Fiftieth session
Agenda item 154
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly,
Reaffirming its resolution 49/139 B of 20 December 1994,
Reaffirming also its resolutions 46/182 of 19 December
1991, in particular the guiding principles on humanitarian assistance
embodied in the annex thereto, 47/168 of 22 December 1992 and
48/57 of 14 December 1993,
Recalling Economic and Social Council decision 1993/205
of 12 February 1993 and the agreed conclusions of the coordination
segment of the Council of 1993, See Official Records of the General
Assembly, Forty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 3 (A/48/3/Rev.1),
chap. III. and Council resolution 1995/44 of 27 July 1995,
Recognizing, in the light of the increasing number and
growing magnitude and complexity of natural disasters and other
emergencies, the need to utilize fully the national potential
of countries in providing the United Nations system, on a stand-by
basis, with support for its activities in the area of humanitarian
emergency assistance, as well as in the promotion of a smooth
transition from relief to rehabilitation, reconstruction and development,
which should contribute to more coordinated responses in these
fields,
1. Takes note with interest of the report of the SecretaryGeneral
A/50/203/Add.1-E/1995/79/Add.1. and the note by the Secretariat,
A/50/542. prepared in pursuance of Economic and Social Council
resolution 1995/44, on the participation of volunteers, "White
Helmets", in activities of the United Nations in the field
of humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and technical cooperation
for development, as well as of the initial projects undertaken
in the implementation of resolution 49/139 B;
2. Commends the activities and experiences of the United Nations
Volunteers, including the White Helmets, deployed in the context
of the implementation of resolution 49/139 B, as well as other
experiences developed to improve, in accordance with resolutions
46/182 and 49/139 B, the capability for a quick and coordinated
response to natural disasters and other emergencies, while preserving
the non-political, neutral and impartial character of humanitarian
action;
3. Encourages voluntary national and regional actions aimed at
making available to the United Nations system, through the United
Nations Volunteers, national volunteer corps such as the White
Helmets on a stand- by basis, in accordance with accepted United
Nations procedures and practices, in order to provide specialized
human and technical resources for emergency relief and rehabilitation,
and in this regard notes with satisfaction the establishment,
in particular in developing countries, of national volunteer corps
such as the White Helmets;
4. Encourages also the Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the
Secretariat, as part of its function of coordination of humanitarian
assistance, and the relevant bodies of the United Nations, in
accordance with their respective mandates, to make use of the
White Helmets and other United Nations volunteers in the area
of humanitarian emergency assistance, as well as to support a
smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation, reconstruction
and development;
5. Recognizes, in this context, the operational role of the United
Nations Volunteers in the selection, training, deployment and
effective utilization of the White Helmets at the field level;
6. Calls upon countries in a position to do so to contribute to
the distinct window created to this end, in accordance with paragraph
6 (b) of resolution 49/139 B, within the Special Voluntary Fund
of the United Nations Volunteers;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly
at its fifty-second session, in the context of the cluster of
issues related to the item "Strengthening of the coordination
of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations,
including special economic assistance", on the technical,
institutional and financial viability of the initiative.
72nd plenary meeting
28 November 1995 .