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A Special Session of the UN General Assembly Rethinks the Economic Rights and Duties of States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

Russel Lawrence Barsh
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Extract

A recently concluded special session of the General Assembly adopted, for the first time by consensus, a blueprint for the coordination of national and international economic policies. Carefully worded without any reference to the “New International Economic Order,” the session’s declaration nonetheless echoed the NIEO and its principal instrument, the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, which provided: “States should co-operate in facilitating more rational and equitable international economic relations and in encouraging structural changes in the context of a balanced world economy in harmony with the needs and interests of all countries, especially developing countries, and should take appropriate measures to this end.”

Type
Current Developments
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 85 , Issue 1 , January 1991 , pp. 192 - 200
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1991

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References

1 UN Doc. A/S–18/14 (1990). The terms of reference for the 18th special session of the General Assembly (Apr. 23–30, 1990) may be found in GA Res. 43/460 (Mar. 7, 1989). It will also be remembered as the session that accepted Namibia as a member state.

2 GA Res. 3201 (S-VI) (May 1, 1974).

3 GA Res. 3281 (XXIX), Art. 8 (Dec. 12, 1974). The roots of this principle may be found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Res. 217A (III) (Dec. 10, 1948), Art. 28: “Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.”

4 UN Dep’t Pub. Info. Press Release [hereinafter DPI PR] GA/8015, at 17 (Apr. 23, 1990) (India). At the time of this writing, official summary records were not yet available. In addition to the DPI press summaries, the author has relied on the reading texts distributed by delegations. To simplify the citations infra, the other press releases referred to here and their dates will be given now and will be referred to hereinafter by number only: DPI PR GA/8018 (Apr. 24, 1990); GA/8020 (Apr. 24, 1990); GA/8021 (Apr. 25, 1990); GA/8023 (Apr. 25, 1990); GA/8025 (Apr. 27, 1990); GA/8027 (Apr. 27, 1990); GA/8029 (Apr. 30, 1990); GA/8030 (Apr. 30, 1990); and GA/8031 (May 1, 1990).

5 E.g., DPI PR GA/8027, at 2 (Bangladesh); GA/8023, at 23 (Lesotho). Structural adjustment in this special historical sense is often confused with developmental structural changes in the organization of productive economic activity. Overall Socio-economic Perspective of the World Economy to the Year 2000, at 21-24, UN Doc. ST/ESA/215 (1990). This confusion disguises the real character of the conditions attached to the refinancing of Third World public debt.

6 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.3 (1990) (Bolivia). For a somewhat earlier version of the nonaligned movement’s position, see the “Caracas Declaration” of the movement’s 25th anniversary, reproduced in UN Doc. A/44/361 (1989).

7 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.8 (1990) (Ireland). Canada also submitted a proposal, UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.6 (1990), but lacked the political influence to get it considered seriously. Some delegations felt that it was inappropriate for a single government to intervene in this fashion.

8 UN Doc. A/S–18/7, pts. I and II (1990). This document also reproduces the proposals originally made by the Group of 77, the European Community and Canada, as well as amendments suggested by China and the United States.

9 E.g., DPI PR GA/8018, at 4 (Peru).

10 DPI PR GA/8021, at 4–5 (Nigeria).

11 DPI PR GA/8025, at 11.

12 Chan Heng Chee, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations, Statement, at 3 (Apr. 27, 1990).

13 See, e.g., DPI PR GA/8015, at 17 (India), 19 (Egypt), 22 (Argentina); GA/8018, at 14 (Algeria); GA/8023, at 18 (Ecuador); GA/8030, at 6 (Sri Lanka).

14 DPI PR GA/8021, at 6 (Chile).

15 DPI PR GA/8023, at 2.

16 E.g., DPI PR GA/8015, at 14 (Indonesia), 17 (India); GA/8020, at 4 (Malaysia), 9 (Morocco), 10 (Pakistan); GA/8023, at 16 (Zambia); GA/8025, at 2 (Spain).

17 DPI PR GA/8018, at 3 (Sweden), 5 (USSR); GA/8020, at 3 (Ghana), 6 (Netherlands), 9 (Morocco), 13 (Guyana), 21 (Angola); GA/8023, at 14 (Australia); GA/8027, at 19 (Malta). The President of Cyprus promoted the idea of a UN “disarmament for development fund,” which was incorporated into one of the intermediate drafts of the final declaration. DPI PR GA/8023, at 3; UN Doc. A/S–18/AC.1/L.2(1990).

18 DPI PR GA/8015, at 8 (Mexico), 10 (Federal Republic of Germany) [FRG], 13 (France), 21 (Senegal, Belgium); GA/8018, at 3 (Sweden), 5 (USSR), 12 (Norway), 13 (Turkey); GA/8020, at 6 (Netherlands), 15 (Romania), 16 (Colombia), 19 (Portugal), 24 (Switzerland); GA/8023, at 14 (Australia); GA/8027, at 7 (Uruguay), 11 (Denmark).

19 See, e.g., remarks on aid and debt by major donor and creditor countries: DPI PR GA/8015, at 11 (Japan), 13 (France); GA/8018, at 2 (Sweden).

20 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.3, para. 28 (1990). Also DPI PR GA/8020, at 13 (Guyana): “democracy in international relations.”

21 DPI PR GA/8015, at 17. Similarly, id. at 25 (Thailand); DPI PR GA/8018, at 15 (Venezuela); GA/8020, at 4 (Ghana).

22 DPI PR GA/8015, at 17 (Mexico).

23 DPI PR GA/8020, at 10 (Morocco). Also, DPI PR GA/8015, at 17 (India); GA/8018, at 5 (USSR), 8 (China).

24 DPI PR GA/8027, at 9 (Byelorussian SSR). The UN role was described by other delegations as “common management,” id. at 18 (Malta), and “functional coordination,” DPI PR GA/8025, at 8 (Congo).

25 DPI PR GA/8015, at 14.

26 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.8, para. 2 (1990).

27 DPI PR GA/8015, at 5.

28 Id. at 6 (Ireland, for the Twelve); similarly, id. at 22 (Belgium); and DPI PR GA/8018, at 7 (Italy), 10 (Canada); GA/8020, at 7 (United Kingdom) [UK]; GA/8023, at 23 (Australia); GA/8027, at 11 (Denmark).

29 DPI PR GA/8018, at 6 (Italy), 10 (Canada).

30 Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, Statement, USUN Press Release No. 30-(90), at 3 (Apr. 25, 1990).

31 E.g., DPI PR GA/8018, at 6 (Italy), 9 (Canada); GA/8020, at 7 (UK), 19 (Portugal); GA/8027, at 11 (Denmark). Also DPI PR GA/8018, at 13 (Turkey). The Federal Republic of Germany hastened to add that it was not advocating “ruthless capitalism” but, rather, a “balance” of market forces and public responsibility. DPI PR GA/8015, at 10. Similar disclaimers were heard from Austria, DPI PR GA/8021, at 3, and Peru, DPI PR GA/8018, at 4.

32 E.g., DPI PR GA/8015, at 27 (German Democratic Republic) [GDR]; GA/8020, at 20 (Romania); GA/8021, at 8 (Hungary); GA/8023, at 10 (Czechoslovakia); GA/8025, at 4 (Poland); GA/8027, at 5 (Bulgaria).

33 DPI PR GA/8015, at 17 (India).

34 DPI PR GA/8020, at 10 (Pakistan). Also DPI PR GA/8015, at 23 (Argentina), 24 (Philippines); GA/8018, at 5 (USSR), 13 (Turkey); GA/8020, at 2 (Ghana), 4 (Malaysia), 13 (Guyana), 17 (Colombia), 22 (Lesotho), 25 (Republic of Korea); GA/8023, at 3 (Cyprus), 4 (Somalia), 15 (Zambia); GA/8025, at 9 (Saudi Arabia), 10 (Togo), 12 (Brazil); GA/8027, at 3 (Bangladesh), 15 (Mauritius), 16 (Uganda).

35 DPI PR GA/8015, at 21 (Senegal), 26 (Thailand); GA/8021, at 5 (Nigeria), 9 (Zimbabwe); GA/8027, at 2 (United Arab Emirates), 13 (Tanzania). France was the only northern delegation to endorse this approach, GA/8015, at 12.

36 Jan Pronk, Minister for Development Cooperation, the Netherlands, Statement, Netherlands Permanent Mission Doc. R–90.004, at 3 (1990).

37 From the introduction to Human Resources Development: A Neglected Dimension of Development Strategy, at iii, UN Doc. ST/ESA/208, UN Sales No. E.88.II.A.11 (1988). See also Human resources development and the activities of the United Nations system in that field, UN Doc. A/44/229 (1989).

38 See, e.g., African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for Socio-Economic Recovery and Transformation, UN Doc. E/ECA/CM.15/6/Rev.3 (1989), reproduced in UN Doc. A/44/315, para. 97 (1989); “Caracas Declaration,” UN Doc. A/44/361, para. 27 (1989).

39 Barsh, Human Rights, Human Resources, and the International Development Strategy for the 1990s, UN Doc. HR/RD/1990/11 (1990), reprinted in expanded form in 2 Peoples for Human Rights 33 (Y.B. of Int’l Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, 1990).

40 DPI PR GA/8018, at 10 (Trinidad).

41 DPI PR GA/8027, at 20 (Holy See). Compare the Declaration on the Right to Development, GA Res. 41/128, Art. 2 (Dec. 4, 1986).

42 E.g., DPI PR GA/8015, at 6 (Ireland, for the Twelve), 9 (Jamaica), 11 (Japan), 13 (France), 21 (Senegal), 25 (Djibouti); GA/8018, at 2 (Sweden), 9 (Canada), 12 (Norway); GA/8020, at 12 (Guyana), 16 (Romania); GA/8023, at 10 (Czechoslovakia); GA/8025, at 5 (Israel), 7 (Liberia); GA/8027, at 14 (Mauritius).

45 The state of international economic co-operation and effective ways of revitalizing the economic growth and development of developing countries, UN Doc. A/AC.233/5, at 26 (1990).

44 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.3, para. 48 (1990). Mozambique referred to the need for the “full mobilization of grassroots movements.” DPI PR GA/8020, at 20. On popular participation, see the African Alternative Framework, supra note 38, para. 35 (“development has to be engineered and sustained by the people themselves through their full and active participation”); and the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development, UN Doc. E/ECA/CM.16/11 (1990). Compare Article 7 of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, supra note 3, which refers to the responsibility of each state “to ensure the full participation of its people in the process and benefits of development.”

45 DPI PR GA/8015, at 13 (France), 23 (Philippines); GA/8018, at 6 (Italy), 10 (Canada); GA/8020, at 15 (Romania); GA/8023, at 4 (Somalia); GA/8027, at 19 (Malta).

46 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.8, para. 4 (1990). The Holy See made human rights the central theme of its statement. DPI PR GA/8027, at 20. For other references to human rights, see DPI PR GA/8015, at 16 (Finland); GA/8018, at 7 (Italy); GA/8020, at 9 (Morocco); GA/8021, at 3 (Austria); GA/8023, at 4 (Somalia); GA/8027, at 19 (Malta).

47 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.6, at 3 (1990).

48 DPI PR GA/8027, at 11. Interestingly, only two delegations referred to a parallel need for a “fair distribution of wealth.” DPI PR GA/8015, at 28 (GDR); GA/8027, at 9 (Byelorussian SSR).

49 See, e.g., DPI PR GA/8015, at 11 (Japan), 13 (France); GA/8020, at 8 (UK), 16 (Romania), 19 (Portugal); GA/8021, at 3 (Austria), 9 (Zimbabwe); GA/8027, at 5 (Bulgaria).

50 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.8, para. 6 (1990). Also DPI PR GA/8015, at 10 (FRG); GA/8018, at 2 (Sweden), 12 (Norway); GA/8020, at 5 (Netherlands).

51 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.3, para. 22 (1990). Also DPI PR GA/8015, at 18 (India); GA/8020, at 25 (Republic of Korea).

52 UN Doc. A/AC.233/L.3, para. 22 (1990) (emphasis added). Similarly, see DPI PR GA/8018, at 14 (Algeria); GA/8020, at 11 (Pakistan); GA/8023, at 7 (Kenya). This linkage between poverty and the environment is also in the “Caracas Declaration,” supra note 38, para. 34, and the African Alternative Framework, supra note 44, para. 38.

53 DPI PR GA/8015, at 15 (Indonesia); GA/8027, at 3 (Bangladesh).

54 See DPI PR GA/8015, at 10 (FRG), 11 (Japan), 16 (Finland); GA/8018, at 6 (Italy); GA/8020, at 7 (UK), 11 (Pakistan); GA/8023, at 11 (Ethiopia); GA/8025, at 7 (Liberia).

55 Constantine Zepos (Greece), who also chaired the preparatory committee for the special session.

56 UN Doc. A/S–18/AC.1/L.2, paras. 22, 23, 34 (1990).

57 Id., para. 27.

58 Id., para. 25.

59 Chairman’s text as revised orally, para. 29 (unofficially circulated Apr. 28, 1990).

60 Id., para. 24. The italicized text replaced the words, “A primary objective must be to respond to the needs of and maximize the potential of all members of society,” which had appeared in the chairman’s first text. UN Doc. A/S–18/AC.1/L.2, para. 24 (1990).

61 DPI PR GA/8029, at 5 (Ireland, for the Twelve). Japan also had difficulties in accepting the text, especially the debt write-off provision.

62 UN Doc. A/S–18/14, Annex (1990); DPI PR GA/8031, passim; UN Doc. A/RES/S–18/3 (1990).