Science Blog -- STATEMENTS IN TODAY’S GENERAL ASSEMBLY PLENARY

Statement by President on Revitalization of General Assembly

JULIAN ROBERT HUNTE (Saint Lucia), President of the General Assembly, said that the process of determining a course of action for revitalizing the Assembly, and of formulating proposals for that purpose, had been begun in October, since which time there had been extensive deliberations on the issue. Throughout, he had sought to provide the responsive leadership Member States required of him, and had proceeded with the greatest transparency, taking all perspectives into account. Three informal, open-ended plenary meetings had been held on 15 October, 18 November and 12 December, in addition to the debate in the open plenary meetings from 27 to 31 October, which had provided the platform for the expression of views, comments on proposals and broad discussion of the revitalization issue in general.

In both the analytical document presented by the President, as in the draft resolution, previous General Assembly decisions on the issue of revitalization had been taken fully into account, he affirmed. By the text, the Assembly would set up a viable framework for long-term action and a continuing revitalization process, as a means of ensuring that it met contemporary global challenges effectively. The draft, which created various windows of opportunity for continued work on relevant issues and established a schedule for the consideration of further steps to maintain the momentum for revitalization, reflected the two-pronged approach to revitalization. The two prongs concerned enhancing the authority and role of the Assembly and improving its working methods.

The text reflected significant commitment to a course of action that should lead to far-reaching and critical advances in a key area, he noted. Taken together, the proposals contained therein would give significant impetus to revitalization initiatives and convey the Assembly’s unequivocal resolve to perform the functions mandated to it under the Charter of the United Nations, to meet the world’s expectations and to further strengthen the Organization.

Explanations of Position

The representative of Bangladesh said that, although the final draft might not reflect everything that some delegations or regional groups had wished, it was, nevertheless, a cause for optimism and hope for the Assembly’s future work. Particularly important were the paragraphs on publicizing the Assembly’s work, strengthening the President’s Office and deepening coordination with the Security Council. As Chair of the Committee on Information, Bangladesh would ensure that the Assembly’s work was publicized.

Following the Assembly’s adoption of the resolution without a vote, the representative of Italy, on behalf of the European Union, urged the Assembly to move quickly to implement its various elements. It was important to keep the momentum and to continue to enhance and strengthen the General Assembly in accordance with the Charter.

The representative of the United States, while commending the Assembly President’s commitment to the issue of reform, expressed regret that those efforts and that commitment had not been met by the wider Assembly. The text did not fully achieve the goal of revitalizing the Assembly, nor did it go far enough in that direction to re-energize the body’s work. The steps proposed in the resolution, which, in effect, could lead to watering down the Assembly’s decisions in some cases, must be significantly enhanced to demonstrate real political will.

He drew particular attention to the Assembly’s workload and the seemingly perpetual nature of the meetings, which were cumbersome, overloaded and still needed to be drastically reduced. The Assembly was at risk of imploding under its own weight. If delegations had been willing, more could have been done to correct that problem.

The representative of Peru, speaking on behalf of the Rio Group, said the successful adoption of the resolution demonstrated the importance of the Assembly in strengthening the international multilateral system.

Speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the representative of Algeria said a number of similar resolutions had been adopted throughout the 1990s, but it was important to ensure that the current text be followed through with conviction.

The representative of the Russian Federation said his country had associated itself with the consensus on the resolution in view of the importance of the issue. The recommendations contained therein would make it possible to revitalize the Assembly’s work and increase the overall effectiveness of the Organization. As the resolution would result in some expenditure, it would be necessary to find means to cover those costs, for example, from within existing resources.

The representative of China said that the revitalization of the Assembly was an ongoing process and that the resolution thus constituted not the end of the world body’s work, but a new point of departure.

Explanations of Position on Assistance in Mine Action

Speaking in explanation of position before the adoption of the text, the representative of Israel said that, despite dissatisfaction with certain language, her country had decided to join the consensus on the text because of the dangerous humanitarian consequences of the misuse of mines and other explosive devices. However, it was unfortunate that alternative preambular paragraph 14, introduced by her country, had not been accepted. The language contained in the current text did not stress enough the need to prevent the misuse of mines, booby traps and explosive devices by non-State actors, who tended the use such devices in populated areas and in ways directed against innocent civilians.

Speaking in explanation of position after the adoption of the text, the representative of Cuba said that his country had always attached importance to the humanitarian concerns of the international community, which was why it had decided to join the consensus. In some paragraphs, however, there had been references to the Ottawa Convention and other international legal instruments on mines. Cuba’s position in that regard had been well established and did not need to be repeated. Cuba affirmed, however, that the proliferation of new legal instruments would only serve to weaken existing instruments and that the concern should be to implement fully the existing framework for mine action. Yet, the decision to strengthen or to broaden those legal instruments currently in existence was a decision that could only be taken by Member States. It was not a subject for discussion by the General Assembly, which should focus instead on humanitarian issues.

The representative of Iran said that as a mine-affected country, Iran attached great importance to mine assistance, particularly in its humanitarian effects. As a result of the eight-year-long war imposed by Iraq, the border between the two countries had been infested with mines, which continued to claim victims. However, it was Iran’s country’s position that the resolution should be focused on the humanitarian effects of mines, whereas other aspects of mine action should more properly be introduced in other arenas.

Explanations of Position on Promotion of Religious, Cultural Understanding

The representative of Italy (on behalf of the European Union) said his delegation believed strongly in the value of a dialogue among civilizations and the promotion of religious and cultural understanding, but the text adopted today would produce overlap of various similar processes and decisions in the area. The resolution did not do enough to ensure the universality of human rights, nor to highlight the significance of freedoms of expression, thought, conscience and religion, in line with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Also, the concept of “harmony” was vague and should not be seen as limiting freedom of expression or the full exercise of all human rights and freedoms by minorities, non-believers or any other persons.

The representative of India said his delegation had joined the consensus despite the shortcomings of the text. It was unfortunate that the sponsors had refused to incorporate any reference to the international fight against terrorism. The resolution also fell seriously short in dealing with the problem of education that promoted extremism, violence and intolerance.

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