Assistance to Botswana.

  • Author: UN General Assembly (34th sess. : 1979-1980)
  • Document source:
  • Date:
    14 December 1979

34. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE
125. Assistance to Botswana

The General Assembly, Recalling Security Council resolutions 403 (1977) of 14 January 1977 and 406 (1977) of 25 May 1977 concerning the complaint by the Government of Botswana of acts of aggression committed against its territory by the illegal régime in Southern Rhodesia, Recalling also Security Council resolutions 232 (1966) of 16 December 1966 and 253 (1968) of 29 May 1968, in which the Council determined and reaffirmed, respectively, that the situation in Southern Rhodesia constituted a threat to international peace and security, Recalling General Assembly resolutions 32/97 of 13 December 1977 and 33/130 of 19 December 1978, in which, inter alia, the Assembly expressed full support for the Government of Botswana in its efforts to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, recognized the special economic hardship confronting Botswana as a result of diverting funds from current and planned development projects to effective arrangements for security against attacks and threats by Southern Rhodesia, and endorsed the assessments and recommendations contained in the notes by the Secretary-General dated 28 March 1977[1] and 26 October 1977 [2]3and in his report of 7 July 1978 [3] Recalling also its resolution 32/160 of 19 December 1977 on the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa, Having examined the report of the Secretary-General of 28 August 1979,[4] to which was annexed the report of the mission which he sent to Botswana in response to General Assembly resolution 33/130, Deeply concerned that the security situation continues to deteriorate, with incidents and incursions by Southern Rhodesian forces occurring frequently at various places along the Botswana border with Southern Rhodesia, Noting that there has been a substantial increase in the flow of refugees into Botswana, particularly since the announcement of an "internal settlement" in Southern Rhodesia, resulting in the need to expand and improve refugee facilities, Noting also the need of the Government of Botswana to develop effective road, rail and air communications both internally and with the rest of the world, in view of the uncertain political situation in the region, Botswana's vulnerability as a land-locked country and its dependence on the externally-controlled railway systems for the transport of its principal exports and imports, Noting further the serious adverse economic implications of the drought situation and the second outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the country,

1. Expresses its full support for the Government of Botswana in its efforts to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity and to carry out its planned development programme;

2. Endorses fully the revised programme of assistance contained in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General and draws the attention of the international community to the outstanding needs for assistance identified in it;

3. Notes that, while the response from some Member States and international organizations to the appeals of the Secretary-General has been encouraging, there is urgent need to maintain the flow of contributions to carry out the remainder of the emergency programme, the implementation of parts of which continues to be of critical necessity;

4. Draws the attention of States and international and intergovernmental organizations particularly to the projects in the field of transport and communications as well as to the priority requirements to deal with the drought situation in accordance with the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General;

5. Reiterates its appeal to all States and intergovernmental organizations to provide generous assistance to enable Botswana to carry out the remainder of its planned development projects as well as those made necessary by the current political and economic situation;

6. Calls upon Member States, regional and interregional organizations and other intergovernmental bodies to provide financial, material and technical assistance to Botswana to enable it to carry out its planned development programme without interruption;

7. Urges Member States and organizations which are already implementing or are negotiating assistance programmes for Botswana to expand them, wherever possible;

8. 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 the 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 Botswana, for which the General Assembly has requested the Secretary-General to implement a special economic assistance programme, and to report the results of that assistance and their decisions to the Secretary-General in time for consideration by the Assembly at its thirty-fifth session;

9. Draws the attention of the international community to the special account established by the Secretary-General for the purpose of facilitating the channelling of contributions to Botswana;

10. Requests the appropriate specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system to co-operate closely with the Secretary-General for the purpose of facilitating the channelling of contributions to Botswana;

11. 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 Botswana;

(b) To ensure that adequate financial and budgetary arrangements are made to continue the organization of the international programme of assistance to Botswana an the mobilization of assistance;

(c) To keep the situation in Botswana 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 1980, of the current status of the special economic assistance programme for Botswana;

(d) To arrange for a review of the economic situation of Botswana 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-fifth session.

104th plenary meeting
14 December 1979


[1] Official Records of the Security Council, Thirty-second Year, Supplement for January, February and March 1977, document S/12307. [2] Ibid., Supplement for October, November and December 1977, document S/12421. [3] A/33/166 and Corr.l. [4] Official Records of the Security Council Thirty-fourth Year, Supplement for July, August and September 1979, document S/13506.
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