Unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries
Report of the Secretary-General
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Summary
The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/185, entitled “Unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries”. In accordance with that resolution, the Secretary-General invited the Governments of all States to provide their views or any other relevant information on the issue of unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries. The texts of the replies received from Belarus, Benin, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Myanmar, Qatar, Ukraine and Zimbabwe are reproduced in annex I of the report. In addition, relevant organizations, programmes and agencies inside and outside the United Nations system were invited to provide information concerning developments in the subject area. The texts of the replies received from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are reproduced in annex II. Information regarding the application and impact of unilateral economic measures imposed on Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Syrian Arab Republic and Zimbabwe are reported in the submissions reproduced in annexes I and II.
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I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/185, 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 sixty-second session on the implementation of the resolution.
3. Accordingly, the Secretariat, in a note verbale dated 20 May 2007, invited the Governments of all States to provide their views or any other relevant information regarding the existence of any unilateral sanctions and the impact they may have had on their trade and development. As at 31 July 2007, replies had been received from the following Member States: Belarus, Benin, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Myanmar, Qatar, Ukraine and Zimbabwe. The replies are reproduced in annex I to the present report.
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. The replies received from two United Nations bodies and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are reproduced in annex II to the report.
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Annex II
Replies received from United Nations bodies and other international organizations
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Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
Occupied Palestinian Territory
1. The Occupied Palestinian Territory experienced economic decline owing to the boycott imposed by many countries on the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. The Hamas-led Palestinian cabinet, formed in March 2006, was boycotted by Israel, the United States, the European Union and other countries over political disagreements with Hamas. The boycott involved the cutting of aid, contacts and economic cooperation programmes. Real gross domestic product contracted by an estimated 10 per cent in 2006 and 4.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2007, compared with the fourth quarter of 2006a (see chart). The Palestinian Authority is the major provider of services inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Almost two thirds of the Palestinian Authority’s revenues come from taxes (the largest share of those taxes are collected by Israel on imports destined to the Occupied Territories) and another one third from budgetary aid. The Government of Israel has suspended the payment of the tax revenues allocated to the Palestinian Authority since March 2006. Donors have also channelled their funds away from the Government and from development projects. It is estimated that financial revenues and aid received by the Government fell by one third in 2006.b As a result of that development, Government consumption and investment dropped significantly in 2006. It is estimated that Government employees, constituting 22.6 per cent of the labour force in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in 2006,c received around 50 to 55 per cent only of their wages in 2006.d The productivity of public employees declined tremendously. Shortages in medical staff and supplies were faced. The majority of public schools were totally or partially closed and an estimated 70 per cent of students were affected by the closure.e Despite humanitarian aid disbursement, which continued through private channels, deep poverty is estimated to have increased from 17.3 per cent of the population in 2005 to 27.5 per cent in the first half of 2006.f Trade in 2006 also declined, particularly exports from the Occupied Palestinian Territory to Israel, which are estimated to have declined by around 10 per cent in real terms.g
_pcbs/PressRelease/TOTAL%20PressQ1-0%20_E%20_PDF.pdf.
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a Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Preliminary Estimates of Quarterly National Accounts, 1st quarter 2007 (www.pcbs.gov.ps)
bSee IMF and World Bank, “West Bank and Gaza: economic developments in 2006: a first assessment” (March 2007).
cPalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Labor Survey, 3rd quarter 2006.
dSee IMF and World Bank, loc. cit.
eUNICEF, “Six months without pay spark teachers’ strike in Gaza and West Bank”, New York, 5 September 2006.
fOffice for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Prolonged crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: recent socio-economic impacts on refugees and non-refugees”, 22 November 2006 (www.reliefweb.int).
gSee IMF and World Bank, loc. cit.
