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A/C.3/36/SR.56

Summary record of the 56th meeting : 3rd Committee, held on Thursday, 19 November 1981, New York, General Assembly, 36th session.

UN Document Symbol A/C.3/36/SR.56
Convention International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
Document Type Summary Record
Session 36th
Type Document
Description

19 p.

Subjects Refugee Assistance, Drug Traffic, Narcotic Drugs, Persons with Disabilities, Women's Status

Extracted Text

United Nations GENERAL ASSEMBLY THIRTY-SIXTH SESSION Official Records* THIRD COMMITT'EE 56th meeting held on Thursday,19 November 198l 10.30 a.m. New York SUMMARY RECORD OP TIE 56th MEETING Chair—a; Mr. O'DONOVAN (Ireland) CONTENTS AGENDA ITEM 12: REPORT OF THE ECONOMIC AID SOCIAL COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM 129: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUG TRAFFIC AGENDA ITEM 138: NEW INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ORDER AGENDA ITEM 30: INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF DISABLED PERSONS AGENDA ITEM 88: UNITED NATIONAS DECADE FOR VOMER: EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE (continued) (a) WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (b) VOLUNTARY FUND FOR THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR VOMER: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (c) DRAFT DECLARATION 0N THE PART1CIPATI0I OF WOMEN II THE STRUGGLE FOR THE STRENGTHENING OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AID SECURITY AID AGAINSR COLONIALISM, APARTHEID, ALL FORMS OF RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, FOREIGN AGGRESSION, OCCUPATIOH AND ALL FORMS OF FOREIGN DOMINATION: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AGENDA ITEM 89: STATUS OF THE CONVENTION 0N THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) A/C.3/36/SR,56 English CONTENTS (continued) AGENDA ITEM 83: OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (continued) (a) REPORT OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER (b) INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES IN AFRICA: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AGENDA ITEM 7?: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES AND WAYS AND MEANS WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVE ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS (continued) /... A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 3 The meeting was called to order at 10.45 a.m. AGENDA ITEM 12: REPORT OF THE CONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (A/36/3, Chapters II, V, XIX TO XXXIX, XXXII, XXXIV, XXXVI and XXXVII; A/36/117, 136 and Add.1, 138, 179, 209 and Add.l, 214, 216 and Add.l, 255, 284, 336 and Add.l, 354, 355, 363, 378, 383, 421, 423, 500, 524, ,0, 560, 566, 584, 594, 608; A/C.3/36/3, 5 and 7; A/C.3/36/L.5, L.6, and L.55) AGENDA ITEM 129: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUG TRAFFIC (A/36/193) AGENDA ITEM 138: NEW INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ORDER (A/36/245) AGENDA ITEM 30: INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF DISABLED PERSONS (A/36/471 and Add.l and 491) AGENDA ITEM 88: UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: EQUALITY, DEVELOP-MENT AND PEACE (continued) (A/C.3/36/L.50, L.51, L.53) (a) WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/C.3/36/L.47 and L.57) (b) VOLUNTARY FUND FOR THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/C.3/36/L.52/Rev.l) (c) DRAFT DECLARATION ON THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR THE STRENGTHENING OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY AND AGAINST COLONIALISM, APARTHEID, ALL FORMS OF RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, FOREIGN AGRESSION, OCCUPATION AND ALL FORMS OF FOREIGN DOMINATION: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/C.3/36/ L.48/Rev.l) AGENDA ITEM 89: STATUS OF THE CONVENTION OF THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) (A/C.3/36/L.54) AGENDA ITEM 83: OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (continued) (a) REPORT OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER (A/C.3/36/L.58) (b) INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES IN AFRICA: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL (A/C.3/36/L.56 and Corr.l) AGENDA ITEM 79: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES AND WAYS AND MEANS WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVE ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS (continued) (A/C.3/36/L.43, L.44 and L.46) A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 4 1. Mr. HARTLING (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) introduced agenda item 12. In the interest of brevity, he referred members of the Third Committee to the reports of the Economic and Social Council entitled Assistance to refugees in Somalia (A/36/136 and Add.l), Humanitarian assistance to refugees in Djibouti (A/36/214), the Situation of refugees in the Sudan (A/36/216 and Add.l) and Assistance to student refugees in southern Africa (A/36/423). 2. He said that, in recent years, the Office of the High Commissioner (UNHCR) had been following very closely the debates in the Economic and Social Council on the matters under consideration, and had considerably expanded its assistance programmes in the region, as well as paying much attention to the search for and implementation of durable solutions, such as voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement in third countries. 3. In the Sundan, much progress had been achieved in terms of durable solutions, and some 100,000 refugees had been settled in the country, either in rural settlements or in suburban areas. In Somalia, most of the programme consisted of humanitarian assistance for relief purposes, while attention was also paid to the development of self-reliance schemes in the field of agriculture. In Djibouti, the largest part of the programme was also directed to relief assistance. In Ethiopia, assistance measures had been developed for refugees returning from neighboring countries. With respect to student refugees in southern Africa, UNHCR, in co-operation with the national liberation movements, Governments and United Nations agencies, had been providing educational assistance to student refugees in that region. The bulk of its efforts were directed at student refugees from Namibia and South Africa who were to be found in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zambia. 4. Mr. BERKOL (United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinate) said that He was making his statement in response to the request contained in operative paragraph 6 of the General Assembly resolution 35/183 and in resolution 1981/32 of the Economic and Social Council. 5. At its thirty-fifth session, the General Assembly had called upon United Nations organizations and agencies and upon donor countries to continue to increase their assistance to the Government of Ethiopia for the relief, rehabilitation and recovery of the drought-stricken areas, and had requested UNHCR to mobilize humanitarian assistance for displaced persons and for those whom it was satisfied were returning voluntarily to their country. 6. Famine and the effects of civil strife continued in northern Ethiopia, but there had been significant improvements in the southern provinces. Although the physical condition of large parts of the population had improved, in the Harangue area, for example, there was still 400,000 people registered for food assistance and 68,000 living in camps. A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 5 (Mr. Berkol) 7. Refugees from Ethiopia were residing in large numbers in Somalia, the Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti. According to Government sources, the security situation had improved in many parts of the country, enabling refugees to return. In addition, efforts by the Ethiopian Government to establish conditions conducive to voluntary repatriation were under way. In order to achieve that goal, UNHCR, in co-operation with the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, had established an initial $1.3 million project to assist in the development of the infrastructure for five reception centres in Tessene, Karen, Dewele, Dire Dawa and Genole. 8. The United nations Coordinating Committee for Relief and Rehabilitation, in cooperation with the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission of Ethiopia, had identified 1.5 million people in need of assistance and had established a time-frame of 18 months (April 1981 to September 1982) for priority food aid. 9. For 1981, a food deficit of 350,000 metric tons, the same as in 1980, was forecast. Total food assistance required for the 18-month period therefore amounted to 292,000 metric tons of grains, 27,600 tons of supplementary food and 15,400 metric tons of edible oil. Discounting supplies already pledged, requirements over the 18-month period would be 144,000 metric tons of grains, 17,600 metric tons of supplementary food and 14,400 metric tons of edible oil. 10. Health care activities in the short-term programme would have two main components, namely, the improvement of services, including the provision of drugs and supplies, and the restoration of health infrastructure through the repair and reconstruction of damaged facilities. The other main components of the short-term emergency programme proposed by the United Nations Coordinating Committee for Relief and Rehabilitation were water supply, education, animal Husbandry, transport and logistics. The total costs of those programme were estimated at $215 million. Contributions made for Ethiopia to date, as reported to the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator, amounted to $40 million for the biennium 1980-1981. In addition, the World Food Programme had recently approved the provision of 10,000 tons of wheat, valued at approximately $3 million, which would be sufficient to meet the needs of 280,000 displaced persons in the Ogden area. 11. Lastly, on behalf of the Secretary-General, he reiterated the appeal for emergency aid to displaced persons in Ethiopia. A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 6 12. Mrs. SHAHANI (Assistant Secretary-General for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs) addressed herself to chapters XIX and XX of the report of the Economic and Social Council concerning the activities for the advancement of woman, some of the provisions of which were complementary to the resolutions adopted by the Third Committee in connexion with the item. Chapter XIX, relating to social development questions, also contained some resolutions relating to youth, the World Assembly on Aging and crime prevention which complemented those adopted in the Third Committee. 13. In her capacity as Special Representative of the Secretary- General for the International Year of Disabled Persons, she informed the Third Committee that, judging from the results achieved at the national, regional and global levels, it could be said that the Year was one of the greatest successes attained among the programmes within the United Nations system. In 127 countries, national committees had been established for the Year. Those national committees, particularly in the developing countries with limited resources, had served and continued to serve as a catalytic agent in raising public consciousness on behalf of disabled persons and in working with Governments and non-governmental organizations to strengthen those activities on behalf of the disabled. At its third session, the Advisory Committee of the International Year for Disabled Persons had considered the follow-up action that should be taken immediately after the Year and had also adopted a draft World Programme of Action concerning disabled persons. After being circulated to Governments, specialized agencies, regional commissions and non¬governmental organizations for their comments, the Advisory Committee would finalize the world programme of action in July 1982. 14. The draft World Programme of Action for Disabled Persons could be considered the centre-piece of the efforts of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs. Its basic premise was the right of disabled persons to lead as normal a life as possible. To achieve that, Governments had a primary responsibility to equalize opportunities in health, education, employment, housing, transportation and other public facilities for all. In addition, non-governmental organizations must continue their efforts to help equalize opportunities for the disabled. The draft World Programme of Action also emphasized the right of disabled persons, no less than the rest of society, to participate in decisions that affected their own lives. 15. Among the main activities undertaken by the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs had been the organization of a World Symposium of Experts on Technical Co-operation among developing countries and technical assistance in disability prevention and rehabilitation, which had been held in Vienna in October 1981 and had been attended by many experts, observers and international and non-governmental organizations. The Symposium had formulated the "Vienna Affirmative Plan of Action", which set forth the major priority issues in technical co-operation concerning prevention of disability, A/C.3/36/SR.S6 English Page 7 (Mrs. Shahani) the rehabilitation of disabled persons and the equalization, of opportunities for them. 16. The end of the International Year of Disabled Persons marked a new beginning in the tasks to be accomplished, the Year had provided the Centre with the conceptual framework and the operational tools necessary for that work, so that it now merely remained to continue it. There remained to be completed follow-up activities in which the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs had a clear responsibility and a well-defined role. One was the completion of the draft World Plan of Action. 17. The Centre would continue providing support services, as well as information and publications, to the national committees established to mark the Year. The Centre would also act as the focal point for co-ordination and monitoring of the implementation of the Plan of Action, and close collaboration had already been established with the specialized agencies and the regional commissions. 18. With regard to the Trust Fund for the International year for Disabled Persons, established under resolution 32/133, its possibilities for financing activities from extra budgetary resources were considerable. The resources of the Fund would be used, in part, to provide support services to national committees and also to help disabled persons to establish their own organizations. As the amount of the Fund resources totaled only $US800,000, she urged Member States, as well as non-governmental organizations and private individuals to contribute generously to the Fund. 19. The United Nations and its Member States had undertaken the commitment to assist the disabled, and it was necessary to pursue the work begun, particularly in the fields of prevention, rehabilitation and integration. It was important also that those efforts must be undertaken within a social policy that stressed full participation and equality for disabled persons. 20. Among the other functions carried out by the Vienna Centre should be mentioned, firstly, those relating to the welfare of migrant workers and their families, which had been the subject of Council resolution 1981/21. In that regard, it should be pointed out that the activities of the Centre with regard to migrant workers did not entail duplication with the activities of the ILO but were complementary to ILO work. The Centre was concerned, in general, with the social welfare needs of migrant workers and their families, excluding such* areas as labour legislation, working conditions and social security, which were within the exclusive competence of ILO. A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 8 (Mrs. Shahani) 21. Moreover, in the field of international labour migration, there had been some new developments which merited intensive study. In view of the economic circumstances, in Europe there was growing emphasis on the repatriation of labour, which raised problems of social integration in the countries of origin of the migrant workers; in addition, in the receiving countries, the problem of the social integration of second generation immigrants was becoming wore acute. 22. Outside Europe, the emergence of intra-regional labour migration posed various problems which had not yet been sufficiently studied. That had also been the opinion of the Commission on Social Development, which had been endorsed by the Council in its adoption of resolution 1981, calling for additional measures to improve the welfare of migrant workers and their families and requesting the Secretary-General to include in the programme budget for 1982-1983 studies on that subject. 23. With regard to development activities, attention should be drawn to the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Social Aspects of the Development Activities of the United Nations, which had given rise to resolution 1981/24 and which emphasized the principle that the integrated approach to development had an economic facet and a social facet and that it was precisely the social aspects of development which should ensure that development was people-oriented. The resolution also called for a better conceptual framework for the integrated approach to development and called upon the Centre for Social Development to pay particular attention to popular participation, local level action and social welfare policies. 24. Both the United Nations Decade for Women and the Caracas Declaration on the prevention of crime and treatment of offenders had created new commitments and enlarged mandates. Among the objectives in the near future were the World Assembly on Aging, to be held in August 1982, and International Youth Year, for which preparations were well-uuder way. 25. The Centre applied two main strategies for the achievement of those objectives. One of them emphasized economic and social policies aimed at society in general, without distinguishing particular groups. The second centered on economic self-reliance, popular participation and community-based efforts. 26. Against the background of the development strategies she had outlined, there were four separate but closely interrelated activities which formed the bulk of the Centre's work. In the first place, there were the advocacy programmes to increase public awareness and influence public policy on some certain development issues. The International Years, the United Nations Decade for A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 9 (Mrs. Shahani) Women and the Congresses on the Prevention of Crime had served as important weans of advocacy, together with information exchange, research and work with non-governmental organization. 27. Second, there was research and analysis in selected areas. Methodologies of policy-oriented research, however, still had to be perfected. 28. Third, the activities of the Centre should be of an operational character and should be relevant to the priority needs of the developing countries. The General Assembly had stressed the need for a pragmatic orientation and, in that connexion, it was to be noted that technical co-operation and related operational activities had increased awareness of the significance of non-capital sources of economic growth. The effectiveness of the Centre's operation, however, depended upon the availability of extra budgetary resources; that was the principle upon which the establishment of the Voluntary Fund had been based. The Centre was also extending technical co-operation services through the Department of Technical Co-operation for Development in the fields of social integration, of youth, crime prevention and criminal justice, and the advancement of women. Unfortunately, however, the developing countries were not generally assigning a priority to projects in those sectors consonant with the priority given them in the pertinent resolutions adopted by the General Assembly. 29. It was important to consider the relationships the Centre maintained with non-governmental organizations. Because of the growing complexity of development problems, more and more Governments were co-operating with non-governmental organizations, and there was a growing realization at the international level that Governments alone could not solve all the problems of society. 30. In conclusion, she expressed the hope that the Committee would give attention to Economic and Social Council resolution 1981/24, which dealt with some of the issues fundamental to the Committee's mandate. 31 Mr. REXED (Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Director, United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control) observed that the abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances was continuing to increase, but that did not mean that international efforts to control such abuse had been ineffective. Nevertheless, those efforts could be more effective if there were greater support for them, and not only in terms of money. A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 10 (Mr. Rexad) 32. The 1981 programme of the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control (UNFDAC) had been approved with a budget of $9.1 million, and the funds hid been transferred to executing agencies earlier than ever before, in an effort to accelerate the attainment of project objectives. Unfortunately, however, the efforts of the specialized agencies and the recipient Governments had not met the fund's expectations. In 1980 only 73 per cent of the funds made available to the programmes had been utilized, and it did not appear that the programme implementation rate for 1981 had improved, 33. There had been some positive achievements, such as the tale¬ communications project in Turkey, of great importance in attacking the illegal drug transit problem in that country, which had one of the highest rates of implementation - 95 per cent - in the entire programs. Also* in June 1981 the second phase of the multispectral programme in Bursa had been signed and it was moving ahead under the guidance of the Burmese Government and with the supervision of the executing agency, UNDP, 34. UNFDAC was gratified that the United Nations recognized the strong development aspects of the programme as evidenced by the fact that UNFDAC had been invited for the first time to participate in the Pledging Conference for Development Assistance, held in New York in November 198O, in which 20 countries had pledged $1.5 million for assistance to UNFDAC for 1982. 35. Another important element in the world-wide programme of the Fund was its assistance to law enforcement agencies combating drug abuse, Requests were being received increasingly from countries seeking assistance in reducing or eradicating poppy cultivation and in combating illegal narcotics traffic, The entire UNFDAC programme in Turkey, which was one of the most successful, consisted of law enforcement. Financial support was needed for those programmes so as to provide law enforcement organizations with appropriate communications and laboratory equipment and to provide support for a training programme for law enforcement personnel. 36. UNFDAC was considering a request for assistance from Yugoslavia to help the Government of that country in its efforts to reduce the illegal narcotics traffic across its borders. Seizures of heroin at Yugoslav borders had exceeded 300 kilograms in 1980, which represented more than 25 per cent of the heroin seized in Europe that year. 37. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs had submitted for adoption by the General Assembly a draft resolution setting forth a strategy and policy for drug control. That document was the result of several years8 work by the various narcotics control organizations A/C.3/36/SR.36 English Page 11 (Mr. Rexed) in the United Nations and bad been the subject of intensive review by the Commission itself at its twenty-ninth session. It was his opinion that the General Assembly should adopt the draft resolution. 38. With regard to the future activities of UNFDAC, there were possibilities of its undertaking other programmes in addition to continuing its current activities. In response to a request by Bolivia, and on behalf of the Secretary-General, the Division of Narcotic Drugs and UNFDAC had sent a fact-finding mission to the field to begin a study of drug traffic in that country. A Latin American narcotics expert had conducted the mission and prepared a report, which had recently been presented to the Government of Bolivia. The report suggested a number of steps which the Government should take to make its national drug control administration more effective* 39. UNFDAC's future efforts must include African countries which had not received sufficient attention in the past. The first year of an UHFDAC programme to eradicate poppy cultivation in Egypt had just been completed. The Fund was also going to work with the Organization of African Unity, which had recognized the gravity of the drug abuse problem in Africa. 40. Mr. VAN BOVEN (Director, Division of Human Rights) said that over the past Year the Commission on Human Rights had done very important work, the results of which were reflected in its report on its thirty-seventh session CE/1981/25). It had completed its work on the draft Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance, which the Committee had adopted earlier in the current session. Work had also continued on the drafting of instruments on the rights of minorities and the rights of the child and against torture. Studies were under way on the right to | development, the new international economic order and the promotion of human rights. 41. With regard to the question of enforced or involuntary disappearances, he said that the Commission had extended the term of its working group on that question for one year and requested it to submit a report on its work, together with its conclusions and recommendations, to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session. 42. In connexion with the problem of torture, the Economic and Social Council, on the recommendation of the Commission, had submitted to the General Assembly a draft resolution {A/C.3/36/L.5) proposing the establishment of a United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. The Secretary-General, in his note, document A/36/540, had submitted specific proposals regarding the management of the Fund. A/C.3/36/5E.56 English Page 12 (Mr. Van Boven) 4 3. The Commission had adopted resolution 3 (XXXVII) condemning all totalitarian ideologies and practices based on racial or ethnic exclusiveness or intolerance, hatred and terror, and had urged all States to draw attention to the threat to democratic institutions which those ideologies and practices posed. 44. The Commission had also considered the situation of human rights in southern Africa on the basis of the report of its Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Southern Africa and inter alia., had suggested that the General Assembly should refer to the International Court of Justice for its consideration the question of whether a State which pursued a policy of apartheid and denied human rights might lawfully continue to hold a place in the international community, in view of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, and particularly Chapter II, Article 6. 45. The Commission had decided on the appointment of a Special Rapporteur to study the question of human rights and mass exoduses, and had requested him to submit his study to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session, together with conclusion and recommendations. The Chairman of the Commission had appointed Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan as Special Rapporteur to carry out that study. 46. The Commission, recalling General Assembly resolution 35/192, had requested its Chairman to appoint a Special Representative of the Commission to investigate the human rights situation in El Salvador and to report on his findings to the Commission. The Third Committee had before it the report of the Special Representative, Professor Jose Antonio Pastor Ridreujo (A/36/608). 47. As far as the human rights situation in Chile was concerned, the Commission had decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapportuer, Mr. Abdoulaye Dieye, for another year, and had requested him to report on the development of the human rights situation in Chile to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session. In another resolution, the Commission had requested its Chairman to appoint a Special Envoy of the Commission to make a study of the human rights situation in Bolivia and to report on his findings it. its thirty-eighth session. 48. One factor was common to all the situations to which he had referred: the brazen disregard for the most fundamental human right, the right to life. The frequency with which organized power howed its contempt for human life through such practices as arhitrary executions, political assassinations, mass disappearances.. A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 13 (Mr. Van Boven) and other barbarous practices was shocking. Perhaps that could be a major topic of reflection as preparations were made for the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be commemorated in 1983. 4S. Mr. RAMOS GALINDO (Deputy Director, Division of Narcotic Drugs) said that problems related to drug abuse had continued to increase in most parts of the world and had spread to new age groups and social and economic sectors. The illicit use of traditional narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and the volume of illicit drug traffic had increased. The negative effects of that illicit use and traffic on the health of mankind as well as on the social and economic development of countries were a matter of great concern and constituted a major threat to the international community. 50. The over-supply of licitly and illicitly produced opiates had resulted in the availability of large quantities of that type of drug at very low prices. To maintain the same level of profit from illicit traffic, the traffickers had drawn a larger number of victims into drug addiction, so that populations of areas in which drug abuse had been virtually non-existent were now increasingly affected. It was estimated that in the past year 1,500 to 2,000 tons of opium had been produced illicitly, mainly in South-Fast and South-West Asia, and that the volume of morphine and heroin reaching the United States and Western Europe had risen to unprecedented levels. There was also a continuing rise in the quantity of cocaine hydrochloride and cocaine sulphate for illicit consumption. It was estimated that more than 100 tons of those substances were being produced annually and that their abuse was continuing to increase, not only in the United States and Europe but also in the Middle East and in Asia. The illicit production of cannabis in the major regions of the world and its widespread abuse had continued to increase in 1981. Samples of confiscated cannabis indicated that more potent varieties now existed, with a higher tetrahydrocannabinol sinsemilla content. Some of the countries which had previously been among the major consumers had now become producers. The increased availability and abuse of psychotropic substances throughout the world was one of the most threatening trends witnessed in the past year. Stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens such as methagualone, PCP, LSD and other dangerous substances continued to be manufactured illicitly or had been diverted from licit services to illicit traffic. 51. The enormous profits reaped by the drug traffickers had resulted in the corruption of public officials and had had a disruptive effect on the national stability of some States. Deaths resulting from overdoses and drug abuse had continued to increase, particularly A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 14 (Mr. Van Boven) Western Europe. Drug-related criminality had also increased and accounted for a large proportion of criminal activities throughout the world. 52. Confronted with the escalation of those problems, Governments had responded by enacting new laws and applying stricter controls and longer prison sentences for illicit trafficking and had initiated prevention campaigns. Programmes for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts had also increased in a number of countries. Never¬theless, in his view, the resources allocated for those purposes were insufficient, particularly if compared with the resources available to traffickers and with the harm suffered by countries as the result of drug abuse. 53. The General Assembly had devoted special attention to inter¬ national drug control. In resolutions 34/177 of 17 December 1979 and 35/195 of 15 December 1980, we had requested the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to complete the preparation of an international drug control strategy. At its twenty-ninth session, the Commission had adopted by consensus a long-term strategy and a five-year plan of action which was annexed to the Commission's report to the Economic and Social Council CA/CN.7/668, annex II). The objectives of the long-term strategy were the following: to improve drug control systems, to achieve a balance between the supply of and demand for drugs and psychotropic substances for legitimate purposes, to eradicate the supply of drugs from illicit sources, to reduce the illicit drug traffic, to reduce the demand for illicit drugs and prevent the inappropriate or illicit use of licit drugs, and to provide treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration services to addicts. 1 54. The United Nations basic five-year programme of action for 1982-1986 showed the activities to be pursued by the Secretary- General; the activities that might be supported by the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control? the activities to be undertaken in 1982 under the basic five-year programme of action according to order of priorities and source of financing; and the provisional cost estimates and financial implications for the United Nations regular budget for the biennium 1982-1983. During 1982, 22 projects were to be implemented, 11 of them to be financed by the United Nations regular budget and 11 from extra budgetary resources. 55. The fact that the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Economic and Social Council had adopted that complex document by consensus showed the spirit of collaboration in the common fight against drug abuse which had prevailed over diverging individual approaches. It was to be hoped that the General Assembly would approve the strategy and programme of action by consensus and would allocate the A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 15 (Mr. Van Boven) necessary resources for its implementation. It appeared that the Division of Narcotic Drugs and, in general, the competent units in the United Nations and in the various countries, were short of the necessary resources to meet the current problems. If that situation continued, particularly at the national level, it would not be possible to reverse the trend towards increased drug abuse. 56. The provisional cost estimates in the strategy for activities to be undertaken in 1982 under the basic five-year programme of action had been prepared taking account of the amounts that could be expected to be available for those purposes, both from the United Nations regular budget and from extra budgetary resources. Those estimates entailed considerable redeployment of existing resources by the Division of Narcotic Drugs and included a small amount of additional resources to be allocated for the various projects from the regular budget or from extra budgetary funds. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs had shown considerable moderation in requesting additional resources to implement the strategy during the first year of the five-year plan. concept of a new international Highness Crown Prince the General Assembly in cognized premise that endeavour. He should be exploited or abused, in all decision-making levels and in all reco international 57. Mr. NUSEIBEH (Jordan) said that the humanitarian order proposed by His Royal Hassan of Jordan in his statement before September 1981 was based on the widely-the human being was the end of all human not, either individually or collectively, but should be the focal point of attention processes both at the national and fields Df life. 58. Needless to say, the initiation of the concept of a new international humanitarian order laid no claim to charting uncharted territory. The concept was universal and not parochial, and embraced as multiplicity of ideologies, human experiences and obsessive fixations. It was strictly apolitical and its sole objective was the welfare of the human being. 59. Idealy, the new international humanitarian order would promote the establishment of a system or systems of more advanced values, and could eventually be reflected in legally binding precepts and norms that would transform the priorities and criteria for the welfare of the human being and make the world a safer, better and more humane place. 60. As was well known, human nature was highly complex and dialectically opposed in its range of instincts. A human being had within him the elements of good and evil, reliability and pugnacity. Many leaders of thought were convinced that, with such glaring contradictions, human nature was immutable and could not. A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 16 (Mr. Nuseibeh, Jordan) therefore, be altered or reformed. If that theory were to be accepted, it would be useless to make any effort to reform mankind. It was his belief, however that by a process of readjustment, and by conscious effort, the element of goodness in man could be made to gain the upper hand and to become instilled in human conscience and behaviour 61. His delegation was not trying to suggest that the commendable humanitarian ideals and programmes of the many organizations working in that area had failed in their objective. The proposal he was presenting was not designed to supplant, but to supplement, broaden and co-ordinate the existing structures and functions of existing institutions. As indicated in his letter of 30 October 1981, requesting the inclusion of the item on the agenda of the thirty- sixth session of the General Assembly, the proposal for a new international humanitarian order provided general ideas that would need to be further elaborated and refined. That could be more expeditiously achieved through the establishment of an ad hoc working group of some 20 leading personalities in the human rights field, or experts on international humanitarian law, who would hold a constructive dialogue and subsequently submit their recommend-ations to the Third Committee and the General Assembly, through the Economic and Social .Council, for their consideration and approval. The members of The group, among whom all regions of the world should be represented and whose selection should be based strictly on merit, should sit in their private capacity. The proposal entailed no financial implications for the United Nations, and, whatever the results of the proposal, it would not in fringe the sovereign right of every State to accept or reject what it found to be desirable or undesirable. 62. He gave a general outline of the new international humanitarian order as envisaged by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan: International humanitarian law and practice suffered from serious gaps in terms both of content and corresponding institutional arrangements. In recent years, the world community had had to face major natural and man-made disasters in practically all parts of the world. The response to those challenges had been generous, but had remained essentially ad hoc and fragmentary in nature. The evolution of responsible international agencies had not kept pace with the evolution of the world situation. The proposal to promote a new international humanitarian order was based on the urgently-felt; need to fill the gaps in terms both of basic Principles and of mechanisms for remedial action. 63. Much remained to be done in the field of human welfare. The problem of refugees and displaced persons had assumed unprecedented A/C.3/36/SR.56 English. Page 17 (Mr. Nuseibeh, Jordan) dimensions during the past decade. Situations of famine and problems caused by drought were becoming ever more frequent, and hunger and illiteracy remained a tragic characteristic of the times. Economic disparities within and between nations, which were problems inherent in the North-South dialogue, remained uncorrected, and the tensions between East and West were unabated. 64. As far as human rights were concerned, although various declarations and covenants had been formulated, no specific measures had, for understandable but not necessarily justifiable reasons, been adopted to promote or supervise their application. The Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinate (UNDRO) still required to be streamlined and strengthened. As far as man-made disasters were concerned, whenever a major catastrophe occurred, the United Nations Secretary-General was obliged to take ad hoc action through the appointment of a special representative or co-ordinate No comprehensive institutional approach for the adequate co-ordination of international action had yet been adopted. 65. In promoting a new international humanitarian order, attention must be paid to the legal, economic, information, institutional and political aspects. 66. As far as the legal aspect was concerned, existing international humanitarian law left little room for further legal qualifications in the context of armed conflict. However, existing international instruments had distinct and complementary features that needed comprehensive review. In times of peace, the parallel legal frame¬work, particularly the area of human rights, needed further codifica¬tion, broadening and a comprehensive approach to a variety of problems. 67. In regard to the economic aspect, the efforts made in the context of the Hew International Economic Order and the points stressor in the Brandt Commission's report should be complemented. Ac all events, public awareness of those efforts in the economic field must be increased, since information on them was still confined to technocrats and decision-making circles. 68. In connexion with information, it was important to note that, in today's world, information played a decisive role in the promotion and implementation of any policy. The proposed order should concridation to the improvement of information so that developing countries could assemble information for solving their socio-economic problems and the latest technological advances could be used as a tool for the development of the third world. A/C.3/36/SR. 56 English Page 18 (Mr. Nuseibeh, Jordan) 69. Regarding the institutional aspect, he said that once the basic framework of the proposed, new international humanitarian order was established its implementation would largely depend on the improvement of international institutions. In that connexion, it must be asked whether the United Nations and other international organizations could provide a comprehensive and universally acceptable framework of humanitarian principles, despite their political and other handicaps, whether polarization and politicization could be avoided where major humanitarian issues were concerned, whether an inter" disciplinary series of working groups could start a process aimed at the formulation of an international humanitarian charter, and whether such an initiative would eliminate institutional sinecures and national stereotypes and increase the sense of mission in the service of humanity. 70. In conclusion, he said that although some representatives on the Third Committee might perhaps ask why they had not been given a specific blueprint for the proposed new order, no single individual, country or action could draw up such a blueprint. The new inter¬national humanitarian order must be built in concert. 71. He introduced draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.65 for study by the Third Committee and suggested that the vote on it should be postponed until the end of November or the beginning of December, so that Member States could evaluate the draft and make any necessary charges. 72. Mr. MALAFATOPOULOS (World Health Organization) outlined WHO's role, priorities, strategies and research in the field of drug dependence. He noted first that a total of nearly $900,000 had been spent on WHO activities in 1980 from funds provided by the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control. 73. The activities of who in the field comprised: the formulation of national policies for the management of drug abuse,- including prevention, treatment and the rehabilitation of drug-dependent persons; epidemiological studies designed to improve the quality and comparability of data collection and to provide information on the need for international and national control of dependence-producing drugs; and research on a wide range of drug-dependence problems. 74. in that field, MHO was collaborating actively with Governments, with other organizations of the United Nations system, and with governmental and non-governmental bodies. Thus, the WHO drug-dependence programme involved a variety of disciplines, including public health, psychiatry, sociology, psychology and psycho-pharmacology, and drew heavily on other WHO programmes, such as /..- A/C.3/36/SR.56 English Page 19 (Mr._Malafatopoulos, WHO) service management in country health programming and primary health care. Its co-ordinating work involved interagency meetings, bringing together all the relevant United Nations agencies and non¬governmental organizations, co-ordinating groups established at the country, regional and global level, and a network of collaborating centres. 75. The WHO drug-dependence programme consisted of three complementary approaches: co-operation with countries, development of the technology necessary for the implementation of the programme, and the application of that technology, accompanied by appropriate evaluation. Those three approaches fostered the integration of drug-dependence programmes within existing health systems. 76. The provision of primary health care, especially in rural areas, was one of the measures called for in the strategy for the treatment, rehabilitation and social integration of drug abusers, and was a priority effort in WHO's over-all programme. The WHO programme in primary health care was based on scientific knowledge and health technology, as well as on accepted and effective traditional healing practices. In that way it was possible to generate simple and inexpensive methods and techniques which would allow, for example, the current reliance on opium to be replaced by modern chemotherapy. 77. The major activities undertaken by WHO included international research studies on epidemiological reporting systems. Another study, published in 1980, dealt with drug problems in the socio-cultural context. WHO was also carrying out a research study on diagnosis, classification and terminology in the field of drug-dependence as part of its International Programme on the Diagnosis and Classification of Mental Disorders. A research study was also being conducted on the development of strategies and guidelines for the prevention of drug-related problems, in close collaboration with institutions and investigators in 35 countries. 78. In addition to those research activities, WHO had started the following new projects in 1981: the development of manuals and guidelines for manpower training, a review and analysis of legislation on the treatment of drug-dependent persons, and an assessment of treatment methods for drug-dependence in developing countries.