General Assembly opens 39th session, begins work on 143-item agenda.

It was "paradoxical", he said, that "while contemporary realities have strengthened the need for the use of multilateral means for dealing with our problems ... there is an increasing questioning of the rules, instruments and modalities of multilateral co-operation". Without the "safety net" which multilateral organizations provided, he concluded, "the world would certainly be a much more dangerous and disorderly place".

In his press conference on 17 Septembe, Mr. Petez de Cuellar said a main problem of the Organization was that it was "in some way not being duly utilized for the peaceful solution of international problems. Of course, that is not the fault of the United Nations; it is the fault of Member countries which do not want, or do not know how, to use the instrument they themselves have created".

The first days of the thirty-ninth session offered some optimistic signs--including the Secretary-General's rounds of meetings with world leaders, the talks in New York City between United States President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Foreign minister Andrei Gromyko, and the 8 October offer of El Salvador President Jose Napoleon Duarte to hold talks with guerrilla leaders in his country.

Mr. Perez de Cuelar, at his news conference, said it was "thanks to the existence of the United Nations" that the United States-Soviet talks in New York were made possible, and that dialogue in itself should help lessen tensions. And on 19 October, e said that even during the present period of severe strains, recent developments had again shown the importance of the United Nations "as the only place where leaders or representatives of nations which are at odds with one another can come together and formulate positions which can lead to serious negotiations".

Jorge Illueca of Panama, outgoing President of the thirty-eighth Assembly, told the world body on 18 September that international cooperation through the United Nations system "offers the best hope of coping with problems which transcend national boundaries".

"A world without the Untited Nations would be a much more dangerous place in which to live", said Paul J.F. Lusaka of Zambia, in a statement following his election as President of the 1984 Assembly. The United Nations, he said, "still represents mankind's most imaginative structure for using co-operative methods to tackle man's ancient enemies, namely, war, disease, poverty and the denial of basic human rights nd freedoms".

New Member: As the General Assembly by acclamation received its 159th Member--Brunei Darussalam--Mr. Lusaka said: "We have been able to almost attain universality of membership; we have been able to make this assembly truly a parliament of nations and a forum for humanity."

The Asian sultanate, neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia, was admitted to membership on 21 September. Its yellow flag with two digonal stripes of black and white and its coat of arms in red was raised that day for th first time in front of Headquarters. The oil-producing country, formerly a British protectorate, became independent on 1 January 1984.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, Head of State and Prime Minister of the new Member--the name of which means "Brunei, Abode of Peace"--presented a $1 million check to the United Nations Children's Fund's Executive Director James Grant, following the flag-raising ceremony, for a special fund for countries with high infant mortality rates.

Agenda

A number of political items of continuing concern were to be considered again this year in the plenary, including the situations in the Middle East, Iran and Iraq, Cyprus, Central America, southern Africa (Namibia and apartheid), Afghanistan and Kampuchea. Particular atention would be devoted to the emergency food needs and other problems of Africa.

Many of these topics were central to the Assembly's general debate, which spanned a three-week period from 24 September through 11 October. Participating this year in the traditional discussion, which sets the tone for the work of the Assembly, were 150 speakers, including 16 Heads of State and Government.

Secretary-General Perez d Cuellar, in his 17 September press conference, singled out disamament and economic affairs as deserving "special consideration" by the 1984 Assembly. Other significant items this year were preparations for the 40th anniversary, for observing Internationa Youth Year, and for United Nations-sponsored conferences on women and on crime--all to take place in 1985. The Assembly would also undertake its usual review of social and cultural matters, human rights, decolonization concerns, budgetary items and legal issues.

Other subjects were: a possible chemical weapons ban; he naval arms race; peaceful uses of outer space; a new world information and communication order; review and appraisal of implementation of the Third Development Decade Strategy; draft guidelines on consumer protection; refugee situations around the world; a nearly-complete draft convention on torture; and the Programme of Action for the Second Decade against Racism and Racial Discrimination.

A report on Antartica, requested by the Assembly last year during its initial consideration of this subject, would also be before the body.

The plenary and the seven Main Committees began work on a 143-item agenda--three items less than the all-time high in 1983. Six new topics are on the list: right of peoples to peace, proposed by Mongolia; critical situation in Africa, submitted on recommendation of the Economic and Social Council; observance of the 150th anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire, proposed by Antigua and Barbuda; countries stricken by drought and desertification, put forward by Senegal; use of outer space exclusively for peaceful purposes for the benefit of mankind; and inadmissibility of the policy of state terrorism and any actions by States aimed at undermining the socio-political system in other sovereign States. (The last two items were proposed by the USSR.)

The Assembly's General Committee, meeting on 19 September, decided that the subject of East Timor, scheduled for consideration, would be deferred until 1985.

It also approved the inclusion of all other items on the draft agenda (A/39/100) and decided on their allocation to Committees. In discussing the agenda, some delegations opposed the inclusion of certain items, as follows: situation in Kampuchea (opposed by USSR, Cuba, Bulgaria); situation in Central America (Guatemala); question of the Comorian island of Mayotte (France); situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security (Afghanistan, USSR, Bulgaria); and questions of the Malagasy islands of Glorieuses, Juan de Nova, Europa and Bassas da India (France).

The three-month Assembly is scheduled to endon 18 December.

End of 38th session: On 17 September, the Assembly formally concluded its thirty-eight session, deciding to defer to the thirty-ninth session items on: launching global negotiations; Cyprus; implementation of United Nations resolutions; consequences of the prolongation of the armed conflict between Iran and Iraq; and the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America.

President Illueca reported that despte informal discussions over the past year, nothing substantive with respect to launching the global negotiations for economic development had been concluded. "To persist in refusing to launch global negotiations can mean nothing else but a rejection of international co-operation, a repudiation of multilateralism, and a return to nationalistic bilateral approaches, with disastrous consequences for the preservation of the economic and political independence of the developing nations", he said.

Porfirio Munoz ledo (Mexico), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77, said the negotiations had not begun for reasons similar to those that had made the Security Council unable to overcome the widespread use of the veto and the Assembly paralyzed as to implementing its decisions.

Representatives of the countries of Eastern Europe, the European Economic Community, the Noridic countries, as well as the United States, Japan and China indicated in their statements their willingness to continue efforts to launch the negotiations.

Outgoint President: In remarks on 18 September, outgoing Assembly President Illueca, who was President of Panama from February to October 1984, said he might be able to offer different apprach to reviewing the work of the past year because he was the only Assembly President who had "also had the honour and responsibility of serving simultaneously as a Head of State".

While the 38th Assembly had not failed to deal with the pressing issues facing mankind, he went on, most of the same problems would confront the new Assembly. "We know that in our debates we must deal with problems that frequently have deep-seated historical roots, in a world characterized by national rivalries, distrust, insecurity and gross inequality in access to material goods and opportunities for a satisfying and productive life for all peoples", he said.

The Secretary-General, he went on, had rightly warned against side-stepping the United Nations n favour of force and independent action. There was no evidence to show that questions such as disarmament, famine and economic development could be solved effectively by purely bilateral and unilateral efforts.

As Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the 40th Anniversary, President Illueca reported the Committee was recommending the adoption of the theme, "The United Nations for a Better World". The occasion was a chance for all to rededicate themselves to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Chater, he said, and to reflect on the state of the world, the progress made by the United Nations so far, drawing on lessons from the past, and to consider how to make an even greater contribution in the future.

He rejected the pessimistic view that the United Nations was becoming irrelevant to the real problems of the world and cited ongoing international efforts in areas of drug control and humn rights.

Mr. Illueca again urged the super-Powers to halt the arms race, both nuclear and conventional, and return to the negotiating table. Efforts by the Contadora Group regarding Central America continued, he said, and the international community should urge the five Central American Governments to sign and implement the Contadora Act, "which affords a golden opportunity to make a harmonious transition to peace and co-operation" in the area.

The preservation of the neutrality of the Panama Canal was a priority for his country and was also of utmost importance for the American continent nd the international community, he said. Its future as a waterway providing an international public service depended on strict compliance with the letter and spirit of the 1977 treaties.

New President: Assembly President Lusaka, 49, a former Ambassador of Zambia to the Soviet Union, and High Commissioner to Canada, Cuba and a number of Caribbean countries, has also served as Zambia's Minister of Rural Development, Minister of Power, Transport and Communcations, and Minister of Health. His country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 1979, Mr Lusaka has also been President of the Council for Namibia and the Economic and Social Council.

In his 18 September inaugural statement, he said the world deeply regretted "the present low ebb in the relationship between the two super-Powers". While good relations between the United States and Soviet Union would not assure a more effective United Natons, a non-co-operative relationship certainly added to its difficulties. He appealed to those Powers "urgently to explore every avenue to resume dialogue in a spirit of understanding, responsibility and flexibility".

In favourable circumstances, he said, the United Nations "creates the setting withn which States can use their common wisdom to enunciate the norms which, when observed, provide for the maintenance of international peace and security".

Some Member States were now questioning the legitimacy of the United Nations, asserting a lack of objectivity and fairness, bemoaning "the prevalence of double standards and the absence of cinsistency in decisions". The time was past, he said, "for name-calling, for blaming one another, or for pointing accusing fingers". The United Nations remained an "essential human instrument in the conduct of international relations".

Mr. Lusaka called for an equivocal response of the Organization against the policy of apartheid in South Africa. "We are not impressed by any tinkering" with the system, he said, and constitutional changes which failed to deal with the legitimate rights of the overwhelming majority of the people of the country "deserve neither the support nor the acquiescent tolerance" of the United Nations. Efforts to implement the United Nations plan on Namibia should be redoubled, he added.

He also referred to the United Nations responsibility in the search for peace in the Middle East. Two major obstacles to the Organization's involvement in that search were that one party to the dispute was apprehensive it would not be treated even-handedly, and the lack of meaningful co-operation between the major Powers towards attaining United Nations objectives in the area. President Lusake said it was imperative to reflect on how best to adapt United Nations working procedures and approaches in the crucial area of peaceful settlement of disputes if its credibility were to be revived and strenghthened. In the long run, he concluded, "if we are to tackle successfully numerous problems across international boundaries, we cannot afford to ignore the reality of interdependence and the consequent necessity of multilateralism".

International Day of Peace: The third International Day of Peace was observed on the Assembly's opening day, 18 September. Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar, in a message on the occasion delivered by Yasushi Akashi, Under-Secretary-General for Public Information, stated it was "essential to take full account of the jeopardy in which peace stands. Peace will be assured only if the underlying causes of the prevailing distrust and widespread conflict among nations are successfully dealt with; only if economic and social justice is furthered; and only if the United Nations and other multilateral institutions with responsibility for settling disputes and building the foundations of peace are strengthened and supported".

He said: "We must dedicate ourselves anew to these objectives today. This is a time for resolution, not discouragement. The principles contained in the Charter of the United Natios constitute clear guide-posts ina troubled and endangered world. Governments must see that in following them both the most basic national interests and the common good will be served".

Mr. Akashi, in a morning ceremony n Headquarters lawn, rang the Peace Bell, which was cast in Japan from coins collected from Japanese schoolchildren following the Scond

World War. moment of silence was then observd, during which the people of the world were invited to dedicate themselves to world peace and disarament through the United Nations.

Credentials Committee:

On 17 October, the Credentials Committee approved the credentials of 127 States. Its report (A/39/574) was approved by the General Assembly the same day. Statements were made in the Committee regarding the credentials of Democratic Kampuchea, Chile and Afghanistan.

During the Assembly's consideration of that report, Iran proposed an amendment to it--adding the words "except for the credentials of Israel" to the Committee's recommendation that all credentials reviewed be approved. However, on a proposal by Denmark, the Assembly decided, by a recorded vote of 80 to 40, with 22 abstentions, to take no action with regard to the Iranian proposal.

Those in the majority included most Western countries and many from all other regions. Egypt was among them. Jordan and Lebanon were among countries which did not vote. Iraq was among those which abstained.

Among those voting against the Danish proposal were the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the Syrian Arab Republic, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and other Arab coutries, as well as the Soviet Union and some socialist countries of Eastern Europe.

Riyadh Al-Qaysi of Iraq, abstaining, said his coutry would not be taken in by "procedural manoeuvres", and it was no secret than Iran, which received arms from Israel, was no less expansionist than "the Zionist entity".

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's newly-apointed Permanent Representative, said the attempt to reject Israel's credentials was a challenge to the United Nations. If the principle of the universality were destroyed, it would be a mortal blow to the world Organization. Israel was a democracy, h said, and most of its attackers were totalitarian States.

Said Rajaie-Khorassani (Iran) said the Committee had been very "condoning". United Nations rules of procedure provided for the expulsion, suspension or rejection of credentials of Member countries in certain circumstances, he said. The actions of "the Zionist entity", he said, and its rejection of so many United Nations resolutions did not deserve to be rewarded with a seat in the Assembly.

The Assembly also had received a letter (A/39/584) from 48 countries expressing reservations about Israel's crdentials to the current session. It referred to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and actions against the Palestinian and Lebanese people.

Elctions:

On 18 September, the Main Committee Chairmen were elected as follows: Celso Antonio de Souza e Silva (Brazil), First Committee (Political an Security); Alpha Ibrahima Diallo (Guinea), Special Political Committee; Bryce Harland (New Zealand), Second Committee (Economic and Financial); Ali Abdi Madar (Somalia), third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural); Renagi Renagi Lohia (Papua New Guinea), Fourth Committee (Decolonization); Ernest Besley Maycock (Barbados), Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary); and Gunter Goerner (German Democratic Republic), Sixth Committee (Legal).

Elected on 18 September as the Assembly's 21 Vice-Presidents were representatives of Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chad, China, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Morocco, Togo, USSR, United Kingdom, United States and Yemen.

On 21 September, the General Assembly appointed Siegfried Schumm (Federal Republic of Germany) to fill the unexpired portion of the term of office of Mark E. Allen (United Kingdom), ending on 31 December 1987, on the Joint Inspection Unit.

On 22 October, these 18 States were elected to the 54-member Economic and Social Council to replace members whose three-year terms would expire at the end of 1984: Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, FRance, Federal Republic of Germany, Guinea, Haiti, Iceland, India, Japan, Morocco, Nigeria, Romania, Senegal, Spain, Turkey, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Four new States were elected as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning in 1985: Australia, Denmark, Trinidad and Tobago, and Thailand. A fifth State from the African-Asian group is yet to be elected.