Your noteworthy election, Sir, to the presidency of the
General Assembly at its fifty-first session is an eloquent
and solemn tribute from the Members of our Organization
to your great country, Malaysia. Your intellectual and moral
qualities, your faith in the United Nations and your vast
experience in international relations guarantee, in our view,
success in the work of this session. For all these reasons,
Senegal, which enjoys a strong relationship of friendship
and cooperation with your country, is happy to convey to
you, through me, warm congratulations. We assure you of
our full support in the achievement of the lofty mission
entrusted to you.
To your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Diogo
Freitas do Amaral, I wish to express our profound gratitude
for the effectiveness, competence and the commitment with
which he discharged his mandate during a historic and
particularly productive session.
I would also like to pay tribute to the Secretary-
General, His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, at this
fifty-first session of the General Assembly. Mr. Boutros
Boutros-Ghali is an ardent champion of peace and
cooperation among peoples, and his commendable work for
the United Nations should be emphasized today, to
encourage perseverance along this path. Moreover, the
African Heads of State recently adopted at Yaoundé a
statement recommending his re-election to a second term of
office as United Nations Secretary-General.

The international climate today strikes us as one of
those special situations that should awaken our
consciences, inviting us to enhance our efforts and clarity
of vision to ensure humanity a future of peace, solidarity
and cooperation.
Indeed, we are meeting at a time conducive to major
changes in the life of our Organization. The most striking
illustration of our common desire for reform was
expressed here last year, during the solemn
commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United
Nations. It was in that spirit that during the
commemorative meeting of the General Assembly some
of the most authoritative voices in the world — those of
128 Heads of State and Government — forcefully
reaffirmed their profound faith in the United Nations, its
principles and objectives.
Furthermore, these leaders unanimously called for
in-depth reflection so that we might enter the twenty-first
century with a restructured, reinvigorated Organization,
equipped with the necessary human, material and financial
resources to more effectively accomplish the lofty mission
of an Organization that harmonizes the complementary
efforts of Member States in order to achieve new goals in
a context of freedom and active solidarity.
Guaranteeing peace and collective security;
developing friendly relations among nations based on
shared values; promoting respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms; and developing varied forms of
cooperation in the economic, social, cultural and
humanitarian fields — these were the dreams of those
who, 50 years ago, created the United Nations. They are
still today the foundation, the moral basis and the
justification for the objectives we must continue to pursue
in these final years of the twentieth century, a century
that, despite two world wars, was one of prodigious
discoveries — a century that saw man walk on the moon,
explore the environs of Mars and make significant
progress in combating disease.
However, we must agree that today’s world is not
the world of 50 years ago. This one presents new and
widespread dangers but also offers different possibilities.
We must therefore close ranks, minimize our differences
and combine our efforts, as peoples, nations, States and
communities.
Today, all nations face an enormous paradox: on the
one hand, countries have never been closer to one another
due to the increasing globalization of technology; on the
8

other hand, the fragmentation of nationalities has triggered
the resurgence of new forms of confrontation and conflict,
as well as misunderstandings and serious delays in the
evolution of continents.
During the cold-war period, it was generally
considered that the main threats to peace would come from
wars between States, and the greatest fear was that a
nuclear conflict would break out and devastate the planet.
The end of the cold war gave rise to a sense of trust
in the advent of a world free from the spectre of a nuclear
cataclysm, which we welcomed with optimism. We shared
the belief that the many regional conflicts could be resolved
quickly once they were no longer fuelled by unbridled
military assistance and by positions of continual escalation
in both hemispheres.
Today, unfortunately, we are forced to recognize that
the state of the world for the most part belies these
optimistic visions; many old conflicts continue to resist the
international community’s attempts to settle them.
Pernicious and persistent intra-State conflicts have broken
out. The conflicts in Africa and in the former Yugoslavia
illustrate this situation.
Indeed, from Angola to Somalia, from Burundi and
Rwanda to Liberia, Africa is beset by conflicts whose
nature, as we are forced to recognize, prevents the proper
and effective implementation of the solutions proposed.
It is true that significant progress has been made in
some of these conflicts, particularly in Angola and to a
lesser extent in Rwanda. We need to continue our efforts in
this direction.
In other conflicts, the road to peace remains uncertain.
In Liberia, the situation is extremely murky due to the
difficulty of managing conflicts between rival factions,
despite the initiatives of the United Nations, the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the African
countries in the area.
However, we must not become discouraged. At the
recent Ministerial meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, the member
countries of the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) took some courageous decisions. These,
we hope, will create new conditions conducive to the
normalization of the situation in that country through the
organization of free and democratic elections, with the full
support of the entire international community.
Turning to Burundi, it is clear that the measures
prescribed by the United Nations and by the OAU have
not managed to end the bloodshed, nor did they prevent
the military coup de force of 25 July last. This is
regrettable and we must take action.
However, we must not lose faith. Given this new
situation, Senegal, like the African countries of the Great
Lakes region, calls for the restoration of constitutional
order and reaffirms its conviction that any solution to the
crisis in Burundi requires the initiation — despite any
feelings of resentment — of a free and transparent
dialogue in good faith between the various parties to the
conflict.
In Europe, the former Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia represented, before it was torn apart, a
successful example of a pluralistic and harmonious ethnic
and religious coexistence, which was the pride of the
world. It was in the name of these values that, from the
beginning of the conflict, Senegal rejected any notion of
partitioning Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that is why it
welcomed with great hope the signing of the Dayton
Agreement. It is in this spirit that the momentum for
peace of this Agreement must be consolidated.
In this regard, the smooth conduct of the elections of
14 September was an important step. The prosecution,
arrest and sentencing of war criminals by the international
criminal Tribunal remains a major test for the
international community. More than that, is it a matter of
proving that our community is able to implement Security
Council decisions.
Against this background, Senegal, my country, will
continue, as it has in the past, to do what it can within the
framework of the Contact Group of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference (OIC) to bring about the advent of
a Bosnia and Herzegovina at peace with itself, so that the
seeds of peace and stability can finally bear fruit in this
war-torn land and throughout the rest of the former
Yugoslavia.
Exactly one year ago we welcomed with relief the
signing of the Washington and Taba agreements —
important milestones for the establishment of peace and
reconciliation between the peoples of the Middle East.
The door thus opened must never close again. Today,
regrettably, doubts and the fear of returning to a past
marked by war and hatred are beginning to resurface. Let
us put an end to these threats while there is still time.
9

While my country has always believed, and continues
to believe, that some realities are inescapable — the
existence of Israel is one of them — it is also of the
opinion that the security of that State can, in the long term,
be assured only in the framework of respect for, and
implementation of, the current peace process, which should
lead to the definitive creation of a sovereign and
independent Palestinian state, a fully-fledged member of the
international community.
It is therefore up to the new Israeli Government,
elected in May 1996, to make decisive efforts so that the
flame of peace, ignited just recently with such courage and
clear-sightedness, continues to inspire the leaders and
peoples of Israel and Palestine towards a Middle East that
builds its future on a spirit of solidarity, cooperation and
friendship.
Given the changes in the world since the fall of the
Berlin Wall and given the new types of conflicts, which
require a new approach to the management of our collective
security system, our Organization, the United Nations, must
be understood, supported and strengthened.
Increasingly, the United Nations has been called on to
create a new generation of peacekeeping operations. The
Blue Helmets have been joined by civil experts who
provide political, economic, social and humanitarian
assistance, thus contributing to the stabilization of situations
and conflicts as well as to the search for a political
settlement to conflicts through national reconciliation
whenever necessary.
Accordingly, my country, Senegal, will continue to
take part with resolve in this noble mission in the service
of peace, with the conviction that has always inspired our
international policy. This same desire prompted its
participation, with 36 other countries, in the standby forces
system initiated recently by the Secretary-General, as well
as its commitment to the establishment of an early warning
and rapid reaction system.
Guided by these same principles, Senegal continues to
make a modest contribution to the attainment of the goal of
comprehensive and effective disarmament. Senegal’s recent
admission to the Conference on Disarmament, when that
body was expanded, attests to its will to work together with
all peace-loving nations to build a better future in a world
free from weapons of mass destruction.
In this respect, I wish to welcome warmly the
agreement concluded here on the indefinite extension of the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,
particularly since it meets the concerns of all Member
States of our Organization, specifically the African States.
In a spirit of remarkable unanimity, African States signed
in Cairo last March the Pelindaba agreement on the
denuclearization of the continent.
In the same spirit, the international community
recently took an important step to halt the nuclear arms
race with the adoption by the General Assembly on 10
September 1996 of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty, which my country has just signed on 26
September 1996, here in New York.
However, it is a fact that at a time when the
international community faces new challenges stemming
from the end of the cold war, our Organization will
increasingly be asked to play a more central role in world
affairs. Naturally this means that meaningful
improvements must be made in the work of the
Organization; most importantly, the principle of
universality should be implemented methodically and
effectively. Accordingly, the restructuring and
democratization of the Security Council must remain a
priority goal. This central body of the United Nations
must reflect in its decision-making process the concerns
of the entire membership of our Organization. Its reform
must lead to increased transparency and a better
representation by all regions of the world.
Guided by the ideal of the universality of the United
Nations, Senegal supports the request of the Republic of
China to be admitted to membership in our Organization,
and, generally speaking, to membership in the specialized
agencies of the United Nations system. It is inarguable, in
our opinion, that that State, in view of its socio-economic
performance, its development level, its commitment to
democratic values and its behaviour in international
affairs meets all the criteria and conditions set forth by
the Charter of the United Nations for admission to
membership. This admission to membership, should it
occur, would make an important contribution to
stabilizing international relations in that part of Asia and
would allow for an unprecedented economic, technical
and cultural cooperation among the countries of South-
East Asia and Africa. Its admission would in no way
jeopardize the efforts made by the international
community for peace and development in the world.
The values of peace, freedom and economic and
social justice, which 50 years ago inspired the creation of
our Organization, must now more than ever remain the
10

basis of our common action towards a life of dignity for all.
The post-cold-war experience has taught us once again that
the many facets of underdevelopment remain a serious
threat to international peace and security.
Now that globalization and interdependence are
phenomena recognized by all, we must understand that the
destiny of humankind is one and indivisible. This obvious
truth must persuade us to seek, in a spirit of solidarity, joint
solutions to the persistent problems of underdevelopment.
The series of major world conferences set to conclude next
November with the World Food Summit — a positive
initiative welcomed by my country — is an encouraging
sign of the international community’s resolve to meet these
challenges in the best interests of the peoples of the world,
on the basis of a comprehensive, integrated approach to
human development.
We need now to maintain and strengthen that spirit by
mobilizing additional financial resources, without which the
commitments undertaken will remain a dead letter, which
would betray the legitimate hopes to which they gave rise.
We must find an early and comprehensive solution to the
severe debt crisis. The components of the problem are fairly
clear today. The sustained structural-adjustment efforts
made by our country will remain futile and ineffective if
external factors such as the debt burden and the
deterioration of the terms of trade continue seriously to
hinder our development prospects.
The Agenda for Development gives us a new
opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to world peace and
stability by defining a comprehensive framework for action
based on economic justice, social well-being, the protection
of human rights and the preservation of the environment.
The development of Africa, and I cannot
overemphasize this point, is the primary responsibility of
the Africans themselves. That is why in many African
countries today Governments continue with determination
to carry out bold and difficult reforms, reflected, inter alia,
in the improved and more rational use of public funds, in
the opening of our economies to international trade and in
the creation of conditions conducive to private enterprise
and to the transparent management of public affairs with,
most importantly, all sectors of society participating in the
work of national development, in the interests of all. In this
regard, we must pay tribute to the Bretton Woods
institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund for the assistance and support they have extended to
our countries. For these ongoing efforts to be successful,
they must be supported by increased official development
assistance, substantial debt relief and by the lifting of
barriers and other protectionist measures. These three
areas require dynamic action on the part of the
international community.
Senegal is firmly convinced that we can combat
African pessimism if we are resolved jointly to promote
a mutually beneficial partnership for the recovery of an
Africa with enormous potential, which, if tapped, would
offer our partners real opportunities. It was this
conviction, let us recall, that prompted the Head of State
of Senegal, His Excellency Mr. Abdou Diouf, to take the
initiative during his first term of office as Acting
Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, to request
the convening for the first time of a special session of the
General Assembly to discuss the economic situation in
Africa. That is the light in which my country sees the two
initiatives devoted to Africa: the United Nations New
Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and
the Special Initiative for Africa, launched by the
Secretary-General in March 1996.
Furthermore, we noted that the mid-term review of
the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of
Africa at this session gave a very frank assessment of
what must be done to make this project a genuine
framework for multilateral cooperation and a source of
inspiration for a fruitful partnership for development.
In conclusion, I should like to touch on the United
Nations financial crisis, which has become a source of
major concern for all our States. Since the causes of the
situation have been discussed at length in this very Hall,
I do not believe it is necessary to recall them. However,
one thing is very clear. At a time when our Organization
is committed on several fronts, both to restoring peace
and to strengthening its role as the primary framework
and instrument for the advent of the new world order, its
financial stability is essential to enable us jointly to meet
the major challenges ahead.
Therefore, my country, Senegal, would like once
again to appeal to all Member States regularly to meet
their financial obligations. In this regard, it is essential
that the credibility of the United Nations not be impugned
at a time when, individually and collectively, we have
such high hopes for the future of humankind.
Once again, the effectiveness of the United Nations
will depend upon our common resolve to harmonize our
own interests to achieve our shared goals in strict
11

accordance with the fundamental principles of the San
Francisco Charter.
As our President, His Excellency Mr. Abdou Diouf,
has said repeatedly, Senegal will continue, as it has in the
past, to work tirelessly for the attainment of the ideals of
peace, justice and solidarity, and to reaffirm and seek
compliance with all the principles on which a true
international community, sharing a common destiny, is
based.


On behalf of the Nigerian
delegation, I convey to Mr. Razali Ismail our
congratulations on his election as President of the General
Assembly at its fifty-first session. His election is a
recognition of his wide-ranging experience, candour and
diplomatic skills. It is also a tribute to his great country.
We are confident that, under his presidency, the work of
the General Assembly will be highly successful.
May I also convey the appreciation of my delegation
to his predecessor, Mr. Diogo Freitas Do Amaral of
Portugal, for the admirable manner and great sense of
commitment with which he conducted the affairs of the
fiftieth session of the Assembly. Nigeria also commends
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali for the energy, sense of
purpose and direction which he has brought to bear on the
office of the Secretary-General in the meritorious service
of our Organization.
When we met last year to commemorate the fiftieth
anniversary of the United Nations, we observed that a
number of developments on the political and economic
scene had affected relations between States and modified
the configuration of power at the global level. We
9

recognized that the United Nations continues to be a viable
instrument for the conduct of relations amongst States. We
rededicated ourselves to the principles and objectives of the
United Nations Charter, including, in particular, the
promotion of social and economic development and the
maintenance of international peace and security. In this
endeavour, the United Nations has a central role to play.
Member States, in line with their obligations under the
Charter, have a duty to assist the United Nations in carrying
out this responsibility. This requires the political
commitment of all Member States and in particular of those
upon which the Charter confers special status.
Some of the developments which have occurred on the
international scene include the globalization of the world
economy, the upsurge in market economies, the rise in
economic growth in a number of countries and the growing
trend towards political pluralism and democratization.
However, new forms of conflict, new nationalisms,
terrorism, an increasing incidence of poverty and global
social decline have cast a sombre shadow on international
peace and security, as well as on economic growth and
development. The growing incidents of conflict, whether in
Europe, in Africa or in the Middle East, and the slow pace
of their resolution, are helping to exacerbate international
tension and undermine confidence among States. The
United Nations has a duty in this regard to redefine its role
and sharpen its peacemaking and peacekeeping tools in
order to effectively address them.
Peace is indivisible. The burden of peace, therefore,
should be shared by all in a mode of global responsibility
and partnership. Let me add also that the maintenance of
international peace and security is not an exclusive
responsibility of the United Nations. Regional and
subregional arrangements have important roles to play and
have demonstrated their commitment.
Although many regions of the world are now
witnessing one form of conflict or another, with varying
degrees of implications for the United Nations system, no
region perhaps is more afflicted by this menace than Africa,
both in the number of conflicts currently raging and in their
unimaginable negative effects on the people. The individual
and collective efforts of African States to achieve socio-
political transformation have been threatened by these
conflicts. In spite of this, the States of Africa have
continued to make concerted efforts at regional and
subregional levels to address this situation. The unique role
being played by the Organization of African Unity (OAU)
Mechanism for Conflict Prevention Management and
Resolution is important and should be supported by the
international community. Nigeria welcomes the
cooperation between the OAU and other regional
organizations and the United Nations in the field of
preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and peacemaking.
In our own subregion, the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) undertook an
unprecedented initiative in crisis management by
establishing a peacekeeping force, the ECOWAS
Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), in Liberia six years ago.
In spite of the difficulties we have encountered in the
process, we remain committed in our endeavour to help
the Liberian process reach its logical conclusion. In this
regard, Nigeria shares the view of many observers who
have described the revised Abuja peace agreement of
August 1996 as providing the best legal framework for
the resolution of the Liberian crisis. I am pleased to
report that the implementation of the Agreement revised
at Abuja last August is now on course. A new Council of
State, headed by Mrs. Ruth Perry, has been installed.
Since her installation, Mrs. Perry has enjoyed the
considerable confidence of the other members of the
Liberian National Transitional Government and indeed of
most Liberians. I take this opportunity to appeal to all
Liberians to extend cooperation to the new leadership in
the interest of peace in their country. Let me assure the
Assembly that it is the determination of my Head of
State, General Sani Abacha, Chairman of ECOWAS —
in collaboration with other leaders in our region and with
the support of the international community as a whole —
to ensure the resolution of the Liberian crisis.
It is our expectation that the Liberians themselves
will assume their destiny in favour of peace, national
reconciliation and national reconstruction. We therefore
renew our appeal to the international community to
provide much-needed financial, material and logistic
support to enable ECOMOG and the United Nations
Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) to effectively
discharge their respective mandates. Meanwhile, we
acknowledge with appreciation the renewed cooperation
and assistance with the ECOWAS effort of some of the
members of the international community.
Of great importance to the search for peace in the
various troubled spots of the world is the urgent need to
control the instruments of war. It is a matter of deep
regret that the end of the cold war has not ushered in in
its wake any appreciable reduction in the global arms
build-up. As the arms build-up and the proliferation of
conflicts are mutually reinforcing, there is an urgent need
for the international community to contain the trend. The
10

threat posed by existing stockpiles of weapons of mass
destruction and conventional armaments is yet to be
removed.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT),
a priority item on the disarmament agenda of the United
Nations, has been adopted. In spite of the imperfections of
this Treaty, the Nigerian Government was able to support
it and will be signing it in due course. Its adoption, which
puts an end to the further qualitative improvement of
nuclear weapons and arsenals, represents a significant first
step towards the goal of nuclear disarmament. It is our
expectation that the Conference on Disarmament, the single
multilateral negotiating body on disarmament, will now take
the next logical step to negotiate such disarmament within
a time-bound framework. The nuclear-weapon States have
a clear responsibility and duty to cooperate with the
Conference on Disarmament to negotiate such a treaty.
The adoption of the Treaty of Pelindaba creating a
nuclear-weapon-free zone in Africa has been an important
contribution to confidence building in Africa, in addition to
being a collateral disarmament measure. In view of the
overwhelming support enjoyed by the Treaty beyond the
African continent, it is recommended that other regions
undertake similar efforts by establishing nuclear-weapon-
free zones or zones of peace. While it is commendable to
observe that the majority of nuclear-weapon States have
since signed the protocol to the Treaty, we take this
opportunity to urge other States that have not yet done so
to do so, in order that the full objectives of the Treaty can
be achieved.
Peace and development are mutually reinforcing. A
just and enduring peace can only be founded on the general
welfare and socio-economic progress of all peoples and all
nations. It is indeed disconcerting to note that while the
countries of the North are becoming more affluent, the
countries of the South, which contain the majority of the
world’s population, are getting more impoverished. We
must collectively recognize and accept the fact that the
deepening crisis of development faced by developing
countries can only undermine the new world order which
we seek to create.
Africa, in particular, has continued to experience the
crippling impacts of external debt, deteriorating terms of
trade, increasing barriers to trade, declining investment and
financial inflows, and capital flight. African countries
recognize that the primary responsibility for finding a
solution to the economic difficulties facing the continent
lies with themselves. Hence they have sought to put in
place sound macro-economic policies and adopted very
painful programmes of economic reform. However, their
best endeavours have continued to be constrained by the
prevailing unfavourable international economic climate.
We believe that development cooperation should engender
genuine interdependence, mutual interest and benefits in
the context of global partnership, rather than the old mode
of a donor-recipient relationship.
We must recognize the central role of the United
Nations in engendering the process of global
development. In this regard, my delegation calls for faster
progress in the ongoing work on the Secretary-General’s
Agenda for Development. In the same spirit, we of the
African continent urge the international community to
deliver on its promises under the United Nations New
Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-
NADAF). We have just taken part in the mid-term review
of its implementation. We recognize that UN-NADAF has
had a poor record of implementation. None the less, the
United Nations system and the international community
at large must deliver on their various commitments.
Nigeria considers as complementary the Secretary-
General’s United Nations System-wide Special Initiative
for Africa, particularly as it envisages collaboration and
coordination of efforts between the international
community, the Bretton Woods financial institutions and
the United Nations development agencies on the issue of
development. In recognition of its role as the centre for
the harmonization of the actions of nations, the United
Nations successful hosting of major global conferences on
development — from New York in 1990 through Rio in
1992, Vienna in 1993, Cairo in 1994, Copenhagen and
Beijing in 1995, to Istanbul in 1996 — deserves our
special commendation. The faithful implementation of the
decisions and programmes of action of these conferences
would assist in bridging the yawning gap between the
developing and the developed economies and constitute a
substantive benefit to development. Accordingly, we
endorse and will continue to give our unqualified support
to the hosting of a special session of the General
Assembly in 1997 to review the implementation of
Agenda 21.
It is hardly necessary to recall that contemporary
international relations were founded on the basis of
respect for the principles of sovereign equality of States,
non-interference in the internal affairs of other States and
peaceful co-existence. It is therefore a matter of great
concern that these hallowed principles are increasingly
being eroded by some powerful States. The United

Nations should serve as the bulwark against the imposition
of the will of the strong over that of the weak.
Today all countries are engaged in a universal quest
for human dignity. It is no longer sufficient for us to be
content that our nations have been liberated from
oppression and foreign domination. It is now universally
acknowledged that the full meaning of national sovereignty
cannot be realized unless the individual citizen is free to
exercise his true conscience. The rise of this new
international conscience is a legitimate extension of the
earlier emergence of the new international morality which
threw colonialism into disarray.
There ought to be no conflict between national
sovereignty and the fundamental rights of the individual.
We welcome the growing international concern with human
rights, but unless we are careful to strictly define the
parameters of what actions justly constitute human rights
and what are excesses threatening the security of the State
as well as the safety and well-being of the citizens, we
could unwittingly be doing a disservice to the essence of
human freedom and dignity. We must therefore guard
against the use of human rights as a pretext for advancing
the individual or collective interests of one section of the
international community against those of the other.
In today’s world, the collation, delivery and
management of information has become an essential
component of development. Countries which are better
endowed technologically have tended to use that
endowment to the disadvantage of the less endowed. There
is a need therefore to establish a New World Information
Order, which respects the mutual sensitivities of States and
protects the values of their differing cultures.
Most developing countries lack the resources and
technological capacity for the requisite information delivery.
This, in no small measure, constrains their ability to project
news of events in their society promptly and effectively,
avoiding the tendentious reporting of the media in the
developed countries. Nigeria’s desire to be friends with all
nations, our commitment to the maintenance of international
peace and security and our abiding faith in the principles
enshrined in the charters of the United Nations, the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) and our subregional
organization, ECOWAS, are demonstrable and beyond
question. It was therefore a matter of surprise to the
Nigerian Government that this Assembly, in December
1995, adopted resolution 50/199 of 22 December 1995 on
the human-rights situation in our country. We believe that
this action was based largely on media reporting and
without any investigation of the facts of the matter. In
spite of the fact that the Nigerian Government was not
happy with that action, we subsequently took the initiative
to invite the Secretary-General to send a fact-finding
mission to Nigeria to ascertain the realities on the ground.
That mission visited the country from 28 March to 13
April 1996, and conducted its work unfettered. While the
mission’s report identified areas of progress in our
domestic situation, it also made constructive
recommendations. I would like to take this opportunity to
express the appreciation of the Government and the
people of Nigeria to those Governments which took a
principled position of not supporting the resolution against
us. We note with satisfaction that since the United
Nations visit, a growing number of countries have
reconsidered their position on the matter in favour of
Nigeria. We therefore urge the Assembly to take
cognizance of these positive developments.
The present Administration in my country has
continued to make steady progress in the implementation
of its programme of transition to democratic rule. The
fundamental difficulties which faced our nation in its
previous efforts at building a viable democracy are being
progressively addressed, taking into account the objective
realities of our national situation, so as to ensure an
orderly transition and the establishment of durable
democratic structures of governance at all levels in our
country. We are encouraged by the successful outcome of
the elections which were conducted at the local
government level in March this year. The impressive
turnout of voters nationwide and the general atmosphere
of tranquillity prevailing in our country have elicited
goodwill and support from within and outside the country.
Political parties have now been registered and full
political activities have resumed nation-wide. Our
transition to civil rule is now fully on an irreversible
course.
In our resolve to ensure that the evolving democratic
institutions take root in a fertile economic environment,
the Nigerian Government has undertaken economic
reforms aimed at promoting rapid growth and sustainable
development. The overall macroeconomic performance of
the economy has improved with the implementation of
deflationary fiscal and monetary measures. Efforts are
ongoing to establish a conducive environment for the
promotion of investment, both domestic and foreign.
Additionally, in recognition of the vital role of finance in
the attainment of greater economic efficiency, a wholesale
overhaul of the banking and financial services sector has
been undertaken to sanitize this important sector of the
12

national economy. It is also worthy of mention that
necessary instruments have been put in place in order to
intensify economic deregulation and create a conducive
environment for domestic and foreign investment.
In the year 2010, Nigeria will be 50 years old as an
independent and sovereign nation. It is envisaged that by
that date, Nigeria will have achieved economic prosperity,
political stability and social harmony. In order to realize
this objective, our Government announced, a few weeks
ago, a new socio-economic campaign, “Vision 2010”, to
provide insights into and articulate the goals and objectives
of our national economy in a macroeconomic format. It is
also intended to focus on the contribution of the private
sector as the engine of growth of our economy. We urge
the international community to give this programme the
necessary support and encouragement.
In order for the United Nations to respond fully to the
purpose for which it was established, there is need to
strengthen the Organization and to reform its principal
organs. Such reform must be system-wide and must be
undertaken not for its own sake but to achieve efficiency
and effectiveness. It should aim to enhance rather than
weaken the capacity of the United Nations to respond
effectively to the legitimate aspirations of all its Members.
A vibrant and responsible United Nations requires an
assured financial base. The failure or unwillingness of
Member States to pay their assessed contributions as and
when due is a dereliction of Charter obligations and a threat
to the survival of the United Nations. For our part, Nigeria
has continued to pay in full and without conditions our
assessed contributions to the regular budget including, in
particular, for the year 1996. We therefore call on all
Member States that have yet to do so to pay their assessed
contributions promptly, in full and without conditions.
For several decades, the Middle East question has
engaged the attention of the international community.
Nigeria has been concerned with the various wars and acts
of terrorism which have brought incalculable loss of life
and property to that region. There can be no question but
that we will continue to support the just struggle of the
Palestinian people for their inalienable right to a homeland.
There is an increasing awareness, even among the countries
of the region, that the right of Israel to live within safe and
secure borders can no longer be denied. We call on all
parties to intensify their efforts to ensure that the peace
process in the Middle East remains on course.
For some time now, the world has been faced with
a new upsurge in terrorist incidents. Nigeria condemns
unreservedly all acts of terrorism in all its manifestations,
as terrorism cannot be a substitute for dialogue and
peaceful negotiations in resolving conflicts and
misunderstandings between nations. We call on the
General Assembly to take additional steps to eradicate the
scourge of this menace, which also constitutes a threat to
international peace and security.
As the principal organ of the United Nations, the
Security Council is in dire need of reform. Its
composition must reflect the principle of equity, balance
and equitable geographical distribution. It must seek to
correct the current anomaly of the non-representation of
Africa in the permanent membership category.
We should, however, be mindful that reform of the
United Nations, particularly in a period of transition, is an
onerous undertaking. My delegation recognizes the vital
role of the office of the Secretary-General in overseeing
this reform process. In spite of the difficulties the United
Nations is passing through and the fluidity of the
international situation, His Excellency Mr. Boutros
Boutros-Ghali has shown uncommon and unrelenting
commitment to meeting the challenges of his office. He
deserves our gratitude and continued support. We
therefore wish to see him complete the laudable changes
he has initiated, some of which are already yielding
useful results. In this connection we reiterate and support
fully the collective African position that Africa should be
given the opportunity to serve two terms in the office of
Secretary-General. For that purpose, Mr. Boutros Boutros-
Ghali is the only candidate recommended by the
Organization of African Unity. Like his predecessors,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali should be given a second term
to serve our Organization. It is the only credible thing to
do. This is a matter of principle in our country.
My delegation recognizes the enormous tasks facing
the Organization as it seeks to concretely address the
challenges of the twenty-first century, and we wish to
reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to continue to contribute
effectively to the realization of the Organization’s twin
objectives of global peace and prosperity.


It
gives me great pleasure to begin my statement by
congratulating Mr. Razali Ismail on his election to the
office of President of the General Assembly at its fifty-
first session.
I am quite confident that his extensive experience
and competence will definitely contribute to the
successful outcome of this session. I should like to assure
him that we are keen to cooperate with him and support
his efforts to bring the proceedings of this session of the
General Assembly to a successful conclusion.
In recent weeks, Iraq has been the focus of
worldwide attention and interest because of the American
missile attacks to which it has been subjected and the
intensive American military build-up that followed in
preparation for a large-scale military aggression on the
pretext that Iraq violated Security Council resolutions.
I would like here to describe our views on these
events. Iraq has acted in no way contrary to the Charter
or Security Council resolutions or to justify an American
military aggression against it. What Iraq did was to move
its forces on its own territories and within its
internationally recognized borders at the request of one of
the main Iraqi Kurdish factions in order to repel a
military aggression committed by another faction in
alliance with a neighbouring foreign country. This action
of the Iraqi Government falls within the sovereignty of
Iraq over its own territories and in the context of its duty
to defend its own people and repel any foreign aggression
against them. This is a right guaranteed by all
international covenants and laws. It is also a basic
responsibility of the Government of any country.
The operation was limited, swift and carried out
without the loss of human lives. This has been attested to
by all observers, including officials of United Nations
agencies who were working in northern Iraq. T h i s
operation put an end to the state of civil war, in-fighting,
chaos and insecurity in northern Iraq and restored peace
and stability to that region. The United States, however,
tried to exploit these developments and to use them as a
pretext to carry out missile attacks against Iraq and
destroy a number of civilian installations, leaving many
martyrs and wounded civilians in its wake.
20

The United States Administration was not satisfied
with its military aggression against Iraq. The United States
President openly announced, on 3 September 1996, his
decision to expand the no-fly zone in southern Iraq, which
had been imposed by the United States in 1992, from the
32nd parallel to the 33rd parallel. The imposition of no-fly
zones in Iraqi airspace is a use of armed force in violation
of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq. It was a
unilateral decision that had nothing to do with the United
Nations nor with Security Council resolutions on Iraq. This
fact was confirmed by the official spokesman of the United
Nations on 7 January 1993, when he said that the
imposition of the no-fly zone in southern Iraq was not
based on any Security Council resolution.
The spokesman of the French Foreign Ministry
announced on 2 September 1996 that:
“There is no United Nations or the Security Council
provision defining the basis for a no-fly zone north of
the 36th parallel or south of the 32nd parallel. The
decision to establish these zones is a quadrilateral
decision by France, the United States, Britain and
Turkey. There is no provision by the United Nations
defining these zones.”
As the Permanent Representative of Russia to the
United Nations pointed out on 5 September 1996:
“This no-fly zone, from its inception, was not based
on any international legal foundation.”
The Arab and world reaction to the aggressive actions
of the United States has been one of rejection and
condemnation. The whole world now knows that the
imposition of the no-fly zones in Iraq is neither legitimate
nor legal and constitutes an ongoing aggression against
Iraq. It must cease.
From the beginning, Iraq has been very clear in
rejecting the so-called no-fly zones unilaterally imposed by
America and some of its allies. America and Britain
insisted on expanding this no-fly zone and claimed that its
aim, as declared by the highest officials in the United States
Administration, was to protect United States strategic
interests in the region. I wonder: Is a State entitled forcibly
to impose such a situation on another independent State,
also a United Nations Member, on the pretext of protecting
its strategic interests? Such acts would cause the law of the
jungle to prevail in international relations over the law of
the Charter.
We demand that the United Nations, the General
Assembly and the Security Council reject this logic —
which is based neither on international legitimacy nor on
the authorization of the Security Council itself — and
relieve our country of this injustice. None of the
allegations and pretexts put forward by the United States
to justify its attacks and military build-up against Iraq
have any justification in law, fact or legitimacy. They
should be deplored and condemned.
I would like here to express the gratitude of the
people of Iraq for the Arab and world reaction to this
aggression and the acts that followed, which were aimed
at violating Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
No one here is unaware of the suffering of the Iraqi
people as a result of the total blockade imposed on them,
which has prevented them from satisfying their basic
human needs for more than six years. Conditions in Iraq
have reached such an extreme that it has become
impossible for the United Nations to maintain the silence
imposed on it by one party’s will, especially when
humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies
have loudly warned of the serious consequences and harm
of continuing the total blockade of Iraq. Infant mortality
rates have soared for lack of food and medicine. Disease
is rampant. The health, education and environmental
sectors have deteriorated. There have also been major
effects and regression in other humanitarian fields, in the
growth and development of which Iraq had been a
pioneer among third-world countries.
However, the United States of America, which has
been shedding crocodile tears over the humanitarian
conditions of the Iraqi people and their need for food and
medicine, stands today publicly and blatantly against the
legal, balanced and proper implementation of the
memorandum of understanding on the “oil for food”
formula arrived at by Iraq and the United Nations
Secretariat on 20 May 1995.
While the professional and diplomatic dialogue
between Iraq and the United Nations Secretariat managed
to reach agreements satisfactory to both sides, the United
States tried to put all kinds of hurdles in the way of the
negotiations at each phase, with a view to delaying the
finalization of the memorandum of understanding. Then
it started to set up road blocks, hindering the actual
implementation of the memorandum’s provisions in the
framework of the sanctions committees and in the
completion of the administrative arrangements needed for
such implementation.
21

I would like here to provide some statistics to
demonstrate the magnitude of the obstacles the United
States threw up to the process of drafting the memorandum
of understanding. It is well known that it took 50 working
meetings to complete the memorandum — 50 working
meetings — from 6 February to 20 May 1996. In the
course of this process, the United States presented 29
amendments to the provisions of the memorandum agreed
upon with the United Nations Secretariat during the
negotiations. Although Security Council resolution 986
(1995) provides for accelerated procedures to implement
agreements, it took 80 days to establish the said procedures.
During this period, 28 informal meetings were held with
experts from the French and German missions; there were
five formal meetings, at which the procedures were
supposed to have been quickly completed and adopted. The
United States, however, delayed that adoption for three
more weeks. The United States remains to this day the only
party blocking the implementation of the memorandum of
understanding, and it does so for political reasons that
completely contradict its own allegations that the purpose
of resolution 986 (1995) is purely humanitarian.
Because of United States pressure and interference, the
Secretary-General has so far been unable to implement the
memorandum of understanding. This is evidenced by the
fact that discussion on the implementation of a six-month
plan to provide food and medicine to the Iraqi people has
taken seven months. It is not yet complete because of
continuous United States interference and derailing of the
process to implement this memorandum. We believe that
these acts should cease and that the United Nations
Secretariat and Iraq should be allowed to implement the
memorandum as soon as possible and without further
interference.
The Iraqi people want to be able to satisfy their own
needs, using their own capabilities and financial means.
They seek the lifting of restrictions whose sole aim is to
starve them and wound their honour and pride. However,
like the people of Iraq, a proud people more than 6,000
years old that has given birth to human civilizations, will
not kneel before any threat nor surrender its sovereignty
and pride to those whose only aim is hegemony over the
wealth of peoples and things sacred to them. Iraq is only
demanding its right — guaranteed by all international
covenants and customs and Security Council resolutions —
since all the obligations imposed on Iraq have been carried
out and all the reasons for the imposition of these unjust
sanctions have been removed.
Iraq has fulfilled all its obligations under Security
Council resolutions in spite of the injustice they involved.
While these same resolutions place corresponding
obligations on the Security Council, we have seen no
movement by the Council to meet them. We feel, rather,
that the Council has abdicated its powers of control and
monitoring of the implementation of its resolutions. It
assigned that task to the Special Commission
(UNSCOM), which it entrusted with the implementation
of section C of resolution 687 (1991) and gave sole
responsibility to decide whether Iraq has carried out all its
obligations and deserves to have the sanctions lifted.
UNSCOM has been working throughout Iraq for
nearly six years. It has sent 373 inspection teams,
comprising a total of 3,754 international inspectors, in
addition to its established staff located in Baghdad, which
is made up of more than 90 officials. The Commission
uses the most up-to-date scientific and technological
means and methods, which should have enabled it to
accomplish its mission and verify the results of its work.
Is it conceivable that this Commission has been unable to
accomplish its mission to date? Would anybody ask the
Executive Chairman of UNSCOM what has been
accomplished and what remains to be done? Is it
conceivable that UNSCOM has not yet been able to
destroy the weapons of mass destruction once owned by
Iraq? What has this huge army of inspectors been doing
all this time? They did not come to Iraq for a vacation. Is
it true that the documents and equipment which the
Commission alleges to remain but has been unable to find
constitute a threat to international peace and security and
require the withholding of its recommendation that the
sanctions against Iraq be lifted, even partially?
Iraq has fulfilled all its substantive obligations with
regard to the implementation of section C of resolution
687 (1991) on the elimination of prohibited weapons. I
would like to reaffirm from this rostrum, on behalf of my
Government, that Iraq has retained no prohibited
weapons, components of such weapons or documents
related thereto. What UNSCOM has been saying about
Iraq’s concealment of prohibited weapons, components of
such weapons or documents related thereto is based on
mere suspicion unsupported by material evidence. Those
suspicions emanate from American and British
intelligence services and their agents.
Iraq has asked UNSCOM to address these suspicions
in a practical, objective and apolitical manner. UNSCOM
is not a political body to be influenced by the political
goals of any one country. It is, rather, a technical
22

Commission obliged to carry out its tasks in a technical and
scientific manner free from political conflicts and
antagonistic positions. We have witnessed in our dealings
with UNSCOM, however, that it tends to act out of political
considerations rather than on the basis of technical and
scientific facts.
My country demands that the permanent members of
the Security Council — including the Arab Republic of
Egypt, the Arab representative on the Council and one of
the largest countries of the Middle East genuinely interested
in seeing the region free from weapons of mass destruction
— participate directly in the work and activities of
UNSCOM and in the evaluation of its work and final
conclusions. We are quite certain that, if this participation
is carried out quickly and scrupulously, the conclusion will
be reached, supported by evidence and convincing
arguments, that the substantive issues in this file have been
resolved as required by resolution 687 (1991) and that it is
now time for the implementation of paragraph 22 of the
said resolution.
We wish to point out that our most recent experience
with work carried out under the auspices of the United
Nations has proven that there is a problem with the
Organization’s structure. This problem is the large
imbalance that exists between rights and obligations, in
addition to the prevalence of the logic of force, which is
not in the provisions of the Charter. The machinery of the
international Organization has been used as a tool to
implement the foreign policy of certain international super-
Powers and to divert the United Nations, particularly the
Security Council, from its natural path towards one that
clearly contradicts the letter and spirit of the Charter which,
as the organizing document of this Organization, forms the
constitutional and legal basis upon which the United
Nations must rely in all its practices.
The provisions of the Charter dictate that the Security
Council shall act in accordance with these purposes and
principles when discharging its duties in the maintenance of
international peace and security and in adopting its
resolutions, whose content and implementation should
conform to the principles of justice and international law.
There are restrictions that the Council should abide by
when adopting its resolutions, which should accord with the
purposes and principles of the Organization, so that
Member States are able to fulfil their obligation to accept
and carry out the decisions of the Security Council
resolutions in accordance with Article 25 of the Charter.
The Security Council is not a world Government endowed
with the power of legislation and detailed implementation
beyond the letter and spirit of the Charter. It is, rather, a
United Nations organ that must abide by the legal norms
which constitute the legal basis for international
legitimacy, embodied in every provision of the Charter of
the United Nations.
Believing in the principle of interdependence and in
the common interests of all the peoples of the Earth,
based on the sovereignty, independence and common
concerns of States, Iraq has contributed and continues to
contribute to the strengthening of the relations and values
of multilateral international action. The poor countries of
the southern hemisphere are facing a series of attempts to
marginalize, isolate and prevent them from keeping pace
with scientific and economic developments. These
attempts include raising trade and political barriers to
hinder these countries’ acquisition of technology and their
chances of scientific progress, thereby subjecting them
willy-nilly to an economic machinery that furthers only
the interests of the large industrial Powers or the rich
countries of the North. As President Saddam Hussein
pointed out in his speech on Iraq’s National Day last July,
the battle of the developing countries is the battle of the
southern hemisphere for freedom, independence,
development, prosperity and the enjoyment of rights and
justice.
President Saddam Hussein also pointed out that the
United States of America and other international Powers
have promulgated slogans publicly calling upon the
countries of the South to develop their capabilities and
potential, allegedly in order to bale themselves out from
underdevelopment, poverty and deprivation. But when
Iraq developed its capabilities and potential and used this
development and its oil wealth to further its national
development and advancement and to enhance Iraqis’
abilities and qualifications, the people responsible for the
banners and slogans mobilized, under United States
leadership, all the forces of evil against Iraq and attacked
it with the bombs, missiles and armies of the 30-nation
aggression in order to destroy my country’s infrastructure
and one of the new pillars of development among the
countries of the South.
This places on the United Nations a large and
historic obligation to shoulder the responsibilities
entrusted to it by the Charter and to ensure the rights of
all peoples and countries to peace, development and
economic prosperity. The United Nations must be, as its
founding fathers wanted it to be, the international
instrument for the economic and social advancement of
all peoples, rather than an instrument in the hands of a
23

certain Power that uses it to impose its hegemony on the
world by force and blackmail.
In conclusion, I would like to express my country’s
firm belief that the United Nations, through the strenuous
efforts of its working groups on the reform of its structure
and methods of work, and thanks to the good will of many
of its Members, will in the near future again approach its
true potential and capabilities to reject hegemony over it
and to accomplish the goals and purposes of its Charter in
conformity with international legitimacy and in the interest
of the welfare and happiness of all mankind.


May I congratulate the President
on his new responsibilities and pay tribute to Mr. Freitas
do Amaral of Portugal. During last year’s jubilee session,
his persistence furthered this Assembly’s revitalization
process.
Less than a year ago, world leaders met in this Hall to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations
and renew their commitment to the Charter. The world
community rejoiced. Hope had survived the darkness of the
cold war. Trust in the United Nations was, however,
tempered by an awareness of the difficulties threatening its
survival and the aspirations of the peoples it represents.
Could the Organization address the new phenomenon of
instability which risked sapping its capacities and
resources? What prevailed was a pragmatic assessment. The
alternatives to the United Nations were either that of
attempting to reinvent the wheel or scuttling this forum of
dialogue and cooperation to have arrogance and chaos usher
in the new millennium.
We, the peoples, can ill afford war. Rhetoric can never
cancel the grief and destruction it generates. The United
Nations was founded to save succeeding generations from
this scourge. Notwithstanding the then-widespread
colonialism and the angst of bipolarism, the world
community worked to contain the risk of war. As the
ability to destroy grew, so did the potential of States to be
annihilated. Brave, bold steps required clear vision and a
commitment to peace. The Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, extended indefinitely
last year, is a monumental landmark in this arduous quest.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is another
milestone. Malta co-sponsored the resolution that led to
its adoption by the General Assembly and is honoured to
have been amongst its first signatories.
The challenge remains. We must generate broader
confidence to ensure universal adherence and compliance
to these treaties and others, including the Chemical
Weapons Convention. Procrastination in their ratification
by the States that matter most could expose them to the
danger of becoming dead letters. Malta welcomes the
commitment expressed by President Clinton of the United
States of America in this regard.
The risk of world conflict, though remote, is still
present. The total horror of a nuclear holocaust induces an
in-built restraint. This is not the case with conventional
armaments or weapons of mass destruction. Millions of
victims of local and regional conflicts — be they dead,
maimed, refugees, displaced, widowed or orphaned —
continue to torment the conscience of humankind. These
tragedies spur us to pursue initiatives which foster
security and confidence. The call for a ban on the
production, export and use of anti-personnel landmines
has Malta’s full support. The seven-point programme of
action proposed by the Foreign Minister Kinkel of
Germany provides a good basis for progress.
We must melt the bastions of suspicion. Only a
consolidated regime of confidence-building and
disarmament measures can buttress belief in and
commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes. This
process requires regional and international concerted
action. Malta has been active in promoting security and
cooperation in the Mediterranean. Malta and France have
both made proposals for a stability pact for the
Mediterranean. The sharing of concerns among countries
afflicted by common problems can help overcome them.
This and other initiatives could turn our sea of turmoil
into one of mutual trust.
Malta’s foreign policy is both inspired and
dependent on the notion of regional stability. It continues
15

to sustain our efforts at greater Mediterranean cooperation.
It inspired our proposal to have the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe declare itself a regional
arrangement in terms of Chapter VIII of the United Nations
Charter.
The enlargement of the European Union, of which
Malta expects to become a full member in the near future,
provides a unique dimension of the process of regional
cooperation. Malta welcomes the statement made by Deputy
Prime Minister Spring of Ireland on behalf of the European
Union. It reflects the common values which have always
inspired the European process and led to the consolidation
of democracy, prosperity, social justice and solidarity. In
the framework of the structured dialogue, Malta has worked
with its European Union partners on key issues to promote
peaceful coexistence, cooperation, development and
progress within the world community.
Malta supports the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.
Cooperation in the political, security, economic and
financial areas cannot but yield results. Social, cultural and
human relations are other important aspects of this
partnership. Malta has always seen its application for
membership of the European Union in terms that
encompass the economic and the broader political
dimensions. The successful outcome of the negotiations on
Malta’s accession, due to start in the coming months, will
further strengthen our contribution.
Interlocking institutions of the European security
architecture, such as the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, the Partnership for Peace and the
Council of Europe, have strengthened the distinct areas of
cooperation on which security depends. We must identify
and combat threats to peace as they emerge.
We have witnessed the horror of intolerance based on
nationality, race, creed or political belief. Agonizing
conflicts and acts of terrorism have shattered lives and
trampled upon the rights and dignity of whole populations.
Such events have shocked us into action. The
establishment of the ad hoc Tribunals and the current
negotiations on the establishment of an international
criminal court, which Malta fully supports, are proof of the
varied manner in which the United Nations responds to new
needs.
The road to peace, through the compromise of
negotiated settlement, is not always immediate or popular.
Yet, it is the only path. Reconciliation does not happen of
its own accord. It requires courage and leaders who
stretch out their hand to their adversaries and build, brick
by brick, the edifice of stability.
The universally acclaimed processes which rekindled
the hope of settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
Middle East are parts of this noble task.
The implementation of agreements reached between
Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the
resumption of negotiations and the full realization of the
inalienable rights of the Palestinian people are
indispensable for stability in the Middle East. The
international community must continue to assist this
process. Malta welcomes the first meeting between Prime
Minister Netanyahu and President Arafat. The most recent
incidents of violence in Jerusalem and Ramallah in recent
days give rise to great concern. The momentum of
achievement should not be dissipated by acts which erode
the confidence built thus far.
The people of Cyprus have thirsted for peace and
unity for too long and also deserve the attainment of a
just and long-lasting settlement.
In this Hall, recognition was always and exclusively
reserved for peacemakers. It was never bestowed on
warmongers, aggressors or cynics who constantly doubt
and discourage others from building hope.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the
World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations
Development Programme and United Nations actions in
Palestine, Namibia, Cambodia and Mozambique are part
of this Organization’s history in contributing towards the
well-being and development of peoples, peacekeeping and
peace-building. The success achieved should not be
robbed of merit by instances where it is lacking. Are not
the Blue Helmets across the globe a signal of
engagement? Are not negotiations on preventive
diplomacy a commitment to addressing the root causes of
tension and conflict? Are not our deliberations on
development means to create stability and well-being at
the local level?
In 50 years, we have created a range of tools to
promote cooperation. True enough, our tools need
perfecting. We must calibrate them to current realities.
Tools, however, need to be used. A shed full of perfect,
but unused, tools never provided any farmer with a
16

livelihood. Only the will to operate tools and invest energy
where it matters helps to reap the fruit.
The future demands a more action-oriented approach:
more time in the field, rather than pondering in the shed.
This resolve inspires us as we follow up the United Nations
conferences on the environment, human rights, population,
social development, women’s rights and human settlements.
The World Food Summit is another example of action.
Renewed focus on development has led to various
initiatives, including those specific to Africa. Partnerships
forged by the European Union and Japan with the
developing world reflect active cooperative involvement.
Achievement registered by a number of developing States
underlines the benefit of such undertakings. The dialogue
instituted between Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of
77 and the Group of Seven is an important and welcome
step.
Malta’s academic institutions, in collaboration with
United Nations agencies and the Commonwealth secretariat,
annually sponsor and organize a number of training
programmes. Most fall into the category of the training of
trainers. Students from the developing world and from
countries with economies in transition have attended short-
or long-term courses and are now back in their countries
directly contributing to development.
Malta, through its Government and non-governmental
organizations, regularly donates funds for a number of
humanitarian and overseas development aid programmes.
These initiatives, together with the traditional involvement
of Maltese teachers and social workers in the developing
world as volunteers from non-governmental organizations
or members of religious orders, symbolize our national
commitment to international solidarity.
We view our collective achievements with pride. Each
convention and treaty agreed upon by the international
community is a testimonial of our common will to build a
better life, each a symbol of our resolve to beat our swords
into ploughshares. Yet, the anguished sea of faces of
millions of children denied the right to hope still haunts us,
whether it is war, famine, or exploitation which generates
misery. Our collective future can never be secure until these
children acquire the right to smile in hope and to their fair
share in the bounties of society.
Cynicism and fatalism cannot cure us of social ills.
Blended with hope, pragmatism yields reward. What is
more pragmatic than the care of the destitute to which
people like Mother Theresa dedicate their lives. One
person less going to bed with an empty stomach, one
person less torn with pain, one person less denied
shelter — small pragmatic steps inspired by the innate
dignity of each human being; acts of caring solidarity
which each individual, each family, each community is
capable of; commitment to others generates hope. Each
ounce of food which alleviates famine; each drop of water
which combats drought and desertification; each dose of
medicine which contains the spread of disease; each book
which kindles knowledge helps build a better world.
Democracy, the rule of law, free and fair elections
and constant vigilance in the promotion and protection of
human rights are the guarantors of peace. International
election observer missions are an important contribution
to confidence-building. Malta has participated in this
process, most recently in Palestine and Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
As much as action is instrumental, so is restraint.
Emissions which pollute the environment; lumbering
which depletes the rain forests; indiscriminate trawling
which exhausts our fishstocks — even if disguised as
economic imperatives — undermine efforts towards
sustainable development.
Malta looks forward to this Assembly’s 1997 special
session to follow up and update the Rio achievements.
We have strategies and action plans. Now is the time
for dynamic engagement. Present and future generations
demand that we use these instruments to combat drug
trafficking, illicit arms transfers, money laundering and
organized crime, which sap the life of the communities
we built with so much effort.
My Government is totally committed in this regard.
Legislation adopted has strengthened the arm of the law
in apprehending traffickers, halting the flow of drugs and
confiscating illegal funds accrued. This determined policy
is bearing fruit. Malta supports the convening of a
General Assembly special session in 1998
comprehensively to address drug trafficking and related
issues. Poland’s proposed convention to fight transnational
crime has been noted with interest. Regional and
international cooperation on these issues remains the key
to success.
Our children have a right to a life free from fear in
a safer world. That remains our responsibility as parents
and policy makers.
17

The United Nations is often accused of lacking in its
assigned role. Yet the United Nations is what Member
States make of it. They decide on its future. United Nations
reform requires discipline in our operating methods. We
have to discard self-imposed fetters and act with the
revived spirit that our times demand.
Tempered by the fires of conflict and the lessons of
the League of Nations, the founding fathers built into the
Charter a balance worth preserving. Reform should not be
reduced to a simple juxtaposition of organizational charts.
Only by revitalizing the spirit that gives our Organization
life and purpose will we achieve the ideal of nations large
and small working in unison for a better world.
As President of the General Assembly at its forty-fifth
session, in the immediate aftermath of the cold war, my
Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Guido de Marco, called for
reflection and action to better the symbiotic relationship
between the United Nations principal organs. Since then
working groups have been set up to discuss restructuring.
Within the Security Council reform group, work has
evolved, but it is still far from reaching common ground.
There is consensus that the Council should be expanded and
be more representative. The type of expansion and the
categories are still subject to a wide divergence of views.
Malta looks forward to an expanded Security Council that
best serves the world community. On the merits of
increasing the Council’s permanent membership, we still
have an open mind. The very nature of permanence
demands that we establish clear and exact criteria on
required qualifications for present and future candidates.
Giving due recognition to changes in international
relations and the nature and extent of the contribution of
States towards tasks assigned to the Council, we must avoid
rigid stances or those that may be construed as such. There
are a number of compromise proposals that could help us
find a solution, even if temporarily. We have listened with
great attention and positive interest to Foreign Minister Dini
explaining the Italian proposal as one which takes into
account both the special contribution of a number of States
and the right of all States to serve on the Council regardless
of their size, wealth or military might.
Only understandings between States that win the
confidence of all can assist us in surmounting existing
obstacles. We are satisfied to note the consensus existing on
bettering the important qualitative relationship between the
Security Council and the General Assembly. Changes
introduced in the working methods of the Council are an
indication of a universal positive disposition.
The Open-ended High-level Working Group on the
Strengthening of the United Nations system has registered
significant progress and tackled a variety of complex
issues. Malta has consistently advocated greater efficiency
and a more effective role for the General Assembly to
dissipate negative perceptions that may exist.
Responsibilities of this Assembly, of which we are all
permanent members, are many and varied. We have
already noted the benefits of streamlining. More is
required. Our deliberations have an impact on public
opinion and political contingencies. We would be remiss
if indifference or bureaucratization were to numb us from
fully assuming the responsibilities and obligations
imposed by the Charter.
Starting with the forty-fifth session, my Deputy
Prime Minister has also called for a review of the role of
the Trusteeship Council. Creating or abolishing
institutions necessarily has an impact on the principles on
which they are based. The balance characteristic of the
Charter needs to be enhanced rather than diluted. The
United Nations should continue to cherish all principles
on which it was founded, including the notion of trust, on
which the Trusteeship Council rests.
Last year, Malta submitted a resolution seeking the
opinion of States on the Trusteeship Council’s future. The
diversity of views expressed is indicative of the existing
potential. Malta looks forward to further discussion on the
subject, confident in the will to better utilize existing
institutions to serve the principles of the Charter. Our
common heritage and the welfare of future generations
demand that in reorienting the United Nations we
preserve and protect the vision and ideals that gave it
birth.
Thirty years ago Malta launched the concept of
common heritage. This concept has become ingrained in
the reality of the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea and the International Sea-Bed Authority. It
takes time for ideas to mature and consensus to emerge.
The most recent development, which we welcome, is the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, to be
inaugurated at Hamburg, Germany, next month. Those
institutions will undoubtedly continue to contribute to the
underlying principle of trust in protecting and preserving
our common heritage.
18

The financial crisis facing the Organization has
dampened hopes and discouraged many. Malta believes that
the ongoing exercise of assessing costs, eliminating waste
and rationalizing structures must go on. Although pruning
is essential to strengthen the United Nations, so also is the
need for all Member States to meet obligations and to pay
their assessed contributions to the regular and peacekeeping
budgets, in full, promptly and without conditions.
Discussion on the scale of assessments will also contribute
to improving the financial base of the Organization.
“Bankruptcy” is an awful word. It is too often
repeated in relation to the United Nations. Finances are
undoubtedly a cause of common concern. There is,
however, another threatening phenomenon which looms —
moral bankruptcy. This is by far the greater danger and the
one that we should fear most.
With the end of the cold war, a second-generation
United Nations had to find in its Member States the resolve
and commitment to face winds of change that at times
assume the force of gales and whirlwinds. With a steady
hand on the rudder and our eyes fixed on that guiding star
that inspired the founding fathers, we can still bring ship to
port. The fate of humankind is our precious cargo and
responsibility.


It is a pleasure for me to warmly congratulate Mr. Razali
on his election to the presidency of the fifty-first session of
the General Assembly. We are sure that his extensive
experience and political sophistication will make a
significant contribution to the success of its work. I should
like also to express my thanks and appreciation to his
predecessor for his judicious management of the work of
the General Assembly during its last session.
I would like to take this opportunity to express once
more my country’s appreciation of the role played by the
Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and of his
sincere, invaluable efforts to strengthen the role of the
Organization in keeping abreast of international events and
developments to the benefit of all humanity and in order to
preserve international peace and security. On behalf of
Yemen, I would also like to express my country’s support
for the re-election of Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali for a
second term as Secretary-General so he can continue the
comprehensive restructuring of the United Nations, which
will enable it to play a significant and fundamental role
responsive to the demands of the twenty-first century.
As this session is being held, new and dangerous
developments are taking place, threatening peace and
security in the Middle East. The situation in Jerusalem and
other parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has
exploded as a result of the aggressive unjustified actions
and harsh practices undertaken by the Israeli authorities
against the Palestinian people, and their continued attempts
to change the character of Holy Al-Quds Al-Sharif. The
most recent of these attempts was Israel’s opening of a
tunnel linking Al-Borac Square and Al-Mujahidin Street
near Bab Al-Asbat, threatening the integrity of Al-Haram
Al-Sharif and other Islamic monuments. During the last few
days, the Israeli army and police force have used various
kinds of weapons and live ammunition against unarmed
Palestinian protesters. These clashes have caused the
death or injury of hundreds of innocent Palestinians.
We strongly condemn and denounce the actions and
practices of the Israeli military forces and their repeated
acts of aggression against Palestinian officials and citizens
in Arab Al-Quds and other Palestinian towns, which have
led to the death and injury of hundreds of people. The
terrorism and oppression carried out by the Israeli
occupying authority constitute a gross violation of human
rights, legitimate international resolutions and the Fourth
Geneva Convention, which applies to occupied territories.
This critical development can only exacerbate the
situation and return the region to a cycle of tension and
violence. It threatens peace and security not only in the
Middle East region but in the whole world.
This year, the Republic of Yemen celebrated the
sixth anniversary of its unification, achieved after
successfully overcoming all the difficulties and challenges
in the way of unity and development. These celebrations
coincided with preparations for voter registration for the
second parliamentary elections since the reunification of
our country, which are to be held in April 1997
reinforcing democracy in our country. Our democratic
approach is demonstrated by our political pluralism, and
our respect for human rights and freedom of the press,
and will enable us to achieve qualitative changes in the
economic, social and political life of Yemeni citizens.
Today the Republic of Yemen is enjoying stability,
a democratic process and economic reforms, which must
enjoy the encouragement and support of the international
community since this democratic process will contribute
to the strengthening of security and stability at the local
and regional levels.
At the same time, our people are in the midst of a
difficult and important battle for social and economic
development and modernization and for the elimination of
backwardness. Some of the most serious problems we
face as a developing country are inflation, the increase in
the rates of population growth and their effects on the
growth rate of the national economy. In order to deal with
that, the Government has adopted a programme of
economic, financial and administrative reforms in
cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
with the aim of correcting economic, financial and
structural imbalances. This has been done to achieve
balance and stability in the economy as a whole and to
20

activate the role of the private sector on the basis of a
market economy and free competition, while taking into
account the importance of improving basic essential social
services, building a modern State and improving the
standard of living of citizens.
Efforts by the Yemeni Government to implement this
programme have yielded improvements and have had
notable success, especially in preventing the collapse of the
local currency, reducing the rate of inflation and achieving
a positive growth rate. However, it has proved difficult to
alleviate suffering in the social sphere. These difficulties
have been compounded by the disastrous floods which
plagued Yemen last June, causing extensive, grave losses of
life and property. These affected some parts of the
infrastructure and harmed many people. Agricultural land
was eroded and livestock was destroyed. Houses, roads,
bridges, health centres, sources of drinking water and
schools in many areas of the Republic of Yemen were all
destroyed. These losses and damages were a major disaster
and economic setback for Yemen.
I would like to take this opportunity to renew my call
for international and humanitarian organizations and
fraternal and friendly Governments to provide help and
support to overcome the disastrous effects of the floods. I
would also like to thank all those organizations and
Governments that have responded and offered support for
and solidarity with the people of Yemen in their ordeal.
The Republic of Yemen, in the framework of its
political orientation, is pursuing a foreign policy based on
mutual respect and the common interests of States. It
therefore stresses the importance of maintaining security,
stability and cooperation among all States in the region. In
this regard, demarcation of the border between our country
and the fraternal Sultanate of Oman has been definitively
concluded through a dialogue based upon mutual interests,
equitable treatment and respect for the rights of both
countries. This achievement represents a significant positive
step that will serve security and stability in the region and
deepen trust between the two countries. Similarly, our
country is working with the same sincerity and credibility
to settle the issue of the border with the fraternal Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia on the basis of mutual interests and in the
light of the Taif Agreement and the contents of the
memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries
on 26 February 1995 in the Holy City of Mecca.
Pursuant to this, joint committees have been formed to
discuss the border issue, its demarcation, the development
of all aspects of cultural, trade and economic relations and
the strengthening of cooperation between the two fraternal
countries.
Moreover, a security agreement was signed on 27
July 1996 that emphasized the concerns of both countries
for their joint security and to combat terrorism, exchange
security information and strengthen cooperation between
their institutions, thus giving concrete form to the spirit of
the 1934 Taif Treaty and the memorandum of
understanding signed on 26 February 1995. An agreement
on technical, investment, trade and economic cooperation
was also signed.
The Republic of Yemen has shown a sincere desire
and strong political will and has made continuous efforts
to address the matter of the Eritrean occupation in
mid-December 1995 of the Yemeni island of Hanish
al-Kabir in the Red Sea. While negotiations were taking
place between the two countries aimed at reaching a
peaceful settlement that would respect legal, historical and
geographical rights, our country did not opt for the use of
force. From the very first day, we stressed the necessity
of using peaceful means, dialogue through mediators and
international arbitration in order to spare the two
neighbouring peoples the scourges of war and conflict, in
keeping with its belief in the principles and purposes of
the United Nations and its commitment to the provisions
of the Charter. Accordingly, an agreement of principles
between Yemen and Eritrea was officially signed in Paris
on 21 May 1996. This was the fruit of French, Egyptian
and Ethiopian mediation efforts and of the support of our
Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. This
agreement was a sound basis on which to settle peacefully
the dispute between the two countries regarding issues of
territorial sovereignty and maritime borders. On this basis,
discussions have begun on special arbitration measures
and the mechanism to be used with a view to starting the
process as soon as possible. It is unfortunate that, despite
all these procedures, Eritrea took new action on the island
of Hanish af-Saghir on 10 August 1996. This act violated
the agreement of principles and created an atmosphere of
tension and conflict in the region, threatening stability,
security and the safety of international shipping in the
region.
Now that Eritrea has withdrawn its forces from the
island of Hanish af-Saghir and the crisis has passed, we
would like to express our thanks and appreciation for the
role played and efforts made by France and its special
envoy, and the positions of the Secretary-General and the
President and members of the Security Council, and to all
those fraternal and friendly States that declared their
21

support for the principles agreed upon for resolving the
conflict peacefully through arbitration. Finally, my country
would like to stress that a peaceful settlement is the proper
way to improve relations between Yemen and Eritrea and
to promote the trust necessary to creating an atmosphere
conducive to the development of relations between the two
countries and the peoples of Yemen and Eritrea.
The civil war in Somalia has gone beyond the bounds
of reason and, as our country is a neighbour of fraternal
Somalia, we have found ourselves shouldering the burden
of receiving and housing tens of thousands of refugees. We
have also cooperated with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental
organizations in sheltering and feeding the Somali refugees,
although this is a heavy burden on our country and
compounds its existing economic and social ills.
We are deeply disturbed by the continuing
fragmentation, fighting and uncertainty in Somalia. The
Republic of Yemen considers that the responsibility for
solving the refugee problem, which is a social and
economic burden of significant proportions, and the solution
of the Somali problem lie with the Somalis themselves. On
that basis, we urge the Somali leadership once again to
demonstrate greater political will and a genuine desire to
reach a final settlement for peace and stability in their
country and to engage in dialogue in order to save their
people, rebuild their country and give the refugees the
opportunity to return to their homes and resettle. In order
to facilitate this, Yemen has received a number of Somali
leaders and made every effort to assist the Somalis
themselves to reach a national accord acceptable to all. We
hope these efforts will be successful. The achievement of
national reconciliation in Somalia and the improvement of
security and stability in that country and the entire Horn of
Africa are at the forefront of our concerns, embodying our
historical and strategic relationships, which are inextricably
intertwined with all the States of the region.
In view of the Republic of Yemen’s positive support
for the peace process in the Middle East, which began with
the Madrid Conference in October 1991, guaranteeing a just
and comprehensive peace on the basis of legitimate
international resolutions, particularly Security Council
resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978), and
subsequent agreements and protocols in this regard, and on
the basis of the principle of land for peace and guarantees
of complete Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab
territories, we once again emphasize the necessity for a
lasting, just and comprehensive peace as the basis for
security, stability and prosperity in the region. Only this can
ensure that the root causes of violence and extremism will
be destroyed and that the values of tolerance, peaceful
coexistence and civilized cooperation among peoples will
be promoted.
Accordingly, we would like to express our concern
about the resumption of the Israeli policy of settlement on
Palestinian land, especially around the city of Al-Quds
Al-Sharif. The Israelis are establishing settlements,
destroying Palestinian houses, building bypass roads for
Israeli settlers, continuing the blockade of Palestinian
lands and refusing to redeploy Israeli forces out of
Hebron. These Israeli practices constitute blatant
violations of agreements and pledges made between Israel
and the Palestinian Authority and can only exacerbate
tensions and return the peace process to its starting point,
possibly even derailing the entire process.
We therefore stress the importance of making rapid
progress towards a final settlement leading to restoration
of the Palestinians’ legitimate rights, particularly the
rights to self-determination and to establish an
independent State with Jerusalem as its capital, in
accordance with relevant international resolutions and the
basic principles underlying the Madrid Conference.
Negotiations on the basis of those principles and with all
parties respecting their commitments should be conducted
on all tracks.
The peace process is currently facing risks and
challenges that are preventing it from achieving its aims.
Israel is deliberately dragging its feet and is persistent in
its procrastination over negotiations with the Syrian Arab
Republic on the basis of the agreements reached by both
parties under the previous Israeli Government. Among the
most important of these was the obligation to withdraw
fully from the occupied Syrian Golan and southern
Lebanon in accordance with relevant international
resolutions and the principle of “land for peace”. We
stress the need for Israel to respect the sovereignty and
independence of fraternal Lebanon, release Lebanese
prisoners and detainees from Israeli concentration camps
and acknowledge its responsibility to compensate
Lebanon for the losses it has sustained as a result of the
continuing Israeli acts of aggression against its land and
people.
A just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the
Middle East, together with security and stability in the
region, can be achieved only if every State of the region
fulfils its obligations equally and through the
establishment of a nuclear-, biological- and chemical-
22

weapon-free zone in the region. Israel must ratify the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and
submit its nuclear installations to the international
inspection regime as a step towards establishing a nuclear-
weapon-free zone in the Middle East and freeing the area
from the threat of all weapons of mass destruction. In this
context, we would like to express our satisfaction at the
signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at
the beginning of this session. Yemen will sign the Treaty
today.
While Yemen stresses the importance of Iraq’s total
compliance with resolutions of the international community
and its continuing cooperation with the United Nations, we
would also stress the need to preserve the unity, territorial
sovereignty and integrity of Iraq. We also express our great
concern about and condemnation of any action in this
regard affecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Iraq and appeal for the alleviation of the suffering of the
Iraqi people. We therefore welcome the memorandum of
understanding signed in May 1996 between Iraq and the
United Nations on the implementation of Security Council
resolution 986 (1995), providing for the sale of petroleum
for the purchase of food as a first step towards alleviating
the terrible suffering of the fraternal Iraqi people.
We call upon the international community and the
Security Council to pursue the lifting of the air blockade
and other measures imposed on the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
pursuant to Security Council resolutions and to respond to
the resolutions and proposals of regional organizations. The
most recent of these was the initiative put forward at the
emergency Arab summit held in Cairo from 21 to 23 June
1996 in order to resolve the conflict between the Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya and the three countries concerned.
The Republic of Yemen renews its call to the fraternal
countries of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United
Arab Emirates to continue a direct dialogue aimed at
reaching a peaceful settlement of the issue of the three
islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, in
accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the
principles of good neighbourliness and respect for the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of States in the region,
and to resort to international arbitration in a manner that
will satisfy both parties.
Our country also emphasizes its solidarity with
fraternal Bahrain and expresses its complete support for the
measures it has taken to ensure its security and stability.
The tragic situation of the people of Bosnia and
Herzegovina has preoccupied the Yemeni people. The
Republic of Yemen therefore welcomes the Agreements
that the parties involved in the conflict reached last
November in Dayton and Paris in order to bring peace to
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to express its satisfaction
with the contents of the Agreements, which stressed the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. On this occasion, we wish to
register our appreciation of the efforts made by the United
States of America and the States of the European Union
to bring about these Agreements. We call upon the
international community to provide every possible support
to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and their plans
for the development and reconstruction of their country.
We would also stress the need for every party to
surrender all war criminals to the International Tribunal
in The Hague so that they may be brought to account for
their heinous crimes against humanity in violation of
international law, human rights and international
agreements.
The Republic of Yemen, in view of its geographical
position on the Indian Ocean, places particular importance
on any effort made to strengthen cooperation between the
Ocean’s littoral States. Accordingly, our country took part
in the most recent meeting, held in Mauritius, to complete
the drafting of the constitution and platform of action for
the planned Indian Ocean rim initiative.
We take this opportunity to express our satisfaction
with the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian
Ocean to implement the Declaration of the Indian Ocean
as a Zone of Peace, free of nuclear weapons. We call
upon the permanent members of the Security Council and
maritime users of the Indian Ocean to participate in the
work of the Committee in order to strengthen security,
peace, stability and cooperation in the region in
accordance with relevant General Assembly resolutions.
In conclusion, I should like to express our hope that
the work of this session will enjoy every success,
strengthening the United Nations and its bodies and
enabling them to achieve their goals and the ideals
embodied in the Charter in a manner appropriate to the
spirit of the age and international changes