UN General Assembly
1997

hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and created more than 6 million refugees and about 12 million displaced persons in the continent. We add our voice to those who have called on the African nations within areas of conflict to exert every possible effort, including regular negotiations, to provide an environment conducive to national reconciliation among the warring factions and to enable the refugees to return securely to their lands through safe passages. My country supports the United Nations role in coordinating worldwide efforts — through international donor agencies, the regional efforts represented by the work of the Organization of African Unity, and countries that border those areas of conflict — aimed at achieving progress and development for the individual in Africa, who has and continues to suffer from deprivation, despair, poverty, natural disasters and other man-made catastrophes. The environment is a gift from God, the Almighty, to man. Its preservation is a collective responsibility which is not limited by political boundaries. This fact has been proven repeatedly. Therefore, wherever man lives,