AG/RES. 1343 (XXV-O/95)

MINE-CLEARING PROGRAMS

(Resolution adopted at the ninth plenary session, held on June 9, 1995)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

CONSIDERING that throughout the Americas there are approximately one million anti-personnel mines that have not been deactivated, primarily in rural areas;

BEARING IN MIND that mine-clearing programs in Central America are among the highest priorities of the governments of that region;

CONSIDERING that minefields are a constant threat to the safety of the population in the countries of the region;

STRESSING the importance of and need for clearing the mines from these areas so that they will become productive again and provide employment, thus contributing to the socioeconomic development of the countries of the region;

RECOGNIZING that the safety of the population and socioeconomic development are essential to strengthening democracy in Central America;

EMPHASIZING the high humanitarian value of mine-clearing programs;

BEARING IN MIND that the Central American countries affected by minefields have collectively and individually asked the OAS for help in carrying out mine-clearing programs;

RECOGNIZING:

The coordination work of the General Secretariat and its Unit for the Promotion of Democracy, the valuable technical assistance provided by the Inter-American Defense Board, the significant contribution made by member states (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, United States, Uruguay), permanent observers (France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain), and others (Sweden) to mine-removal programs in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica; and

The efforts being made in this area by the United Nations to organize the International Meeting on Mine-Clearance Assistance in Geneva from July 5 to 7, 1995; and

NOTING resolution AG/RES. 1191 (XX-O/92) and the cooperation requested from the OAS by the IX Meeting of the Central American Security Commission, held on April 19, 1995,

RESOLVES:

  1. To urge the OAS member states and permanent observers, as well as the international community, to continue cooperating with and providing financial support to the Organization of American States and the Central American countries concerned in their efforts to complete their mine-clearing programs.

  2. To ask the General Secretariat and its Unit for the Promotion of Democracy to continue supporting and coordinating the mine-clearing programs of the countries of the region that so request.

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