The General Assembly,
Recalling the provisions of its resolutions 44/214 of 22 December 1989 and 46/212 of 20 December 1991,
Recognizing that the lack of territorial access to the sea, aggravated by remoteness and isolation from world markets, and prohibitive transit costs and risks impose serious constraints on the overall socio-economic development efforts of the land-locked developing countries,
Recognizing also that fifteen of the land-locked developing countries are also classified by the United Nations as least developed countries and that their geographical situation is an added constraint on their overall ability to cope with the challenges of development,
Recognizing further that most transit countries are themselves developing countries facing serious economic problems, including the lack of adequate infrastructure in the transport sector,
Recalling that measures to deal with the transit problems of land-locked developing countries require closer and even more effective cooperation and collaboration between those countries and their transit neighbours,
Recalling the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted on 10 December 1982,
Recognizing the important role played by bilateral cooperative arrangements and regional and subregional cooperation and integration in comprehensively solving the transit problems of the land-locked developing countries and improving the transit-transport systems in land-locked and transit developing countries,
Noting the importance of strengthening the existing international support measures with a view to addressing further the problems of land-locked developing countries,
1. Reaffirms the right of access of land-locked countries to and from the sea and freedom of transit through the territory of transit States by all means of transport, in accordance with international law;
2. Also reaffirms that transit developing countries, in the exercise of their full sovereignty over their territory, have the right to take all measures necessary to ensure that the rights and facilities provided for land- locked developing countries in no way infringe upon their legitimate interests;
3. Calls upon both the land-locked developing countries and their transit neighbours, in the spirit of South-South cooperation, including bilateral cooperation, to implement measures to strengthen further their cooperative and collaborative efforts in dealing with their transit problems;
4. Appeals once again to all States, international organizations and financial institutions to implement, as a matter of urgency and priority, the specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of land-locked developing countries envisaged in the previous resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and in the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade and the Declaration on International Economic Cooperation, in particular the Revitalization of Economic Growth and Development of the Developing Countries, adopted at the eighteenth special session of the General Assembly and contained in the annex to its resolution S-18/3 of 1 May 1990, as well as the relevant provisions of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s;
5. Invites the land-locked developing countries and their transit neighbours to intensify further their cooperative arrangements for the development of transit infrastructures, institutions and services to facilitate the faster movement of goods in transit with financial and technical assistance from donors and financial agencies;
6. Emphasizes that assistance for the improvement of transport- transit facilities and services should be integrated into the overall economic development strategies of the land-locked and transit developing countries and that donor assistance should consequently take into account the requirements for long-term restructuring of the economies of the land-locked developing countries;
7. Calls upon donor countries and multilateral financial and development institutions to provide land-locked and transit developing countries with appropriate financial and technical assistance in the form of grants or concessional loans for the construction, maintenance and improvement of their transport, storage and other transit-related facilities, including alternative routes and improved communications;
8. Invites the United Nations Development Programme further to promote, as appropriate, subregional, regional and interregional projects and programmes and to expand its support in the transport and communications sectors to the land-locked and transit developing countries and its technical cooperation for development geared towards promoting national and collective self-reliance among them;
9. Takes note of the report of the Meeting of Governmental Experts from Land-locked and Transit Developing Countries and Representatives of Donor Countries and Financial and Development Institutions held in New York from 17 to 19 May 1993, and endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained therein;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to convene in 1995, within the overall level of resources for the biennium 1994-1995, another meeting of governmental experts from land-locked and transit developing countries, representatives of donor countries and financial and development institutions to review progress in the development of transit systems in the land-locked and transit developing countries on the basis of an evaluation of the transit systems of those countries to be made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in cooperation with the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and to recommend further appropriate action, including elaboration of programmes for further improvement of those transit systems, to the Trade and Development Board and to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session;
11. Takes note of the results of the specific studies on transit issues prepared by the secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and encourages the international community to make use of them, as appropriate, when devising strategies to address the particular needs and problems of land-locked developing countries;
12. Invites the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to organize, within the overall level of resources for the biennium 1994-1995, and in collaboration with the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and the executive heads of the regional commissions, a symposium in 1994 for land-locked and transit developing countries to address specific regional problems in implementing the recommendations of the Meeting of Governmental Experts held in May 1993 and to submit the results of the studies referred to in paragraph 11 above to that symposium;
13. Requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to seek voluntary contributions to ensure participation of representatives of land-locked and transit developing countries in the meeting and symposium referred to, respectively, in paragraphs 10 and 12 above;
14. Takes note with appreciation of the contribution of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in formulating international measures to deal with the special problems of the land-locked developing countries, and urges the Conference, inter alia, to keep under constant review the evolution of transport-transit infrastructure facilities, institutions and services, monitor the implementation of agreed measures, collaborate in all relevant initiatives, including those of private sector and non-governmental organizations, and serve as a focal point on cross-regional issues of interest to land-locked developing countries;
15. Invites the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in consultation with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to take appropriate measures to enhance the capacity of the Conference, within existing resources for the biennium 1994-1995, in the area dealing with land-locked developing countries so as to ensure the effective implementation of the activities called for in the present resolution and of existing measures in support of land-locked developing countries;
16. Invites the international community and the preparatory bodies for all relevant forthcoming major meetings and conferences of the United Nations system to take into account, in the preparation of documentation, the specific needs and requirements of land-locked and transit developing countries and the participation of those countries in those meetings and conferences;
17. Welcomes the reports of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on specific action related to the specific needs and problems of land-locked developing countries and requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to prepare another report, taking into account the provisions of the present resolution, for submission to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session.
86th plenary meeting
21 December 1993
