I welcomed the establishment of a Bougainville Transitional Government in April of this year. I am pleased to note that, following the signing of the agreement reached at the Bougainville Peace Conference at Arawa last October, and following the talks held by my Special Envoy in August 1994 and January 1995 with the leaders of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, and with representatives of all Bougainvillian groups in pursuance of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1994/81 of 9 March 1994, there has been a marked improvement in the political and human rights situation on the island.
Convinced that reconstruction and rehabilitation are essential for the strengthening of the peace process, I dispatched a United Nations inter-agency mission to Papua New Guinea in April-May 1995. The Mission has prepared a development programme for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Bougainville.
In accordance with the mandate entrusted to me by Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/65, I will continue to lend my good offices to the peace process now under way in Bougainville.
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