SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES INTERNATIONAL ACTION TO PREVENT HUMANITARIAN DISASTERS

Press Release
SG/2025

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES INTERNATIONAL ACTION TO PREVENT HUMANITARIAN DISASTERS

GENEVA, 5 July (UN Information Service) -- Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali today urged the international community to act effectively for the prevention of humanitarian disasters. He was speaking in Geneva at the invitation of the Humanitarian Liaison Working Group, an informal grouping of those nations which assist the United Nations in its humanitarian work.

Arguing that development can be the best form of prevention, the Secretary-General warned against focusing on short-term relief needs and not paying attention to development, thus, increasing the possibility for deteriorating conditions and new conflicts.

Although donors were willing to give money for humanitarian relief, there had been a disturbing reduction in the amount of development aid, he said. Official development assistance had dropped by some 23 per cent over the past four years and would soon be at its lowest levels ever if that trend continued.

Today's discussion in the Working Group centred on the theme, "The future role of the United Nations in prevention and conflict resolution". That issue represents a major concern for donors, who this year are being asked to provide $2.4 billion for emergency humanitarian relief programmes of United Nations agencies and other humanitarian organizations.

The Secretary-General said there had been success in promoting acceptance of the links between relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction. The international community and the Security Council now accepted the need for the United Nations to remain involved after a conflict ended -- as seen in El Salvador, Mozambique, Cambodia and the continuing United Nations presence in Haiti.

However, the challenge of prevention remained. The Secretary-General said governments were willing to give money after the accident happened, but would not provide resources to prevent the accident.

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"To quote the Chinese proverb, it is difficult to get money for medicine but easy to pay for the coffin", he said. The only exception to this reluctance to fund preventive work has been in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where the Security Council in late 1992 authorized the deployment of a preventive force.

The Secretary-General said he recognized the growing concern about Burundi, but admitted he had so far been unsuccessful in mobilizing international action to prevent the continuing deterioration of the situation there. There were, however, advanced contingency plans and positioning of humanitarian supplies in case of a sudden worsening of the situation.

He said these matters were discussed in meetings with the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, at the summit meeting of the "Group of Seven" industrialized countries held at Lyon on 28 and 29 June. In those discussions, there was recognition of the development needs of countries still in a state of conflict and confrontation, which clearly needed special treatment.

The United Nations was also aware of the need to work with others. There had been significant progress in coordinating with agencies in the United Nations system and with the Bretton Woods institutions. The United Nations had also enhanced its cooperation with regional organizations and was developing relations with such "new actors" as international business, non- governmental organizations, civil society and the media.

The Secretary-General concluded the discussion by strongly agreeing with the view of one ambassador, who said there was no longer a problem of early warning but of early action.

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