Historic meeting of Assembly presidents discusses ways to increase impact of United Nations.

Historic meeting of Assembly Presidents discusses ways to increase impact of United Nations

It was a "unique gathering", said Paul J. F. Lusaka (Zambia), President of the General Assembly. On 6 June, for the first time in United Nations history, a group of 11 General Assembly Presidents met together in New York to pool their collective experience and discuss the current crisis in multilateralism and improvement of Assembly procedures.

"We all come from different backgrounds, from countries with diverse and sometimes opposing ideologies", Mr. Lusaka told his colleagues at the Meeting of Presidents of the General Assembly (6-10 June). "Yet when we were elected to the Presidency of the General Assembly, we endeavoured to detach ourselves from our national feelings in order to become truly international and impartial presiding officers. Animated by the same spirit, we shold join our efforts to seek improvements not only in the procedures of the General Assembly but also in the operation of the United Nations as a whole."

The event, sponsored by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), was held in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the United Nations. In addition to Mr. Lusaka, who also is Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Fortieth Anniversary, the Presidents attending were:

* Amintore Fanfani (1965), former Prime Minister of ITaly and former President of the Italian Senate;

* Corneliu Manescu (1967), former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania;

* Stanislaw Trepczynski (1972), former Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland and Chairman of the Polish Committee for Co-operation witht he United Nations Children's Fund;

* Leopoldo Benites (1973), Ambassador of Ecuador to Mexico;

*Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1974), former Minister of Luxembourg and former President of the Commission of European Communities;

* Salim A. Salim (1979), Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania;

* Rudiger von Wechmar (1980), Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Kingdom;

* Ismat T. Kittani (1981), Senior Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Iraq; and

* Imre Hollai (1982), Ambassador of Hungary to Greece and former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Secretary-General's statement: Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar told the Presidents their collective experience spanned an "important portion" of the United Nations 40-year history. In the years since the Organization's founding, he observed, the difficulties inherent in a system of collective security and the "unavoidable imperfections" in its functioning had been magnified rather than overcome, and allowed to negatively influence perceptions of the Organization's potential.

However, the fact that conflict persisted "must not be accepted as evidence that the concept of collective security is unworkable", the Secretary-General cautioned, "but rather as a warning that it must be made to work more effectively".

If confidence in the United Nations was to be sustained and enhanced, then the Organization must overcome its weaknesses in performance, said the Secretary-General. "The United Nations must not lose the commitment of Governments because of an appearance of extravagance or administrative irresponsibility", he stressed, calling for action to facilitate "preventive diplomacy" and more efficient use of resources.

One of the main functions of the Assembly, according to the Secretary-General, is to provide a universal forum in which Governments' attitudes can be harmonized in the interest of resolving world problems. "Unrestrained and prolonged rhetoric can seldom contribute to this objective", he observed, urging the elimination of duplication and repetition in resolutions.

In discussing ways to increase the impact of the United Nations, the Presidents focused on overcoming the crisis in multilateralism as it affects the Organization's work and improving the functioning of the General Assembly. Observing that "a foreign affair of a Government is, in reality, an internal affair of this planet", Mr. Lusaka said there had been a "dramatic shift of responsibility" in international affairs to the Heads of State or Government level. "'Summitry' is a new political art and practice whose time has come", he said, urging that the General Assembly be made an occasion for meetings of Heads of State or Government--"in other words, a summit of summits".

Countries speeches should stress national contributions to the process of creating world peace, according to Mr. Lusaka. "There should be no speech without a positive idea or proposal, since we come to the General Assmbly to build a better world."

Long-range planning in the political are should be a major preoccupation of the 1985 Assembly, Mr. Lusaka recommended, pointing out that plans to the year 2000 had already been formulated in such areas as health, food, education, employment, telecommunications and the environment. "Frankly, we need a serious turning point in international affairs", he said.

Main conclusions

After their series of meetings, the Presidents agreed upon a set of "Main Conclusions" (A/40/377) to be transmitted to Member States in preparation for a debate on the subject at the 40th Assembly. The report called for a variety of measures to enhance the Organization's effectiveness to meet present and future challenges (see box).

Peoples all over the world seemed to expect less from the United Nations now than when it was founded, according to the document. One main reason for the lowered expectations, they agreed, was that the model on which the Organization was built had proved to be "too ambitious" and the scenario conceived by the founders had not worked as planned. The Charter was drafted, they recalled, on the assumption that the victors of World War II would continue to co-operate as closely as they had during the hostilities. Since almost immediately that co-operation had broken down, from the beginning, the United Nations was unable to function as designed.

The balance of power in the Organization had shifted with the emergence of the third world countries, the Presidents observed, and member States whose views had prevailed in the early days were now "somewhat frustrated" by the greater universality of the United Nations and the reordering of priorities on the international agenda.

Frustration with the Organization could also be traced, the Presidents said, to the danger of nuclear war, regular outbreaks of armed conflict, continued violations of human rights and the non-implementation of unanimous Assembly and Security Council decisions, "which makes the United Nations appear impotent and ineffective".

None the less, they affirmed, the Organization remains an "essential and irreplaceable instrument" which shows a "remarkable aptitude for adjustment to new situations without any substantive amendments to the Charter".