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OEA/Ser.P
AG/RES. 1802 (XXXI-O/01)
5 June 2001
Original: English
SPECIAL SECURITY CONCERNS OF SMALL ISLAND STATES
(Resolution adopted at the third plenary session, held on June 5, 2001;
subject to review by the Style Committee)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN the annual report of the Permanent Council on the matters assigned to the Committee on Hemispheric Security (AG/doc.3970/01);
AWARE of the support expressed by the Heads of State and Government at the Third Summit of the Americas (Quebec, April 2001) for the efforts of the Small Island Developing States to address their special security concerns and the recognition accorded to the multidimensional nature of security for the smallest and most vulnerable states in the Hemisphere;
REAFFIRMING:
That the security of small island states has peculiar characteristics which render these states specially vulnerable and susceptible to risks and threats of a multidimensional nature, involving political, economic, social, health, environmental, and geographic factors; and
That these security threats assume great significance in the security agenda of small island states because of the size of these states, their openness, and their limited capacity to manage these threats;
RECOGNIZING that there is a pressing need for a management mechanism to assist the small island states in dealing with such threats to their security;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that, at the Special Meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security on the Special Security Concerns of Small Island States, held on March 30, 2001, member states considered the feasibility of developing a security management model for small states;
RECALLING:
Its resolutions, "Special Security Concerns of Small Island States" [AG/RES. 1497 (XXVII-O/97), AG/RES. 1567 (XXVIII-O/98), AG/RES. 1640 (XXIX-O/99)], and "Promotion of Security in the Small Island States" [AG/RES. 1410 (XXVI-O/96)]; and
Its instruction, reiterated in resolution "Cooperation for Security in the Hemisphere" [AG/RES. 1744 (XXX-O/00)], to the Permanent Council to consider convening another high-level meeting on the special security concerns of small island states;
ACKNOWLEDGING WITH SATISFACTION that pursuant to the above-mentioned resolution AG/RES. 1640 (XXIX-O/99), member states have commenced efforts in collaboration with the General Secretariat to raise awareness of the special security concerns of small island states;
RECOGNIZING FURTHER:
That the security threats experienced by the small island states also affect, to varying degrees, other states of the Hemisphere; and
That the new international and regional situation, and in particular, the democratization of the Hemisphere, provide an opportunity to deepen dialogue on security and cooperation and the fostering and strengthening of mutual confidence among the states of the Hemisphere;
BEARING IN MIND:
That, at the Regional Conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, held in Santiago in 1995, pursuant to the decision taken at the First Summit of the Americas, Miami 1994, the holding of a high-level meeting on the special security concerns of small island states was deemed a confidence- and security-building measure;
That the First High-Level Meeting on the Special Security Concerns was successfully held in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 1998; and
That the Heads of State and Government decided, at the aforementioned Third Summit of the Americas, to hold the Special Conference on Security in 2004; and
CONSIDERING that the topic "special security concerns of small island states" would be an integral part of the discussions at that Special Conference on Security,
RESOLVES:
1. To convene the Second High-Level Meeting on the Special Security Concerns of Small Island States, to be held immediately prior to the thirty-second regular session of the General Assembly, scheduled to be hosted by the Government of Barbados in June 2002, with a view to adopting a management model through which the security of small states can be appropriately and adequately addressed, as well as formulating a definition of security for small island states to be forwarded for consideration at the 2004 Special Conference on Security.
2. To instruct the Permanent Council to formalize the site, agenda, and date of the said High-Level Meeting and to carry out, through the Committee on Hemispheric Security, the preparations for the holding of the said High-Level Meeting.3. To request the Permanent Council to continue to address, through its Committee on Hemispheric Security, the special security concerns of small states, and to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-second regular session on the results of the said High-Level Meeting.
4. To instruct the General Secretariat to provide the necessary technical and secretariat resources for the preparation and holding of the said High-Level Meeting within the funds allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.
5. To request the Secretary General to continue to support the efforts of the small island states to address their security concerns, including raising public awareness of these concerns, and to report, through the Permanent Council, on its activities in that regard to the General Assembly at its thirty-second regular session.
6. To request the Secretary General to transmit this resolution to other interested multilateral institutions, including the Association of Caribbean States, the Caribbean Community, the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Central American Integration System, and the British Commonwealth.