A/48/PV.88 General Assembly

I should like, in keeping with the established practice, to invite the attention of the General Assembly to document A/48/853. It contains a letter addressed to the President of the General Assembly by the Secretary-General in which he informs the Assembly that 25 Member States are in arrears in the payment of their financial contributions to the United Nations within the terms of Article 19 of the Charter. I should like to remind delegations that, under Article 19 of the Charter: "A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years ...." This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned within one week of the date of publication to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Section, Room C-178, and incorporated in a copy of the record. When the result of a recorded and/or roll-call vote is followed by an asterisk, see the annex to the record. NEW YORK May I take it that the General Assembly duly takes note of this information? EARTHQUAKE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

May I, on behalf of all the members of the Assembly, extend our deepest sympathy to the Government and the people of the United States of America on the tragic loss of life and extensive material damage which have resulted from the recent earthquake. I now call on the representative of the United States of America.

On behalf of my Government and the people of the United States, I should like to thank the Assembly and Ambassador Marker for the kind words of sympathy in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Los Angeles. I should also like to express our deep gratitude for the thoughtful expressions of sympathy offered by Member States. On behalf of the residents of the Los Angeles region in particular, I should like to reiterate how touched we are by these expressions of kindness and concern. Distr. GENERAL A/48/PV.88 2 February 1994 ENGLISH ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK: REQUEST FOR THE REOPENING OF AGENDA ITEM 167 (A/48/851)

I should like to draw the attention of the General Assembly to document A/48/851, which contains a solemn appeal made by the President of the General Assembly on 19 January 1994 in connection with the observance of the Olympic Truce. In order for the General Assembly to take note of the solemn appeal, it will be be necessary to reopen consideration of agenda item 167. Under the circumstances, may I take it that the General Assembly has no objection to reopening consideration of agenda item 167?

I will now read out the solemn appeal made by the President of the General Assembly in connection with the observance of the Olympic Truce: "On 25 October 1993, the General Assembly adopted resolution 48/10, by which it proclaimed 1994 as the International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal, and resolution 48/11, in which it urged Member States to observe the Olympic Truce. "The Olympic Truce for the upcoming Olympic Games to be held at Lillehammer, Norway, from 12 to 27 February 1994, will last from 5 February to 6 March 1994. The Olympic Truce, or ekecheria, is based on an ancient Greek tradition, dating back to the ninth century B.C. All conflicts ceased during the period of the Truce, which began seven days prior to the opening of the Olympic Games and ended on the seventh day following the closing of the Games, so that athletes, artists, their relatives and pilgrims could travel safely to the Olympic Games and afterwards return to their countries. "Valiant attempts have consistently been made by the United Nations in an effort to bring peace and stability to the troubled regions of the world. Still new concepts are needed for dealing with strife. May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to take note of the solemn appeal made by the President of the General Assembly on 19 January 1994 in connection with the observance of the Olympic Truce?

We have thus concluded this stage of our consideration of agenda item 167.

Members will recall that the Assembly concluded its debate on agenda item 38 at its 80th plenary meeting, on 15 December, and that at its 85th plenary meeting, on 20 December, the Assembly adopted four resolutions that had been submitted under this agenda item. The Assembly now has before it a report of the Secretary-General on the question of South Africa which has been circulated in document A/48/845 and Add.1 as well as a draft resolution issued as document A/48/L.52. I now call on the Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid to introduce draft resolution A/48/L.52. Mr. GAMBARI (Nigeria), Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid: As members are aware, at its 1st meeting, on 17 December 1993, the Transitional Executive Council endorsed the resolution requesting the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the European Union and The General Assembly, in its resolution 48/159 A, entitled "International efforts towards the total eradication of apartheid and support for the establishment of a united, non- racial and democratic South Africa", adopted by consensus on 20 December 1993, called upon the Secretary-General to respond promptly and positively to a request for electoral assistance and also requested him to accelerate planning for a United Nations role in the election process in consultation with the Security Council and in coordination with the observer missions of the Organization of African Unity, the Commonwealth and the European Union. As members are also aware, the Secretary-General then appointed Mr. [Lakhdar] Brahimi, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, as his Special Representative for South Africa. Mr. Brahimi visited that country with a team from the Secretariat at the end of December 1993 to identify the scope and the modalities of United Nations involvement in the electoral process in South Africa. During his visit to South Africa, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General held consultations with the Government, with political parties, representatives of the transitional institutions, intergovernmental observer missions, the diplomatic community, leaders of the National Peace Accord structures and leading individuals. He was also briefed by the survey team on its findings. On 10 January 1994, the Secretary-General issued a report on the question of South Africa based on the findings of the mission of the Special Representative (A/48/845). The report of the Secretary-General contains a profound assessment of the pre-electoral situation in South Africa. It rightly identifies the areas of concern and clearly indicates new tasks and new responsibilities for the United Nations Observer Mission in South Africa (UNOMSA) in the forthcoming period. Under the proposed expansion in size and mandate, the Mission would be required to verify the implementation of the Independent Media Commission and the Independent Broadcasting Authority Acts, the voter education efforts of the electoral authorities, the distribution of the identification documents, free access and freedom from intimidation at voting stations on election day, the transportation of ballot papers and the security of the vote count itself, as well as the coordination of observers from intergovernmental organizations and foreign Governments. The Mission will also monitor the compliance of the security forces with the The Secretary-General underlined in his report that the experience of the United Nations in Namibia indicated that long-term observers who had followed the whole electoral campaign and established networks of contacts were far more useful than those who arrived just before the election and concentrated on observing the voting exercise itself. The Secretary-General therefore proposed that under the expanded mandate UNOMSA would have two operational areas: a Peace Promotion Division and an Electoral Division. He has consistently recommended an increase of the Peace Promotion Division from the current 100 observers to 500 by March 1994 to allow the monitoring teams to increase their coverage. The Electoral Division, on the other hand, would be expanded from the current authorized level of 14 to an election period total of 50. Approximately 300 local staff would be required by the end of February, and an additional 700 during the final phase leading up to the elections. It is expected that the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the European Union (EU) and the Commonwealth will have 15, 150 and 20 observers respectively by the end of February 1994. The total number of observers required for the election itself will be 2,840. The core observer group will comprise 50 observers from the OAU, 322 from the European Union, 70 from the Commonwealth, 600 from such resources as surrounding African and other countries in the continent and the remaining 1,778 from the United Nations itself. The report of the Secretary-General was considered by the Security Council at its closed meeting on 13 January 1994 and at its formal meeting on 14 January 1994. All 15 members of the Council, as well as the Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations and the representative of the African National Congress (ANC), made statements. All the speakers welcomed with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General for its substance and unanimously supported the recommendations contained in it. An appropriate resolution - resolution 894 (1994) - was adopted by consensus. The draft resolution before the General Assembly today is a product of consultations with all the regional groups. The draft resolution is in line with the Security Council resolution. It also reflects the views and proposals overwhelmingly expressed by Member States during the debate on South Africa in this very hall last December. I feel sure that the report of the Secretary-General and the resolution of the Security Council, as well as this resolution when adopted by the General Assembly, will be sources of encouragement to all those in South Africa who seek a peaceful political settlement for their country, while also Since the future of South Africa depends on the outcome of the first non-racial democratic elections, an immediate task before the United Nations and the international community as a whole is to provide the necessary support for the electoral process which the South Africans, through the Transitional Executive Council, have requested, and on which this resolution has focused. It is in this connection that I urge the Assembly to adopt this draft resolution by consensus and thus stay with the South

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution entitled "Democratic and non-racial elections in South Africa" (A/48/L.52). May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt the draft resolution?

We have thus concluded this stage of our consideration of agenda item 38. The meeting rose at 11.20 a.m.