waldron@newport.rutgers.edu (James Waldron) (10/28/89)
of rural development would continue to dominate development
policies until and beyond the year 2000. Of the
hundreds of millions who lived at subsistence level, nearly 80
per cent were in rural areas and suffered hunger and
malnutrition. In order to attain substantial growth in food
production, it was essential to provide rural populations with
adequate living standards through proper agricultural
development. Israel had achieved the transformation from a
primitive agriculture to a highly sophisticated one and it was
now sharing its experience with many developing countries.
Continuing, he reviewed achievements of his country concerning
life under desert conditions, which included the elaboration of
technologies for enabling plants and trees to thrive in the
desert, and for creating forests in arid regions. He hoped that
the experience accumulated by Israel in that field could be
shared in "our region where peace will soon pave the way for a
veritable regional co-operation". Finally, he said that he would
answer the baseless allegations made by the representative of
Bahrain when the agenda item dealing with Israeli economic
practices in the occupied Palestinian territories would be
considered by the Committee.
MARIA GABRIELA TROYA (Ecuador) conveyed her Government's
condolences and solidarity with the peoples of the United States
and China, who had been struck by earthquakes, and with the
people of the Philippines, who had been hit by typhoons.
Regarding the Council report, she said the International Decade
for Natural Disaster Reduction was of particular importance to
Ecuador, because of its vulnerability to natural disasters. With
the assistance of the Office of the United Nations Disaster
Relief Co-ordinator (UNDRO), Ecuador had carried out educational
work and studies on earthquake preparedness. Regional
co-operation and solidarity were of great importance in
preventing on mitigating the effects of natural disasters.
Ecuador wished to be the regional headquarters for the regional
centre sponsored by the United Nations for disaster prevention.
Regarding the World Tourism Organization, she said tourism had
been an important part of her country's economy, and the
potential market was very important. In Ecuador, barriers to
increasing tourism included a lack of hotels, due in part to a
lack of natural and financial resources. A law for the
promotion of tourism paid special attention to the protection of
the environment. Social and popular tourism were of particular
importance, and a Fund for Tourism had been set up with state
and private assistance. Regarding the World Decade for Cultural
Development, strengthening national culture was an important
part of the national strategy. The rights of indigenous peoples
should be respected, and Ecuador's cultural policy was designed
to strengthen national identity.
BETHANY ARMSTRONG (Canada) said the Council had an important
mandate to co-ordinate the work of the United Nations in the
economic and social spheres. When the Council was unable to
produce basic documents, its usefulness was clearly diminished
and it lost momentum. The Council was constructive in its
consideration of a number of specific issues, and there had been
a very useful exchange at the second regular session on
environmental issues. The question of the International Decade
for Natural Disaster Reduction had also been discussed in
detail. The recent tragic earthquakes
and hurricanes were reminders of the need to obtain objectives
previously established for the Decade.
The United Nations must enhance its research and analysis of the
role of women in development, she said, and ensure system-wide
co-ordination in implementing programmes to enhance that role.
That commitment should be seen as part of a broader programme of
the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies.
The United Nations, through WHO, had done a tremendous job in
implementing the Global Programme on AIDS. Encouraging
international scientific co-operation to prevent or control AIDS
was important, as were efforts to make medication available as
soon as possible.
AMADOU DIANGUINA TRAORE (Mali) welcomed the initiatives of the
United Nations aimed at opening a new era of international
economic security, and supported all measures towards
multilateralism. The Council's report had showed the highly
humanitarian values of the United Nations Charter, it reflected
the main concerns of mankind. However, the methods of dealing
with economic issues privileged the symptoms rather than the
roots of problems. He hoped the industrialized countries would
be willing to start a constructive dialogue on the problems
which afflicted the developing countries. While interdependence
was growing, he said, there were asymetrical economic relations
which could jeopardize international economic security.
Turning to the topic of United Nations decades, he said that if
positive results were not achieved, decades should not be
repeated. He attached great importance to the Second Transport
and Communications Decade in Africa, because the first one had
achieved some results, and African countries were severely
handicapped in those areas. Finally, he stressed that dialogue
could be a substitute to threats or confrontation; political
achievements, however, would only be possible if the gap between
developed and developing countries could be narrowed.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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