TNAG-2512-FCO40-3665-Future-of-Hong-Kong-International-Rights-and-Obligations-(IR-1992 — Page 110

Alarmed by the unrelentingly destructive effects of the locust and grasshopper infestation on many African countries,

Fully aware of the urgent need to spare no effort to counter and eradicate the infestation, as well as the need to take adequate preventive measures against future outbreaks,

Noting that the resources of Africa are insufficient to control the infestation, which will need to be countered by concerted efforts at the national, re- gional and international levels,

1. Expresses its deep concern at the worsening desert locust and grasshopper infestation in Africa, which may adversely affect food production and cause renewed famine, and reaffirms the need to accord the highest priority to locust and grasshopper control and eradication;

2. Notes with appreciation the efforts of affected countries, donors and regional and international organizations, in particular the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, acting individu- ally and jointly, to contain the infestation;

3. Urges donors to increase financial and techni- cal assistance for current and future programmes of locust and grasshopper control, in keeping with the increased requirements of the evolving situation;

4. Calls upon the international community to support fully the locust and grasshopper control activities undertaken by African countries, including the gathering and dissemination of information and prevention, co-ordination and funding activities, as well as the strengthening and establishment of na- tional, regional and international early warning sys- tems for the monitoring of locust and grasshopper infestations;

5. Supports the efforts of the Maghreb countries within the framework of their joint programme of co- ordination to fight against locust and grasshopper infestation, and invites those countries willing to participate in the eradication of that scourge to contribute resources to the common fund established for that purpose by the Governments of Algeria, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia;

6. Invites the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in close co-operation with the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, to undertake an assess- ment of the prevailing techniques used in the fight against locust and grasshopper infestation, with a view to identifying and applying more effective and environmentally sound methods;

7. Invites the appropriate bodies, organizations and programmes of the United Nations system to give the necessary priority, in their regular activities, to the fight against the locust and grasshopper infestation in Africa;

8. Requests the Secretary-General, in consulta- tion with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to take the necessary measures in this regard;

Annex

9. Invites the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to keep the situation under constant review and to strengthen that organization's capabilities with re- gard to the overall co-ordination of the Emergency Centre for Locust Operations;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to transmit to the General Assembly at its forty-third session the text of the report of the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to be made to the Council at its second regular session of 1988.

12th plenary meeting 24 May 1988

1988/4. International Covenant on Economic, Social

and Cultural Rights

The Economic and Social Council,

Mindful of its central responsibilities under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,3

Recalling its resolution 1985/17 of 28 May 1985, by which it established the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to be entrusted, as from 1987, with the important task of overseeing the implementation of the Covenant,

Recalling also its resolutions and decisions relating to its Sessional Working Group of Governmental Experts on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including resolution 1979/43 of 11 May 1979, which remain in force in so far as they are not superseded or modified by the provisions of resolution 1985/17,

Reaffirming the importance of increasing public awareness of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the role that non-govern- mental organizations can play in that regard,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 41/121 of 4 December 1986 and 42/105 of 7 December 1987 on reporting obligations under United Nations instru- ments on human rights, which are of relevance to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and in which the Assembly reaffirmed the impor- tance of maintaining summary records of the pro- ceedings of the bodies supervising the implementa- tion of United Nations instruments on human rights, and bearing in mind the relevance to the work of the Committee of the activities and experience of other United Nations treaty bodies,

Recalling also the request of the General Assembly, in its resolution 42/105, that the Council consider changing the periodicity of reporting under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the endorsement by the Assem- bly, in its resolution 42/102 of 7 December 1987, of the invitation extended by the Economic and Social Council to the Committee to consider recommenda- tions relating to its future work,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural

3 See General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.