An International Colloquium on Post-Conflict Reconstruction Strategies was convened on 23 and 24 June at the Austrian Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Stadt Schlaining, Austria. It was attended by 58 participants from United Nations political, humanitarian and development entities, specialized agencies, the Bretton Woods institutions, donor countries and non-governmental organizations as well as representatives from war-torn societies. The meeting was organized by the Department for Development Support and Management Services, in cooperation with the Austrian Centre, and supported by the Government of Austria as a contribution to the definition of the role of the United Nations in the next half century as part of the fiftieth anniversary activities. The Department for Development Support and Management Services contributed a paper setting out a strategic programme for reconstruction and development.
The idea for the meeting stemmed from the Supplement to the Secretary-General's "An Agenda for Peace" (A/50/60-S/1995/1), which stresses the need for integrated action between United Nations organizations, the parties to the conflict and other institutions prepared to assist in the reconstruction of a country; its purpose was to identify the practical and institutional issues that must be addressed to bring this concept to reality.
The main topic of post-conflict reconstruction was addressed under four headings: strategic issues, needs and capabilities, an integrated post-conflict reconstruction framework and mobilization of resources. Because of the interrelationship between these four topics, the themes recurred throughout the deliberations and there was considerable cross-fertilization of ideas. The meeting was an example of the coming together of various organizations, within and outside the United Nations system, all with a common interest in a topic that is of increasing concern to the international community. It is hoped that the ideas and recommendations presented in the report will serve as a basis for a clear definition of the role of the United Nations in post-conflict reconstruction, and for establishing arrangements that will ensure a swift, effective and integrated response to such situations by the United Nations system.
Issues falling within the four categories of post-conflict peace-building discussed at the Colloquium have been addressed elsewhere in this report; here I will focus on two specific concerns: electoral assistance and mine clearance.
In the period from July 1994 to 10 August 1995, the United Nations received 19 new requests for electoral assistance, from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Guinea, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, Namibia, the Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. In the case of the Congo, assistance could not be provided owing to lack of lead time. In addition to these new requests, assistance was also provided in 12 cases, to Brazil, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, the Netherlands Antilles, Sierra Leone and MINURSO, in response to requests received prior to July 1994 (see fig. 19).
Since July 1994, 30 States and United Nations missions have received or will soon receive some form of electoral assistance from the United Nations system. The type of electoral assistance provided has varied according to the requests received and the resources available. Following the guidelines provided to Member States (see A/49/675 and Corr.1, annex III), verification of electoral processes was conducted in Mozambique and plans for a verification mission in Liberia are currently on hold. The coordination and support approach was used in the cases of Armenia and Benin, and follow-up and report/observation was used in Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Sao Tome and Principe. Technical assistance, the most frequently provided form of electoral assistance, was given to Brazil, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, the Niger, Sierra Leone and Uganda. A total of 11 needs assessment missions were also conducted during this period.
Since the creation of the Electoral Assistance Division in 1992, the United Nations has been involved in the electoral processes of 61 Member States and some States have requested electoral assistance more than once. United Nations electoral assistance this past year in Mozambique and Armenia illustrates the process in action.
In Mozambique, the United Nations provided technical assistance and a verification mission for the first multi-party elections, held in October 1994. In accordance with the terms of the General Peace Agreement signed at Rome on 4 October 1992, ONUMOZ, through its electoral component, monitored the conduct of the entire electoral process. The Electoral Division of ONUMOZ fielded 148 electoral officers throughout the country to monitor voter registration, civic education, political campaigns, political party access to as well as impartiality of the media, polling, vote counting and tabulation of the vote at provincial counting centres. On the election days ONUMOZ deployed 2,300 international observers.
The United Nations also provided technical assistance to Mozambique through a UNDP project implemented by the Department for Development Support and Management Services. The project coordinated international financial and material support and provided technical assistance throughout the entire process in the areas of organization, training, civic education, jurisprudence, social communication and financial management. This assistance entailed management, coordination and monitoring of a $64.5 million budget made up of contributions from 17 countries and international institutions. Technical assistance included the training of 2,600 electoral officers at the national, provincial and district levels, 8,000 census agents, 1,600 civic education agents and 52,000 polling officers. In addition to a 12-person UNDP advisory team to the National Election Commission, 3 to 5 United Nations Volunteers were assigned to each of the 11 electoral constituencies and worked closely with the provincial and district electoral authorities.
In addition to the ONUMOZ electoral verification mandate, a United Nations trust fund for assistance to registered political parties was established to assist all political parties not signatories to the General Peace Agreement to prepare for the elections. The electoral component of ONUMOZ also designed a programme to enhance national observation. The programme provided training, transportation and subsidies for nearly 35,000 party agents to monitor the elections. A parallel programme funded by the United Nations trust fund provided computer training to 78 representatives from all political parties to enable them to monitor the processing of the vote at the provincial and national levels.
Armenia requested electoral assistance from the United Nations in January 1995 in connection with the elections to the National Assembly to be held in July 1995. In February, an officer from the Electoral Assistance Division conducted a needs assessment mission and returned in April to establish a joint operation coordinating unit together with a representative of OSCE. The purpose of the joint operation was to coordinate and support the activities of the international observers. Members of the joint operation were stationed in three regional offices for a period of six weeks in order to follow the pre-election process, including the registration of candidates, the electoral campaign, and poll preparations. On election day, 5 July, the joint operation deployed over 90 observers throughout the country to observe the conduct of the elections. Observers visited more than 300 precinct electoral committees, starting from the opening of the polls to the counting of votes at the precinct level. The group of observers represented 18 Governments and several governmental and non-governmental organizations.
The ever-growing problem of uncleared land-mines continues to pose a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions, devastating vast amounts of territory, possibly for decades. Despite the increased efforts of the international community, more than 20 times more mines are being laid than removed. Within the United Nations system, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs has intensified its activities as focal point for the coordination of land-mine assistance programmes. Since its establishment in early 1992, the Department has been involved in the formulation and implementation of mine-assistance programmes. Pursuant to General Assembly resolutions 48/7 of 19 October 1993 and 49/215 of 23 December 1994, the Department has been convening interdepartmental/inter-agency consultations on land-mine policy to examine all aspects of United Nations involvement in mine-related activities and to develop standard United Nations policy concerning the institutional aspects that need to be addressed in an integrated United Nations land-mine operation. The United Nations approach has been to focus on the creation of a national indigenous mine-clearance capacity, including appropriate arrangements to enable continuity of national mine-clearance efforts, as normalization of conditions in a country progresses.
During the past year, the United Nations engaged in the implementation and/or development of demining activities in nine countries. Programmes differ in structure, size and arrangements for funding and implementation.
Afghanistan is the most mature of the United Nations programmes, having been in operation for six years. There are currently almost 3,000 deminers working in the field. Over the past five years, the Programme has cleared a total of 54 square kilometres of high-priority area and destroyed over 110,000 mines and 215,000 unexploded devices. Approximately 2.5 million people received mine-awareness briefings.
Angola is probably the most mine-affected country in the world and, together with the implementation of the peace-keeping operation, a mine-action programme has been launched in cooperation between the United Nations, the parties to the Lusaka Protocol and non-governmental organizations. The Central Mine Action Office has been established as part of the Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit in Angola and is mandated to create an indigenous mine-clearance capacity. The Office is responsible for the implementation of the mine-action plan and coordinates all mine-related activities. UNAVEM III, in conjunction with the Office, is in the process of establishing a mine-clearance training school, which will form the core of the Angolan mine-action programme.
In Cambodia, the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (a governmental entity with technical advice provided through a UNDP project) has been coordinating all clearance activities. Over the past year, the Centre's 1,556 staff have continued to survey, mark and clear minefields, and teach mine awareness. Since the commencement of operations, 16,436,971 square metres of land have been cleared, with 423,708 unexploded devices and 61,787 mines destroyed.
In June 1995, a United Nations demining expert undertook a mission to Chad on behalf of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs to evaluate the land-mine problem in the Tibesti region.
Mine-clearance activities in Mozambique involve both the United Nations own programme, the accelerated demining programme, and non-governmental organizations and companies funded by the United Nations or by donors. The accelerated demining programme consists of 500 Mozambican deminers who were trained, equipped and deployed by the United Nations.
The use of mines in the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, is extensive. The Department of Humanitarian Affairs has sent an assessment mission to the area and has suggested activities to reduce the number of land-mine accidents. Approval from the Abkhaz authorities is required before a programme can be started.
The problem of land-mines and unexploded ordnance in Rwanda has resulted in large numbers of accidents. Both the Department of Peace-keeping Operations and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs have assessed the situation and a plan has been developed. Action is of course dependent upon the approval of the Government.
In Somalia, a limited demining programme implemented by local Somali entities worked well until the security situation prevented follow-up to clearance activities in the field.
In Yemen, the United Nations is providing expert technical assistance to the Government on mine-clearance and mapping methods.
The continuing conflict in the former Yugoslavia has prevented the development of a humanitarian demining programme. However, United Nations peace-keeping forces and other United Nations agencies have engaged in mine-clearance activities as part of their attempts to carry out their mandates.
At Headquarters, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 49/215, established the Mine Clearance and Policy Unit to further strengthen support functions to demining operations. To facilitate the planning, implementation and support of mine-clearance programmes and policies, the Unit is developing a database containing information about the worldwide land-mine situation. Country-specific data, as well as general programme and financial data, are maintained in the database, which serves as a central repository of information for Member States, United Nations departments and agencies, and other interested parties.
On 30 November 1994, I established a voluntary trust fund for assistance in mine clearance. The fund's purpose is to provide special resources for mine-clearance programmes, including mine-awareness training and surveys, and to contract mine-clearance activities in situations where other funding is not immediately available. Some examples of the types of activities that could be funded from the trust fund include, but are not limited to, assessment missions, provision of seed money, emergency mine clearance, projects where other sources of funding are not readily available, consciousness-raising and enhancing Headquarters support for mine-clearance programmes in the field, including through the improvement of the central land-mine database.
In accordance with the recommendations contained in the Secretary-General's report on assistance in mine clearance (A/49/357 and Add.1), the Mine Clearance and Policy Unit began the process of creating a United Nations demining stand-by capacity in order to expedite the provision of expert personnel, specialized equipment and facilities to United Nations mine-action programmes. These in-kind contributions have been a vital component of United Nations mine-action programmes. The establishment of a stand-by capacity is intended to institutionalize this support.
From 5 to 7 July 1995, I convened an international meeting on mine clearance at the Palais des Nations at Geneva. The objective of the meeting was to enhance international awareness of the land-mine problem in all its dimensions, to seek further political and financial support for United Nations mine-action activities and to increase international cooperation in this field. It consisted of three elements: a high-level segment devoted to statements by Governments and organizations, which also provided the opportunity to announce pledges to the voluntary trust fund for assistance in mine clearance and the United Nations demining stand-by capacity; nine panels of experts that discussed various aspects of the land-mine problem; and an exhibition focusing on the impact of land-mines on affected populations and international efforts to address the problem.
The international meeting was attended by representatives of 97 Governments and more than 60 organizations, bringing together 800 participants. Contributions in the amount of $22 million were announced towards the voluntary trust fund and 23 countries indicated contributions to the United Nations stand-by capacity totalling $7 million.
All delegations referred to the magnitude of the global land-mine crisis, which continues to deteriorate, and emphasized the need for urgent and effective measures to reverse the trend. Many delegations and organizations called for a total ban on land-mines; most delegations stressed the need to strengthen the provisions of the Convention on Prohibition or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects.
There are still only 49 States parties to the Convention and its protocols, which include the protocol placing prohibitions and restrictions on the use of land-mines. The Convention needs to be strengthened to make its provisions applicable to both internal and international conflicts. It is in internal conflicts that the indiscriminate use of mines has caused the most suffering and misery to civilian populations. The 1995 Review Conference provides an opportunity to strengthen the Convention and its land-mine protocol. Looking at the magnitude of the problem, States parties should seriously consider a total ban on anti-personnel land-mines.
A revitalized Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters is developing ideas for the better integration of disarmament-related security measures with development in countries emerging from inter- or intra-State conflict. The Board is preparing for the Secretary-General's review a study entitled "Some thoughts on the development of the disarmament agenda at the end of the century", which should be relevant to the proposed fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament.
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