A/54/PV.89 General Assembly

It was with deep sadness that I learned yesterday of the crash, off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire, of a Kenya Airways plane and of the crash, off the coast of California, of an Alaska Airlines plane. May I, on behalf of the General Assembly, offer my condolences to the bereaved families, relatives and friends of all those on board whose lives ended so tragically.

I should now like to invite the attention of the General Assembly to document A/54/730. It contains a letter from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly, in which he informs the Assembly that 52 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”. May I take it that the General Assembly duly takes note of the information contained in document A/54/730?

In his note contained in document A/54/101/Rev.1/Add.1, the Secretary-General informs the General Assembly that he has received notification of the resignation of Mr. Fumiaki Toya (Japan) from the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions and that the Assembly will therefore be required to appoint, at its current session, a person to fill the remaining period of the term of office of Mr. Toya, which expires on 31 December 2001. I see no objection.

We shall now proceed accordingly. In his note, the Secretary-General further informs the General Assembly that the Government of Japan has nominated Mr. Juichi Takahara to fill the vacancy arising from the resignation of Mr. Toya. May I therefore take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to appoint Mr. Juichi Takahara as a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for a term of office beginning on 1 February 2000 and ending on 31 December 2001?

Before adjourning the meeting, I should like to make an announcement concerning the ad hoc open-ended working group of the General Assembly on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa. In my capacity as Chairman of the working group established in accordance with General Assembly resolution 54/234 of 22 December 1999, I should like to inform members that I have designated Mr. Kishore Mahbubani, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations, and Mr. Inocencio Arias, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations, as Vice- Chairpersons of the Working Group. I should also like to inform members that the Working Group is scheduled to meet in March 2000.