17 December 1981

Assistance to Sao Tome and Principe

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 31/187 of 21 December 1976, in which, inter alia, it expressed deep concern at the serious economic and social situation in Sao Tome and Principe as a result of the total lack of infrastructure for development and appealed urgently to the international community to assist the Government of Sao Tome and Principe to enable it to establish the necessary social and economic infrastructure for development,

Recalling also its resolutions 32/96 of 13 December 1977, 33/125 of 19 December 1978, 34/131 of 14 December 1979 and 35/93 of 5 December 1980, in which it reiterated its appeal to the international community to provide financial, material and technical assistance to Sao Tome and Principe,

Bearing in mind its resolution 31/156 of 21 December 1976, 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 developing island countries, and its resolution 32/185 of 19 December 1977, in which it urged all organizations in the United Nations system to implement, within their respective spheres of competence, appropriate specific action in favour of developing island countries, as well as its resolution 34/205 of 19 December 1979, which sets out a specific action programme in favour of developing island countries,

Recalling its resolutions 32/160 of 19 December 1977 and 33/197 of 29 January 1979 on the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa,

Having considered the conclusions and recommendation contained in the report of the Committee for Development Planning on its seventeenth session concerning identification of the least developed among the developing countries,

Noting the renewed request of Sao Tome and Principe that its exceptional economic circumstances should again be reviewed by the Committee for Development Planning,

Taking account of the statement made by the representative of the Government of Sao Tome and Principe to the effect that there are no recent official national income statistics available for Sao Tome and Principe and that available published data are out of date and do not reflect the current situation in that country,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on economic assistance to Sao Tome and Principe, to which was annexed the report of the review mission to Sao Tome and Principe,

Aware that the economic and social development of Sao Tome and Principe has been seriously hindered not only by inadequate health, educational and housing facilities but also by inadequate infrastructure, and that urgent improvement in these sectors is a prerequisite for the country's future progress,

Taking note of the current development priorities of the Government of Sao Tome and Principe, notably in agriculture and livestock, fisheries, manufacture, mining, transport and other infrastructure, as well as in education, training, health and housing,

Noting that substantial international assistance is needed to improve the infrastructure in sea, air and land transport in Sao Tome and Principe, Noting also paragraph 2 of decision 80/30 of 26 June 1980 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme,

Noting with concern that a large number of the projects and programmes identified in the report of the Secretary-General have not yet been financed, Concerned by the conclusion of the report that, unless there is a significant increase in the volume of international assistance, the Government of Sao Tome and Principe will not be able to finance a development programme,

1. Expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for the steps he has taken to mobilize assistance to Sao Tome and Principe;

2. Endorses fully the assessment and recommendations contained in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General;

3. Expresses its appreciation to Member States and international organizations for the assistance provided to Sao Tome and Principe, both in food aid and development assistance;

4. Regrets, however, that the assistance so far provided falls far short of the needs of Sao Tome and Principe;

5. Also regrets that no resources have been provided to Sao Tome and Principe for the implementation of the action programme in favour of island developing countries;

6. Renews its appeal to Member States, regional and interregional organizations and other intergovernmental bodies to provide financial, material and technical assistance to Sao Tome and Principe to permit the implementation of the projects and programmes identified in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General, as well as that of the action programme in favour of island developing countries, to enable the Government to launch an effective programme of economic and social development;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to assist the Government of Sao Tome and Principe to prepare new official national income statistics on the country so that the Government can bring these data to the attention of the Committee for Development Planning so that it can, on the basis of existing criteria and of these new statistics, re-examine the request of Sao Tome and Principe for inclusion in the list of the least developed countries;

8. Requests the Economic and Social Council to invite the Committee for Development Planning, in the light of new data and information provided by the Government of Sao Tome and Principe, to consider, on the basis of existing criteria, its eligibility for inclusion in the list of the least developed among the developing countries;

9. Requests Member States and the organizations and programmes of the United Nations system to accord Sao Tome and Principe special measures of assistance similar to those called for in paragraph 4 of its resolution 34/123 of 14 December 1979;

10. Urges the United Nations Development Programme, the appropriate specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system to respond favourably to requests from the Government of Sao Tome and Principe for technical assistance to help in formulating development projects and to assist in the implementation of its development programme;

11. 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 special needs of Sao Tome and Principe, and to report the decisions of those bodies to the Secretary-General by 15 July 1982;

12. Requests the appropriate specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system to report periodically to the Secretary-General on the steps they have taken and the resources they have made available to assist Sao Tome and Principe;

13. Appeals to the international community to contribute to the special account which was established by the Secretary-General, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 32/96, for the purpose of facilitating the channelling of contributions to Sao Tome and Principe;

14. 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 Sao Tome and Principe;

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

(c) To keep the situation in Sao Tome and Principe 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 1982, of the current status of the special economic assistance programme for Sao Tome and Principe;

(d) To arrange for a review of the economic situation of Sao Tome and Principe 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-seventh session.