General Assembly Session 50 meeting 34

The President

I should like to draw the attention of members to General Assembly resolution 49/244 of 12 July 1995, by which the Assembly decided to proclaim the World Week of Peace, beginning on 24 October 1995, in solemn commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

Turning to another subject, as all members are aware, the Special Commemorative Meeting for the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations will begin on Sunday, 22 October. As we prepare for this historic event, I should like again to impress upon delegations that their cooperation in observing rigorously the five-minute limit for each statement is indispensable for the timely and smooth conduct of the Special Commemorative Meeting. To assist speakers in keeping to the five-minute limit, a lighting-signal system has been installed on the speakers' rostrum, to the left of the speaker. Members have on their tables a one-page information note entitled "Length of statements" that explains in detail how the lighting-signal system works. I would urge all delegations to familiarize their speakers with this system.

Next, I should like to call the attention of Member States to the subject of the exercise of the right of reply during the Special Commemorative Meeting. As members will recall, at its 3rd meeting, on 22 September 1995, the General Assembly, taking into consideration the solemn nature of the Special Commemorative Meeting and the serious time and technical-service constraints, decided that statements in exercise of the right of reply during the Special Commemorative Meeting, if any, should be made only in written form, to be circulated as documents. I would be grateful for all delegations' cooperation in this respect.

The President

Before calling on the first speaker on this agenda item, I should like to propose, if there is no objection, that the list of speakers for the debate on this item be closed at 12.30 p.m. today.

The President

(interpretation from French): I call on the representative of France to introduce the draft resolution contained in document A/50/L.6.

Mr. Ladsous (France)

Pleased though I may be, on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, to hail the United Nations contribution to the diversity of cultures, I would have much preferred not to have to address the Assembly this morning. Indeed, none of the many sponsors of the draft resolution that I have the honour to introduce would have taken such an initiative if the rules laid down by the United Nations regarding the use of languages had been properly applied. Here I wish to point out that 10 Member States have been added to list of sponsors of the draft resolution contained in document A/50/L.6: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Liechtenstein, Malta, Oman, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.

Since the adoption of the Charter, whose Article 111 provides that the versions in the several languages in which it was drafted are equally authentic, our predecessors in this House have constantly striven to maintain parity between the official languages -- originally numbering five, and six since 1973, when Arabic was added to the list -- and working languages of the various bodies. To French and English, which have been working languages from the start and which remain the two working languages of the Secretariat, the other official languages were successively added as working languages of the General Assembly and the Security Council.

We wish to support this use of several languages on a basis of equality, which we call multilingualism. We must support it, because it is being threatened in an insidious but real way. Indeed, no one disputes the fact that equal treatment by the United Nations of its official and working languages contributes to the development of a harmonious and rich international life through the promotion of cultural diversity.

None the less, infringements of this principle -- some more serious, some less -- have frequently been noted. The causes of such incidents are varied, but many of them occur under the pretext of insufficient material and financial means. I shall offer just one recent example. At the beginning of the current session, the General Assembly decided that, for budgetary reasons, there would be no more night meetings: work would stop at 6 p.m. Then delegates were asked whether, when the fateful hour of 6 p.m. arrived, they would be willing to continue to work without interpretation, because in accordance with the General Assembly's decision, interpreters would not be available after that hour. This is a typical example of how a decision can be distorted. Conference services are not limited to interpretation services, but in such cases people automatically think of cutting those services to save money.

This is but one of many situations in which delegations committed to plurilingualism must come forward, sometimes in unpleasant circumstances, to remind people of the fundamental right of States Members of the Organization to work in the official language of their choice and to have timely documentation in that language.

A great deal of will and determination is required for us to stick to the well-founded rule of respect for the principles of equality of languages. The anniversary of the United Nations provides us with another opportunity to regain control and refuse to go down the slippery slope of monolingualism, a practice which some people secretly feel would be a factor for simplification and savings, but which would actually engender a weakening of dialogue, a lack of interest in the United Nations and the unbridled development of bureaucracy and stereotypes.

The draft resolution on multilingualism, sponsored by some 68 States, is a way to respond, first of all, to the unacceptable reduction of budgets for translation and interpretation in recent years, precisely when the need for such services is constantly growing in all sectors of United Nations activities.

These services, however, are not the only ones involved. It is important that the Secretariat staff's language proficiency make possible a genuine circulation of information, documents, reports and studies in various languages. This factor must be taken into account in the recruitment and promotion of staff, for it is pointless to offer delegations a multilingual service if the heart of the Organization is not beating in time with that goal and if the Secretariat is unable to benefit from the various contributions available to it.

Finally, the teaching of languages must remain a priority in the policy of ongoing training for Secretariat staff.

Today more than ever we are persuaded that the future of the United Nations does not lie in abandoning the linguistic resources which are its wealth. We recently had outstanding examples of the road to take. The President's introductory statement, which gave an equal share to several official languages of the Organization, was a good augury for work on this agenda item. The address delivered a few days ago by His Holiness the Pope, which made use of each of the official languages, provided the Assembly with, I believe, very stirring inspiration. Now it is up to us to implement this spirit of exchange and dialogue, which everyone feels is needed at the dawn of the next 50 years of the United Nations.

But this will not result from mere solemn statements. Resolute, constant, stubborn action, unswerving will and unremitting determination are needed. All of us together must show that we are capable of doing this. The adoption of the draft resolution before the General Assembly will help us in this, and that is why I warmly commend this text to the attention of all delegations.

The President

I now call on the representative of Argentina also to introduce draft resolution A/50/L.6.

Mr. Sersale di Cerisano (Argentina)

I have the honour to address this Assembly on behalf of the 21 countries members of the Ibero-American Summit: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Uruguay and Venezuela. The 21 countries of the Ibero-American Summit, who are among the sponsors of draft resolution A/50/L.6, support the text before the Assembly, which was submitted in both Spanish and French.

Paragraph 17 of the Bariloche Declaration, adopted only a few days ago, on 17 October, by the 21 Heads of State of the Ibero-American Summit, states:

"Since the Ibero-American cultural heritage and its means of expression constitute a common heritage for our nations, it is indispensable to protect and promote it in all possible forums, especially in those organizations, agencies and institutions where it is an official language".

Inspired by this thought of our Heads of State, we have endeavoured to promote this organization's use of the six official languages which, for us, stand on an equal footing in terms of the treatment of the Members of this Organization. What we mean to propose is that we comply with decisions that have been adopted over the last 50 years of the history of this Organization. In other words, the original five, and now, with the addition of Arabic, six languages must be treated on the same level. But we are facing a different development. For questions of practicality and for the sake of efficiency, quite often this enriching diversity is neglected. And this marks a trend that we would wish to avoid.

The proposal of the countries of the Ibero-American Summit and the other sponsors has no budgetary implications. We are simply seeking to ensure compliance with what Member States have decided. Therefore, invite Member States and request the Secretary-General to ensure the strict implementation of the resolutions establishing language arrangements for the United Nations, about which we give all necessary data in the preambular part of the draft resolution. This, of course, has implications with respect to recruitment, because we wish this treatment of the six languages to be reflected in the Organization's recruitment policies.

Also in the operative part, we address the Secretariat, urging it to take these provisions into consideration when it comes to recruitment and promotion. This has implications in other areas also: in the field of training, where we are very much concerned that we do not see equal treatment in the teaching of the six official languages. We call upon the Assembly to ensure that this not continue and that existing provisions be followed.

A further point of concern to us and which we wish to try to remedy goes beyond Headquarters. Since the United Nations, through its documentation, materials and scientific and technological research, disseminates a great deal of material, is that high-calibre knowledge produced here and throughout the system disseminated in all official languages? Who has access to that work and that documentation? It is our university researchers, our technicians and our students at all levels of education; and this is the very soul of how the work of the United Nations is absorbed in our countries.

We, the sponsors of this draft resolution, want to ensure that the work of the United Nations, which contributes to all areas that enhance the well-being of mankind, will be disseminated in the official languages so that the work of this Organization may be properly carried out in all Member and observer countries.

I repeat that this draft resolution does not have budgetary implications. It should be considered as seeking to fulfil decisions we have taken. Consistent with our own decisions with respect to rationalization of the work of the Assembly, we propose a review of this matter within two years.

Mr. Boisson (Monaco)

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