A/46/PV.36 General Assembly

26.  TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSITY FOR PEACE (a) REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/46/580) (b) DRAFT RESOLUTION (A1461L.14) T& PRESIDENT (interpretation from Arabic): I call on the representative of Costa Rica, who wishes to introduce draft resolution A/46/L.l4. M&j- (Costa Rica) (interpretation from Spanish): It is a special bonour for me to inaugurate the Assembly's consideration of this item on the happy occasion of Unite8 Nations Day. as I di& Last year, and to speak before the General Assembly on behalf of the kindred Republics of Central America on an item to which we attach the utmost importance: "Tenth anniversary of the University for Peace". We are meeting here today in keeping with General Assembly resolution 45/E, adopted on 24 Octobet 1990, when we celebrated the first decade of the University for Peace. Since its ostablisbment by General Assembly resolution 35155 of 5 December 1980. tbe University for Peace has become what the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, has defined as tbe sole United Nations institution of global vocation headquartered in Latin America. It is precisely the Secretary-General who has been unsparing iu his efforts to generate cooperation from a consi&erable number of Sea&4 of Stat0 and of Government in the Americas, Burope, Asia and Africa. The request of the Secretary-General is prompted by the grave financial constraints that the University for Peace has been facing. However, them have not prevented the orgauixation from acguiring a large amount of experience or from taking e number of initiatives that have been put into effect. The Secretary-General, as part of his commendable support for the University for Peace, has established with the United Nations Development Programme a Trust Pund for Peace vitb a target of $250 million. The specific purpose of this Fund is to finance ongoing activities provided for in the mandate of the University for Peace and its educational, research and support functions in relation to United Nations activities directed towards achieving peace and reconciliation, and to finance the activities of the Secretary-General to this end. Of the input to the Pun& 90 per oent will be used for the purposes I have just described; the remaining 10 per cent will not be committed but will be used to intxease capital. The Governments of Costa Rica, El Salva&x-, Guatemalar Bon&was, Nicaragua and Panama are extremely happy about. and wish to express appreciation of, the Secretary-General's support - in particular, his support for the provision of a site in a Central American State for such a valuable institution. The few moments that I wish to devote to the work of the 'University for Peace are insufficient. For example, one could mention the establishment and implementation of international programmes for masters’ degrees, such as those relating to international relations and cooperation, social dialogue and ( development, 8,%&3tian for peace, natural resources, quality of life, human rights, the peaceful settlement of disputes , sustainable development and environmental protection. With these dtducafional progr8mm8sr the University for Peace is responding effectively to the Ch&Plenge that is embodied in its fundamental objective, as expressed ia article 2 of its Charter: "to provide humaaity with an international institution of higher education for peace and with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate co-operation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations." Even mcwe important iS th8 true SigTIifiCanCe Of these activities, the intention being to establish a peace culture, in which cooperation and harmony, rather than unfortunately deep-rooted cultural violence, will prevail. Today, men %re deciding to choose democracy, equality and respect for human rights. I%ey are deciding to follow the path of peace. In this regard, Central America - that small region - is no exception. Day by day, more and more guns are being exchanged for books, for food, for white handkerchiefs, for life. In the efforts to achieve peace, we Central Americans have not been alone: the international community has worked with us to find solutions to the conflict. The Esquipulas II Agreement of 7 August 1987 laid the foundation for the democratisation of, ana the return of peace to, Central America through the establishment ,f national reconciliation committees. Once again. the presence of the University of Peace was felt when it suggested that the Presidents of Central America should convene the first regional meeting of a (Vm, Costa Rice) reconciliation committee at the University's headquarters in Ciudad Col6n. Costa Rica, on 16, 19 and 20 September 1989. This active presence of the University for Peace has earned it the appreciation and support of the Central American Presidents. who, in paragraph 36 of their Declaration of San Salvador, El Salvador, of 17 July 1991, set out this objective: "To support the work of the University of Peace and to appeal to the international community to support the initiative of Mr. Javier Peres de Cuellar, Secretary-General of tbe United Nations, aimed at strengthening this international orqanization, which has its headquarters in the region, through a Fund for Peace." (h/45/1039. P. 10) This spirit of peace aa conciliation of the University for Peace made a major contribution to the solution of the Central American crisis by moving the Presidents of the region to declare Central America as "a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development". The many seminars, courses, conferences aa activities orqanized or carried out by the University for Peace include the establishment of the Central American Chair for Peace - an especially important initiative as it gives high academic standing to views expressed by top leaders of the region. The campus of the University was inaugurated last May by the President of Guatemala, Mr. Jorge Serrano Elias. It was established in gratitude for, and in support of, the concerted efforts of the Central American Presidents in the process of restoring peace and democracy to the area. These points were highlighted in statements made at the recent presidential summit at Puntarenas and at the San Jo& VII Conference. The working items that concerned the University included zones of peace, education for peace, and ecological subjects. The establishment of a United Nations information centre on the campus was proposed by the Government of Costa Rica (gr+ Tattenbach. Costa Rica) to the Comnit.tee on Information at its recent meeting. This proposal will be conrridered at the current resrion of the General Assembly In the context of the item entitled “Questions relating to information”. It is our hope that the proposal will be welcomed by the General Assembly when it considers the subjects dealt with by the Special Political Cormnittee. Once again, the support of the inLernationa1 community has not been wanting, and the Governments of the Central American region and the University for Peace are most grateful. Nevertheless, the challenge is enormous, and the resources are very meagre. Accordingly, once again the Governments of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama wish to urge States Members of the United Nations that have not yet done FO to accede to the International Agreement for the Establishment of the University for Peace under General Assembly resolution 35/55, so that the University may be able to fulfil its motto: “If you desire peace, prepare for peace. The University for Peace must be the laboratory of the spirit of peace, the crucible where we create the new mentality of peace in the coming decades. Either the twenty-first century will be one of peace, or there will be no twenty-first century.” (Ms. T&&snbach, Cosfs_Eira) It irr now an honour for me to introduce, as requested, the draft resolution on this item. Accordingly, I eubmit to the General lrsssmbly for its consideration the draft resolution contained in document W461L.14 on behalf of the Central krerican delegations, Ul Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Ricsragua, Panama, and my own delegation, and all those delegations which generously decided to become sponsors of the draft resolution along with us, namely, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, lkmbr. Grenada, India, Italy, Marshall Islands, Moroccor Xexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Thailand, Togo, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia and Zaire. The preamble recalls the establishment of the University for Peace by resolution 35155 of 5 December 1980 and the comnemoration of its tenth anniversary by resolution 45/A of 24 October 1990. It recognixea that since its establishment 10 years ago the University for Peace has suffered Lrom financial limitations which have impeded its development of the appropriate and necessary activities for carrying out its important task. It also recognizes that despite these limitations the University for Peace has undertaken important activities and develcped programmes that can be applied to the ailbject-matter and disciplines of educ.?tion and training for peace. The fifth preambular paragraph notes that the Secretxry-General, with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme, has established a Trust Fund for Peace. We should like to point out that in order to incorporate a suggestion to amend this paragraph, we have included the words “consisting of voluntary contributions” between the word “Peace” and the phrase “in order to”. Paragraph 1 notes with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to resolution 4518. Paragraph 2 welcomes the establishment by the Secretary-General of the Trust Fund for Peace. The same amendments have been made to this paragraph by the insertion of the words “consisting of voluntary contributions” between the word “Peace” and “for”. Although we preferred the original text, in order to achieve general consbn8us, we agreed to these two amendments to the test. Paragraph 3 invites the States Uembers of the United Nations, non-governmental organirations and intergovernmental bodies as well as interested individuals and organizations to contribute to the Trust Fund for Peace. Paragraph 4 invites Member States to accede to the International Agreement for the University for Peace, thus demonstrating their support of a global institution for peace stl iies whose mandate is the promotion of world peace. Finally, in paragraph 5, which we consider to be of the utmost importance, the General Assembly decides LO include in the agenda of its forty-eighth session and biennially thereafter an item entitled “University for Peace”. This paragraph is the result of our desire to reconcile our view with those of other delegations which requested the amendment to the text so that, instead of having the item dealt with at the forty-seventh session, it would be postponed until the following year, and thetsafter the item would be dealt with on a bier,nial basis. As ve are all aware, this is the goal towards which ve have been \ rkinq over the years since the University was established, and we believe that it is important to keep this item on the agenda 80 that tha University for Peace can enhance and expand its programmes and activities - those that it has already developed and those which it plans to develop for 1992 and the years to come. The Central American and other delegations which have sponsored the draft resolution invite all members to adopt it without a vote. Mr. MQm (Chile) (interpretation from Spanish): My delegation is very glad that the item we have before us today, which coincides with such an important date as the conunemoration of United Nations Day, has once again been included in the agenda of the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly. It is again an honour this year, as it was last year, for my country to c3-sporsor the draft resolution on the Tenth Anniversary of the University for Peace introduced by the representative of Costa Rica. It could not be otherwise. Chile enthusiastically associates itself with this item and participates in the commendable objectives of this international jpecialized centre, which has been carrying out its activities so well in t;le past decade. However , the visionary expectations of its founders ‘lave encountered difficulties. The principles which inspired the establishment of tIis institution ‘Lor peace, the only one of its kind within the United Nation. system, are more valid than ever before in a revitalized international s:enario, where confrontation is frankly being replaced by cooperation and understandi:lg among nations. An institution that so successfully promotes tre cause of peact! and which is totally cormnitted to the search for this supremt blessing deserves our entire support and cooperation. The commitment of our Orqanization to this fruitful initiativr was evident during the thirty-fifth session of the Gf:neral Assembly wlien in 1991: resolutir;o 35155 warn adapted. This resolution laid the legal foundations for the institution. Its fundamental goal - and it is not superfluous to recall this - is to: “provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace and with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulatu cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations.” (w 35155, -2) The University can feel quite happy about the complete attainment of these objectives. We note, as peace dividends are becoming a realit),, that this institution has made a magnificent contribution to them. On this occasion, I cannot but mention that our fraternal Republic of Costa Rica hab rightly been chosen as the site for this University Centre. What better decision could have been made to qive this great honour to a nation which has such a democratic and peaceful history and which is such a tenacious champion of the principles end values contained in the founding Charter of the University? My country, like the other countries in the region, is proud of the decision of the United Nations to establish the headquarters of this centre for peace in this well-loved Central tierican Republic. We are certain that its enormous contribution to the success of the University’s activities in the last 10 years will continue. c-1 My dClfY-* 4f-e y-v-- !? vrry gratified that the pace of the sctivitieti of the University for Peace, which had already bomn incrosring, has been scceleratad even more in this second decadr since it6 foundatiou, anC also walcomea the major international meetings for peace which have been hald there. We recall the formal sesrion on 18 March last during which the President of Guatemala delivered a magnificent inaugural address for the Central American Chair for Peacet tha subject will be a permanent feature of the University’s curriculum. This is particularly relevant. now, when the Peace plan of t,he Presidents of the region, backed by the Security Council, is producing positive results in El Salvador and Guatemala. This Chair for Peace and the other degree programmes linked by the common theme of peace are a faithful reflection ot the commitment the University has made in a subject of the greatest sfqnificance for mankind. My country therefore urges it to go on 3evelop;n.g fresh initiatives and projects ta enable it to enrich its already fruitful labours. On the same subject, I tiould draw at’xntion to the emphasis the University for Peace is placlr\g on academic courses relating to the important subject of humarr r:ghts. The importance and validity this subject has taken on in recent years place on our University the enormous responsibility of emphssiziw, with academic rigoisr and discipline, a multidisciplinary treatment of human rights. Similarly, we think that the no Lisa important subject of security - tied in as it is with the subject of peace - covers not only tho military aspects of disarmament but also those threats which jeopardize social and economic development and human dignity: drug, environmental and other similar (f!h-mQChfAS) problems. When security is viewed from that perrpective, we sea that it should he a priority subject in the future rerearch and teaching progrsmnes of this institute of higher learning. For all those reasona, and aware of our obligation to lend our resolute support to the University in its new phase of activity, my Grlvernment is now considering the possibility of contributing to t)e special United Nations fund which finances it, in line with the Secretary-benoral’s request to the President of the Republic. My country will do everything it can to meet this request for finance, which is of the greatest significance for the operational future of the University for Peace. We hope that the Secretary-General’s initiative in establishing an endowment or trust fund to finance the University’s new actfvitiea will receive Member States’ resolute support. My delegation has noted with great interest the report of the Secretary-General (A./rb/SEO) submitted to the General Assembly in accordan e with resolution 45/8 of 24 October last year. His detailed account - uhich merits our conrnendation - of the work of the University last year motivates us even more to co-sponsor the draft resolution (A/ld/L.14) on the University for Peace before the Assembly today and to call on the Assembly to approve it by consensus q