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AG/RES. 1497 (XXVII-O/97)

SPECIAL SECURITY CONCERNS OF SMALL ISLAND STATES

(Resolution adopted at the seventh plenary session, held on June 5, 1997)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the report of the Permanent Council on the Special Meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security on the Special Security Concerns of Small Island States (AG/doc.3517/97) held in Washington, D.C., on October 17 and 18, 1996, in accordance with resolution AG/RES. 1410 (XXVI-O/96);

TAKING NOTE of the Rapporteur's report on special security concerns of small island states (CP/CSH-58/97) and the addendum to document AG/doc.2838/92 entitled "Hemispheric Security: Security of Small States. Report of the Commonwealth Group";

AWARE of the Program of Action of the United Nations Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, held in Barbados in April 1994; and

CONSIDERING:

That the size of the small island states makes them especially vulnerable to all forms of aggression;

That, for the small island states of the Hemisphere, security is multidimensional in scope and includes military, political, economic, social, and natural components; and

That, for the small island states, threats to their security include illegal trafficking in narcotics, illegal trade in arms, increasing levels of crime and corruption, environmental and economic vulnerabilities particularly in relation to trade, susceptibility to natural disasters, transportation of nuclear waste, and increased levels of poverty;

RECALLING the Declaration of Santiago on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and, especially, its recommendation that seminars and studies be conducted and a high-level meeting on the special security concerns of small island states be held;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that the member states, pursuant to Article 1 of the Charter of the Organization of American States, have pledged "to achieve an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence"; and Article 2.a, of the Charter which establishes that one of the essential purposes of the Organization is "to strengthen the peace and security of the continent";

RECALLING that Article 3.b of the Charter establishes that "international order consists essentially of respect for the personality, sovereignty, and independence of States, and the faithful fulfillment of obligations derived from treaties and other sources of international law"; and

REAFFIRMING the General Assembly's decision, contained in resolution AG/RES. 1410 (XXVI-O/96), to continue consultations on holding a high-level meeting on the special security concerns of small island states, taking into account the results of the special meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security on this subject,

RESOLVES:

1. To note with satisfaction the success of the Special Meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security on the Special Security Concerns of Small Island States, held on October 17 and 18, 1996, in Washington, D.C., and to recognize with appreciation the contribution made by the government experts to the Meeting.

2. To transmit the report on the Special Meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security to interested institutions and organizations, such as the Caribbean Community, the Central American Integration System, the United Nations, the Association of Caribbean States, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

3. To instruct the Permanent Council, through its Committee on Hemispheric Security, to continue consultations on convening a high-level meeting on the special security concerns of small island states, taking into account the results of the above-mentioned Special Meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security on this matter.

4. To instruct the General Secretariat to support the convening of this high-level meeting, within allocated resources approved in the program-budget and other resources.

5. To request the General Secretariat and the competent organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system to study ways in which they can address the special security concerns raised at the Special Meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security and to present the results of this study to the Permanent Council by October 1997.

6. To request the Permanent Council to continue, through its Committee on Hemispheric Security, its consideration of the topic and to report to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth regular session.

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