, fewer than 2 million out of a total population of 6 billion live in such Territories; and more than 80 former colonies have gained their independence. Chairman Loedel said that he hoped the Fourth Committee would be "able to remain a place where the different views can be expressed" on decolonization. During a press conference, he was asked if he found the Committee's agenda to be "useless and already over" with, "Thinking that way is like a family with many children, and when the older ones are grown up nobody would take care of the younger ones", he replied.

In the debate, the representative of Antigua and Barbuda, who also spoke on behalf of the Caribbean Community, brought attention to an "information deficit". She said that representatives of most of the territories had not been informed of their political options, and information to countries on the "contemporary colonial dynamic in the Territories was equally lacking".

The General Assembly adopted three resolutions on decolonization: Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations, by a vote of 163 to none, with 6 abstentions. Through this resolution, the Assembly requested the UN to take into account the suggestions of the Special Committee on Decolonization and continue to publicize the work of the United Nations in decolonization through publications, radio, television and the Internet. Another resolution, Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by the specialized agencies and the international institutions associated with the United Nations, was adopted by 116 to none, with 55 abstentions. The Assembly reaffirmed that the existence of colonialism in any form or manifestation. including economic exploitation, was incompatible with the UN Charter, the Decolonization Declaration and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Another resolution, Economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, was adopted by 164 to 2, with 3 abstentions: Israel and the United States cast the negative votes, and the Federated States of Micronesia, France and the United Kingdom abstained. The Assembly urged the administering Powers to safeguard the inalienable right of the Non-Self-Governing territories to their natural resources.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The conflict in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians figured prominently in the Fourth Committee, with 10 draft texts on the subject out of a total of 22 recommended for General Assembly adoption The work of UNRWA also came under scrutiny and the Assembly adopted the resolution. Assistance to Palestine refugees and support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), by a vote of 133 to none, with 35 abstentions. It affirmed the Agency's work and asked all States to meet its anticipated needs, including emergency appeals Another resolution on UNRWA operations was adopted by a vote of 162 to 5, with 8 abstentions, with the United States. Israel, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau voting against. By the terms of that text, the Assembly called upon Israel particularly to cease obstructing the movement of UNRWA personnel, vehicles and supplies, as well as the levying of extra fees and charges, which have a detrimental effect on the Agency's operations.

The Committee also debated a range of public information issues and the work of the UN Department of Public Information (DPI). A resolution recommended to the Assembly, Information in the service of humanity, in the context of "Questions relating to information", was adopted without a vote. Through it, the Assembly urged, among other things, all concerned "to ensure for journalists the free and effective performance of their professional tasks and condemn resolutely all attacks against them".

By the terms of a text entitled "United Nations public information policies and activities", also in the context of Questions relating to information, the Assembly requested DPI to pay particular attention to such major issues as the eradication of poverty, conflict prevention, sustainable development, human rights, HIV/AIDS, combating terrorism, and the needs of the African continent.