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20 DECEMBER 1999

At the start of this morning’s meeting, the President of the General Assembly, Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, extended, on behalf of the Members, deepest sympathy to the Government and the people of Venezuela for the tragic loss of life and extensive material damage that have resulted from the recent floods and mudslides. He also expressed the hope that the international community would show its solidarity and respond promptly and generously to any request for help. A full text of the statement is available in room 378.

The Assembly is continuing its debate on Security Council reform, with 44 speakers listed. The meeting is taking place in Conference Room 2 because of the preparations in the General Assembly Hall for this evening’s Broadway and Jazz Concert, entitled “United We Stand”. The concert, hosted by the United Nations Staff Union, will pay tribute to the staff of the United Nations by honouring the children of staff killed in the line of duty.

The Assembly may meet tomorrow, depending on whether it concludes the debate today on the equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters. On Wednesday, it will take up the reports of the Second and Fifth Committees and recess the session.

This afternoon, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) will meet, having held informal consultations all weekend, to take action on a draft resolution and draft decisions dealing with the scale of assessments for apportioning the expenses of the Organization (A/C.5/54/L.28. L.29 and L.30); on draft resolutions pertaining to the financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (A/C.5/54/L.33) and of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (A/C.5/54/L.34); and a text on the Support Account for peacekeeping operations (A/C.5/54/L.32). It will also consider aspects of the programme budget for the biennium 200-2001.

As to the appointments of the President, he is presiding over today’s plenary meetings. He is scheduled to meet, at 5 p.m., with the Permanent Representative of Libya, Ambassador Abuzed Omar Dorda, and to attend the concert, although these were not confirmed.