A/71/PV.64 General Assembly

Members will recall that the Assembly considered agenda item 11 at its 52nd plenary meeting, on 6 December 2016. The General Assembly will now take action on draft resolution A/71/L.38, entitled “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace”. I give the floor to the representative of the Secretariat.

I should like to announce that since the submission of draft resolution A/71/L.38, and in addition to those delegations listed in the document, the following countries have also become sponsors: Argentina, Brunei Darussalam, Denmark, Iceland, Mozambique, the Philippines, the Republic of Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkmenistan.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to adopt draft resolution A/71/L.38?

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

As a sponsor of resolution 71/160, the United States strongly believes that sport and physical education contribute to the promotion of education, health, development and peace, as well as to the promotion of equal access to opportunities for physical education and physical activity for all, including for women, girls and people with disabilities. With respect to paragraph 5, we support the focus on training, capacity-building and education of teachers, coaches and community leaders. However, the United States does so mindful of and consistent with our limited authority at the federal level with respect to education, which is primarily a responsibility of United States state and local Governments. With respect to paragraph 14, the United States believes that the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide a valuable, important and universal framework for hosting mega sports events, including the complicated process of bidding, organizing, executing and ensuring positive legacies for these events. The United Nations Guiding Principles set out the responsibilities of business enterprises and provide relevant guidance for sport- related organizations, federations and associations. We welcome initiatives to implement or disseminate the United Nations Guiding Principles, including the initiative chaired by former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson to bring together sports bodies, corporate sponsors, civil society and Governments to improve collaboration and coordination on identifying and addressing the human rights impacts of mega sporting events. These joint efforts are vitally necessary in order to preserve the independence and autonomy of sport, as expressed in paragraph 13.

We have thus concluded our consideration of agenda item 11.

Members will recall that the Assembly considered agenda item 69 and its sub-items (a) to (d) at its 56th and 57th plenary meetings, on 8 December 2016. I now give the floor to the representative of Uruguay to introduce draft resolution A/71/L.42.

Draft resolution A/71/L.42, entitled “The new United Nations approach to cholera in Haiti”, is submitted by Uruguay on behalf of the Group of Friends of Haiti. The Group comprises Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Guatemala, Peru, the United States of America, Venezuela and my country, Uruguay. We would recall that on 1 December, the Secretary- General presented the new United Nations approach to cholera in Haiti. The strategy, which comprises two tracks, takes a comprehensive approach to tackling the problem of cholera in Haiti. The first track seeks to step up support for the response to and the fight against cholera; the other seeks to provide material assistance and support to the communities and Haitian people most directly affected by cholera. We will not dwell on this because the report of the Secretary-General, contained in document A/71/620, of 25 November 2016, provides comprehensive information on both tracks. We take this opportunity to note that many nations have expressed their support for the initiative of the Secretary-General. In that regard, we believe it appropriate to present a draft resolution on this point. The Group of Friends of Haiti therefore mobilized its efforts to call for the elbaoration of a draft resolution, the text of which is before the General Assembly today. The draft resolution contains three key features. First, it welcomes the new approach of the United Nations to cholera in Haiti as described in the report of the Secretary-General. Secondly, it calls upon all Member States and international governmental and non-governmental partners to provide their full support to the new approach, and in particular to intensify their efforts to respond to and eliminate cholera and to address the suffering of its victims, including by providing material assistance and support to communities and those Haitians most directly affected by cholera. It also requests the Secretary-General to submit a further report for consideration by the General Assembly. This text was initially the subject of consensus among the members of the Group of Friends of Haiti. We would have liked to have had more time to broaden participation of the membership, but we opted to adopt a brief, concise and clearly intentioned text in order to ultimately garner the support of all delegations who, although not participants in the Group, can nevertheless support the text. We call for the adoption of this draft resolution by consensus. We hope that that will be the case because the people of Haiti deserve it.

The General Assembly will now take action on draft resolution A/71/L.42, entitled “The new United Nations approach to cholera in Haiti”. I give the floor to the representative of the Secretariat.

I should like to announce that since the submission of draft resolution A/71/L.42, and in addition to those delegations listed in the document, the following countries have also become sponsors: Andorra, Barbados, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Grenada, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mauritania, Montenegro, Nepal, New Zealand, the Niger, Norway, Panama, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Serbia, Thailand and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to adopt draft resolution A/71/L.42?

I give the floor to the representative of Thailand.

Let me begin by commending the Secretary-General for his renewed attempt at addressing the recurrent outbreaks of cholera in Haiti. We join the international community in expressing support for the Secretary-General’s new approach, as reflected in his report (A/71/620). Thailand believes that collaborative efforts are needed to address such prolonged public-health crises, including supporting recovery for the victims and preventing potential reccurrence. We therefore emphasize a need for any approach to be carried out in a sustainable manner, particularly without financially overburdening the capacity of Governments and affected communities. We also cannot stress enough the importance of access to safe water and sanitation as an indispensable part of any approach to addressing epidemics like cholera, as stipulated in Track 1B. We also look forward to further discussions on Track 2, proposals for support packages. Once again, only with a truly collaborative and comprehensive approach can the prevention of cholera be achieved and sustained.

I give the floor to the representative of Haiti.

At the outset, on behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf, I wish to convey our heartfelt thanks for the convening of this meeting in the General Assembly at the initiative of the Permanent Mission of Uruguay, which, on behalf of the Group of Friends of Haiti, submitted resolution 71/161, entitled “The new United Nations approach to cholera in Haiti”, under sub-item (c) of agenda item 69. During his visit to Haiti on 15 October, Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon made a public statement finally recognizing formally that the United Nations had a moral responsibility towards the victims of the cholera epidemic and that, given its role in the outbreak of the epidemic and the suffering of the victims, it was incumbent on the Organization to do much more and to do everything possible to help Haiti overcome the epidemic. On 1 December, in the context of the consideration of sub-item (c) of agenda item 69, entitled “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance: Special economic assistance to individual countries or regions”, the Secretary-General presented his latest report (A/71/620), of 25 November 2016, sounding with some urgency a veritable alarm about the cholera epidemic that has been raging in Haiti since 2010. This urgent appeal received a favourable response in Haiti from both the authorities and the population. Indeed, the report highlights the new approach proposed by the Secretary-General to eradicate the disease while providing assistance to victims, their families and their communities. The Haitian Government took note of this new approach put forward by the Secretary-General with interest and close attention. In that regard, the Government of Haiti fully endorses the proposed action plan under Tracks 1 and 2, on an immediate response to the epidemic and on long-term measures to enable the country to acquire the appropriate water- supply, sanitation and health-system infrastructure, respectively. In his 1 December statement to the General Assembly, the Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations, Mr. Denis Régis, welcomed the report of the Secretary-General, declaring that “the appreciation of the Haitian Government is all the greater given that this new approach has been long hoped for and long awaited by all parties concerned, first and foremost by the victims of cholera and their families”. Today, 16 December, just two weeks after the presentation of the report of the Secretary-General, my delegation is pleased that, under the informed leadership of the Permanent Mission of Uruguay to the United Nations, the Group of Friends of Haiti has submitted the resolution just adopted by consensus by the General Assembly. In this regard, I should like to express the profound gratitude of my delegation to the brotherly countries of the Group of Friends of Haiti in particular, and to all Member States in general for their solidarity and their sense of renewed friendship with respect to the Haitian Government and people. My delegation hopes that the concerted efforts to implement the resolution will provide timely and adequate means for the effective implementation of the provisions contained in the new approach proposed by the Secretary-General to put an end to cholera in Haiti. In the same vein, my delegation would like to commend the Special Adviser on the Impact of Cholera, Mr. Ross Mountain, for the many initiatives he has undertaken to intensify efforts to treat and eliminate cholera, as well as to improve long-term access to drinking water and sanitation. I would like to take this unique opportunity to express, on behalf of my delegation as well as on my own behalf, our best wishes for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (c) of agenda item 69.