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26 NOVEMBER 1999

There are no open meetings today, and so I will talk about what’s ahead for next week. On Monday morning, the General Assembly will take up the item entitled "Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies". There is a report of the Secretary-General on the subject (A/54/492), as well as two draft resolutions. The first text contains a draft Code of Democratic Conduct for Member States, for adoption by the Assembly (A/54/L.23); the second text deals with UN system-wide support of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies (A/54/L.33).

On Monday afternoon, the Assembly will consider the question of Palestine. It will have before it the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (A/54/35), the report of the Secretary-General (A/54/457), as well as four draft resolutions – on the Palestinian Rights Committee (A/54/L.42), the Division for Palestinian Rights (A/54/L.43), the Department of Public Information’s special information programme on the question of Palestine (A/54/L.44) and the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine (A/54/L.45). Last year, the Assembly adopted all four texts on this subject by recorded votes.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Assembly will take up the item on the situation in the Middle East. On Wednesday, it will take action on 22 reports of the First Committee, on disarmament and international security issues. This includes action on the draft relating to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) hopes to finish its work by the end of next week. It approved 11 draft resolutions on Wednesday, but has yet to take action on 20 more texts, some of them contentious, such as those on globalization; financing for development, including the net transfer of resources between developing and developed countries; and science and technology as it relates to the issue of bio-technology.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) is conducting its second, informal reading of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001, which is the central focus of the Committee’s work at this time. Work is also ongoing on the important question of the scale of assessments for apportioning the expenses of the Organization, and the Committee hopes to submit an omnibus draft resolution on that subject. The Committee plans to conclude its general discussion of the item on human resources management on Tuesday, 30 November. Also next week, it will take up the financing of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (A/54/494). Among the items that will be deferred, because all the documents are not yet available, are those on the financing of the International Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as well as the financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

Monday, 29 November, is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The Palestinian Rights Committee will hold a solemn meeting that morning, in the Trusteeship Council, in observance of the Day. Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab will address the meeting. An exhibition in connection with the International Day, entitled "Follow the Star: Images from the Palestinian City of Bethlehem at the New Millennium", will be unveiled, at 6 p.m., in the Public Lobby of the General Assembly Building.

Question: When will the Assembly take up the item on the situation of democracy and human rights in Haiti?

Answer: The report on the item (A/54/625) and the related draft resolution (A/54/L.36) are available. However, the Assembly won’t take up the item until it has received a statement on the financial implications of the draft.