UN General Assembly
1998

democratically. In the end, the non-existence of dialogue, the practice of intolerance and the absence of reliable judicial means to deal with divergences are the shortest path to armed conflict. 14 In his recent report to the Security Council on this matter, the Secretary-General made a substantial contribution to the understanding of the causes of conflict in our continent and their relationship to development, good governance, democracy and human rights. Maintaining peace in fact becomes a difficult task when we witness the deepening of social gaps; while the overwhelming majority of the population has difficulty obtaining the essentials; when fundamental rights of populations or parts of them, including the right to participate in the governance of their country, are not recognized or respected; or when citizens or groups of citizens are discriminated against on the basis of ethnic, cultural, religious or political considerations. This situation is compounded by the temptation of outside interference aimed at imposing policies or exerting influence on Governments — most of the time causing or aggravating conflict situations. The virus of violence and conflicts that plagues