Assistance to the drought-stricken areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan and Uganda.

  The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 35/90 and 35/91 of 5 December 1980 and 36/221 of 17 December 1981 on the question of assistance to the drought-stricken areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan and Uganda, Concerned about the continued adverse effects of drought on the economic and social development of those countries, Noting the reports of the Secretary-General on Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan and Uganda, Bearing in mind the ongoing consultations between the countries concerned to establish the intergovernmental body recommended by the General Assembly in its resolution 35/90,

1. Reaffirms its resolution 36/221 on assistance to the drought-stricken areas in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan and Uganda;

2. Endorses the recommendations made by the multiagency mission to Ethiopia;

3. Takes note of the ongoing consultations between the Governments concerned on the establishment of the intergovernmental body to combat the effects of drought and other natural disasters and urges them to finalize, as soon as possible, the necessary arrangements for the establishment of that body;

4. Notes that the Secretary-General has made arrangements with the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, subject to the availability of funds, for a unit within the programmes administered by the Administrator to be assigned responsibility for assisting the affected countries in the region and for co-ordinating the activities of the United Nations system in support of recovery and rehabilitation in those countries;

5. Appeals to Member States to provide the Secretary-General with the resources required to meet the operational costs of such a unit as soon as the intergovernmental body is established;

6. Requests the Secretary-General, in close co-ordination with the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and the appropriate specialized agencies and other organizations in the United Nations system, to continue to extend all necessary assistance to those countries in their efforts to combat the effects of drought on the basis of the recommendations of various multiagency missions, pending the establishment of the intergovernmental body;

7. Also requests the Secretary-General, in close co-ordination with the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and the appropriate specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system, to assist the Governments of the region, at their request, in establishing or improving national machinery to combat the effects of drought and other natural disasters and to report to the Economic and Social Council, at its second regular session of 1983, and to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session on the progress achieved in the implementation of the present resolution.