Assistance to Guinea-Bissau.

33. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE*
124. Assistance to Guinea-Bissau

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 3339 (XXIX) of 17 December 1974, in which it invited Member States to provide economic assistance to the then newly independent State of Guinea-Bissau, Recalling also its resolution 32/100 of 13 December 1977, in which it appealed to the international community to provide financial and economic assistance to help Guinea-Bissau overcome serious social and economic difficulties and meet its economic development needs, Taking note of the recommendation of the Committee for Development Planning at its fourteenth session, in response to the application of Guinea-Bissau for inclusion in the list of the least developed countries, that Guinea-Bissau should be assisted during the remainder of the current decade and that the special difficulties and upheavals experienced by Guinea-Bissau require special measures,[1] Having examined the report of the Secretary-General of 20 July 1978,[2] containing the remission which he sent to Guinea-Bissau in response to General Assembly resolution 32/100, Noting Economic and Social Council resolution 1978/52 of 2 August 1978, in which the Council called upon the international community to provide assistance to Guinea-Bissau on a generous scale to enable it to meet its short-term and long-term development needs, Deeply concerned at the damage to the economy of Guinea-Bissau and to much of its limited infrastructure as a result of the long war of national liberation, the acute shortages facing the country, especially in food supplies, trained manpower, equipment and spare parts, budgetary finance and foreign exchange, and the problems caused by the return of large numbers of refugees, Taking note of the current development priorities of the Government of Guinea-Bissau, which include agriculture, industry, training, transport, electricity, water supplies, mineral exploration and the development of social services, Recognizing that the persistence of an unfavourable balance of trade and of a deficit in the recurrent budget, together with the weaknesses and limitations of the physical infrastructure, the administration and the services and the shortage of trained manpower, constitute serious obstacles to development, Recognizing also the continuing need of Guinea-Bissau for international assistance to overcome these obstacles and meet its short-term and long-term development needs,

1. Expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for the steps he has taken to mobilize assistance for Guinea-Bissau;

2. Endorses fully the assessment and recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General and draws the attention of the international community to the requirements for assistance for the projects and programmes identified in it;

3. Expresses its appreciation to those States and organizations which have provided assistance to Guinea-Bissau in response to appeals by the General Assembly and the Secretary-General;

4. Reiterates its appeal to Member States, regional and interregional organizations and other intergovernmental bodies to provide effective and continuous financial, material and technical assistance to Guinea to help it overcome its financial and economic difficulties and to permit the implementation of the projects and programmes identified in the report of the Secretary-General;

5. Calls upon Member States, in the light of the recommendation of the Committee for Development Planning and in accordance with the previous resolutions of the General Assembly, to accord Guinea-Bissau, as a matter of priority, privileges and benefits and to give special consideration to the early inclusion of Guinea-Bissau in their programmes of development assistance;

6. Invites the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to bring to the attention of their governing bodies for their consideration the assistance they are rendering to Guinea-Bissau, for which the General Assembly has requested the Secretary-General to implement a special economic assistance programme, and to report the results of assistance and their decisions to the Secretary-General in time for consideration by the Assembly at its thirty-fourth session;

7. Draws the attention of the international community to the special account which was established at United Nations Headquarters by the Secretary-General, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 32/100, for the purpose of facilitating the channelling of contributions to Guinea-Bissau;

8. Requests the appropriate specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system to report periodically to the Secretary-General on the steps they have taken and the resources they have made available to assist Guinea-Bissau;

9. Requests the Secretary-General:

(a) To continue his efforts to mobilize the necessary resources for an effective programme of financial, technical and material assistance to Guinea-Bissau;

(b) To pursue with the Government of Guinea-Bissau the question of organizing a meeting of donors and, in this respect, to co-ordinate efforts with the United Nations Development Programme, the Economic Commission for Africa and the World Bank;

(c) To ensure that adequate financial and budgetary arrangements are made to continue the organization of the international programme of assistance to Guinea-Bissau and the mobilization of assistance;

(d) To keep the situation in Guinea-Bissau under constant review, to maintain close contact with Member States, regional and other intergovernmental organizations, the specialized agencies and international financial institutions concerned and to apprise the Economic and Social Council, at its second regular session of 1979, of the current status of the special economic assistance programme for Guinea-Bissau;

(e) To arrange for a review of the economic situation of Guinea-Bissau and the progress made in organizing and implementing the special economic assistance programme for that country in time for the matter to be considered by the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth session.

88th plenary meeting 19
19 December 1978

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[1] See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1978, Supplement No. 6 (E/1978/46 and Corr.1), para. 99. [2] A/33/179 and Corr.1.