27th Plenary Meeting of General Assembly: 51st Session
Preview Language:
English
Description
Foreign Ministers of Chad, Haiti Review Requirements; Maldives, Grenada, Lesotho Also Highlight Special Problems of Poorest Nations.
The socio-economic obstacles faced by countries recovering from years of internal conflict and the overall plight of the least developed countries were among the issues highlighted this afternoon, as the General Assembly continued its opening debate.
Saleh Kebzabo, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Chad, told the Assembly that a complete return to peace and security in his country necessarily involved controlling the army. While 21,000 soldiers had been demobilized, the country's efforts would be in vain if those men, trained in the handling of weapons, went back to the streets. A programme of social reinsertion was of capital importance to transform them into a real army in the service of development. External aid was still needed from the developed countries so that Chad would no longer be a burden to them.
In its efforts to establish a rule of law and civil society, the Haitian Government, according to its Foreign Minister, Fritz Longchamp, faced two major obstacles -- overall economic difficulties and the need to reform the judicial system. A bill just introduced in the Parliament was aimed at providing ways and means to achieve judicial independence. An economic plan would focus on agricultural and industrial development. The persistence of a high level of illiteracy and a severely damaged infrastructure were major handicaps in any attempts to improve the social and economic levels in Haiti.
It was ironic, said Fathulla Jameel, Foreign Minister of Maldives, that those most adversely affected by the worst financial crisis in the history of the United Nations were the smaller and poorer States who were obligated under the current scale of assessment to pay more than their fair share. He welcomed efforts by the Secretary-General to eliminate redundancy, duplication and waste in the Organization.
Raphael Fletcher, Minister for Legal Affairs and Local Government of Grenada, said a new global partnership between North and South meant three concepts: the alleviation of the debt burden of the poorest countries; the development of centres for investment and the training of human resources; and technical assistance to the smaller economies to allow participation in the global economy. He spoke of the continuing problems in the banana industry of the Caribbean nations.
For further details please see official record:
A/51/PV.27
For further details please see source:
MEETINGS COVERAGE
The socio-economic obstacles faced by countries recovering from years of internal conflict and the overall plight of the least developed countries were among the issues highlighted this afternoon, as the General Assembly continued its opening debate.
Saleh Kebzabo, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Chad, told the Assembly that a complete return to peace and security in his country necessarily involved controlling the army. While 21,000 soldiers had been demobilized, the country's efforts would be in vain if those men, trained in the handling of weapons, went back to the streets. A programme of social reinsertion was of capital importance to transform them into a real army in the service of development. External aid was still needed from the developed countries so that Chad would no longer be a burden to them.
In its efforts to establish a rule of law and civil society, the Haitian Government, according to its Foreign Minister, Fritz Longchamp, faced two major obstacles -- overall economic difficulties and the need to reform the judicial system. A bill just introduced in the Parliament was aimed at providing ways and means to achieve judicial independence. An economic plan would focus on agricultural and industrial development. The persistence of a high level of illiteracy and a severely damaged infrastructure were major handicaps in any attempts to improve the social and economic levels in Haiti.
It was ironic, said Fathulla Jameel, Foreign Minister of Maldives, that those most adversely affected by the worst financial crisis in the history of the United Nations were the smaller and poorer States who were obligated under the current scale of assessment to pay more than their fair share. He welcomed efforts by the Secretary-General to eliminate redundancy, duplication and waste in the Organization.
Raphael Fletcher, Minister for Legal Affairs and Local Government of Grenada, said a new global partnership between North and South meant three concepts: the alleviation of the debt burden of the poorest countries; the development of centres for investment and the training of human resources; and technical assistance to the smaller economies to allow participation in the global economy. He spoke of the continuing problems in the banana industry of the Caribbean nations.
For further details please see official record:
A/51/PV.27
For further details please see source:
MEETINGS COVERAGE
Category
Topical Subjects
Personal Subjects
Creator
United Nations, Producer
Parent ID
846131, 846133
Asset ID
2427622