Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance; Assistance to survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, particularly orphans, widows and victims of sexual violence: joint debate

Background: Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance

Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel

The General Assembly has considered this question annually since its fifty-second session (resolutions 52/167, 53/87, 54/192, 55/175, 56/127, 57/155, 58/122, 59/211 and 60/123).

At its sixty-first session, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to ensure full respect for the human rights, privileges and immunities of United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation, and to seek the inclusion, in negotiations of headquarters and other mission agreements concerning United Nations and associated personnel, of the applicable conditions contained in relevant conventions; also requested the Secretary-General to continue to take the necessary measures to ensure that United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation are properly informed about and operate in conformity with the minimum operating security standards and relevant codes of conduct and are properly informed about the conditions under which they are called upon to operate; and further requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-second session a comprehensive report on the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel and on the implementation of the resolution (resolution 61/133).

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Strengthening emergency relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction, recovery and prevention in the aftermath of the Indian ocean tsunami disaster

At its sixty-first session, the General Assembly called upon States to fully implement the Hyogo Declaration and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015, in particular those commitments related to assistance for developing countries that were prone to natural disasters and for disaster-stricken States in the transition phase; noted the efforts of international agencies, donor countries and civil society organizations in supporting Governments so as to increase public awareness and provide community-based support for disaster risk reduction; and requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its sixty-second session on the implementation of the resolution through the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2007 (resolution 61/132).

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References for the sixty-first session (agenda items 69 and 69 (a))

(a) Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations

The item entitled "Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance of the United Nations" (A/46/194) was included in the agenda of the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, in 1991, at the request of the Netherlands on behalf of the States members of the European Community . During that session, the Assembly adopted guiding principles and a framework for strengthening the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance of the United Nations system (resolution 46/182). The Assembly has considered the question annually since then (resolutions 46/182, 47/168, 48/57, 49/139 A, 50/57, 51/194, 52/168, 53/88, 54/95, 55/164, 56/107, 57/153, 58/114, 59/141 and 60/124).

At its forty-eighth session, the General Assembly decided to consider the item entitled "Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance" (resolution 48/162, annex II) and its sub-items in the plenary.

At its sixtieth session, the General Assembly decided to upgrade the current Central Emergency Revolving Fund into the Central Emergency Response Fund by including a grant element based on voluntary contributions; took note of the fact that an advisory group would be established, as an independent body, to provide advice to the Secretary-General on the use and impact of the Fund; and requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly and the Economic and Social Council on the detailed use of the Fund (resolution 60/124).

At its sixty-first session, the General Assembly requested the Emergency Relief Coordinator to continue his efforts to strengthen the coordination of humanitarian assistance; requested the Secretary-General to continue to develop more systematic links with Member States offering military assets for natural disaster response in order to identify the availability of such assets; also requested the Secretary-General, in consultation with States and relevant organizations, to further develop and improve, as required, mechanisms for the use of emergency standby capacities; and further requested the Secretary-General to report to it as its sixty-second session, through the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2007, on progress made in strengthening the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations and to submit a report to the Assembly through the Council on the detailed use of the Central Emergency Response Fund (resolution 61/134).

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  1. Reports of the Secretary-General (resolution 61/134), A/62/72-E/2007/73 and A/62/87-E/2007/70;
  2. Identical letters dated 20 June 2007 and 27 June 2007 from the Secretary-General to the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council, transmitting a note by the Secretary-General on a meeting of the Advisory Group of the Central Emergency Response Fund held in New York on 23 and 24 May 2007 (resolutions 60/124, A/62/94-E/2007/83)
International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development

At its sixty-first session, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General, in consultation with States and relevant organizations, to continue to explore ways to strengthen the rapid response capacities of the international community to provide immediate humanitarian relief, building on existing arrangements and ongoing initiatives; requested the United Nations system to improve its coordination of disaster recovery efforts, from relief to development, inter alia, by strengthening institutional, coordination and strategic planning efforts in disaster recovery, in support of national authorities; and requested the Secretary-General to continue to improve the international response to natural disasters and to report thereon to the Assembly at its sixty-second session (resolution 61/131).

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References for the sixty-first session (agenda item 69 (a))

(b) Special economic assistance to individual countries or regions

Economic assistance for the reconstruction and development of Djibouti

The General Assembly considered the question at its sixtieth session. At that session, it requested the Secretary-General to continue, in close cooperation with the Government of Djibouti, his efforts to mobilize the resources necessary for an effective programme of financial, technical and material assistance to Djibouti; and also requested him to report to the Assembly at its sixty-second session on the progress made in the implementation of the resolution (resolution 60/217).

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Humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation for Ethiopia

The General Assembly considered this question at its fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth sessions (resolutions 58/24 and 59/217).

At its sixtieth session, the General Assembly called upon all development partners, in cooperation with the Government of Ethiopia, to integrate relief efforts with recovery, asset protection and long-term development and to address the underlying causes of recurrent drought in Ethiopia in a way that was, inter alia, in line with the poverty reduction strategy paper and the rural development strategy; invited the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat to continue its efforts to coordinate and develop a strategic response to recurrent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and to consider ways to enhance the mobilization of emergency relief assistance in order to cover the remaining humanitarian needs in Ethiopia; and requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its sixty-second session on the implementation of the resolution (resolution 60/218).

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Special economic assistance for the Philippines

At its sixty-first session, the General Assembly invited Member States and concerned United Nations bodies, as well as international financial institutions and development agencies, to provide additional economic and technical assistance in the post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation processes and to increase their support for the strengthening of the disaster risk management and disaster preparedness capacity of the Philippines; and requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its sixty-second session, as part of his consolidated report submitted under the sub-item entitled "Special economic assistance to individual countries or regions" (resolution 61/217).

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References for the sixtieth session (agenda item 73 (b))
References for the sixty-first session (agenda item 69 (b))

(c) Assistance to the Palestinian people

The Economic and Social Council, in its resolutions 2026 (LXI) of 4 August 1976 and 2100 (LXIII) of 3 August 1977, called upon the United Nations Development Programme, the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system to intensify, in coordination with the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, their efforts in identifying the social and economic needs of the Palestinian people. It also urged those agencies and organizations to consult and cooperate with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in establishing concrete projects to improve the social and economic conditions of the Palestinian people.

The General Assembly considered this question at its thirty-third to sixtieth sessions (resolutions 33/147, 34/133, 35/111, 36/70, 37/134, 38/145, 39/224, 40/170, 41/181, 42/166, 43/178, 44/235, 45/183, 46/201, 47/170, 48/213, 49/21 N, 50/58 H, 51/150, 52/170, 53/89, 54/116, 55/173, 56/111, 57/147, 58/113, 59/56 and 60/126).

At its sixty-first session, the General Assembly, welcoming the endorsement by the Security Council, in its resolution 1515 (2003), of the performance-based road map to a permanent two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stressed the need for the full implementation by both parties of the Agreement on Movement and Access and of the Agreed Principles for the Rafah Crossing, of 15 November 2005, to allow for the freedom of movement of the Palestinian civilian population within and into and out of the Gaza Strip; welcomed the role that the temporary international mechanism played in assisting directly the Palestinian people under the current circumstances, and encouraged interested donors to make use of the mechanism; and requested the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Assembly at its sixty-second session, through the Economic and Social Council, on the implementation of the resolution, containing an assessment of the assistance actually received by the Palestinian people, and an assessment of the needs still unmet and specific proposals for responding effectively to them (resolution 61/135).

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References for the sixty-first session (agenda item 69 (d))

(d) Strengthening of international cooperation and coordination of efforts to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster

The General Assembly considered this question annually from its forty-fifth to forty-eighth sessions (resolutions 45/190, 46/150, 47/165 and 48/206), and biennially thereafter (resolutions 50/134, 52/172, 54/97, 56/109 and 58/119).

At its sixtieth session, the General Assembly requested the President of the General Assembly to convene, in April 2006, a special commemorative meeting of the Assembly in observance of the twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe; and also requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its sixtysecond session, under a separate sub-item, a report containing a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of all aspects of the resolution (resolution 60/14). The special commemorative meeting was held on 28 April 2006 (see A/60/PV.77).

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References for the sixtieth session (agenda item 73 (c))

Background: Assistance to survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, particularly orphans, widows and victims of sexual violence

At its sixtieth session, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to encourage the relevant agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system to implement resolution 59/137 expeditiously; also requested the Secretary- General, in view of the critical situation of the survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, particularly orphans, widows and victims of sexual violence, to take all necessary and practicable measures for the implementation of the resolution and to report thereon to the Assembly at its sixty-second session; and requested the General Committee to consider including in the provisional agenda of the General Assembly at its sixty-second session an additional item entitled "Assistance to survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, particularly orphans, widows and victims of sexual violence" (resolution 60/225).

References for the sixtieth session (agenda item 73 (a))

[Source: Annotated preliminary list of items to be included in the provisional agenda of the sixty-second regular session of the General Assembly (A/62/100, Corr. 1 and Add.1)]