General Assembly Session 60 meeting 63

The President

In the first paragraph of the report of the General Committee contained in document A/60/250/Add.3, the Committee informs the General Assembly that, by a vote of five to three, with 17 abstentions, the Committee decided not to recommend the inclusion of the item entitled "Protracted conflicts in the Black Sea-South Caucasus region and their implications for international peace, security and development" in the agenda of the sixtieth session.

The second paragraph of the same report concerns a request by Costa Rica for the inclusion in the agenda of the current session of an additional item entitled "Follow-up to the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme".

The General Committee decided to recommend to the General Assembly that the item, amended to read "Follow-up to the recommendations on administrative management and internal oversight of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme", be included in the agenda of the current session under heading I, "Organizational, administrative and other matters".

I call on the representative of the Secretariat.

Ms. Kelley (Representative of the Secretariat)

I would like to inform members that, should the General Assembly decide to include this new item in its agenda, that by itself would not give rise to financial implications. Should the Assembly subsequently decide, under this agenda item, that the Volcker report or parts therefore be translated and reproduced in all official languages, the financial implications would be the following.

Official translation and reproduction in five volumes of the whole Volcker report, including the report of the Working Group, in the six official languages would amount to $2,717,300.

Official translation and reproduction in four volumes of the Volcker report, minus the report of the Working Group, in the six official languages would amount to $2,250,800.

Official translation and reproduction in one volume of volume I of the Volcker report in the six official languages would amount to $258,800.

Reproduction of the whole Volcker report in English only would amount to $82,000.

Reproduction of volume I of the Volcker report in English only would amount to $8,400.

The President

May I take it that the General Assembly decides to include this item in the agenda of the current session under heading I?

The President

In the same paragraph, the General Committee further recommends that the item be considered directly in plenary meeting.

May I take it that the General Assembly decides to consider this item directly in plenary meeting?

The President

I would like to inform members that the item entitled "Follow-up to the recommendations on administrative management and internal oversight of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme" becomes item 160 on the agenda of the current session.

The President

Members will recall that the Assembly already held the debate on agenda item 73 and its sub-items (a), (c) and (d) at its 51st and 52nd plenary meetings on 14 November 2005, and adopted three resolutions under the item at its 52nd plenary meeting.

I now give the floor to the representative of Nigeria to introduce draft resolution A/60/L.34.

Mr. Adekanye (Nigeria)

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the draft resolution contained in document A/60/L.34, entitled "Assistance to survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, particularly orphans, widows and victims of sexual violence", in our capacity as the representative of the Chairman of the African Union and on behalf of the African Group, which has strongly endorsed this draft resolution.

In addition to the sponsors listed in the document, the following States have joined in sponsorship: Angola, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritius, Netherlands, Sudan, Sweden, Timor-Leste and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The tragic events that occurred in Rwanda from April to July 1994 are among the darkest and most dreadful in human history. Up to one million lives were lost. One million ordinary men, women and children were condemned to die for no other reason beside the fact that they belonged to a particular ethnic group or identified with a particular ethnic group.

The Rwandan genocide inflicted untold suffering on those who survived it. The most vulnerable groups of survivors were children and women. The children, apart from the trauma of watching their parents and siblings being slaughtered, were orphaned by the genocide and left alone in the world to fend for themselves. Most of these children have since had to live in child-headed households. Similarly, women not only watched their husbands and children being killed, but also underwent unspeakable physical abuse, in particular, sexual violence, which resulted in HIV infection in more than 60 per cent of the cases.

The draft resolution before us is intended to achieve two main objectives. First, it intends to encourage the international community to provide assistance to these vulnerable groups. Secondly, it sets out, through the capacities of the United Nations, to build awareness of the events of 1994 so that the world will be a better place in which to live.

It should be noted that, despite the best efforts of the Government of Rwanda and the support of the international community, many survivors remain very vulnerable and live in conditions of extreme poverty. We, the international community, must ensure that we do not disappoint the survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda by failing to come to their assistance, once more, in their hour of need.

My delegation coordinated four informal meetings to negotiate the draft before us. Much of the language in this draft resolution is agreed language from last year's General Assembly resolution 59/137, which was adopted without a vote. Two new operative paragraphs are included in this draft. These paragraphs deal with the creation of educational and outreach programmes on the prevention of genocide and contain language identical to a resolution adopted by consensus during this session of the General Assembly.

My delegation commends this draft resolution for the consideration of the General Assembly and looks forward to its adoption without a vote.

The President

In connection with draft resolution A/60/L.34 and the amendment thereto contained in document A/60/L.35, I would like to inform Members, after consultations, that action on these two documents is postponed to a later date to allow time for the review of their programme budget implications by the Fifth Committee.

Mr. Thomson (United Kingdom)

It is my pleasure, on behalf of the European Union (EU), to introduce draft resolutions A/60/L.36, which is entitled "Assistance to the Palestinian People", and A/60/L.37, entitled "Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel".

With regard to draft resolution A/60/L.36, the European Union reiterates its commitment to the provision of assistance to the Palestinian people. Sustained donor support from the international community, working with the parties, is crucial if we are to see an improvement to the Palestinian economic and social infrastructure and to address the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people.

For its part, the European Union has undertaken to provide the "third party" role described in the recent Agreement on Movement and Access issues reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The European Union will monitor the operations of the Rafah border crossing point and provide assistance to reinforce Palestinian border management capacities. Capacity-building, through training, equipment and technical assistance, is being taken forward through the European Community's assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

The European Union, alongside other Quartet members and international partners, is ready to assist the Palestinian Authority financially, technically and politically with their forthcoming multiparty elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. We are prepared to send an observer mission to ensure that the elections are carried out in line with international principles for genuine democratic elections.

The European Union will also continue to provide technical and economic aid to the Palestinian people and contribute to the strengthening of Palestinian institutions, with the aim of seeing a peaceful and democratic State governed by the rule of law.

The European Union will continue to work with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community to achieve the shared vision of a two-State solution set out in the road map. Both parties can count on the sustained support of the European Union in the ongoing effort to find a peaceful, durable and just settlement of the conflict.

One country, in addition to the sponsors on the tabled draft resolution, has requested to be included as an additional sponsor of draft resolution A/60/L.36 on "Assistance to the Palestinian People", and that country is Zambia.

With regard to draft resolution A/60/L.37, it is important to recognize that humanitarian personnel and United Nations personnel provide an invaluable service to millions of civilians and vulnerable populations around the world, often in very difficult and challenging circumstances and often at great personal risk. The fact that such personnel have become increasingly exposed to security-related attacks and incidents, and that the perpetrators of such acts seemingly operate with impunity, clearly demonstrates why this issue demands our most urgent attention.

The draft resolution highlights, in particular, the need to strengthen the normative framework for the safety and protection of humanitarian personnel and United Nations personnel. In this regard, the draft resolution calls on all States to consider becoming parties to, and to respect fully their obligations under, all relevant provisions of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel and its Optional Protocol.

The draft resolution also highlights the need to promote and enhance security management within the United Nations system, as well as cooperation and coordination with other relevant organizations with a view to addressing mutual security concerns. In that regard, the draft resolution requests the Secretary-General to continue his good work, including by further enhancing security consciousness within the Organization and by further developing and implementing a strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations.

The informal consultations on the draft resolution were conducted in a positive manner, and we thank all interested delegations for their constructive engagement on the text. It is our sincere hope that this draft resolution will help contribute to wider efforts to provide the security and protection required for humanitarian personnel and United Nations personnel to assist those in need.

Finally, in addition to the countries listed, the following countries have requested to be included as sponsors of draft resolution A/60/L.37, on safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel: Andorra, Brazil, Chile, Hungary, Latvia, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste and Uruguay.

The President

I now give the floor to the representative of Sweden to introduce draft resolution A/60/L.38.