Forty-third General Assembly opens at a time of pride in UN successes; achievements stem from persistence and dedication over many years.

• Position: Includes related articles, and Committee forecast

As the forty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly got under way in New York in September, the world Organization that has so often been attacked by its detractors over the years enjoyed what UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cu6llar called "a time of pride" in recent successes. A number of regional disputes moved towards settlement under UN auspices and the blue-helmeted peace-keeping forces of the UN were to be awarded the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize.

The world body also got a boost from the "Big Five" Foreign Ministers of the five permanent member of the Security Council, who jointly stated on 28 September that they believed the Organization had an increasingly significant role to play in the achievement of international peace and security (see box, p.45).

In addressing the opening session, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said: "We have witnessed a vindication of the concept of multilateralism." The Organization was playing an increasingly important role in the resolution of several regional conflicts-in the Iran-Iraq war, in Afghanistan, in Western Sahara, in southern Africa and in Cyprus. The situation in South-East Asia also appeared more responsive to the climate of conciliation, he added.

Referring to a "palpable change" in the international scene, Mr. P6rez de Cu6llar said that achievements which only recently seemed unattainable had come within reach. The Security Council had been "revitalized by a fresh spirit of co-operation" and was functioning "increasingly according to its mandated purpose". There was a close working relationship between the UN principal organs, and there was support for its diplomatic efforts from the Governments concerned. There was evidence of a resurgence of political will to resolve conflicts in accordance with Charter principles.

"We have kept our eyes on the goal-which is peace. We have held on. We have endured criticism and sometimes disdain and we have survived to see what may well be the beginnings of a more constructive phase of international relations", he said.

On 29 September, in announcing the award of the Nobel Prize, the Secretary-General told the General Assembly that the "recent achievements" of' the UN had "neither been sudden nor fortuitous but are the hard-won results of persistence and dedication over many years, epitomized by the peace-keeping activities of the Organization".

Dante Caputo, Foreign Minister of Argentina, elected President of the forty-third session on 20 September...