Economic assistance to Vanuatu

 

RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Economic assistance to Vanuatu

  The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 3421 (XXX) of 8 December 1975 on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, in which it urged the specialized agencies and other organizations within the United Nations system to extend assistance to the newly independent and emerging States, Recalling also its resolutions 31/156 of 21 December 1976, 32/185 of 19 December 1977, 34/205 of 19 December 1979, 35/61 of 5 December 1980 and 37/206 of 20 December 1982, in which it urged all Governments, in particular those of the developed countries, to lend their support, in the context of their assistance programmes, for the implementation of the specific action envisaged in favour of island developing countries, and in which it also called upon all organizations of the United Nations system to implement, within their respective spheres of competence, appropriate specific actions in favour of island developing countries, Recalling further resolutions 98 (IV) of 31 May 1976, 111 (V) of 3 June 1979, and 138 (VI) of 2 July 1983 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development concerning special action related to the particular needs and problems of island developing countries, Recognizing the difficult problems faced by island developing countries, owing mainly to their smallness, remoteness, constraints in transport, great distances from market centres, highly limited internal markets, lack of natural resources, heavy dependence on a few commodities, shortage of administrative personnel and heavy financial burdens, Taking into account the fact that Vanuatu is an island developing country and is small and archipelagic, which makes the provision of services difficult and entails a very high overhead cost, because of inter-island distances, Concerned at the severe constraints on the economic development of Vanuatu, particularly those ensuing from its geographical isolation, Concerned also at the continued structural imbalances in the economy of the country, particularly its overwhelming dependence on imports, Noting that the disadvantageous demographic and geographic features of Vanuatu, such as its physical remoteness, small area and small population, pose special development problems, Noting also that, without good transport and communications links, any development will be difficult,

1. Calls the attention of the international community to the special problems confronting Vanuatu as an island developing country with a small population;

2. Appeals to Member States, regional and interregional organizations and other intergovernmental bodies, to provide financial, material and technical assistance to Vanuatu to enable it to establish the social and economic infrastructure that is essential for the well-being of its people;

3. Invites the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Food Programme, the International Labour Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Maritime Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to bring to the attention of their governing bodies, for their consideration, the special needs of Vanuatu and to report the decisions of those bodies to the Secretary-General by 15 July 1984;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to mobilize the financial, technical and economic assistance of the international community, in particular the developed countries and the appropriate organizations of the United Nations system, with a view to meeting the short-term and long-term development needs of Vanuatu;

5. Requests the appropriate organizations and programmes of the United Nations system to maintain and increase their current and future programmes of assistance to Vanuatu, to co-operate closely with the Secretary-General in organizing an effective international programme of assistance and to report periodically to him on the steps they have taken and the resources they have made available to help that country;

6. Requests the Committee for Development Planning at its next session, as a matter of priority, to give due consideration to the question of the inclusion of Vanuatu in the list of the least developed countries and to submit its conclusions to the Economic and Social Council at its second regular session of 1984;

7. Calls upon Member States, pending consideration by the Committee for Development Planning at its twentieth session of the report submitted to it and in view of the critical economic situation of Vanuatu, to accord Vanuatu special measures and, as a matter of priority, to give special consideration to the early inclusion of Vanuatu in their programme of development assistance;

8. Also requests the Secretary-General to keep this matter under review and to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.