General Assembly Session 59 meeting 72

The President

Members will recall that the Assembly held a debate on agenda item 56 and its sub-items (a) to (t) at its 38th to 40th plenary meetings, held on 21 and 22 October 2004.

I now give the floor to the representative of Mauritius to introduce draft resolution A/59/L.42.

Mr. Koonjul (Mauritius)

On behalf of the States members of the Southern African Development Community -- Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, my own country Mauritius and the candidate country Madagascar -- I have the honour to introduce draft resolution A/59/L.42, entitled "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Southern African Development Community", under agenda item 56 (s), on cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations.

Let me first, on behalf of the Southern African Development Community, express our sincere appreciation to all those countries that participated in the informal consultations on the draft resolution, and also to those countries which have joined in sponsoring the resolution, namely Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Jamaica, Japan, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, the Sudan, Timor-Leste and Togo. We hope that, as was the case for the 2002 resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the Community (resolution 57/44), this year's draft text can be adopted by consensus.

In introducing draft resolution A/59/L.42 this year, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is reaffirming its commitment to enhanced cooperation with the United Nations and with development partners. We welcome ongoing efforts in the maintenance and strengthening of that partnership aimed at fostering closer cooperation with the United Nations and its related agencies, funds and programmes.

At the Mauritius summit held in August 2004, SADC heads of State and Government adopted the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, aimed at enhancing the transparency and credibility of elections and democratic governance in SADC member States. Peace and security are the linchpins of socio-economic development. It is in that context that I am pleased to inform the Assembly that at the SADC summit in Mauritius, the SADC Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation (SIPO), was officially launched. That plan complements the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan, which is SADC's 15-year plan designed to provide strategic objectives and priorities for the policies and goals of the community. The plan, in effect, sets targets towards the attainment of agreed goals on a coherent and comprehensive development agenda.

A key factor to the implementation, and indeed to the success, of that plan and the goals set out in the Strategic Indicative Plan, is the availability of resources. While SADC appreciates the financial, technical and material support of the United Nations funds and programmes, as well as that of the international community, an appeal is being made through this draft resolution for the continued and enhanced support of the United Nations and its related agencies, as well as the international community, for the effective realization of the goals and achievement of the targets set in the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan and the Strategic Indicative Plan.

The draft resolution also notes the gravity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in respect of which the SADC region is currently one of the most affected. While the Community continues to play its part in addressing that problem through the implementation of the policy commitments of the Maseru Declaration and the related Plan of Action, we solicit stronger support and assistance from the United Nations and the international community as a whole to fight this scourge.

The draft resolution also addresses one other important issue for the Community; I refer here to the continued efforts of SADC to make southern Africa a landmine-free zone. We appeal to the United Nations and its related bodies, as well as to the international community, to assist and support SADC in its efforts to rid the region of landmines.

Finally, let me express once again our appreciation to United Nations Member States for their support for the granting of observer status to the Southern African Development Community. Resolution 59/49, adopted by the General Assembly on Thursday, 2 December, will undoubtedly serve to strengthen and consolidate cooperation and enhance interaction between SADC and the United Nations in order to appropriately promote and enhance peace, stability, socio-economic development and the broader principles of the United Nations.

The President

The General Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/59/L.42, entitled "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Southern African Development Community". Before the Assembly takes a decision on this draft resolution, I would like to announce that since it was presented, the following countries have become sponsors of draft resolution A/59/L.42: Cameroon and the Sudan.

May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to adopt draft resolution A/59/L.42?

The President

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of sub-item (s) of agenda item 56?

The President

Members will recall that the General Assembly held its debate on agenda item 39 and sub-items (a) and (c) at the 51st and 52nd meetings, held on 11 November 2004.

I now give the floor to the representative of Sweden to introduce draft resolution A/59/L.49.