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1 NOVEMBER 1999

I shall begin with two statements which General Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab intends to read at this afternoon’s plenary meeting, on the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 and on the cyclone in the Indian state of Orissa:

Statement on plane crash

It was with utter shock and deep sadness that I learnt yesterday of the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990, which was lost in international waters during the early hours of Sunday, 31 October, off the coast of Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.

The plane, a Boeing 767-300 bound for Cairo, disappeared from radar screens 55 minutes after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. There were 217 people on board. Aviation authorities and news reports indicate that the passenger list included 62 Egyptians, 3 Syrians, 2 Sudanese, 1 Chilean and 131 others, many believed to be Americans.

I wish to join other world leaders and sympathizers everywhere in expressing deep sorrow and profound sympathy over this terrible tragedy, and offer condolences to the bereaved families, relatives and friends of all those on board whose lives ended so tragically.

I would also like to commend the ongoing joint search and rescue operation by the officials of the Governments of the United States and Egypt, to establish the cause of the plane crash and identify the victims.

Statement on cyclone in India

Thousands of people died, 1.5 million were left homeless and more than a third of the state’s 35 million population have been left in a state of anguish and devastation following a powerful cyclone which hit the Indian state of Orissa, in the Bay of Bengal, over the weekend.

Reports describe a grim picture of death, suffering and destruction. The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, has described the devastation as "a national calamity", while the state’s Chief Minister has referred to it as the "cyclone of the century". Worst affected were the people who had very little to begin with, and who are now left in a hopeless situation.

Judging from the scale of the destruction, it is obvious that human beings are helpless against forces of nature, such as cyclones, hurricanes or earthquakes. This latest disaster is proof enough that, despite years of persistent international efforts in disaster prevention, their number and cost continue to rise.

Less than two weeks ago, on 13 October, the United Nations observed World Disaster Reduction Day, which highlighted the importance of disaster prevention. I stressed, on that occasion, the need to strengthen and broaden disaster reduction programmes in our efforts to limit the impact and costs of human suffering. I reiterate that disaster reduction must become an essential element of international strategies and national development plans if we are to mitigate – since we cannot prevent -- their devastating effects.

I extend condolences to the Government and the people of India, and in particular those of Orissa state, for the great loss they have sustained. I also call upon the entire international community, including in particular the humanitarian agencies, to respond swiftly and generously to India’s urgent appeal for emergency relief assistance for the many thousands of victims. Copies of both statements are available in room 378.

The Assembly will meet this afternoon, on the request of the Secretary-General for the inclusion in the agenda of an additional item, on "Financing of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone" (A/54/234). The Assembly is taking up the request on an urgent basis, to enable the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) to consider the item. The Security Council, in resolution 1270 (1999), decided to establish a 6,000-member force, UNAMSIL, for an initial period of six months. Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, the Council also decided that in the discharge of its mandate, UNAMSIL may take the necessary action to ensure the security and freedom of movement of its personnel and to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.

A reminder that the Assembly will meet on Wednesday, 3 November, to hold elections, simultaneously with the Security Council, for five members of the International Court of Justice. The related documents are A/54/305, 306 and Add.1, and 307.

Last Friday, after five rounds of voting, the Assembly elected the following 18 members to the 54-member Economic and Social Council, for a three-year term starting 1 January 2000: Angola, Austria, Bahrain, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Sudan and Suriname.

The Assembly also adopted the resolutions contained in eight Fifth Committee reports, pertaining to, among other things, the establishment of a multi-year Development Account and its modalities and the financing of three peacekeeping operations, including the United Nations Mission in East Timor. Guyana, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, as well as Cuba, said they interpreted the resolution to mean that the savings realized from efficiency measures would form the maintenance base for the Account, and that this would not lead to budget and post reduction exercises. Finland spoke for the European and associated States.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) at two meetings today, is approving draft resolutions in clusters, commencing with 16 draft resolutions and one draft decision in the nuclear weapons cluster. There are 10 clusters altogether: (1) nuclear weapons; (2) other weapons of mass destruction; (3) outer space (disarmament aspects); (4) conventional weapons; (5) regional disarmament and security; (6) confidence-building measures, including transparency in armaments; (7) disarmament machinery; (8) other disarmament measures; (9) related matters of disarmament and international security; and (10) international security. The Committee will continue this exercise through 9 November.

At two meetings today, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) will consider the question of financing for development, dealing with the sub-item on high-level international intergovernmental consideration of financing for development. It has before it the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the General Assembly on Financing for Development (A/54/28). A high-level intergovernmental event on this subject is scheduled to take place in 2001, and will address national, international and systemic issues relating to financing for development in a holistic manner in the context of globalization and interdependence. Annexed to the report are ideas, issues and experiences that provide the basis for further discussion on an agenda for the event. Consideration of a related sub-item, relating to the net transfer of resources between developing and developed countries, has been postponed until 15 November.

This afternoon, before concluding discussion of the agenda item, the Committee will hear the introduction of four draft resolutions: the World Solar Programme 1996-2005 (A/C.2/54/L.16); report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (A/C.2/54/L.17); protection of global climate for present and future generations of mankind (A/C.2/54/L.18); and globalization and interdependence (A/C.2/54/L.19).

Tomorrow morning and again on Wednesday, there will be the 1999 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities. There is no pledging conference this year for the World Food Programme, as I had stated on Friday. That was a typographical error in the Committee’s programme of work.

This morning, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) is concluding its discussion on promoting and protecting the rights of children, before taking up the item on the programme of activities of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People 1995-2004. According to the report (A/54/487), two problems faced in implementing the Decade’s activities are the limited human resources available and the lack of funding for the activities themselves. The programme of activities for the Decade includes a proposal to establish a permanent forum for indigenous people in the United Nations system.

The Committee will also hear the introduction of a draft resolution, entitled "Use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination (A/C.3/54/L.27). That draft urges all States to exercise the utmost vigilance against the menace posed by the activities of mercenaries, and to take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that their territories, as well as their nationals, are not used for the recruitment, assembly, financing, training and transit of mercenaries for the planning of activities designed to destabilize or overthrow the Government of any State, or threaten the territorial integrity and political unity of sovereign States, or to promote secession or to fight the national liberation movements struggling against colonial or other forms of alien domination or occupation.

There is no Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) meeting today. Tomorrow, it takes up the item on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Documents on the item include the fifty-third report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (A/54/338) and reports of the Secretary-General on Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues (A/54/345); offers by Member States of grants and scholarships for higher education, including vocational training for Palestine refugees (A/54/376): persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities (A/54/377); and University of Jerusalem "Al Quds" for Palestine refugees (A/54/385).

This morning, the Fifth Committee is continuing its general discussion relating to the United Nations common system. Discussion will also continue this afternoon on the proposed programme budget for 2000-2001. The Committee’s consideration of the item on financing of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, which was to take place tomorrow, has been postponed.

All this week, the Sixth Committee will continue its discussion of the report of the International Law Commission. There are two meetings today.

The Committee on Information resumed its twenty-first session this morning, and is expected to hold several meetings this week, to consider the Secretary-General’s report on the multilingual development, maintenance and enrichment of United Nations Web sites (A/AC.198/1999/9). Web site management is a completely new activity that has been carried out on an ad hoc basis, the report states. Accordingly, a specific mandate and appropriate budgetary allocation are required for its continuation and further development. The current approach is under-resourced and unsustainable, and it requires a viable allocation of resources from within the regular programme budget. The Secretary-General recommends that a third option proposed in the report be pursued, in order to ensure a realistic and cost-effective use of limited resources, achieve a balanced linguistic diversity of the United Nations Web site and establish a sound foundation for its future expansion.

Copies of the appointments of Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab are available in room 378 and also on the Internet. Besides chairing this afternoon’s plenary, the President will attend a reception, this afternoon, hosted by Algeria, and another one this evening, hosted by the United States for the Committee on Relations with the Host Country.