26 July 1991

32nd plenary meeting

Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling resolution 88/73 of 24 March 1988 of the Conference of African Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning, in which the appropriate United Nations bodies were requested to take the necessary measures to proclaim a second United Nations transport and communications decade in Africa,

Recalling also resolution 639 (XXIII) of 15 April 1988 of the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa, Economic and Social Council resolution 1988/67 of 28 July 1988, and General Assembly resolution 43/179 of 20 December 1988, in which the Assembly declared the period 1991-2000 the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa,

Recalling further resolutions 89/75 and 89/82 of 12 November 1989 of the Conference of African Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning, in which the Conference endorsed the goals, global and sectoral objectives, strategies and guidelines for the preparation of the programme for the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa and the establishment of priorities for the programme,

Recalling resolution 91/84 of 8 February 1991 of the Conference of African Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning,

Recognizing the fundamental role that road transport plays in regional integration within the objectives of the programme for the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa and the urgent need for harmonized and coordinated development of the subsector through the proposed reactivation of the Trans-African Highway Bureau,

Bearing in mind resolutions 604 (XXII) of 24 April 1987 and 639 (XXIII) of the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa and resolution 89/79 of 12 November 1989 of the Conference of African Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning, in all of which the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa was requested to reactivate urgently the Trans-African Highway Bureau and to allocate adequate resources for its efficient functioning,

Having considered the report of the eighth meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning, held in Abuja on 7 and 8 February 1991, and recalling the progress report of the Secretary-General on preparatory arrangements for the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa,

Taking note of the adoption of the programme for the Second Decade and the decision on the reactivation of the Trans-African Highway Bureau made by the Conference of African Ministers of Transport, Communications and Planning at its special meeting, held at Addis Ababa on 7 and 8 May 1991,

Appreciating the work done by the national coordinating committees, the Resource Mobilization Committee, the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee and the subsectoral and subregional working groups in preparing the strategy and programme for the Second Decade,

Noting with appreciation the contribution of the Economic Commission for Africa, the Organization of African Unity, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the regional and subregional intergovernmental organizations and the United Nations specialized agencies to the preparation of the programme for the Second Decade,

Recognizing the important role of the national coordinating committees and the various African subregional and regional organizations in the implementation of the programme for the Second Decade,

1. Adopts the programme for the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa (1991-2000);

2. Recommends that the General Assembly approve the programme for the Second Decade;

3. Requests the General Assembly to formally launch the Transport and Communications Decade in Africa;

4. Invites the General Assembly to provide the Economic Commission for Africa with the necessary regular budgetary resources to enable it to carry out its responsibilities as the lead agency for the Second Decade effectively and efficiently;

5. Appeals to all African Governments, as beneficiaries of the programme, to give support for the achievement of the objectives of the programme for the Second Decade at the national, subregional and regional levels by:

(a) Ensuring the establishment and proper functioning of national coordinating committees;

(b) Participating in financing and implementing the national projects that are included in the programme;

(c) Contributing and cooperating effectively in the financing and implementation of subregional and regional projects for the Second Decade;

6. Requests the Economic Commission for Africa, as lead agency, to ensure that adequate manpower and financial resources, both regular and extrabudgetary, are allocated for harmonizing, coordinating and monitoring the organization and implementation of the activities of the Second Decade and other relevant projects that are the responsibility of the Commission as lead agency;

7. Requests the United Nations Development Programme to continue to support the implementation of the programme at the national, subregional and regional levels and, in particular, the activities of the lead agency in monitoring, evaluating, managing and reporting on the implementation of the programme for the Second Decade;

8. Appeals to United Nations agencies and other international organizations to provide all the necessary technical and other assistance to African Governments and work closely with the Economic Commission for Africa, the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee and African regional and subregional intergovernmental organizations in order to implement effectively the programme and projects for the Second Decade;

9. Appeals to international financial institutions, as well as to African regional and subregional financial institutions, to ensure and facilitate the financing of national, subregional and regional projects for the Second Decade by giving adequate priority and special attention to the programme and projects for the Second Decade in their lending activities in Africa, and to commit themselves actively and collectively to mobilizing adequate resources for the effective implementation of the programme and projects for the Second Decade;

10. Requests the Economic Commission for Africa to prepare draft statutes for the single bureau for the Trans-African Highway Authorities for adoption by member States;

11. Appeals to member States, associate members and non-members of the Trans-African Highway Authorities and their coordinating committees to honour their financial obligations to the bureau;

12. Further appeals to member States to review the statutes and regulations governing the Trans-African Highway Authorities in order to adapt them to the new operating structure of the trans-African highways;

13. Appeals to donors and, in particular, to the United Nations Development Programme to assist in the financing of the extended programme of the single bureau designed to assist member States in the implementation of the programme for the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa;

14. Requests the Resource Mobilization Committee for the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa to assist the bureau in its efforts to mobilize resources for its operation;

15. Expresses its appreciation to the United Nations Development Programme for its efforts to provide assistance to enable African countries to prepare the programme for the Second Decade properly;

16. Appeals to the United Nations Development Programme to provide African countries with the technical assistance needed to coordinate the preparation and implementation of the programme at the national, subsectoral and subregional levels;

17. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to report to the Conference of Ministers at its eighteenth meeting on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.