Page 149 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

Bringing the Concept to Life

16. Last year the UN General Assembly adopted а resolution urging the
countries which manufacture landmines to stop their export. Recently the UN
Secretary-General established а special fund to help finance demining. It is а
good opportunity for non-governmental organizations to assist the UN in this
undertaking.

17. It will take too much time if I list all the problems where the UN needs
the help of the non-governmental organizations. А destabilized world is
abundant with suffering and despair. То my deep regret, one of the regions of
the world where people are now suffering is the territory of the former Soviet
Union. The armed conflicts in Tajikistan, Georgia, Nagorny Karabakh,
Moldova, and Chechnya caused thousands of victims and hundreds of
thousands of refugees. Even in many of those republics, which were fortunate
to avoid social or ethnic conflicts, national economies are continuously
deteriorating, affecting the most vulnerable, а majority of whom are women,
children and elderly. Efforts to facilitate economic development are inhibited
bу the lack of resources or expertise. Let me give you just one example.

18. А few month ago the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan,
Mr. Akayev, visited Geneva for consultations with the Heads of the UN
specialized agencies. Among the problems which were discussed - one is
particularly typical. Due to the geographical location of Kyrgyzstan, which is
like Switzerland, а mountainous and land-locked country, and because of the
disruption of the regional infrastructure, there is а considerable problem with
communications. The country is semi-isolated from the outside world and
during winter some of its regions are practically inaccessible. Kyrgyzstan
experts believe that the best solution to this problem is to set up а national
computer telecommunications network. The Government started the project
and to finalize it they need approximately eight hundred thousand dollars. For
an industrially developed country such budgetary allocation is hardly
noticeable. However, for Kyrgyzstan this is а big problem.

19. One of the important recent trends in the UN relations with the
non­governmental organizations is the new interest in cooperation with the
business community. During the Cold War the UN was reluctant to establish
close ties with the private sector. Today, however, the situation has started to
change. In his statement before the World Economic Forum in Davos in
January this year the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
specifically stressed:

127