UNITED
NATIONS
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
News and Highlights from the President
The
General Assembly is discussing four very different agenda items today
11 December 2001
The General Assembly is discussing four very different agenda items today. The first was “Building a peaceful and better world through sports and the Olympic ideal”. The US, which will host the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City in February, introduced a draft resolution which requests member states to observe the Olympic Truce by ensuring the safe passage and participation of athletes at the games. It was adopted without a vote. About a week before the start of the Games, the General Assembly President is expected to appeal to member states to observe the Olympic Truce.
The second item was “Support by the UN system of the efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies”. A draft resolution, introduced by Benin, took note of the Secretary-General’s report. There was also an SG report on the Electoral Observer Mission for the elections in Fiji under this item.
The Assembly then turned to “The situation in Central America”. There is a general SG report on the issue and also a note and a report on the UN Verification Mission in Guatemala. Action on the draft resolutions will only be taken once the programme budget implications have been reviewed.
The last item was “Towards global partnerships”. There was an SG report on cooperation between the UN and all relevant partners, in particular the private sector, giving examples of such cooperation and containing guidelines on cooperation with the business community.
The United Nations,
recognizing that promotion of tolerance is closely bound up with issues
of peace and security, economic prosperity and human rights, which are
central to the work of our Organisation, designated the year 1995 as the
United Nations Year for Tolerance and declared November 16th as the International
Day for Tolerance, however, the ceremony this year for the observance
of the International Day for Tolerance had to be changed from 16th November
to today because of a general rescheduling occasioned by the terrorist
attacks of 11 September.
Full
text of the statement of the United Nations Year for Tolerance