I should like, first of all,
to extend my warmest compliments to His Excellency Mr.
Razali Ismail, Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the
United Nations, on his assumption of the presidency of the
General Assembly last week. I also pay tribute to the
efforts of His Excellency Mr. Diego Freitas do Amaral,
who demonstrated great skill in presiding over the historic
fiftieth-anniversary session.
Last year commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the
United Nations. This year marks the fortieth anniversary of
Japan’s admission to the United Nations. Over the past four
decades, Japan has consistently made its commitment to the
United Nations one of the main pillars of its foreign policy
and has steadfastly supported the United Nations.
At the same time, Japan has benefited immensely from
the international system, including the United Nations. I
should like to take this opportunity to express my sincere
gratitude for the support Japan has received from the
international community in building the stability and
prosperity it enjoys today. In addition, as the role of the
United Nations grows in importance in the new post-cold-
war environment, I hereby affirm that Japan is resolved to
play a more active role by further strengthening the
cooperation it extends to the Organization for the sake of
world peace and prosperity.
My ultimate foreign policy goal is the creation of a
better world for future generations, a world free of poverty
and conflict. I intend to achieve this goal through change
and creation, which is the mission of my Cabinet. Children
who can talk vividly about their dreams of the future are
the world’s treasure. Is it not our grave responsibility, as
leaders of the international community, to build an
environment in which the children of the next generation
can flourish?
Efforts towards the creation of a better world for
future generations must be based on the following three
pillars: first, securing world peace and stability; secondly,
promoting development so as to bring growth and stability
to developing countries; and thirdly, ensuring the well-being
of each and every citizen throughout global society. These
three pillars are interrelated, and we will be unable to
achieve a world free of poverty and conflict if any one of
the three is missing, or if only one of them is in place.
Since taking office, I have pursued foreign policies
based on the strong belief that Japan should be a nation
that works for world peace and stability on its own
initiative. In accordance with this position, Japan intends
to play a leading role in the building of each of these
three pillars, as I shall subsequently explain. These are
precisely the areas which the United Nations of the
twenty-first century will be expected to address.
The first pillar is securing world peace and stability.
This is surely of the utmost importance, because unless
this is achieved, future generations will be left with
nothing but confusion and destruction. At this time of
ever greater interdependence, world peace is indivisible.
Instability in one region can readily lead to the instability
of other regions and, in turn, to the instability of the
world as a whole. It is Japan’s intention not simply to
secure its own peace and stability but, consonant with the
philosophy embodied in the Constitution of Japan, it will
strive to secure global peace and stability and make
greater efforts, commensurate with its political and
economic status, for the prevention and resolution of
conflicts in various regions of the world.
It goes without saying that, as a nation in Asia,
Japan will spare no effort in securing peace and stability
in the region. The recent incident of infiltration by a
North Korean submarine makes us all the more aware of
the importance of easing tensions on the Korean
peninsula. Realization of the four-party meeting, which
was proposed by the leaders of the United States and the
Republic of Korea last April, is very important, and I
should like on this occasion to reiterate Japan’s support
for that proposal. In an effort to further strengthen the
achievements of the Cambodian peace process, which has
proved to be a successful example of the international
community’s peace-building efforts, and looking ahead to
the elections that Cambodia will hold on its own for the
first time beginning next year, Japan intends to continue
to extend assistance to that country. Japan welcomes the
fact that Russia, also located in the Asian region, is
continuing its reform process in the light of the results of
the recent presidential election. Moreover, by actively
participating in political and security dialogue, for
example in the context of the ASEAN Regional Forum,
Japan is endeavouring to further promote confidence-
building in the region.
8

At the same time, Japan is actively engaged in
addressing issues in other regions, for example by
cooperating with United Nations activities to foster global
peace. During the latter part of August I visited five
countries in Latin America where I witnessed at first hand
the success of the democratization process and steady
progress in economic reform. Japan intends to strengthen its
assistance for the stable development of this region.
In the former Yugoslavia, Japan has contributed both
personnel and financing to the local and national elections
recently held in Bosnia in view of their importance in the
formation of a democratic political system. As a member of
the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council,
Japan will continue to participate actively in the civilian
aspects of international efforts towards the implementation
of the peace process.
On the occasion of Foreign Minister Ikeda’s visit to
the Middle East in August, and Chairman Arafat’s visit to
Tokyo in mid-September, Japan called for continued
negotiations among the parties to the Middle East peace
process. Japan is determined to continue to contribute to the
creation of an environment conducive to the advancement
of the peace process by extending assistance to the parties
concerned, including assistance to the Palestinian people,
and by participating in multilateral talks.
Japan is gravely concerned about the current situation
in Iraq. It strongly hopes that Iraq will listen to the opinion
of the international community and comply in good faith
with the relevant Security Council resolutions so that the
situation will be settled as soon as possible.
In order to resolve the Afghanistan issue it is
important that foreign interference cease and that the
success of the peace and reconciliation efforts of the United
Nations is ensured. Toward that end, Japan is providing an
expert on that region to serve as a political counsellor at the
United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan.
The ongoing regional conflicts in Africa, including the
situations in Burundi, Liberia and Angola, are of grave
concern. The international community must actively support
the conflict-prevention and conflict-resolution efforts of
African countries as well as the strengthening of their
capabilities in this regard. In addition to extending financial
contributions to the Organization of African Unity and the
Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in
Central Africa, Japan is extending assistance to
peacekeeping operations, refugee assistance, rehabilitation
assistance, and assistance for democratization in the form
of personnel and intellectual input.
Peacekeeping operations are an effective complement
to the collective security function as originally envisaged
in the United Nations Charter, and they supplement the
conflict-resolution efforts of the parties themselves. It is
important that the international community should
continue to support peacekeeping operations but also that
it should seek their further reform. Experiences in recent
years have reaffirmed the effectiveness of traditional
peacekeeping operations. Their role in preventing
conflicts, as exemplified by the success of the United
Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), is
likely to become increasingly important. Japan will
continue to participate in the discussions that are now
under way among interested Member States on measures
to improve the rapid reaction capabilities of the
peacekeeping operations. Japan is participating in the
United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF)
in the Golan Heights and intends hereafter to cooperate
actively and as much as possible in peacekeeping
operations.
I believe that, as it responds to regional conflicts, the
United Nations has the potential to fulfil, in a practical
manner, an extremely effective function through
preventive diplomacy. I should like to propose that a
meeting of eminent persons be convened to explore
means of enhancing the Organization’s preventive
diplomacy capability.
In order to maintain international peace and stability,
it is essential to further promote disarmament efforts and
to strengthen the regime for the non-proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction. In particular, Japan would
vigorously emphasize the importance for the international
community of promoting realistic and steady efforts for
nuclear disarmament with the aim of realizing a world
free of nuclear weapons. As the only country to have
suffered nuclear devastation, Japan has been making
precisely this appeal to the international community as a
top priority in accordance with its own philosophy.
Thus I am deeply gratified by the adoption of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by the General
Assembly with the support of many Member States; this
indeed marks a historic step towards a world free of
nuclear weapons. Having the opportunity just this
morning to sign the Treaty gave me great personal
satisfaction. In order to realize the early entry into force
of the Treaty, Japan would like to call upon those
9

countries which have expressed opposition to the Treaty to
accede to it at the earliest possible date from the broader
perspective of promoting nuclear disarmament. For its part,
Japan will continue to make contributions in the field of
verification of nuclear testing, by such means as expanding
the technical cooperation on seismic technologies that it
extends to concerned developing countries. As a next step
towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, I should like
to call for the early commencement of negotiations on a
cut-off treaty which would prohibit the production of fissile
materials for nuclear weapons.
Japan takes the problems posed by landmines very
seriously. Japan supports international efforts toward a total,
worldwide ban on anti-personnel landmines. Furthermore,
in order to reinforce international support for measures to
deal with anti-personnel landmines, Japan is preparing to
host a meeting at the senior official level in Tokyo early
next year.
The promotion of development to bring about the
growth and stability of developing countries is the second
pillar required for the creation of a better world for future
generations. Development is a prerequisite for peace; at the
same time, the maintenance of peace is a precondition for
development. As a leading donor, Japan will work to
further enhance its official development assistance; at the
same time, it is keenly aware of its responsibility to lead
the discussion on issues relating to the proper form and
provision of such assistance.
Based on this recognition, Japan has been calling for
a new development strategy. The central ideas in this
strategy are an emphasis on the ownership by developing
countries of the development process and on the
establishment of a new global partnership in which
developed and developing countries, released from the
North-South confrontational mind-set, cooperate with each
other. Moreover, it is important to address development not
simply with official development assistance, but also by
organically combining various elements including trade,
investment, economic policy, debt relief, technology
transfer, and the development of social infrastructure. It is
also important to extend assistance that is most appropriate
to the circumstances of the particular country while paying
adequate attention to the efforts made by developing
countries in the promotion of democratization and the
introduction of market-oriented economies. Furthermore,
Japan attaches importance to the setting of development
targets and the reinvestment in development activities of
savings resulting from reforms, as well as to promoting
coordination between the United Nations and the Bretton
Woods institutions.
We have witnessed the development of various
forms of regional cooperation, such as the Southern
African Development Community, MERCOSUR, and the
South Pacific Forum; such regional cooperation is an
important element for development. Emphasizing the
significance of South-South cooperation, Japan is utilizing
the Japanese Human Resources Development Fund in the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in
order to support South-South cooperation.
In the context of developing countries, Japan
attaches particular importance to the development of
Africa, where poverty and conflict are particularly acute.
Japan will actively promote its initiatives on assistance to
African countries, which Foreign Minister Ikeda presented
during the general debate of the Ninth United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development, convened in
South Africa this past spring. In order to give new
momentum to African development, Japan is hoping to
convene the second meeting of the Tokyo International
Conference on African Development in 1998, which
would follow a preparatory meeting that will take place,
also in Tokyo, in 1997.
The third pillar to which I would like to refer is the
guarantee of the well-being of every citizen of the global
community. It is important to embrace the global
community as a whole, and to give heed to the
importance of each and every one of its members. Indeed,
the peace of mind of individuals contributes to the peace
and stability of the world.
Japan intends to address more actively various social
problems such as the environment, population, AIDS,
drugs, terrorism, organized crime, refugees and the status
of women, as well as problems relating to food and
energy, which may become more acute in the years to
come. Concerned about environmental issues, Japan will
host the third conference of the parties to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in
Kyoto in December next year. Japan will make every
effort toward the adoption at that conference of an
effective and practical document prescribing an
international framework to prevent global warming after
the year 2000. I should like to call for the valuable
cooperation of every Member State and international
organization concerned for the success of that conference.
10

Recognizing that it is important that each and every
human being be cared for, throughout more than 30 years
of political activity, I have focused my attention on the
protection of the most vulnerable among us and to the
elimination of poverty. The Initiative for a Caring World
which I proposed on the occasion of the Lyons summit of
the Group of Seven is an extension of this endeavour.
Under this initiative, Japan intends, first of all, to share
with developing countries its experiences in the field of
social security, including health care, hygiene and social
welfare services so that they can develop more effective
services in these areas, and secondly, to exchange
experiences and knowledge with other developed countries
with respect to issues that they commonly confront.
As I stated at the outset, I should like to urge world
leaders to join hands and strengthen their efforts
particularly on behalf of the well-being of children. Ever
since the Japan Committee for the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was established in 1955, my
mother has been dedicating herself to promoting its
activities. This has had a profound influence on me, and I
too have been actively engaged in its activities. Japan has
been contributing approximately $30 million to UNICEF
annually and it intends hereafter to strengthen its
cooperation. As part of its initiatives on assistance to Africa
which I mentioned earlier, Japan announced that it would
provide assistance for the expansion of education and the
eradication of polio on that continent. It also intends to
enhance its assistance for the protection of the health of
very young children in developing countries.
The protection and promotion of human rights is the
foundation of world peace and prosperity. Japan is
determined to support the democratic development of
developing countries and at the same time hopes that the
United Nations will further enhance its activities in the field
of human rights.
As we approach the twenty-first century, it is essential
that the United Nations itself play a role that responds
adequately to the growing expectations of the international
community based on the three pillars to which I have been
referring. Towards that end, reforms that strengthen the
functions of the Organization are necessary. There is a
consensus among the United Nations membership regarding
the importance of the new role envisaged for the
Organization as well as the urgent need for comprehensive
United Nations reform. However, when it comes to
concrete measures for reform, a convergence of views
among Member States is yet to emerge.
With the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations,
we witnessed an increase in the momentum for reform. It
should be the aim of this fifty-first session of the General
Assembly to maintain this momentum so that a general
agreement on the major elements of reform can be
reached before the session ends. The entire United
Nations membership should then make every effort to
reach an agreement on concrete measures to realize
United Nations reform in the near future. If the United
Nations simply engages in repetitious debate and proves
incapable of reforming itself to adapt to the changing
times, its very credibility could be severely undermined.
It is thus incumbent upon the membership as a whole to
be tenacious in its efforts to achieve reform.
Security Council reform, and reforms in
administrative and financial areas and in economic and
social areas comprise the threefold centrepiece of United
Nations reform. I should like to point out the importance,
above all, of carrying out these reforms as a whole in a
balanced manner. For example, even though there may be
a financial crisis, if we were to carry out reforms in that
area alone, separately from reforms in the other two
areas, it would not correspond to the original basic
concept of United Nations reform, which was to seek to
strengthen the functions of the Organization as a whole.
Permit me to present the views of Japan regarding
reforms in these three areas. I should like first of all to
discuss the reform of the Security Council. Inasmuch as
the Security Council bears the primary responsibility for
carrying out the major purpose of the United Nations,
namely, the achievement and maintenance of world peace
and stability, its importance is obvious. As it has
indicated on previous occasions, Japan, with the
endorsement of many other countries, is prepared to
discharge its responsibilities as a permanent member of
the Security Council in accordance with its basic
philosophy of the non-resort to the use of force prohibited
by its Constitution.
Until the reform of the Security Council is realized,
Japan is determined to contribute to the work of the
Security Council for the sake of international peace and
security, and has presented its candidature for non-
permanent membership on the Council in this session of
the General Assembly. Responding to the strong support
and confidence that have already been expressed with
respect to its candidature, Japan will continue to make
every effort so that it can play an active role on the
Security Council.

As I stated earlier, Japan attaches great importance to
development. More than two thirds of United Nations
Member States are developing countries. If the United
Nations is to aim at achieving a world free of poverty and
conflicts, it is crucial that discussions on development be
further promoted within the Organization. In this, the
functions and role of the Economic and Social Council
should be strengthened and the integration of the various
development issues with which the United Nations is
engaged should be ensured.
Japan is the second largest financial contributor to the
United Nations; its assessment for the regular budget has
increased to 15.65 per cent for next year, and is likely to
increase further. Japan will not shirk the tremendous
responsibility it bears in financially supporting the United
Nations. However, with respect to the scale of assessment,
I wish to reiterate that Japan attaches importance not only
to the concept of capacity to pay but also to the
responsibility to pay. Japan also welcomes the endeavours
of the Secretariat towards administrative streamlining and
rationalizing.
Throughout the four decades since it joined the United
Nations Japan has faithfully upheld the purposes and
principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. It has
consistently attached importance to the United Nations, and
it is proud to be among the countries that have made the
greatest contributions to its overall activities. Disarmament,
initiatives in the area of nuclear non-proliferation, an appeal
for a new strategy on development issues, an active
addressing of global issues, as well as considerable
financial contributions to the United Nations — these are
the issues to which Japan has attached profound importance
in recent years.
I wish to conclude my statement in this general debate
by reemphasizing Japan’s readiness to participate in the
Security Council, which is at the centre of United Nations
activity, as well as to engage more actively and more
constructively in the aforementioned areas of endeavour in
order to discharge its responsibility with regard to world
peace and prosperity.


Allow me first of all to
congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the post of
President of the General Assembly at its fifty-first
session.
General debates over a number of years have already
clearly indicated that virtually all Member States consider
it of vital importance to transform the United Nations into
an Organization with enhanced potential in the service of
peace and security in the world.
Belarus advocates a pragmatic approach to the
reform of the United Nations based on a realistic
assessment of the Organization’s ability to enhance the
practical efficiency of the entire United Nations system
along the strategic lines of its activities. One of these is
peacemaking, which in the aftermath of the cold war
acquired new substance and quality.
The New Testament reads,
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be
called children of God.” (Matthew, 5:9)
Today’s efforts by the United Nations to maintain
peace are noble indeed. Belarus supports actions to
further perfect peacekeeping operations as an important
practical instrument at the disposal of the United Nations.
18

A crystal-clear understanding of peacekeeping operations as
a specific means used in conflict settlement, aimed at
maintaining peace rather than imposing it and at preventing
highly explosive situations from emerging, is a sure
guarantee that such operations will be successfully
implemented.
We note with satisfaction a substantive breakthrough
in the peaceful settlement of the conflict in the former
Yugoslavia. Belarus emphasizes the key significance of
restoring close economic, scientific and cultural ties
between the States of the region for the normalization of
the situation in the Balkans. That is why we support the
idea of making the decision of lifting the economic and
trade embargo against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
a permanent one.
Belarus attaches great significance to the process of a
peaceful settlement in the Middle East, based on respect for
the right of all States of the region to live in peace within
internationally recognized borders.
As regards the ways and means to further perfect the
Security Council’s activities, Belarus would like to
emphasize the principle of balanced representation for all
regional groups of Member States, in particular the Eastern
European group, in a renewed and expanded Security
Council.
Given their particular significance, concerted
international efforts in the field of disarmament are required
in shaping the global security system that would befit the
twenty-first century. We consider it a great privilege and
honour that our practical actions and initiatives in this
domain have been recognized and supported through the
election of a representative of Belarus to the post of
Chairman of the First Committee at the current session.
This year has been marked by momentous events in
Belarus. Very shortly the last nuclear missile will leave the
territory of our Republic, thus making the entire territory of
Central Europe, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, a nuclear-
weapon-free zone. This brings into particular prominence
the initiative put forward by Alyaksandr Lukashenka,
President of Belarus, to establish a nuclear-weapon-free
zone in Central and Eastern Europe.
Efforts aimed at setting up and consolidating nuclear-
weapon-free zones in various regions of the world are
gaining momentum. Hence, we consider it illogical for
Europe to remain the only continent where no practical
steps have been taken in this direction. We strongly believe
that setting up a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central and
Eastern Europe would further enhance the spirit of trust,
mutual respect and partnership in that part of the
European continent and would serve as a solid
contribution by the European nations to nuclear non-
proliferation.
In the search for an efficient arms control regime,
the delegation of Belarus intends to initiate further
consideration at this session of the General Assembly of
the item on prohibition of the development and
manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction
and new systems of such weapons. Ecologically safe
destruction of weapons, conversion of military enterprises,
legal aspects of the transfer of sensitive advanced
technology and of their impact on the development of
science and technology stand high on the list of our
priorities.
From this lofty rostrum I am proud to say that,
despite the formidable economic, social and financial
constraints we have had to overcome, Belarus has
completely fulfilled all its obligations under the Treaty on
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. Equally significant
is the fact that Belarus submitted to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations in July 1996 its ratification
instruments on joining the Chemical Weapons
Convention.
Located in the geographical centre of Europe, my
country has set itself the goal of preventing dangerous
tensions from evolving in the region which, more often
than any other part of the planet, has been a seat of world
wars, in order to help prevent the emergence of new lines
of separation, curtains, walls and other constructions that
seemed gone for ever.
From that perspective, we must bring to the
Assembly’s attention the concern of the Belarusian people
regarding the eventual rapid expansion of North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) and the deployment of its
military infrastructure in close proximity to our borders.
It is worth noting that a considerable part of the
population of Belarus no longer considers NATO a hostile
organization. Yet, being realistic, we must admit that
much more time is needed to transform that attitude into
a sympathetic stance. It would be appropriate to expect
that such large and drastic transformations in the
European security system to evolve gradually.
In these new circumstances, the role of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
19

(OSCE) acquires new significance. In all confidence, we
pin our hopes on the forthcoming OSCE summit in Lisbon.
The results of the summit, I am convinced, will prove to be
a solid basis for enhancing coordination between the United
Nations and the OSCE, as well as for better distributing
between them the functions of ensuring regional security in
Europe in order to help create a comprehensive security
model for Europe in the twenty-first century and to further
the efforts towards concerted actions by European States
aimed at strengthening stability on the continent.
Globalization of the world economy made it possible
for the States to considerably expand their markets, as well
as the flow of goods, services, finance and technologies, to
adjust economic relations and to improve the economic and
social well-being of their populations. At the same time, the
removal of trade and other economic barriers exposed the
vulnerability of countries with less-developed economies.
Many of those countries find it difficult to keep pace with
the rapid transformations now under way and to break the
vicious circle of backward development.
That is why the countries with economies in transition,
Belarus included, have every reason to expect that special
measures will be taken by the United Nations in order to
facilitate their integration into the world economic and trade
systems and to help them join existing and emerging
multilateral economic institutions and mechanisms.
We reiterate our intention to host an international
conference on the sustainable development of countries with
economies in transition, to be convened in Minsk in May
1997. I am convinced that the results of the conference will
prove a valuable contribution to the five-year review of the
implementation of Agenda 21, at the special session of the
General Assembly next June.
The activities of the United Nations in the social and
environmental fields have a particular significance for
Belarus. The problems in these areas are extremely acute
due to the negative impact of a number of factors that
emerged in the course of complex economic
transformations. The leadership of Belarus is undertaking
considerable efforts to improve the quality of life of its
citizens. At the same time, we are not always able to
resolve acute social problems by our own means alone.
Decisions adopted at six world summits, held in Rio de
Janeiro, Vienna, Copenhagen, Beijing, Cairo and Istanbul,
have prompted the needed and long-overdue adoption of a
global programme of assistance to the countries that have
embarked on the road of market reforms.
The problem of refugees, displaced persons and
repatriates is also very acute today. Our Republic
welcomes the results of the Geneva regional conference
on refugees, displaced persons, other forms of forced
movements and repatriates in the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS). I believe that the establishment,
under the aegis of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, of a permanent regional centre on migratory
problems and refugees for the countries of Eastern Europe
could make a considerable contribution to the process of
complete and effective implementation of those decisions.
We propose that such a centre be headquartered in Minsk.
Taking urgent measures to combat terrorism, illicit
drug trafficking and organized crime is yet another
demand of the moment. Proceeding from this premise, we
welcome the initiative announced from this rostrum by
Poland to introduce a draft United Nations framework
convention against organized crime.
Our Republic does not possess nuclear energy, but
more than any other State in the world it is interested in
the implementation of effective preventive measures in
the field of nuclear safety that would make it impossible
for new Chernobyls to occur in the future. Belarus is in
favour of the comprehensive strengthening of the nuclear-
safety regime, including development and adoption of the
appropriate international convention with concrete and
strong commitments under international control. The
initiative to establish a global fund for environmental
protection deserves most serious consideration. My
country is grateful to the United Nations for its valuable
efforts in coordinating, initiating and discussing
Chernobyl-related issues. This is extremely important to
us. At the same time Belarus is deeply concerned over the
fact that, alongside the ongoing discussion related to the
closure of the Chernobyl reactor, the problem of
mitigating the medical and environmental after-effects of
the Chernobyl catastrophe — the main burden of which
has been borne by our young State — are being pushed
aside.
We are deeply concerned over the financial situation
of the Organization. Admitting that Belarus now finds
itself among the States with the biggest debts to the
United Nations, we cannot but underscore that this
situation has emerged as a result of objective financial
and economic difficulties experienced by Belarus at this
complex stage of its development, as well as of the unjust
distribution of United Nations expenses among the
Member States. Excessive rates of assessment for the
United Nations regular budget and for peacekeeping
20

operations has now resulted in one of the founding States
of the United Nations being unable, for objective reasons,
to fulfil its financial obligations to the Organization. In
view of this, we support all-round measures aimed at
reforming the entire financial system of the United Nations
and the search for fair forms of financial cooperation
between the Organization and the Member States, in
particular those whose arrears have accumulated due to a
number of reasons beyond their control.
Finally, the wide-scale reforming of the United
Nations system coincides with the democratic
transformations taking place in a number of States, Belarus
being one of them. Given that the reforms now under way
are of immediate concern to each and every citizen of our
country, we are fully aware of their significance at this
crucial juncture in the development of international
relations. Comprehension of the importance of that factor
enabled Belarus to secure public law and order, stability
and peace in its territory. Yet sometimes it is not so easy
for the major political actors to achieve a coordinated
approach to tackling the intricate problems facing Belarus
at this transitional juncture in its history. Thus, it has
become of vital importance today to find an efficient
balance between the legislative, the executive and the
judicial branches of power and to ensure their stable
interaction. This is precisely the purpose of the upcoming
popular referendum in Belarus, which is being held at the
initiative of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations has also
breathed new life into its ideals and strengthened our belief
that the United Nations is a unique and genuinely integral
part of international life. I am convinced that the fifty-first
session of the General Assembly can and must become a
starting point for effectively reforming the United Nations,
which will be possible only through the joint efforts of all
Member States of the Organization.


The opening of the fifty-first session of the General
Assembly, under the presidency of Ambassador Razili,
takes place at the very moment a large number of States
have entered into new commitments on the long road to
nuclear disarmament. Our signature, this very morning, of
the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is another
opportunity for Belgium to reiterate its determination to
contribute to the fight against nuclear proliferation. I am
very happy that this important step was taken today. It
should inspire us to continue our common effort towards
universal acceptance of this new international instrument,
as well as an effective implementation of the international
verification measures it provides.
My Irish colleague, Minister Dick Spring, has spoken
on behalf of the European Union, whose objectives and
concerns my country shares. Belgium endeavours to
contribute substantially to the definition and implementation
of the policies and plans of action which the European
Union intends to carry out throughout the world.
Our intentions before this Assembly should aim to go
beyond formalities. Diplomatic language all too often hides
our inability to act or our lack of real compassion.
The citizens of the world are fearful as we come to
the end of the century. Whatever their country, people are
confronted with a new anxiety, a fear of tomorrow, without
even realizing that these feelings are shared by the entire
world. In numerous regions of the world, this is a fear of
physical danger. It is a fear of external threats, aggression
and civil war. People die in the same way in Africa, Asia,
America and Europe. People are killed for the same
dreams and mutilated in body and spirit by the barbarism
of modern weaponry and criminal madness born of
hatred.
Yes, our world is fearful in the face of all these
violations of fundamental human rights which persist
notwithstanding the major conferences proclaiming our
hope and belief in a world where the rights of men,
women and children are respected. In such a world
respect for humanitarian law need no longer be
questioned.
The crises felt by rich countries cannot possibly
compare with the tragic consequences of war and
underdevelopment. Yet the crises in Europe, in our
prosperous societies, also constitute a humanitarian
deficit. They are also the symptoms — albeit of a
different nature — of the same ills of modern times.
These include contempt for the human person as a subject
of law and his reduction to mere merchandise. Today,
society everywhere is in crisis. The logic of the market
seems to be an exclusionary mechanism which segregates
society. As the Mexican poet Octavio Paz once wrote,
“The society of consumption has chilled human life
with its glacial waters of selfish calculation.”
This dehumanization of mankind for financial profit is the
primary cause of many scourges which affect our planet,
irrespective of the traditions and political systems that
characterize each and every region of the world.
In this respect the inertia of individuals transformed
into consumers rather than dynamic actors comes to mind,
as do the problems of unemployment, the scourges of
trade in human beings, child prostitution, organ trading,
drugs and all other international criminal activities. These
calamities of modern times require the international
community to put in place effective mechanisms by which
we can combat them together.
As I said during the World Congress Against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which was
held in Stockholm last August, we must join efforts,
wills, means and resources to eliminate and prevent the
proliferation of these activities on our planet. The
behaviour of those who profit from such cruel treatment
0

of human beings must be punished by the international
community.
Belgium strongly believes that the provisions of the
Stockholm declaration and programme of action to
criminalize the sexual exploitation of children should be
translated into new treaty obligations for all States. The
ongoing negotiations on the adoption of the optional
protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child seem
to me the appropriate forum to reach this goal.
The protection of children in this field should equally
inspire us to a creative and courageous approach in other
United Nations forums where the question of international
criminalization of the trade in human beings is dealt with.
The Stockholm declaration and programme of action should
therefore be reflected in the texts we adopt during the fifty-
first session of the General Assembly in order to strengthen
the protection of the rights of the child and to condemn
strongly the exploitation of children.
This year, the International Day for the Abolition of
Slavery, 2 December 1996, will be devoted to the trade in
human beings. The whole world should endeavour to bring
this horrendous scandal to an end.
Although we must tackle these social problems, our
action should first be introspective in order for it to be
credible and efficient. How can modern society be
reconciled with the globalization of cultures and trade?
How can the balance between the resources of rich
countries and the needs of poor countries be restored?
The freedom of the market cannot be absolute, lest it
become an absurdity. Our societies can only be viable if
they result from a balance between the freedom of the
individual and the fundamental rights of the other. The
unfortunate evolution of our consumer society and the
abandonment of humanist values could lead us — as the
events of this summer in my country have shown — to a
society where murder and rape become commonplace for
some and where abuse is tolerated for too long. We must
therefore reconstruct our list of moral priorities and crate a
new international moral code based on simple, readily
implemented priorities.
Peace, non-violence and acceptance of the other head
the list, followed by sharing and social solidarity. Man
needs to be reconciled with modern times, reclaiming his
central role as subject and actor rather than object and
merchandise. These values also should determine the
relations between rich and poor countries. Finally, our
children should be trained to be involved, responsible
citizens, conscious of the consequences of their actions on
society. I believe that the formulation of a new
international moral code is necessary if we are to
overcome our fears and rediscover our will to act — to
fulfil our moral duty to take an optimistic approach to
international cooperation.
This is why preventive diplomacy must be one of
our top priorities. Belgium neither can nor wants to
ignore the need to turn its attention to the South, to Africa
in particular. We must overcome the desperation of
certain situations and do everything within our means to
finally allow the development of justice, social progress
and democracy in Africa. The situation is extremely
troublesome and warrants our basing our political action
on the essential priorities, which are, in fact, challenges
to be overcome. What are these challenges? to avoid new
fratricidal wars and genocide; to ensure that in existing
conflicts international humanitarian law is respected; and
to guarantee the reconstruction and sustainable
development of the continent with full respect for human
rights and the rule of law. We should develop our policies
while keeping in mind the fundamental relationships that
must be constructed between these complementary
objectives.
In particular, I am thinking of former President
Nyerere’s work in Central Africa. Our support for this
work shows our willingness to cooperate with the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the countries
of the region in trying, together, to find solutions to the
present crisis and to prevent hatred, death and the ravages
of destruction from overrunning Africa, which is dear to
us. Belgium supports the convening of a conference on
security and stability in the Great Lakes region.
The appointment of Mr. Ajello as Special Envoy of
the European Union and of Ambassador Haesendonck as
Belgian Special Envoy to the region shows the
willingness of the European Union and Belgium to
address these concerns. For 1996 and 1997, the Belgian
Government has made financial resources available to
support the efforts under way. The survival of the
populations of Burundi and Rwanda and of the Kivu
people in Zaire is at stake, as well as the security and
prosperity of Central Africa as a whole.
Within the framework of a policy of conflict
prevention which the European Union, in cooperation
with the OAU, is trying to elaborate, the Western
European Union (WEU), of which Belgium currently
1

holds the chairmanship, is also prepared to offer logistical
support to African peacekeeping operations. The WEU’s
fact-finding mission to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and
Kenya returned with strong conclusions, and we intend to
pursue the recommended course of action during our
chairmanship. My country, which for years has participated
in stand-by agreements, must review the mechanisms that
might be established to improve the functioning of these
agreements.
In this context, I wish to recall our willingness to
support logistically and financially any possible contingency
planning for Burundi. Possibly in a revised form, the
agreements reached in Arusha last 25 June and 31 July
should allow support for the normalization efforts in
Burundi. This option would clearly be preferred to any
other possible solution. The Belgian Government would like
to confirm here its political will to be associated with this
possible assistance to the security of Burundi, taking into
account the modalities that are yet to be defined. However,
it is my deepest wish that the Burundi authorities and all
active parties in that country will find the road to national
reconciliation and peace, to a system of government which
guarantees equitable representation and real protection of
minorities. I wish to recall that Security Council resolution
1072 (1996) of 30 August demands that these negotiations
be initiated before 31 October.
Belgium’s preventive diplomacy efforts should also be
seen in the framework of European Union initiatives to
promote the development of these new societies. The
presidential, legislative, regional and local elections to be
held in Zaire in 1997 are an opportunity for the Belgian
Government and the European Union to show their active
solidarity within the framework of collective electoral
assistance, which must be coordinated by the United
Nations. In order to organize this electoral assistance, I
would hope that a representative of the Secretary-General
could be appointed as soon as possible. Zaire’s people have
the right to participate knowledgeably in free and fair
elections. The international community has the obligation to
facilitate the democratic process in Zaire.
The Belgian Government is aware of the difficulty of
arriving at a global approach to the problems of the South,
and of Central Africa in particular. We do not believe that
we should impose upon other countries any system of
government or dictate the way to achieve this. But we must
insist on the concept of good governance. That is, there
should be systems of government with checks and balances,
which guarantee the free exercise of the civil, political,
social and cultural rights of the people, and which enhance
the development of a free and dynamic society — the
only way to ensure harmonious and sustainable
development.
Preventive diplomacy is meaningless if weapons
remain available to extremist groups who seek, by the
suppression of others and by "ethnic cleansing", solutions
to problems which should only be found in dialogue,
consensus and political negotiation. The United Nations
Register of Conventional Arms is an essential element in
making the arms trade transparent, a goal which my
country and others support. Since its inception, Belgium
has provided the arms Register with the information
requested. The extension of the Register to other
categories of arms is extremely desirable. The Belgian
Government believes nevertheless that, for now, the main
priority should be making the Register universal. We,
together with our partners of the European Union, will
continue to concentrate our efforts on this aspect.
Anti-personnel mines are particularly inhumane
weapons. Belgium is tirelessly pursuing, in every
international forum, its objective of total and universal
prohibition of anti-personnel mines. The Belgian
Government regrets that very little progress has been
made to date. Next October we will participate in the
Ottawa conference which, I hope, will be able to give a
significant boost to the achievement of our objectives.
When preventive diplomacy and arms control cannot
keep peace, peacekeeping missions become necessary. In
our view, these peacekeeping and peace-restoration
missions remain one of the primary responsibilities of the
United Nations. The Belgian Government has taken part
in various peacekeeping operations and is assuming
military leadership of the United Nations Transitional
Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western
Sirmium (UNTAES). I am convinced that the success of
UNTAES will contribute significantly to the
re-establishment of a society which we hope will be
pluralist, tolerant and peaceful. Last year, the General
Framework Agreement, negotiated in Dayton and signed
in Paris led to the establishment, under United Nations
auspices, of the NATO-led implementation force (IFOR).
My country is, with its partners, part of this peacekeeping
operation whose role is to be a force for solidarity,
reconstruction and hope for a new Europe. The recent
elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina allow us to look
toward the future with a degree of optimism.
The increase in number and size of peacekeeping
operations that has characterized the recent history of our
2

Organization has allowed the development of political
concepts and given a new dimension to international
military cooperation. It has also allowed for positive and
necessary developments in the field of international
humanitarian law. The Belgian Government hopes that the
recent agreement between the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Secretariat on the
applicability of humanitarian law to peacekeeping
operations will permit a swift adoption of the lines of
conduct to this effect. This is indispensable and should be
welcomed unreservedly by all troop-contributing countries.
For peacekeeping operations to succeed they must be
followed up by rehabilitation programmes. Obviously, these
programmes, which are meant to eliminate the potential
causes of new conflicts, must be developed in a climate of
peace that ensures respect for human rights.
This fin de siècle is characterized by the size and
urgency of rehabilitation operations and by humanitarian
intervention and aid. Despite exceptional crises situations,
we must not forget the importance of implementing global
and sustainable development. The major thematic
conferences of the United Nations were designed to
establish a strategy for the growth of the human being. I
believe that the effective implementation of the moral and
political decisions taken at these major conferences is fully
in keeping with the new moral code that I hope to see
emerge.
In this context, I would like to mention the efforts to
reform United Nations institutions and, in particular, the
quest for efficiency and sound financial management that
should be the watchword of the functioning of our
organizations.
I began my statement today by denouncing fear and
with a plea for a new international moral code. I would like
to conclude an observation that I made at the outset: that
words are hollow if they are mere figures of speech and
diplomatic formulas. Our words must be alive, and they
must spring from peace, silence and complete transparency.
Only then will we be able to understand the language of the
many children, women and men afflicted by
underdevelopment, war and indifference.


At the outset, I would like
to congratulate the President on his election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-first session.
Given his talent and experience, I am confident that he will
guide this session to a successful completion of the noble
mission entrusted to it by the Charter of the United Nations.
I would also like to express my appreciation and
thanks to his predecessor, Mr. Diogo Freitas Do Amaral,
for his outstanding leadership in accomplishing the tasks of
the last session.
The end of the cold war has given a decisive
impetus to globalization by offering former socialist
economies the opportunity to assume their rightful place
in the world economy. The challenges posed by extremely
rapid transformation are nowhere more graphically
depicted than in the current transition of the countries of
Eastern and Central Europe and in the former Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics.
In addition to severe economic and social problems
resulting from the extraordinary changes buffeting the
country, the transition process in Armenia has been
exacerbated by the transport and energy blockade by
neighbouring Azerbaijan, the devastation caused by the
massive earthquake of 1988, the conflict between
Nagorny-Karabakh and Azerbaijan and the presence of
more than 300,000 refugees.
Despite such serious circumstances, economic
reforms begun after the declaration of independence in
1991 have been continued and expanded over the past
year. Having achieved a fair degree of economic stability,
the Government of Armenia has designed a medium-term
economic programme for 1996-1998. Armenia’s medium-
term policy objectives are to maintain financial stability
and establish the institutions and mechanisms of a market
economy by the end of the programme period in order to
lay the foundation for sustainable growth and a viable
balance of payments. Consistent with this strategy, the
main macroeconomic objectives of the programme are to
raise the economic growth rate from 5 per cent in 1995
to 7 per cent in 1998; to lower inflation to 8 per cent by
the end of 1998; and to narrow the current account deficit
from 26 per cent of the gross domestic product in 1995
to 12 per cent in 1998. To cope with the social pressures
involved in the transition process, the reorientation of
social expenditures towards the most vulnerable remains
a high-priority task. The programme lays emphasis on
improving the targeting of the social safety net and
intensifying efforts to rationalize social expenditures.
While each country is responsible for its own
economic policies for development, in accordance with its
specific situation and conditions, the reactivation of
economic growth and development in all countries
requires a concerted effort of the international community.
Here, particular attention should be given to the needs of
the countries with economies in transition, without this
affecting development assistance to the developing
countries.
5

The completion of the transition process, the
integration of these countries into the world economy and
their effective involvement in the multilateral institutions
will have a positive impact not only on these countries
themselves, but also on the global economy.
As we approach the twenty-first century, it is the
collective responsibility of the international community to
ensure that, within the multidimensional and integrated
character of its mandate, the United Nations system is
equipped to show leadership in the fulfilment of the
commitments made to international cooperation for
development.
In this context, the United Nations System-wide
Special Initiative for Africa exemplifies the system’s
commitment to collaborative action and its renewed
commitment to supporting Africa’s development. Launched
last March by the Secretary-General, this Initiative is the
largest coordinated action in the history of the United
Nations. While it is clear that the implementation of the
Initiative will be led at the country level by Governments,
the United Nations agencies will hold themselves mutually
accountable for achieving this Initiative’s goals.
The United Nations, in cooperation with the Bretton
Woods institutions, other bodies of the United Nations
system, including its specialized agencies, and the World
Trade Organization, has a key role in fostering greater
coherence, complementarity and coordination in global
economic policy-making. The General Assembly should
exert greater policy leadership on development issues
inasmuch as the Charter of the United Nations provides the
Assembly with broad mandates concerning these issues. In
accordance with relevant provisions of the Charter, the
Economic and Social Council must continue to strengthen
its role as the central mechanism for coordinating the
policies and activities of the United Nations, its specialized
agencies and funds in the economic, social and related
fields. It should provide overall guidance and coordination
to the United Nations development system. The Council
must also promote a coordinated follow-up to the outcomes
of major international conferences.
Recommendations adopted by the Economic and
Social Council at its 1996 substantive session on
strengthening collaboration between the United Nations and
Bretton Woods institutions and on new arrangements for
consultations with non-governmental organizations
represented a great step forward.
Modern democracy is the political counterpart of the
market economic system, and the two go hand in hand.
The success of a democracy requires informed and civil
discourse and respect for the rule of law and the
democratic process, including the expression of the public
will through free and fair elections.
The recent, vigorously contested presidential election
signalled the vitality of the democratic process in
Armenia. President Levon Ter-Petrossian’s re-election
demonstrates the will of the people in support of the
policies pursued thus far by the Government, based on a
clear programme and an achievable plan of development.
Development cannot be attained in the absence of
respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Armenia strongly supports the High Commissioner for
Human Rights in his efforts to restructure the Centre for
Human Rights. The Member States must continue
working towards better coordination within the Centre and
consolidation of human-rights functions within the United
Nations system.
Armenia considers self-determination in its multitude
of manifestations to be an inalienable human right. In this
light, the Nagorny Karabakh conflict continues to concern
the Government of Armenia and its peaceful resolution
remains Armenia’s top foreign-policy priority. A few
months ago, on 12 May, we marked the second
anniversary of the cease-fire in the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict. At the same time, the parties to the conflict
released all prisoners of war and hostages identified by
the International Committee of the Red Cross. We
consider these developments encouraging and conducive
to the overall peace process and to the establishment of a
favourable atmosphere for negotiations.
Negotiations among the parties within the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) Minsk Group on a political agreement continued
during the past year. We believe that the signing of the
agreement provides the best hope for consolidating the
cease-fire and making the peace process irreversible. The
elements of the political agreement, and most importantly
the security provisions for Nagorny Karabakh, will
eventually comprise an inseparable part of any settlement,
regardless of the ultimate status of Nagorny Karabakh.
Also this year, the parties took an extra step to
establish a second negotiating track through immediate
and direct contacts, as mandated by the December 1995
meeting of the OSCE Council of Ministers in Budapest.
6

Thus far, several rounds of talks have taken place between
Armenia and Azerbaijan in which general aspects of key
issues have been discussed. We are hopeful that the
representative of Nagorny Karabakh will join in upcoming
rounds, for we strongly believe that no final solution can be
achieved without Karabakh’s direct participation in the
deliberations.
The peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict
remains Armenia’s first priority. Armenia is committed to
the talks on both tracks and will remain constructively
engaged in both processes. We believe that these two tracks
compliment each other and that any progress we make on
either can only positively impact the other, ultimately
leading to a breakthrough.
During the past five years, Armenia has experienced
first hand how war, armed conflict and regional instability
in general can hamper economic progress and development.
Thus, I would like to reiterate Armenia’s commitment to
maintaining the existing cease-fire, while eagerly searching
for a solution based on good will, mutual compromise and
understanding.
The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
poses a serious threat to both global and regional security
and stability. The adoption last month by the General
Assembly of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
represented the international community’s determination to
bring to a completion one of the most sought after non-
proliferation and disarmament measures in the history of
this Organization. It gave me much satisfaction to sign the
Treaty earlier today on behalf of the Government and
people of Armenia.
Virtually all States Members of the United Nations
favour an increase in the membership of the Security
Council, reflecting the radical changes in the world and the
increase in the Organization’s overall membership.
However, during the discussions in the Open-ended
Working Group, wide support has been expressed for the
view that, if there is no agreement on other categories of
membership, expansion should take place, for the time
being, in the non-permanent category alone. Armenia
favours an increase in the non-permanent membership of
the Council that would incorporate the interests of all the
regional Groups and correspond to the principle of equitable
geographic distribution.
In order to carry out its activities, the United Nations
needs financial means. The financing of the Organization is
the collective responsibility of all Member States and
Armenia is not indifferent to the financial situation of the
United Nations.
I would like to assure the Assembly that Armenia
will do its best to fulfil its financial obligations. However,
there is an urgent need to adopt a global package of
measures to solve the grave financial situation of the
United Nations. These measures should contemplate,
inter alia, review of the scale of assessments so that it
would reflect as accurately as possible the principle of
capacity to pay.
Allow me to conclude by wishing the General
Assembly every success in the demanding work it faces
during this session, and by pledging Armenia’s most
active and effective cooperation with the delegations of
other States.


My delegation wishes to
express its satisfaction and joy in seeing Mr. Razali
Ismail preside over the fifty-first session of the General
Assembly. His unanimous election is an honour to him
personally and also to his country, Malaysia, with which
Ghana has forged very warm and special relations. We
have no doubt that his sterling qualities and long record
of distinguished service to his Government and the
international community will stand him in good stead in
leading this Assembly to a successful conclusion of its
work.
To his predecessor, Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral of
Portugal, we wish to express our appreciation for the able
manner in which he led us through very difficult
negotiations during his presidency.
Our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
has demonstrated, through his indefatigable energy and
commitment to the independence and well-being of the
United Nations, that he is up to the challenges that lie
ahead of us in seeking to revitalize this Organization for
the twenty-first century.
It was only a year ago that we celebrated with
fanfare the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of our
Organization. The world leaders assembled in this
Assembly at that time once again rededicated themselves
to achieving the visions embodied in the Charter of our
Organization and fulfilling its goals and objectives, which
serve the largest interests of humanity. We have gathered
here again this year to take stock of developments since
our last meeting and to renew, through various decisions
and resolutions, our commitment to the promotion of
peace and prosperity for our mutual benefit.
The end of the cold war provides us with a golden
opportunity to work earnestly in pursuit of the
international community’s desire for general and complete
disarmament — including nuclear disarmament — to be
achieved under effective international control. Through
the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
and nuclear-weapon-free zones, most of us non-nuclear-
weapon States are making our contributions in this
respect. My Government is in the process of ratifying the
Pelindaba Treaty, of which we are a proud signatory, and
we appreciate the support of the non-nuclear and nuclear-
weapon States for that Treaty. However, such zones can
20

only be given meaning by the nuclear-weapon States’
genuinely accepting the need for the eventual elimination of
nuclear weapons within a given time-frame. It is with this
in view that my country voted in favour of the adoption of
the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and signed it,
despite its shortcomings. We see the Treaty as a first step
in the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons in the world.
We also join the Non-Aligned Movement in urging all
nuclear-weapon States to conclude an international
instrument that would offer unconditional and legally
binding assurances to all non-nuclear-weapon States against
the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. This will
enable all States subscribing to international instruments on
non-proliferation to cooperate freely and unconditionally in
the application of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
We will also continue to urge that more attention be
paid to conventional armaments and to efforts to enhance
international cooperation to curtail and eventually prohibit
the use of anti-personnel land-mines and other inhumane
weapons, which continue to inflict untold damage and
hardship on innocent people long after the conflicts in
which they were deployed have ended. Similar attention
should be given to international cooperation in curbing
illicit transfers of arms. Success in this field will go a long
way towards curtailing the availability of weapons, which
feed the numerous conflicts we have had to contend with in
recent years, to drug traffickers and terrorists.
Internal strife within States, nurtured by racial and
religious intolerance, and the resort to arms for the
settlement of disputes threaten the very existence of a
number of States in diverse regions of the world. In all of
these States, the intransigence of warlords poses serious
challenges to the capacity of the international community in
general and the United Nations in particular to meet their
responsibilities with regard to the maintenance of
international peace and security. We have seen this in the
former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda,
Burundi, Angola, Liberia and Haiti. The efforts made so far
to deal with these conflicts are laudable, but more needs to
be done.
That is what we are doing in West Africa, despite the
recent setbacks suffered from the attacks on forces of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in December 1995 and the
outbreak of fighting in Monrovia in April and May 1996.
Though the implementation of the programme for the
disarmament and demobilization of the fighters, their
reinsertion into normal civil life and the holding of
democratic elections in Liberia, as set out in the Abuja
Agreement, are now behind schedule, the meeting of the
ECOWAS Committee of Nine on Liberia, in August 1996
in Abuja, saw the Liberian factional leaders renew once
again their support for the peace process and their pledges
to cooperate with the efforts to bring the Abuja
Agreement back on track. Thus far we have been able to
restore the capital, Monrovia, to its status as a safe haven
and reinstate the Council of State and the Liberian
National Transitional Government. The ceasefire between
the warring factions in the country has remained largely
respected, although there are still disturbing reports of
hostilities between some of the factions.
We do appreciate the assistance of some individual
countries to ECOMOG, as well as the cooperation of the
United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia, but we wish
to stress once again that these modest forms of support
are grossly inadequate, viewed against the enormity of the
tasks in Liberia and the present state of the economies of
ECOWAS member States. The Liberian factional leaders
are tired of the war. The subregion has been able to
broker peace amongst them, but it lacks the means to
provide the resources to implement the peace accord. The
international community should respond to the call for
resources now or run the risk of the situation deteriorating
once again. We shall not tire of reminding the
international community that this Organization, the
Security Council in particular, bears the ultimate
responsibility for the maintenance of international peace
and security. Regional or subregional efforts like ours can
only complement, not substitute for, those of the
international community, which must face its
responsibilities more seriously in Liberia.
For our part, we in Ghana have endeavoured over
the years to play the role assigned to us within the limits
of our resources in meeting our common responsibilities
towards the maintenance of international peace and
security. Since our participation in the United Nations
peacekeeping operations in the Belgian Congo — now
Zaire — in the 1960s, Ghana has been present in almost
all the continents where United Nations peacekeeping
duties call, and we are indeed proud of our contribution
to these international peace efforts.
On the threshold of the twenty-first century, we
cannot hide our amazement that some people and their
God-given territories remain under colonial or alien
domination and foreign occupation. Even more
astonishing is the fact that some otherwise democratic,
administering countries and colonial Powers fail to
21

recognize the inalienable right of the administered or
colonial peoples to self-determination, and they fail to
recognize that colonial domination is among the worst
forms of violations of the human rights and fundamental
freedoms of colonial peoples.
It is therefore no accident that we should be gravely
concerned at the continuing lack of progress on the question
of Western Sahara. Despite all of its shortcomings, the
settlement plan agreed to by the parties to the Western
Sahara problem, under the auspices of this Organization,
remains the best option for pursuing a long-lasting solution
in the interest of the Saharan people. We remain concerned
that the identification process has had to be suspended and
the Identification Commission withdrawn as a result of the
failure of the parties to agree on some relevant important
procedures and modalities. To break the stalemate, dialogue
is essential, and we once more call on the Assembly to
encourage the principal parties to the conflict to engage,
under the auspices of the United Nations, in direct talks that
can open the way for the continuation of the identification
process. Urgent attention and action is required to bring to
an end the present unacceptable situation, which poses a
veritable threat to subregional, regional and wider
international security.
In a similar vein, we take this opportunity to reaffirm
our unflinching support for the Middle East Peace Process
initiated at the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 and
culminating in the Oslo accords. Over the past five years,
several gains have been made, giving rise to hopes that a
just and comprehensive peace in the region is attainable that
would take cognizance of the legitimate right to self-
determination of the Palestinian people and their right to an
independent state. We therefore see the recent outbreak of
violence in the area as a set-back to those laudable efforts
and as a reflection of a growing mistrust on the part of the
parties. We call on them to honour all their commitments
under the agreements reached and to bring the peace
process back on track. In this connection we welcome the
efforts of the United States Administration to bring the
parties together once more.
I should like at this juncture to refer to the question of
the United Nations sanctions imposed on Libya. The
Organization of African Unity (OAU), the League of Arab
States and the Non-Aligned Movement, which represent the
vast majority of States and peoples of the world, have been
calling for some years now for the sanctions on Libya to be
lifted. Our call for dialogue and negotiations that could lead
to an acceptable solution of the dispute between Libya and
the three permanent members of the Security Council, as
well as proposals for a fair trial of the two suspects in
The Hague, by Scottish judges and under Scottish law,
have not elicited the expected response. Let it not be
construed that our calls are based merely on sentimental
considerations of regional solidarity. After careful
examination of the facts as made known to the
international community, and with due respect for the
tenets of international law, we think that the three States
concerned need to reciprocate the flexibility shown by the
Libyan authorities and help to bring to a close an issue
that has unjustifiably caused untold suffering to the
innocent people of Libya. Issues of this nature justify our
support for the establishment of an international criminal
court for the promotion and maintenance of international
criminal justice on a fair and equitable basis.
The relics of the cold war in international relations
remain particularly on the Korean peninsula and in United
States-Cuba relations. We believe that the four-party talks
proposed to ease tension on the Korean peninsula should
foster dialogue, understanding and cooperation among all
the countries concerned and enhance the process aimed at
the eventual unification of the two Koreas. With regard to
United States-Cuba relations, we hope that the blockades
and mutual exchanges of rhetoric will give way to a new
era of dialogue and mutual respect, in tune with current
trends in international relations.
As has been eloquently stated by the Secretary-
General in his Agenda for Peace, there can be no
development without peace, just as there can be no peace
without development. We are convinced that we need to
pursue development as a means of preventing most of the
conflicts, tragedies and humanitarian disasters that
confront the world today. We are enjoined under the
Charter of the United Nations to
“employ international machinery for the promotion
of the economic and social advancement of all
peoples”.
The need for concerted international action to restructure
the international economy; construct a new regime to
guide trade, aid and resource flows; and address the
problems posed by environmental degradation, population
explosion, the debt overhang, abject poverty and disease
in developing countries, cannot be overemphasized. Such
measures would redress the existing global economic
inequalities and eradicate poverty in a way that will
engender the peace and security that we all so dearly
need. As expected, the series of global conferences held
recently under the auspices of the United Nations, which
involved not only Governments but also non-
22

governmental organizations, civil society, the media and the
private sector, have raised awareness of and built consensus
around a number of overarching issues concerning
economic growth and sustainable development. The time
has come to shift into implementation gear and invest the
same political will and energy in the monitoring of the
follow-up process. We want to safeguard the environment
and the welfare of our children, eradicate poverty, ensure
sustainable development, and mainstream gender concerns
in all our activities at the national and international levels,
so that women and men participate fully and equally in all
spheres of life as we approach the new dawn.
It bears mentioning that Africa’s socio-economic
difficulties are further compounded by the twin processes
of globalization and liberalization. Africa therefore needs
the special attention of the international community to
ensure that the profound economic and institutional reforms
it is undertaking to create an enabling environment for
development yield maximum benefit for its people. The
launching of the United Nations System-wide Special
Initiative for Africa in March 1996, if fully implemented,
would contribute meaningfully to this endeavour.
We are painfully aware that international financial
support for Africa is insufficient and unreliable. It is
therefore necessary for the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) in Africa to focus on the enhancement
and strengthening of Africa’s subregional economic
groupings, which will serve as building blocks for an
African economic community. This in turn will ensure
Africa’s effective participation in the emerging global
economic order that is increasingly being shaped by the
forces of globalization and economic liberalization.
For our part, we in Ghana are coping, not without
difficulty, with the challenges posed by these forces,
including those that are concomitant with the structural
adjustment programmes that we have pursued for well over
a decade. Coupled with these are those other imperatives
that come with the processes of democratization and good
governance. Our democratically elected Government will
present itself to the electorate on 7 December 1996 to seek
a fresh mandate to continue with the policies that have
ensured stability and development in our country in recent
years.
The entry into force of the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea is a welcome development, and we
fully appreciate the numerous efforts and various
compromises that contributed immensely to putting into
place the various organs of the International Seabed
Authority. We hope that adequate resources will be made
available to enable developing countries to utilize fully the
benefits, and also discharge the responsibilities, deriving
from the Convention.
The financial situation of our Organization remains
precarious and a source of concern to my delegation. The
crunch in the cash-flow situation has not changed for the
better, principally because a number of countries,
including some of the largest, are neither paying their
contributions nor making good on their arrears. It is
important for Member States to provide the United
Nations system with the means and resources required to
accomplish the tasks assigned to it. Support for the
United Nations should manifest itself not only in an
eagerness to restructure it to make it more effective, but
also in the payment in full, on time and without
conditions of assessed contributions, in order to promote
the successful pursuit of the objectives of the
Organization at a time of both challenge and opportunity.
In addressing the cash-flow situation, we also wish to
deplore the high degree of wastage and overlap in the
system, especially during the start-up and liquidation
phases of peacekeeping operations as well as in the
proliferation of mandates. With the consolidation of the
internal oversight mechanisms into the Office of Internal
Oversight Services, coupled with the existing external
oversight mechanisms, it is hoped that the financial
functioning of the Organization will be more cost-
effective.
I should like to conclude by reaffirming my
delegation’s support for the reforms currently being
pursued by the United Nations. In our view, the reforms
in the financial administration of the Organization, the
revitalization of its economic and social structures, the
strengthening of the General Assembly and the
Secretariat, and the restructuring of the Security Council
all should contribute to a better functioning United
Nations suited for the challenges ahead of us as we enter
the new millennium.