The General Assembly this morning established, through 31 December, a small United Nations Office of Verification in El Salvador, to follow up on implementation of pending aspects of the peace accords in that country. Acting without a vote, the Assembly decided that the Office, to be headed by an official at an appropriate political level, should be funded within existing resources, taking into account that the Secretary-General would submit proposals by 15 May on possible means of absorption in the programme budget for the biennium 1996-1997.

By the draft, introduced by the representative of Mexico, the Assembly also called upon Member States to continue to provide assistance to the Government and people of El Salvador and to support the efforts of the United Nations for peace-building and development in that country.

With its adoption of the draft, the Assembly, on recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), also authorized the Secretary- General to enter into commitments up to $1 million (net) for the continuation of a United Nations presence in El Salvador through 31 December. The Committee would also revert to the issue of appropriations at the latter part of its May session, in the light of the Secretary-General's proposals on possible means of absorption of the costs of the Office in the biennium budget.

The representative of Italy, on behalf of the European Union and of Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic, expressed his conviction of the need to maintain a qualified United Nations presence in El Salvador. He said the Union was also ready to agree on the financing of the operation with additional assessments, if it proved impossible to absorb those expenditures through savings from the programme budget.

Other statements in support of the continued United Nations presence in El Salvador were made by the representatives of the United States and Spain. The representative of El Salvador also spoke.

Also this morning the Assembly, reopening the relevant agenda item, allocated to its Fifth Committee the consideration of an item on an appointment to fill a vacancy on the Committee on Contributions.

In addition, the Assembly acknowledged notification by the Secretary- General of the Security Council's removal of an agenda item on Haiti. It also postponed consideration of a draft text which would change the title of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Restrictive Business Practices to "Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy".

The Assembly will meet again at a date to be announced.

For further details please see source:
MEETINGS COVERAGE

For further details please see official record:
A/50/PV.118

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