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8 DECEMBER 1999

I shall begin with UNRWA, which is marking its fiftieth anniversary today. A meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is taking place in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. Addressing the meeting, Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab said the gap between the resources provided by the international community to UNRWA to continue offering services, and the needs of the Palestine refugee community, had steadily widened, and he called upon the world community to put the Agency onto a firmer financial footing. "We must find a way to translate the statements of support which we hear every year, in the General Assembly debate on UNRWA and, indeed, at this annual Pledging Conference, into a level of financial support which will enable the Agency to fulfil its mandate", he said. Copies of the statement are available in room 378.

Also available in room 378 is the text of the President’s Human Rights Day Message.

This morning, the General Assembly is completing items not dealt with yesterday because of time. After hearing a further 11 speakers in the debate on cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity, it adopted a resolution, A/54/L.38, on the subject.

In the resolution, the Assembly calls upon the United Nations to enhance its cooperation, coordination and exchange of information with the OAU in the areas of prevention and in the peaceful settlement of disputes and maintenance of international peace and security in Africa, as provided for under Chapter VIII of the Charter. The Assembly also invites the UN to intensify its assistance to the OAU in strengthening the institutional and operational capacity of its Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution in Africa.

The Assembly then took action on seven draft resolutions on strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance, and one text on the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala.

The seven drafts under agenda item 20 deal specifically with: strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations (A/54/L.54); special assistance to Tajikistan (A/54/L.49), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (A/54/L.53), Djibouti (A/54/L.56) and Somalia (A/54/L.57); strengthening of international cooperation and coordination of efforts to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster (A/54/L.22/Rev.1); and participation of volunteers, ‘White Helmets’, in activities of the United Nations in the field of humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and technical cooperation for development (A/54/L.34/Rev.1).

By adopting the text on MINUGUA (A/54/L.27), the Assembly decided to renew the Mission’s mandate from 1 January to 31 December 2000, at a cost of $27,694,300.

This afternoon, the Assembly will take up item 46, on causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will address the Assembly.

The Assembly is called upon to establish an open-ended working group at its fifty-fourth session, pursuant to resolution 53/92 of 7 December 1998. The report of the Secretary-General on the agenda item is entitled "Development of Africa: implementation of the recommendations in the report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council and the General Assembly, specifically the implementation and coordinated follow-up by the United Nations system of initiatives on Africa" (A/54/133). The report describes measures taken relating to the recommendations in the Secretary-General’s 1998 report on the subject (A/52/871); priority areas under the current initiatives on Africa and possible priorities in partnership; and coordination by the UN system of initiatives on Africa. In a letter (A/54/513), the President of the Economic and Social Council informs the Assembly that the Council devoted the coordination segment of its substantive session in 1999 to the development of Africa and adopted a set of agreed conclusions entitled "Development in Africa: implementation and coordinated follow-up by the United Nations system of initiatives on African development".

Tomorrow, the Assembly will take up the second report of the Credentials Committee (A/54/475/Add.1), as well as items on global implications of the year 2000 date conversion problem of computers and cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organization. Five items listed in the programme of work will be deferred to the next session. They deal with the 1986 aerial and naval attack against Libya by the United States; armed Israeli aggression against Iraqi nuclear installations; consequences of the Iraqi occupation of and aggression against Kuwait; implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations; and launching of the global negotiations on international economic cooperation for development. In the afternoon, the Assembly will consider nine reports of the Sixth Committee (Legal).

Concerning the other appointments of the President, this morning he met with the Sir James Murray, former British Ambassador to the UN and one of the original founding members of the Contact Group on Namibia, for a courtesy visit. He then met with the President of the Economic and Social Council, Ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci of Italy, who, as you know, will be leaving New York.