Unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries – Occupied Palestinian Territory – SecGen report (excerpts)

    Unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries

    Report of the Secretary-General

*  A/60/150. 

 I.  Introduction

1.   The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 58/198 of 23 December 2003, entitled “Unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries”. In that resolution, the Assembly, inter alia, urged the international community to adopt urgent and effective measures to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries that were not authorized by relevant organs of the United Nations or were inconsistent with the principles of international law as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and that contravened the basic principles of the multilateral trading system.

2.   In the same resolution, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to continue to monitor the imposition of measures of that nature and to study the impact of such measures on the affected countries, including the impact on trade and development, and to report to the Assembly at its sixtieth session on the implementation of the resolution.

3.   Accordingly, the Secretariat, in a note verbale dated 2 June 2005, invited the Governments of all States to provide their views or any other relevant information on the issue. As at 7 September 2005, replies had been received from the following 14 States: Argentina, Bulgaria, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Panama, Senegal, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay. The texts of the replies are reproduced in section II below.

4.   In addition, relevant organizations, programmes and agencies inside and outside the United Nations system were also invited to provide information and analyses concerning recent developments in the subject area. Based on the information received, section III of the report contains the text of the replies from two United Nations bodies.

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 III.   Replies received from United Nations bodies

    Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

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  Israel has employed unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion in the occupied Palestinian territories. Such measures include movement restrictions, house demolitions, land confiscation and the erection of a barrier. These measures have had detrimental repercussions on the living conditions of the Palestinian people. World Bank estimates for overall economic performance show that in 2004, Palestinian gross domestic product (GDP) was lower by 20 per cent compared to 1999 while GDP per capita was lower by 37 per cent. In terms of United States dollars, GDP estimates dropped from $4.1 billion in 1999 to $3.3 billion in 2004, while GDP per capita fell from $1,493 to $934 over the same period. ¹

¹   The World Bank, “Disengagement, the Palestinian economy and the Settlements”, 23 June 2004 (table 1, p. 30).

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