A/69/PV.81 General Assembly

Before proceeding to the items on our agenda, I should like, in keeping with established practice, to draw the attention of the General Assembly to document A/69/722/Add.5, in which the Secretary- General informs the President of the General Assembly that, since the issuance of the information contained in document A/69/722/Add.4, the Marshall Islands has made the payment necessary to reduce its arrears below the amount specified in the Article 19 of the Charter. May I take it that the General Assembly duly takes note of the information contained in that document?

Members will recall that the Assembly held a debate on agenda item 13 and its sub-item (a), jointly with agenda item 115, at its 51st plenary meeting, on 14 November 2014. *1506030* 15-06030 (E) I now give the floor to the representative of Mongolia to introduce draft resolution A/69/L.54.

I have the honour to introduce today the draft resolution entitled “Education for democracy” (A/69/L.54) on behalf of a large number of sponsors representing various regions. This new draft resolution reaffirms the fundamental link between democratic governance, peace, development and the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The text also takes note of the Global Education First initiative, launched by the Secretary-General in 2012, in particular its third priority area — namely, fostering global citizenship  — and encourages human rights education programmes throughout the world. The draft resolution would reinforce global, regional and national efforts on educating people in the culture of peace, democracy, tolerance and respect for different civilizations and religions and in upholding the values of freedom and human rights. Since late January, we have organized several rounds of informal consultations, made an effort to accommodate the interests of Member States and reached consensus on the draft text. In the new text, we stress the complementarity of human rights education, training and learning and education for democracy. We recall the relevant commitments from the United Nations Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2), while acknowledging the role of international, regional and all intergovernmental organizations in the support of democracy. Member States are encouraged to integrate education for democracy along with civic education and human rights education into their educational standards and to develop and strengthen programmes and curricular and extracurricular educational activities aimed at the promotion and consolidation of democratic values, democratic governance and human rights. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a specialized agency with the relevant expertise and mandate, is requested to cooperate with the Secretary-General on the implementation of and reporting on this draft resolution. I wish to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to all delegations that took an active part in our discussions on the draft text, and to all the sponsors for their invaluable support. In conclusion, on behalf of all the sponsors, may I express our hope that the draft resolution will, as in previous years, receive the unanimous support of Member States and wide sponsorship.

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/69/L.54, entitled “Education for democracy”. I give the floor to the representative of the Secretariat. Mr. Zhang Saijin: I should like to announce that, since the submission of the draft resolution and in addition to those delegations listed in document A/69/L.54, the following countries have also become sponsors of the draft resolution: Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to adopt draft resolution A/69/L.54?

I now give the floor to the representative of the United States of America.

The United States wishes to thank the Mongolian delegation in its capacity as facilitator and sponsor of the resolution just adopted (resolution 69/268). We wish to recognize the vital work that the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) is doing to support democracy and human rights around the world. UNDEF is uniquely positioned to promote capacity-building, and its work is especially important now, with so many areas of the world in transition. All of us can increase the reach of good governance by doing as much as we can to support UNDEF, which relies solely on voluntary contributions for its critical activities. Transparency and good governance are not just good politics; countries with open Governments, open economies and open societies increasingly flourish. They become more prosperous, healthier, more secure and more peaceful. This resolution reaffirms that democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed desire of individuals to fully participate in all aspects of political and social life in their societies. We recognize the importance to democracy of the right to equal access to education as reflected in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We also understand the resolution’s reaffirmation of prior documents to apply to those who affirmed them initially. We support today’s resolution despite our disappointment that it continues to single out the right to development. The concerns of the United States about the existence of a right to development are long- standing and well known. The right to development does not have an agreed international meaning. Furthermore, work is needed to make it consistent with human rights, which the international community recognizes as universal rights held and enjoyed by individuals and which every individual may demand from his or her own Government. The United States stands firm in its commitment to the promotion of democracy and views this resolution’s goal of promoting education for democracy as an important step in the consolidation of democratic values, while at the same time recognizing that education standards and curriculums in the United States are determined at the state and local levels.

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 13.

Members will recall that, at its 2nd plenary meeting, on 19 September 2014, the General Assembly decided to allocate sub-item (c) of agenda item 19 to the Second Committee. In order to enable the General Assembly to take action expeditiously on the draft resolution before it, may I take it that the Assembly wishes to consider sub-item (c) of agenda item 19 directly in plenary meeting and proceed immediately to its consideration?

The General Assembly will now proceed to consider the draft decision entitled “Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction”. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to adopt draft decision A/69/L.56?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (c) of agenda item 19.

Members will recall that the General Assembly held a debate on agenda item 13 and its sub-item (a) jointly with agenda item 115 at its 51st plenary meeting, on 14 November 2014. Members will also recall that, under sub-item (a) of agenda item 13 and agenda item 115, the Assembly adopted resolution 69/108 at its 65th plenary meeting, on 8 December 2014. Members will furthermore recall that, under the same agenda items, the General Assembly adopted resolution 69/244 and decision 69/550 at its 77th plenary meeting, on 29 December 2014, as well as decision 69/555, at its 78th plenary meeting, on 16 January 2015. The Assembly will now take action on draft decision A/69/L.57, entitled “Opening of the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda”. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to adopt draft decision A/69/L.57?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (a) of agenda items 13 and agenda 115.

In paragraph 3 of its report, the Fifth Committee recommends that the General Assembly appoint Ms. Seongmee Yoon of the Republic of Korea as a member of the Committee on Contributions for a term of office beginning on 5 March 2015 and ending on 31 December 2017. May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to appoint Ms. Seongmee Yoon as a member of the Committee on Contributions for a term of office beginning on 5 March 2015 and ending on 31 December 2017?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 113.

Members will recall that, in accordance with paragraphs 4 (a) to (e) of resolution 60/180, of 20 December 2005, the Organizational Committee shall comprise seven members of the Security Council, including the five permanent members; seven members of the Economic and Social Council, elected from regional groups; five top providers of assessed contributions to United Nations budgets and of voluntary contributions to United Nations funds, programmes and agencies, including a standing peacebuilding fund; five top providers of military personnel and civilian police to United Nations missions; and seven additional members elected by the General Assembly, giving due consideration to representation from all regional groups in the overall composition of the Committee. Members will also recall that, at the 62nd and 65th plenary meetings of its sixty-seventh session, the Assembly elected Brazil, Kenya, Malaysia, Peru and South Africa as members of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission for a two-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2013; and that, at the 69th plenary meeting of the sixty-eighth session, the Assembly elected Bosnia and Herzegovina and Guatemala as members of the Organizational Committee for a two-year period, beginning on 1 January 2014. Members will furthermore recall that, by resolution 63/145, of 18 December 2008, the General Assembly decided at its sixty-third session that the term of office for members of the General Assembly on the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission would begin on 1 January instead of 23 June. By a letter dated 5 December 2014 (A/69/634) addressed to the President of the General Assembly, I was informed by the facilitator of the group of leading financial contributors of the decision that the financial contributors Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden would serve a full two-year term from 2015 to 2016. Also, by a letter dated 11 November 2014 (A/69/577) addressed to the President of the General Assembly, I was informed by the facilitator of the troop-contributing countries of their decision that Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Pakistan will serve from the troop-contributing countries category of membership for a term of office beginning on 1 January 2015 and ending on 31 December 2016. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to take note of documents A/69/634 and A/69/577?

The General Assembly will now proceed to the election of five members of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission. By resolution 60/261, of 8 May 2006, the Assembly decided that the members of the Organizational Committee shall serve for renewable terms of two years, as applicable. Accordingly, Brazil, Kenya, Malaysia, Peru and South Africa are eligible for immediate re-election. Regarding candidatures for the five seats, I should like to inform members that for the African States, the Group has endorsed Egypt, Kenya and Morocco; for the Asia-Pacific States, the Group has endorsed Malaysia; and for the Latin American and Caribbean States, the Group has endorsed Colombia. Members will recall that, in resolution 60/261, the General Assembly decided that the rules of procedure and established practice of the Assembly for the election of members of its subsidiary bodies shall apply to its election of members of the Committee. For this election, rules 92 and 94 shall be applicable. Accordingly, the election shall be held by secret ballot and there shall be no nominations. However, I should also like to recall paragraph 16 of decision 34/401, whereby the practice of dispensing with the secret ballot for elections to subsidiary organs when the number of candidates corresponds to or is less than the number of seats to be filled should become standard, unless a delegation specifically requests a vote on a given election. In the absence of such a request, may I take it that the Assembly decides to proceed to the election on that basis?

Since the number of candidates endorsed by the Group of African States, the Group of Asia-Pacific States and the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States is equal to or less than the number of seats to be filled, may I take it that the General Assembly decides to elect Colombia, Egypt, Kenya, Malaysia and Morocco as members of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission for a two-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2015?

I congratulate Colombia, Egypt, Kenya, Malaysia and Morocco on their election as members of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 112?