17 December 1981

Transport and Communications Decade in Africa

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 32/160 of 19 December 1977, 33/197 of 29 January 1979 and 34/15 of 9 November 1979 on the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa and, in particular, its resolution 35/108 of 5 December 1980, by which it approved the organization of consultative technical meetings for the various African subregions,

Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolutions 1979/61 of 3 August 1979, 1980/46 of 23 July 1980 and 1981/67 of 24 July 1981 on the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa,

Recalling resolution 341 (XIV), adopted on 27 March 1979 by the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa, in which the Conference urged member States to give high priority to the development of transport and communications,

Noting resolution CM/Res.738 (XXXIII), adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity at its thirty-third ordinary session, held at Monrovia from 6 to 20 July 1979,

Aware of the need to implement fully, during the Decade, national, subregional and regional projects aimed at establishing an integrated transport and communications network in Africa to support the accelerated development of the continent,

Noting with appreciation the considerable financial efforts made by the Governments of African States to enable a considerable part of the programme for the first phase of the Decade to be financed and implemented,

Considering that sustained efforts must be exerted to mobilize additional resources in order to ensure the implementation of the programme for the Decade,

Recalling the decision by which the Conference of African Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning, at its second meeting, held at Addis Ababa from 16 to 18 March 1981, authorized the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to organize four consultative technical meetings between member States, interested African intergovernmental organizations and donors,

Aware of the role played by the Economic Commission for Africa as the lead agency in implementing the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa,

Bearing in mind resolution 422 (XVI) adopted on 10 April 1981 by the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa, held at Freetown from 6 to 11 April 1981, by which the Conference, inter alia, requested the Executive Secretary of the Commission, in collaboration with the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, to embark as early as possible on the preparation of the plan of action for the second phase of the Decade,

1. Notes with satisfaction the report of the Secretary-General on the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa;

2. Takes note of the results of the technical consultative meeting on transport and communications for West Africa, which was held at Lome from 8 to 11 June 1981, and of the report on the organization of three other meetings scheduled to be held in 1982;

3. Notes with satisfaction the contribution made by some countries to the implementation of the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa;

4. Expresses its disappointment, however, at the over-all level of resources mobilized so far, which is far below the level required to finance the subregional programme, and appeals to donor countries, funding agencies and the various financial institutions to increase their financial support to the regional and subregional projects for the Decade;

5. Also notes with satisfaction the measures taken by the Economic Commission for Africa with respect to the organization and scheduling of the three other consultative technical meetings, which are to be held at Ouagadougou from 20 to 23 January 1982, at Yaounde from 15 to 18 March 1982 and at Abidjan in May 1982;

6. Reiterates its appeal to States members of the Economic Commission for Africa to give the highest priority in their development plans to transport and communications projects;

7. Appeals to donor countries and funding agencies to participate constructively and in large numbers in the three consultative technical meetings scheduled to be held in 1982 and to consider, together with the Economic Commission for Africa, possible ways of financing those projects of the Decade which are not national in

character;

8. Urges the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to maintain close co-operation with member States, the Organization of African Unity, regional African development organizations, development agencies and interested specialized agencies with a view to the regular updating of the programme for the first phase of the Decade and with a view to better relating the projects to national and subregional plans;

9. Calls upon States members of the Economic Commission for Africa to step up their efforts in connexion with the study of the possible sources of finance for the implementation of the projects

adopted for the Decade;

10. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to maintain the necessary co-ordination between the sources of finance and the African countries to assure the success of the implementation of the programme for the first phase of the Decade;

11. Also requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to organize in 1982, with groups of donor countries and the financing institutions and with the participation of Governments, United Nations institutions and African intergovernmental organizations, the three consultative technical meetings scheduled with a view to finding additional financial resources for the implementation of the projects of the

Decade;

12. Further requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to begin as soon as possible, in collaboration with the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, the preparation of the plan of action for the second phase of the Decade;

13. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Economic Commission for Africa with the financial means and resources necessary to enable it to organize the three consultative technical meetings scheduled to be held in 1982, inter alia, using extrabudgetary funds and existing resources, to the maximum extent possible, to complete the preparation of the programme for the second phase of the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa and to fulfil effectively its role as the lead agency for the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa, and to submit to the Economic and Social Council, at its second regular session of 1982, a progress report on the implementation of the programme for the Decade;

14. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to continue to submit progress reports on the implementation of the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa;

15. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh session a report on the progress achieved in implementing the present resolution.