17 December 1981

Assistance to Mozambique

The General Assembly,

Recalling the decision of the Government of Mozambique to implement mandatory sanctions against the illegal regime in Southern Rhodesia in accordance with Security Council resolution 253 (1968) of 29 May 1968,

Recognizing the substantial economic sacrifices made by Mozambique in the implementation of its decision to enforce United Nations sanctions and to close its borders with Southern Rhodesia,

Recalling Security Council resolution 386 (1976) of 17 March 1976, in which the Council appealed to all States to provide, and requested the Secretary-General, in collaboration with the appropriate organizations of the United Nations system, to organize with immediate effect, financial, technical and material assistance to enable Mozambique to carry out its economic development programme normally and to enhance its capacity to implement fully the United Nations

mandatory sanctions,

Noting with deep concern the loss of life and destruction of such essential infrastructure as roads, railways, bridges, petroleum facilities, electricity supply, schools and hospitals identified in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General of 16 August 1979,

Recalling further its resolutions 31/43 of 1 December 1976, 32/95 of 13 December 1977, 33/126 of 19 December 1978, 34/129 of 14 December 1979 and 35/99 of 5 December 1980, in which it urged the international community to respond effectively and generously with assistance to Mozambique,

Noting that the independence of Zimbabwe provides both an opportunity and a challenge for the international community, particularly for those neighbouring States whose economies have been so closely linked to that country,

Bearing in mind the fact that the drought which affected 6 out of the 10 provinces of Mozambique has attained dramatic proportions of a natural calamity,

Having examined the paper on drought in Mozambique, which contains an assessment of the immediate requirements for urgent assistance from the international community,

Noting that a mission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Food Programme and the World Meteorological Organization visited Mozambique in July 1980 in order to assess the emergency food situation in terms of the partial loss of cereals due to the drought which had devastated part of the country,

Having examined the report of the Secretary-General on assistance to Mozambique, and noting with concern that the economic and financial position of that country remains grave and beset by budgetary and balance-of-payments deficits and that, in the absence of increased international assistance, the Government will have to reduce major imports that are essential for its development programmes and for restoring industrial production to pre-sanctions levels,

1. Strongly endorses the appeals made by the Security Council and the Secretary-General for international assistance to Mozambique;

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

3. Expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for the measures he has taken to organize an international economic assistance programme for Mozambique;

4. Expresses its appreciation also for the assistance provided thus far to Mozambique by various States and regional and international organizations;

5. Regrets, however, that the total assistance provided to date falls far short of Mozambique's pressing needs;

6. Draws the attention of the international community to the additional financial, economic and material assistance identified in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General as urgently required by Mozambique;

7. Urges Member States and organizations which are already implementing or are negotiating assistance programmes for Mozambique to strengthen them, wherever possible;

8. Appeals to the international community to provide the urgently needed external assistance in foodstuffs and medicines and technical co-operation for disaster preparedness and prevention;

9. Calls upon Member States, regional and interregional organizations and other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to provide financial, material and technical assistance to Mozambique, wherever possible in the form of grants, and urges them to give special consideration to the early inclusion of Mozambique in their programmes of development assistance, if it is not already included;

10. Appeals to the international community to contribute to the special account for Mozambique established by the Secretary-General for the purpose of facilitating the channelling of contributions to Mozambique;

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 and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to bring to the attention of their governing bodies, for their consideration, the special needs of Mozambique and to report the decisions of those bodies to the Secretary-General by 15 July 1982;

12. Requests the appropriate organizations and programmes of the United Nations system - in particular the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund - to maintain and increase their current and future programmes of assistance to Mozambique and to co-operate closely with the Secretary-General in organizing an effective international programme of assistance, and to report periodically to the Secretary-General on the steps they have taken and the resources they made available to assist Mozambique;

13. 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 Mozambique;

(b) To keep the situation in Mozambique under constant review, to maintain close contact with Member States, regional and other intergovernmental organizations, the specialized agencies and international financial institutions and other bodies 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 Mozambique;

(c) To arrange for a review of the economic situation of Mozambique 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.