Your election, Sir, as
President of the Millennium Assembly is fitting
recognition of your great dedication to international
peace. Ireland is especially grateful for your
outstanding contribution to the Good Friday agreement
signed in Belfast in 1998. We are sure that the qualities
that you displayed then will serve you well in guiding
the work of this session.
Our thanks are due also to Foreign Minister
Theo-Ben Gurirab of Namibia, the wise and thoughtful
President of the fifty-fourth session of the General
Assembly. We are happy also to welcome Tuvalu as a
new Member of the Organization.
My colleague, Foreign Minister VÈdrine of
France, has already addressed the Assembly on behalf
of the European Union. Ireland is fully associated with
his remarks.
The Declaration adopted at the historic
Millennium Summit sets out the principles, objectives
and targets which should inspire the work of this
session. Ireland is fully committed to these principles
and objectives, and we are determined to work
vigorously to achieve real results. Critics of the United
Nations may doubt our ability to achieve such results;
we are determined to prove them wrong. Such critics
ignore the considerable achievements of the
Organization in recent years. Major reform of all
aspects of the Organization has resulted in a more
efficient, streamlined operation. We will work with
others to strengthen the United Nations in order to
fulfil the commitment made in the Declaration  to
ensure a more effective instrument for pursuing the
fight for peace and development and against poverty,
ignorance and disease.
The cause of peace transcends all other
challenges. Whether in the Middle East, the Western
Balkans, Africa or, indeed, in our own island of
Ireland, determined efforts to build a secure and
durable peace must be tirelessly pursued. Our own
experience in Ireland has taught us that there is no
greater prize, no more difficult task and no greater
satisfaction than to begin to heal the wounds of history
and the scars of intolerance.
Our own efforts at building peace have convinced
us that to be effective, such efforts require international
support and validation. We have also learned that
economic development goes hand in hand with
building a society with hope in its own future and
pledged to overcome the bitterness of the past. It is this
experience which helps guide our approach to peace-
building in the wider world. It is this experience of
peace-building and development which we will bring
to the deliberations of the Security Council if elected
by the membership in the coming weeks.
Security and development are indivisible and
interrelated. Yet too often we in the international
community stand aside as hapless witnesses, hesitating
to become involved, while the innocent suffer. We need
to strengthen the capacity and commitment of the
Organization to fulfil its mandates. I therefore strongly
welcome the exercise of its authority by the United
Nations in East Timor last year and, more recently, in
Sierra Leone. It is our duty as Governments to
underpin that authority.
We must address those issues which prolong
conflict, even when root causes become blurred. Let
me give two examples. First, the illicit flow of small
arms and light weapons into areas of conflict must be
stopped; and secondly, trafficking in high-value
commodities, particularly the trade in so-called blood
diamonds', which has exacerbated conflicts in Africa,
must be prevented. Carefully targeted, time-limited
sanctions will help to counter this menace.
Enhancing the role of the United Nations in
peacekeeping is a priority for this session. To broaden
that role, we urge an integrated approach combining
prevention, settlement and post-conflict peace-
building. While the Security Council has a global remit
to maintain international peace and security in every
region of the world, it is right that it pay special
attention at this time to the promotion of durable peace
in Africa. We therefore welcome the declared intention
of the Security Council at the Millennium Summit to
ensure that it plays a more effective role in this urgent
and necessary task.
Peacekeeping is at the heart of Ireland's
contribution to the United Nations. For more than 40
years we have participated continuously in United
21

Nations peacekeeping operations. Irish personnel have
served under United Nations command in the Middle
East, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. We are
proud of the contribution which our peacekeepers have
made in so many areas of the world. At the same time,
we deeply regret that 82 of our Irish soldiers have died
in the service of the United Nations. Other Member
States have also sustained losses, and I would like to
express my deep regret at the brutal attack last week on
United Nations personnel in West Timor as well as at
the recent outrages in Sierra Leone.
It is because of our own long, and at times
frustrating, experience of peacekeeping that Ireland
welcomes the publication of the Brahimi report. In the
light of this experience, I will focus in particular on
three aspects.
First, the United Nations must have the resources
and capacity to deliver well-planned and effective
peace support operations. The Member States must
give the Secretary-General and his staff the means to
do the job.
Secondly, if the United Nations is to save lives, it
must be capable of deploying into conflict areas
rapidly. This requires rapid decision-making.
Thirdly, effective operations depend on well-
trained peacekeepers. A more integrated approach must
be taken to develop training and equipment of United
Nations peacekeeping personnel. Ireland's own United
Nations Training School has provided such training to
over 170 officers from 40 countries, and we intend to
enhance this role in cooperation with like-minded
countries.
To those ends, we will contribute actively in this
Assembly to the urgent follow-up of the proposals that
have been put forward.
Progress in disarmament remains crucially
important both to the maintenance of peace and to
development. At the sixth Review Conference of the
Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons, very considerable efforts were made
by all the States parties to ensure a successful outcome.
That reflects the central role of the Treaty in the
achievement of a world free of nuclear weapons. The
outcome highlights the underlying premise of the Non-
Proliferation Treaty: that these weapons do not provide
assurances of peace and security. The threat to
humanity posed by their continued existence will
remain until we achieve an effective and global ban.
There have been welcome and significant
reductions by the nuclear-weapon States of their
arsenals. But defence strategies based on nuclear
weapons continue to include the possible use, even the
first use, of those weapons. The Non-Proliferation
Treaty is not a charter for the indefinite retention of
nuclear weapons by any State. It represents a clear
obligation to make nuclear disarmament a reality. At
the Review Conference, the parties to the Non-
Proliferation Treaty came closer in their common
understanding of what is demanded by the Treaty. In
that connection, the unequivocal commitment to the
total elimination of their nuclear weapons made by the
nuclear-weapon States is of fundamental significance.
However, let us not lull ourselves into
complacency because we have reached agreement on a
programme of action. We now have an opportunity to
begin the root-and-branch elimination of these
weapons. Progress is primarily dependent on action by
the five nuclear-weapon States. States which
participate in security arrangements involving nuclear
weapons have a particular responsibility to diminish
the role of nuclear weapons in security policies. All
States share a responsibility to advance negotiation on
those measures needed to guarantee a world free of
nuclear weapons. For our part, Ireland and our partners
in the New Agenda Coalition are determined to work
vigorously for the achievement of that goal.
I referred earlier to the role of conventional arms
in conflict situations. The ravages and suffering caused
by small arms as well as by landmines are immense.
We are, at least in the case of landmines, beginning to
see positive results from the implementation of the
Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,
Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel
Mines and on Their Destruction. The practical outcome
has been the destruction of over 22 million mines by
some 50 States; expenditure on mine clearance has
more than doubled, and countless lives have been
saved.
Next year, the United Nations will focus on small
arms with the first international conference specifically
addressing that issue. We must set ambitious goals for
the conference so that we may have a basis for making
genuine inroads on the culture of violence fostered by
the dissemination of those weapons.
22

Peace and development are essential to each
other. Without peace, there can be no development.
Without development, peace is hard to sustain. Without
freedom from the threat of war, from human rights
abuse and from famine, there can be no lasting human
progress. The elimination of poverty and access to
basic health care and education are crucial to
sustainable development. Nonetheless, we witness
today an unprecedented contrast between the prosperity
of developed countries and the poverty of those that
have been left behind. And yet, at the same time, we
are witnessing an actual decline in the international
community's development aid levels. Clearly, that
trend must be reversed.
It has long been an objective of Irish
Governments to bring our development cooperation
effort into line with our national economic growth and
to meet the United Nations development cooperation
target. Last week our Government took an important
step forward by when our Taoiseach, our Prime
Minister, Bertie Ahern, speaking at the Millennium
Summit, committed Ireland to meet the United Nations
target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product by the
end of 2007, and to reach the level of 0.45 per cent by
the end of 2002. This will clearly represent a
significant increase in volume terms. Indeed, in
meeting our targets, we anticipate a fourfold increase
by Ireland in our aid over the next seven years. That
will greatly increase our ability to make a real impact
on the lives of some of the poorest people on earth. Our
aid budget is both a test and a reflection of our
commitment to the values and principles set out in the
Millennium Summit Declaration. We shall not fail in
this task we have set ourselves as a country: to be an
example to all who could contribute more.
As we enter the new millennium, we are faced
with several development issues which require
immediate attention. We must begin to address the
question of debt relief in a more coherent manner. The
most heavily indebted countries need a sound basis for
the achievement of acceptable levels of growth free
from grinding debt. We must recognize that the burden
on those States is unsustainable in the face of the
challenges of poverty alleviation and AIDS.
Speed is essential in delivering results from the
Enhanced Debt Initiative if it is to remain credible. In
addition to a European Union contribution of almost
$1 billion, Ireland has bilaterally contributed over
$40 million in debt relief, although as a matter of
principle we have never extended loans in the guise of
development assistance. That is why our aid has always
been in grant form, and why all of our development aid
is also untied.
Greater market access by the least developed
countries must be a priority. With the early
implementation of the European Union's commitment
to grant duty-free and quota-free access to its market
by the least developed countries by 2005, a major step
in this direction will have been taken.
One of the greatest challenges to development is
HIV/AIDS. If the spread of AIDS is to be arrested, we
need: strong political will in the leadership of the most
affected countries; we need greater international
resources; we need greater access to essential drugs at
prices that are affordable; and we need more research
funds for the development of vaccines. The fight
against AIDS is now an integral part of all Irish
development activities, with funding budgeted for both
prevention and the search for vaccines.
Respect for human rights is central to the
maintenance of peace and the promotion of
development. It underpins all the activities of the
United Nations. Putting weapons in the hands of
children and sending them into conflict undermines the
most basic rights and the innocence of the child. That
is a scandal which cannot be allowed to continue.
Through the Optional Protocol to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children
in armed conflicts, which Ireland was among the first
to sign, a start has been made in addressing this issue.
But much more must be done.
The establishment of an International Criminal
Court offers a unique opportunity to bring to justice the
perpetrators of crimes against humanity and other
serious violations of international law. Ireland is
moving rapidly to ratify the Statute. The international
criminal tribunals for former Yugoslavia and for
Rwanda demonstrate how necessary it is to exercise
international jurisdiction to end the culture of impunity
where violations of basic human rights occur.
Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
intolerance persist in all our societies. The 2001 World
Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance will provide an
opportunity to create a vision for the fight against
racism and all intolerance for the coming century. I pay
tribute here to the United Nations High Commissioner
23

for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. Taoiseach Bertie
Ahern, TD, our Prime Minister, was pleased to be
amongst the first to sign the declaration entitled:
Tolerance and diversity: a vision for the twenty-first
century', which was presented at the Millennium
Summit. I believe that it will generate a positive
approach to the World Conference.
I know that our friends in the international
community continue to follow developments in the
peace process in Ireland with close interest. Indeed, the
Governments of many Member States have played an
important and concrete part in the successes we have
achieved to date. I am particularly pleased therefore to
be able to report that in the past year, in the face of
many difficulties, we have made real progress towards
the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
The new political institutions are up and working
well. In Northern Ireland there is an Executive on
which all parts of the community  nationalist,
unionist and republican  are represented as of right,
and where Ministers are working constructively
together to improve the quality of life for all the
people. The North/South Ministerial Council, which
brings together Ministers from both jurisdictions on the
island, and the Implementation Bodies which it
oversees, are developing new ways of working
together, delivering tangible benefits in areas of mutual
importance and interest. In the British-Irish Council,
we are forging new relationships, including with the
devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.
We are firmly committed to ensuring that all
other aspects of the Agreement are implemented in full.
Policing reform is a vital part of the new
dispensation we are striving to create in Northern
Ireland. All sides of the community want to see an
effective, accountable policing service to which they
can give allegiance and which young people, whatever
their background, can join. The Agreement promised a
new beginning in this area, and the Patten Report set
out how it can be achieved. It is now crucially
important that the legislative proposals currently before
Parliament at Westminster secure that outcome.
The Agreement also contains extensive
commitments in the area of human rights, and we are
working to ensure that they are delivered. My
Government has established an independent Human
Rights Commission, with a mandate and remit that
surpass the standards set in the Paris Principles. We are
in the process of appointing its members. We look
forward to the Commission working closely with its
counterpart in the North for the protection and
promotion of human rights throughout the island of
Ireland.
We also need to see continued progress towards
security and justice arrangements appropriate to a
society in which peace will become the norm, and to
see the question of arms resolved for all time. To this
end, we have made great strides forward in recent
months.
Our task in the peace process has always been
more than the putting in place of a new set of
institutions and arrangements, important though they
undoubtedly are. We are endeavouring to create a new
beginning for what has been a deeply divided society, a
new beginning where the divisions of the past are
overcome. The task which the Irish Government has set
itself is to work with others in peace and partnership,
and in a spirit of mutual tolerance and respect, building
together a better future for all of the people of Ireland.
This demands patience, persistence and perseverance.
A great deal remains to be done.
Far too many people continue to have their lives
blighted by sectarianism and hatred. There are still
those who prefer to foster division, retarding rather
than advancing the cause of reconciliation. On both
sides there are still small groups of dissidents prepared
to use violence to bring down the Agreement and to
frustrate the democratically expressed wishes of the
people. They have nothing to offer, and they will not be
allowed to succeed.
In Northern Ireland many people have yet to
experience the full benefits of change and the return of
hope and normality to their lives. Some remain
sceptical about the benefits of the Agreement. But,
working together with the British Government and with
the representatives of all sides of the community, we
will continue to do all in our power to convince them
that the Agreement represents not only a balanced and
honourable accommodation, but also the only way
forward.
The international community has made an
important contribution to our achievements to date.
Without the support and encouragement of the
international community, we could not have come so
far. When we embarked on our journey towards peace,
we knew that it would take a great deal of time and of
24

work to see the Agreement implemented in full. We
remain firmly committed to the task and take heart
from the substantial progress we have made and draw
courage from the international community's continued
support.
In the course of my statement I have set out my
Government's position on the key issues facing the
United Nations. It is this approach and commitment
that will inform our actions if we are elected to the
Security Council. Ireland is standing for election after
20 years absence from the Council. We do so as a small
State which has already made a significant contribution
to the work of this Organization. Faithful to the
principles and purposes of the Charter, we have faced
and tried to overcome the legacies of strife and
underdevelopment that have marked our own history.
Membership of the Security Council will allow us to
bring to the service of all the lessons of our own
experience, as well as our full commitment to the
United Nations.


 wish at
the very outset to convey to the countries and
institutions represented here a message of sincere
friendship from the people of Niger along with its
fervent wish to maintain and continue to strengthen the
links of peaceful coexistence and of fruitful and
mutually beneficial cooperation with all the other
peoples of the world.
My warm welcome and hearty congratulations go
to Tuvalu, the latest country to join the United Nations
family.
With the 24 November 1999 presidential
elections and the 31 December 1999 legislative
elections, our people emerged from a period of political
instability and economic decline with every confidence
in the resiliency of the democratic institutions
established by our 18 July 1999 constitution, and with
strengthened determination to ensure that the universal
ideals of peace, freedom, justice and equity will prevail
in Niger, throughout Africa, and everywhere in the
world.
34

We are participating in this great gathering at the
beginning of the twenty-first century, proud of being
among the democratic nations and committed, at home
and internationally, to the establishment of institutional
and legal provisions based on free and equal
participation by all, on transparency, on responsibility
and on solidarity.
Today's Niger is experiencing the same freeing of
creative forces that results from the triumph of
freedom, and the same upsurge in individual and
collective initiative that is today being generated in
democratic societies everywhere. We are no less
optimistic about the inevitable triumph of the universal
values of which the General Assembly is the shrine.
But we also feel the same wrenching pain over the
uncertain future caused by the persistence of conflicts
and the destitution of the vast majority who are crushed
beneath the burden of debt, endemic diseases, illiteracy
and, above all, the troubling inadequacies of the
remedies prescribed to deal effectively with the ills
afflicting humankind.
Hence our even more profound attachment to the
principles and ideals of the Charter and our full
conviction that the United Nations, which is at risk of
being out of step with current developments towards
increasingly participatory management of our common
public resources, will undertake the necessary reforms
to make its institutions and organs more responsive to
the aspirations of the people they are supposed to
represent.
Refashioning the Organization to match the new
century that is beginning, to make it a real instrument
of change and to renew our hope goes far beyond
simply restructuring its main bodies, subsidiary bodies
and specialized agencies. We must also strive
vigorously to open up the entire system to increasingly
active partners, such as Parliaments, governmental
regional organizations, non-governmental organizations,
organizations of civil society, the media and the private
sector, without ever losing sight of the primary
vocation of the United Nations as an expression of the
national will of Member States. This would greatly
increase the international community's capacity for
action in such varied areas as peace and international
security, the fight against pandemics, especially
HIV/AIDS, poverty eradication, the resolution of the
question of debt and, generally speaking, the promotion
of sustainable development in the world.
For many countries represented here the primary
ongoing source of anguish comes from the absence of
basic physical security for citizens who are victims of
armed conflict, and the unacceptable proliferation of
light weapons and small arms, which States that are
unstable and economically drained have difficulty
halting. Other forums, including the Organization of
African Unity, have pointed out ways of resolving the
conflicts in Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, in close cooperation with the
United Nations.
With regard to the Middle East, the recent failure
of the Camp David process should further strengthen
our determination in the tireless search for a just and
lasting peace that can restore the inalienable rights of
the Palestinian people, including their right to an
independent State, and ensure the return of the Golan
Heights to Syria. In Western Sahara, it is time that the
relevant United Nations resolutions were implemented
for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people. In
addition, the Iraqi people continue to be victims of an
embargo that chiefly affects the most vulnerable
sectors of society, including women and children. It is
high time that the international community took the
necessary measures to alleviate the pain of the Iraqi
people.
With regard to small arms and light weapons,
which are one of the major challenges facing the
international community, my Government feels that
concrete and sustained measures should be taken at
three levels — national, regional and worldwide — to
combat the illicit trade, proliferation and use of this
type of weapon. In this regard, my Government is
pleased that a United Nations mission recently visited
the Niger in order to evaluate in the field the relevance
of the request for financing submitted by my
Government.
It is a pleasure for me to warmly thank the
Governments of all interested States, particularly of
France, Germany, Japan and Norway, for their financial
contributions to the United Nations fund to assist
States in the collection of small arms, which made that
mission possible.
A draft submitted by my country forms part of the
subregional and regional initiatives aimed at halting the
illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons, such as
the Moratorium adopted on 30 October 1998 by the
Conference of Heads of State and Government of the
35

Economic Community of West African States and the
integrated project on security and development called
Programme for Coordination and Assistance for
Security and Development.
The handover, on 5 June, of weapons held by
various groups of the former rebellion and the lighting
on 25 September 2000 of a flame of peace at Agadez,
Niger, create hope for a return to calm for the people of
the Niger and the full implementation of projects
designed with the welcome assistance of bilateral and
multilateral partners of the Niger. In this regard, the
convening of the United Nations Conference on the
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All
Its Aspects next year bodes well. For the Niger the goal
of that Conference should be to develop and strengthen
international, regional and national efforts to prevent,
combat, limit and eradicate illicit traffic in small arms
and light weapons through strengthening national
capacities in the areas of customs, police, justice and
information.
Never before has humankind had such wealth and
so much potential to create common well-being. Yet
today more than half of the world population still lives
in destitution, excluded from the benefits of
globalization and of the digital revolution. We can
certainly welcome the unanimous will expressed by the
international community to reduce poverty by half by
2015. But we need to go beyond statements of faith to
establish a real international development strategy
firmly based on the eradication of absolute poverty and
on reviving growth in the developing world, and
particularly in Africa, the most vulnerable region.
The treatment of the question of the external debt
of poor countries is one of the best barometers by
which we can measure the real degree of the
international community's commitment in the search
for appropriate solutions to eradicate poverty. The
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt
Initiative, the present framework for debt alleviation, is
too slow and too selective and comes with restrictive
eligibility requirements that need to be made more
flexible; otherwise, many countries will remain in
perpetual poverty. Hence the urgent need to give fresh
impetus to this Initiative.
It is also essential to cooperate closely at the
international level in order to further strengthen the
cohesiveness of the coordination mechanisms of the
various initiatives for Africa, so that that continent can
benefit more from development assistance.
Moreover, while not a panacea, information and
communication technologies are important factors, for
the developing world in general and for Africa in
particular, of growth and integration into the global
economy. The United Nations has a leading role to play
in creating a partnership framework that would
promote initiatives aimed at closing the digital divide
so that technological benefits will not remain a remote
promise.
The recent high-level debate of the Economic and
Social Council on the role of information technology
highlighted in a timely manner the urgent need to make
the digital revolution a tool for development and to
fairly distribute its benefits through international
cooperation. My country also fully supports the
recommendation of the high-level expert group,
contained in the Secretary-General's report, calling for
universal access to new technology to be set out in a
General Assembly resolution as a basic human right.
The global partnership against AIDS in Africa,
whose vitality was demonstrated during the Durban
Conference, must henceforth be based, among other
things, on the mobilization of sufficient resources, on
prevention and on access to drugs.
In an altogether different area, my delegation
believes that particular attention should be given to the
insidious problem of malaria. Increasingly resistant to
the medical treatment used so far, this illness — which
above all affects the most vulnerable populations of
women and children — is currently a source of
profound concern for Africa. This was confirmed by
the recent summit of heads of State held at Abuja,
Nigeria, on the issue. That meeting highlighted the
importance of preventive action and of increasing the
means to combat malaria. There is thus a need for the
international community to give this problem the full
attention it deserves and to contribute further to
mobilizing the necessary resources for the research,
prevention, treatment and eradication of that disease.
At the threshold of the new millennium, the time
is certainly right to rethink development. As the
Secretary-General said at the tenth session of the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), held in Bangkok, the time has indeed
come for a new global deal for least developed
countries. That new global compact will be aimed at
36

correcting imbalances and at making it possible for
everyone to participate in the new world economy and
to share equally in its benefits. Today, it is undeniable
that globalization has been accompanied by heightened
inequalities and that, given the way it has evolved, it
will not be able to meet the expectations of poor
countries, whose rural and urban populations are
paying a heavy social price for that process.
Moreover, the failure of the recent World Trade
Organization (WTO) Conference in Seattle has
compromised the launching of what was supposed to
be the development cycle that was finally to make it
possible to attain the benefits of the much-touted trade
liberalization. That development, it has been said in
passing, is constantly being slowed by the
protectionism of industrialized countries.
The United Nations, as the democratic and
universal body with the mandate to achieve the
objectives of development, must more than ever
promote reform and coordination of the international
mechanisms of trade and finance. To that end, our
common Organization has the necessary moral
authority to regulate the process of globalization in the
common interest of all. There is therefore a need to
strengthen its role and to put in place rules for good
global governance that are capable of promoting — in
the words of that hallowed phrase — globalization with
a human face.
With the holding in 2001 of the international
conference on financing for development and the third
United Nations Conference on the Least Developed
Countries, we hold out the resolute hope that there will
be greater mobilization of financial resources, better
coordination of policies and more effective cooperation
among development actors, in particular among
Governments, the United Nations system, international
financial institutions, the private sector and civil
society, so as to achieve the major objectives of
poverty eradication and development.
The praiseworthy efforts of the United Nations to
promote and consolidate new and restored democracies
deserves strong support, as that is in keeping with the
will of our Organization to meet the aspirations of the
peoples of the world.
We in Niger fully appreciate all the valuable
assistance given by the United Nations system and
friendly countries for the restoration of democracy.
After more than a decade of political and institutional
instability, Niger — one of the least developed
countries of the world, which is bowing under the
weight of the debt burden and the impact of the
downward trend in official development assistance and
of climatic vagaries — has seen a return to democracy,
in accordance with the profound aspirations of our
people. However, as was so well put in his swearing-in
statement by the President of the Republic, Mr.
Mamadou Tandja,
“We are aware that the support of the
international community is essential to succeed in
this recovery. We therefore appeal to all countries
that support peace and solidarity and to
international organizations to accompany us in
our efforts, on the basis of mutual beneficial
interests and with strict respect for national
sovereignty.”
We would like formally to reiterate here our
gratitude to the United Nations Development
Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the
United Nations Children's Fund and all of Niger's
development partners for the invaluable support they
have constantly given my country and its people during
their most difficult times.
By chance the schedule has it that Niger is
speaking just before the end of the general debate of
the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly, the socalled Millennium Assembly. What, then, could be
more natural than for me to conclude my statement by
repeating our satisfaction with the outstanding work
done by our brother, Mr. Kofi Annan, at the head of the
universal Organization? Whether it be in the area of
maintaining international peace and security or that of
developed countries' providing development assistance
to the least developed, the Secretary-General deserves
our full trust, support and encouragement.
Namibia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr.
Theo-Ben Gurirab, your predecessor, Mr. President,
was a good President. His old companion in the
struggle, the late Mr. Johnny Makatini, as demanding
as he was in his lifetime, would have been as proud as
we at seeing the unequalled diplomatic talents Mr.
Gurirab displayed for a whole year. I pay humble
tribute to him here on behalf of Niger. I say to him:

Theo, you will always be a freedom fighter.

As for you, Mr. President, we know that the torch
that has been passed to you is in good hands. Your
personal competence and Finland's tradition of always
standing with the weakest leads us fervently to believe
that the Millennium Summit's conclusions will find in
you a true and committed advocate, so that at last our
Organization can acquire the new habits required by
the advent of the twenty-first century.


On
behalf of the Burundi delegation and on my own
behalf, I first congratulate you warmly, Sir, on your
election to lead the work of the current session. Your
election is an honour and a sign of the great esteem in
which the United Nations family holds you and your
country, Finland, which maintains friendly, cooperative
relations with Burundi.
I would further like to pay a well deserved tribute
to your predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, Minister
for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia, who
masterfully led the work of the previous session. We
particularly appreciated his competence, dedication and
high level of commitment to successfully fulfilling his
mandate.
I also salute the dynamic and innovative work of
Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General, to achieve
peace, security and development throughout the world.
My delegation greatly appreciates his report, “We the
peoples: the role of the United Nations in the twentyfirst century”, which undertakes a painstaking and
uncompromising analysis of the great challenges of
these times and proposes an approach to overcoming
them so that it will be possible to live in a world free
from want and fear, in a world that meets our
aspirations.
Finally, it is my pleasure to welcome warmly
Tuvalu as a new Member of our Organization, and at
the same time to congratulate it on its wise decision to
our ranks at this beginning of the new millennium.
My delegation unreservedly supports and
endorses the Millennium Declaration, adopted by our
heads of State and Government on 8 September 2000.
We very much hope that its pertinent
recommendations, made by almost all the world's
leaders, will not become a dead letter. The United
Nations, and each country in particular, must
implement the appropriate strategies to translate the
recommendations into concrete actions that can
improve the future of our populations and peoples — in
particular the most disadvantaged.
At one of the meetings of the Millennium
Summit, which concluded on 8 September 2000, the
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of
Burundi, speaking on behalf of the head of State,
stated:
“The Burundian people are in the process of
turning a page in their history. The agreement on peace
and national reconciliation was signed on 28 August in
Arusha, Tanzania, before the eyes of the entire world,
which hailed the occasion. This was a qualitative leap
12

forward towards a better future for the Burundian
people.” (A/55/PV.7)
Later the Minister said, however:
“Everything has not yet been resolved ... the
greatest remaining challenge is ending the war,
without which the implementation of the
agreement is practically impossible.” (ibid.)
The end to the war was to have been negotiated
yesterday, 20 September, at a meeting scheduled in
Nairobi between the Government and the rebels, and
before the heads of State of the region. The President
of the Republic himself represented the Government.
The heads of State of the region and, of course, the
mediator were also there. The three political parties
that had not signed the 28 August peace agreement
were also there, and they signed the agreement. Thus
the maximum number of parties have now accepted
this agreement.
As for the rebels, only one movement, the FNL,
was represented by its leader. The head of the other
movement — the CNDD-FDD, which is the more
important group — did not make the trip. The two
movements refused to negotiate anything or to meet
with the Government delegation. Rather, they
contented themselves with repeating their
preconditions and pleading that they had to consult
their rank and file before making any commitments.
Thus the meeting was a failure. The hopes of the
Burundi people of seeing the violence come to an end
were dashed. The implementation of the peace
agreement has been called into question. The
signatories to the agreement on peace and national
reconciliation — negotiated two years ago — are now
accused of being traitors and men of straw, and are
being asked to return to the negotiating table. Those
taking part in the rebel uprising go so far as to call into
question the good faith of the leaders who sponsored
the negotiations and the signing of the peace
agreement.
Before denouncing the 28 August peace
agreement, the rebel uprising had hidden itself behind a
series of preconditions for the ceasefire negotiations.
The two principal preconditions were as follows.
The first precondition was the dismantling of the
regroupment camps. This precondition has been
meaningless since 31 July 2000, because the
Government had committed itself to dismantling the
camps by that date, and it kept this promise, as the
United Nations has confirmed on the basis of reports
from its agencies working in the field in Burundi. The
facilitator, Mr. Nelson Mandela, himself publicly
reaffirmed these reports during the signing of the peace
agreement on 28 August.
The second precondition related to the release of
political prisoners — an issue that has been the source
of a great deal of disagreement between the negotiating
parties. But since then, thanks to the compromise that
the parties have reached, contained in article 15 and
point 20 of the second protocol to the peace agreement,
the current Government can create an independent
commission to look into, inter alia, the issues of prison
conditions and political prisoners.

That is why it has just asked the Secretary-General to send to Burundi a team of experts in
criminal law to inquire freely into the existence or nonexistence of political prisoners in Burundi. It is no
longer possible to deal with this question outside of the
peace agreement unless one wants to imperil the entire
peace process. The Government and the people of
Burundi were very grateful for the opportunity they
had to explain to the Facilitator during his two visits to
Burundi how delicate the problem was.
Burundians suffer enormously from war; they
want finally to breathe the air of peace. Deadly, wanton
ambushes against people travelling on the roads,
attacks on innocent people in the hills and in the
displaced persons camps, theft of livestock, destruction
of houses, crops, social infrastructure and so on — all
of this must stop so that, finally, our country can regain
its peace and tranquillity.
Setting conditions to halt violence is cruel, and
the international community must condemn this
attitude and those responsible for it. Given the
intransigence of the rebels, the Government of Burundi
calls upon the region and the international community
to implement the provisions of article 2 of the peace
agreement, which states that if the armed groups of the
non-signatory parties reject the invitation made in the
agreement to suspend hostilities and to start
negotiations for a ceasefire, the guarantors of the
agreement, particularly the Governments of
neighbouring States, and the international
organizations will take “the necessary steps to stop,
13

demobilize, disarm and, where appropriate, arrest,
detain and repatriate the members of these armed
groups and, furthermore, take all appropriate steps
against any party which encourages and supports such
activities”.
In the absence of a ceasefire not only do the
innocent continue to die, but also the refugees and
displaced persons cannot return home; assistance to
rebuild the country cannot begin; and even the
transitional institutions established cannot function
properly. Why is the international community silent
when two armed movements are holding hostage an
entire people that had pinned so many hopes on the
peace agreement which has now been signed by 19 out
of 19 parties — in other words, all of the negotiators?
The Government, as it has often repeated, is
prepared to negotiate directly with the rebels and to
conclude the ceasefire agreement as soon as possible. It
will also continue to explain the peace agreement to the
people so that they will support its contents and its
programme. It is also continuing consultations in order
to arrive at compromise solutions regarding the
reservations expressed by certain parties about the
agreement and other questions that are still pending.
We would be deluding ourselves if we said that
Burundi will attain peace and security without a
favourable environment in the subregion and in Africa
in general. Unfortunately, nothing leads one yet to hope
that peace will be established in the Great Lakes region
any time soon. The Lusaka agreements signed in
August 1999 still offer a few glimmers of hope before
actually entering into force. However, they are an
important basis for the resolution of the conflict in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The summit that
took place, again in Lusaka, on 14 and 15 August 2000
unfortunately ended in failure, even though it was one
more chance to establish the basis for peace. However,
a lost opportunity should not discourage us. We would
like here to say that we very much support President
Frederick Chiluba of the Republic of Zambia for his
tireless efforts to find a solution to the question of the
Congo, and we encourage him to persevere.
Contrary to the allegations made by the head of
the delegation of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo from this rostrum on 16 September, I wish to
reaffirm that the only interest of my country, Burundi,
is to maintain security over our borders. We have no
other ambitions, political or economic, with regard to
any neighbouring country. And we hope that the same
applies to our neighbouring countries, in particular
those who give refuge to and assist the Burundian
rebels.
Each country, and the subregion in general, must
focus on problems of development. The ideology of
genocide, which is undermining the entire Great Lakes
region, and the many armed rebellions by those who
champion that ideology, will be overcome only through
the concerted and determined efforts of all States of the
Great Lakes region, with the active support of the
international community.
In this context, the conference on peace, security
and development for the Great Lakes countries,
envisaged for several years now, can be successful only
if each country of the region makes a meaningful effort
to improve their domestic policies.
By holding the Millennium Summit, the United
Nations chose a very opportune moment to discuss the
great challenges that await us in the coming century:
peace, security and disarmament, on the one hand, and
development and the eradication of poverty, on the
other.
As is so well summarized by the SecretaryGeneral in his report, we must live free from fear and
free from want. Although these two goals are the very
essence of our Organization, it must be stated that,
unfortunately, we are still wide of the mark. Fratricidal
wars continue to break out in various parts of the world
and it takes too long to put the fires out. Conflicts
break out on the borders of neighbouring countries, and
entire communities are forced into exile. Given the
multitude of these conflicts and their complexity, the
international community has only a mixed record of
success. Like other heads of delegations that have
preceded me, I am inclined to wonder why our
Organization does not do better in preventing and
resolving conflicts and in peacekeeping.
On this subject, we very much support the
implementation of the valuable recommendations in the
Brahimi report, which was the outcome of an in-depth
study at the request of Mr. Kofi Annan on the activities
of the United Nations in the area of peace. We welcome
the steps already taken by the Secretary-General to
prepare a detailed plan for the implementation of these
recommendations.
14

If our Organization were to engage in some selfquestioning, we would probably find that one of the
primary causes for failure lies in the very functioning
of the United Nations. The Security Council decides on
everything, and it decides too slowly. In the face of
urgent situations, there is too much procrastination due
to political expediency which is very often
insufficiently understood by the international
community.
Over the last fifty years, it is the same people
who decide the fate of humanity while safeguarding the
interests of some States as a matter of priority. People
who seek urgent assistance thus have the impression
that they are being held hostage or are being abandoned
to their fate because international solidarity, so keenly
awaited, does not materialize. My delegation,
therefore, reiterates the hope that we will re-think the
functioning, composition and attributes of the Security
Council in order to revitalize it and to adapt it to this
ongoing state of change.
The question of the equitable representation of all
regions of the world on the Security Council and the
question of increasing the number of members, both
permanent and non-permanent, deserve our attention.
They are in tune with the imperatives of democracy
and legitimacy in making decisions in this highly
important Organization — the United Nations. Only
such a reform can restore the confidence of all Member
States in reviving the force of law in international
affairs, because today, weak nations are confronting,
basically, the law of force.
In order to do this the establishment of the
International Criminal Court, the Statute of which was
adopted in Rome in 1998, will, I am sure, be a useful
tool to combat impunity.
Although sanctions fall exclusively within the
competence of the Security Council, from 31 July 1996
until January 1999, Burundi lived under a regime of
economic sanctions imposed by neighbouring
countries, which was in violation of the United Nations
Charter because it was not an initiative of the Security
Council. As has been pointed out, such sanctions have
proved to be both unfair and counterproductive.
Because of the adverse effects of these sanctions in the
economic and social area, those who suffer the most
are innocent people — the elderly, women and
children. The Security Council should therefore resort
to targeted sanctions only in serious and exceptional
circumstances when other methods of pressure have
failed, in order to avoid causing harm to the entire
population.
The other major obstacle to world peace is the
proliferation of light weapons — paradoxically, in poor
countries. Only with the combined efforts of all States
will we be able to deal with this phenomenon, because
arms manufacturers and merchants form a worldwide
network that represents big financial interests. Any
peacekeeping programme should therefore include, as a
matter of priority, the monitoring of flows of light
arms, since it is such weapons that are used by most
clandestine movements to cause death and destruction
through terrorism.
Furthermore, fear cannot be dispelled from the
world as long as competition to produce weapons of
mass destruction continues. Our Organization should
do everything it can to bring about complete global
denuclearization in the medium term. This standing
threat to humanity undermines all hopes for a world of
peace, to which the founding fathers of our world
Organization aspired.
Those with the responsibility of governing some
of the poorest countries in the world appreciate, on a
daily basis, just how hard it is to ensure that peace can
prevail in a community that is bereft of food and other
basic needs. A proverb in our national language,
Kirundi, says, “If you go to sleep with an empty
stomach, you will wake up with a heart full of hatred”.
It is no secret that the world has an abundance of riches
and resources of all kinds. But that does not prevent
people in some parts of the world from dying of hunger
or malnutrition, while their fellow human beings in
other parts of the world — and sometimes even in their
own countries and cities — are wallowing in luxury.
This means that true cooperation is the kind that
encourages growth in production and income to enable
people to take control of health, education, nutrition
and decent housing. By giving greater assistance to the
poorest countries, the rich countries would be working
not only for a fairer world but for greater security for
their own people.
The millennium report of the Secretary-General,
submitted under agenda item 49 (b) of the fifty-fourth
session, rightly stresses the seriousness of the tragedy
caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic throughout the
world, focusing particular attention on Africa. Of the
36 million people who are HIV-positive, more than 23
15

million are in sub-Saharan African. According to that
report, in the same region, more than one child in ten
has lost its mother to AIDS. The very pessimistic
prediction has been made that by 2010 there will be 40
million orphans. Burundi has not escaped this
dangerous epidemic, which appeared at the beginning
of the 1980s and is continuing to cause devastation
today, particularly among the most active and,
therefore, the most productive people.
In the meantime, with the assistance of the World
Health Organization, the United Nations Children's
Fund and other actors, to which we extend our heartfelt
thanks, my Government has launched a robust
prevention policy against HIV/AIDS. A special fund
has been established to combat this scourge, which
could decimate entire generations. That is why we
endorse the recommendations of the Secretary-General
to reduce the HIV infection rate, particularly by
increasing access to information, education and health
services for people who are already infected. At the
same time, we recommend that the pharmaceutical
industry be provided with all the financial support
necessary to develop an effective and affordable
vaccine to eradicate this scourge by the end of the
century.
Before we can be sure of having built a more
secure and prosperous world, we must be mindful of
the need to bequeath to our children an
environmentally balanced planet. Unfortunately, we
have to say that the industrial progress that was
supposed to have generated prosperity is making our
natural environment increasingly unhealthy. We must,
as a matter of urgency, control the quality of industrial
production and the phenomenon of population growth,
particularly in urban areas, if we wish to safeguard
quality of life for future generations.
We have often behaved as if nature would remain
healthy without our making any effort. Today,
desertification is a threat to many countries that used to
be covered with vegetation. Drought has invaded
regions that used to be crossed by great rivers and
streams. In those places where there is still enough
water, it takes millions of dollars to treat it to make it
potable.
My delegation would like to reiterate the
Secretary-General's appeal to all Member States at the
Millennium Summit to fund an assessment of
ecosystems before it is too late. The result would no
doubt be a clear, realistic programme to protect our
environment.
Despite the difficult situation in which we have
been living for several years, Burundi, in close
cooperation with other Member States, will work
steadfastly to achieve the goals pursued by our
Organization. We hope that the United Nations will
adapt to current challenges and to changing
international relations for the benefit of all humankind.


I would like to
convey our warm congratulations to Mr. Harri Holkeri
on his election to the presidency of this fifty-fifth
session of the General Assembly. I wish also to extend
our greetings to Tuvalu as a new Member of the United
Nations.
This year's session of the General Assembly is of
special significance, as it is taking place right after the
Millennium Summit. The Summit marked an important
milestone for the United Nations in the discharge of the
lofty responsibilities of the Organization and its
Member States towards the future of humankind. The
Millennium Declaration adopted by the Summit points
out humanity's most pressing issues and the
Organization's primary priorities and directions at the
beginning of this new era. Thus the Millennium
Declaration can be considered a new charter and
platform of action of the United Nations.
The question now confronting the international
community is how to translate the Millennium
Declaration into reality. This session of the General
Assembly must mark the beginning of a new awareness
and determination, to be demonstrated by concrete
results. Only by so doing can we further consolidate
the confidence of the world's people in the work of the
United Nations, the largest Organization on our planet.
The realization of the Millennium Declaration
will be a long process, but not a simple one. It will
require the strong determination and efforts of each
country, the international community and the United
Nations, especially since globalization is having
negative effects, leading to the uneven distribution of
opportunities and benefits at the expense of developing
countries.
Poverty eradication and development must be
accorded primary priority and supported so that we can
achieve the targets set by the Millennium Summit,
including the target to halve, by the year 2015, the
current proportion of the world's poor people,
endeavouring to make the right to development a
reality for everyone. Among human rights, the right to
development is of paramount importance. With poverty
and without development, there can be no peace and
stability, let alone human rights. On the other hand, the
consolidation of international peace and security will
help to create a stable, enabling environment for
development and poverty eradication, in each country
and each region, as well as throughout the world.
To achieve development and poverty eradication,
the first decisive requirement is for countries to

enhance their efforts and adopt suitable policies and
programmes aimed at making the fullest use of their
resources and potential, while at the same time fully
mobilizing and effectively utilizing resources from
outside. The United Nations, for its part, should
strengthen its capacity and direct the necessary
resources necessary to support the poverty-eradication
efforts of the Member States.
Another extremely important point is that the
developed and industrialized countries, as well as
economic centres, must further enhance their assistance
to developing countries in their endeavour to achieve
development and poverty eradication. That should
include debt-relief and write-off measures and an
increase in official development assistance to 0.7 per
cent of gross domestic product, to which they have
committed themselves.
The objectives set out in the Millennium
Declaration have long been considered by Viet Nam as
its primary policy priorities. For example, through our
own determined efforts and with the assistance of the
United Nations and other countries, we have reduced
the poverty rate, according to Viet Nam's criteria, to 11
per cent in 2000 from 30 per cent in 1992. We hope
that this support and assistance will be further
enhanced to facilitate Viet Nam's consolidation of the
achievements recorded.
In the final analysis, all of these issues are aimed
at serving the human being. Human resources and
cultural development are two closely related aspects
within the overall programme of development and
poverty eradication. They are therefore both the goal
and the driving force of development. This is the lesson
that we can draw from the experience of many decades.
It needs to be given appropriate and close attention in
the policies of all countries.
Those objectives have been reflected also in
Vision 2020 of the Association of South-East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and in the Hanoi Programme of
Action. They include the expansion of cooperation in
South-East Asia and in East Asia and the building of
development triangles and quadrangles crossing poor
regions. Concrete examples include the promising
initiatives of the East-West corridor for development
and the proclamation of the first decade of the twenty-
first century as the Decade of Greater Mekong
Subregion Development Cooperation, a proclamation
which is supported by the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Those
programmes are fully compatible with the directives
contained in the Millennium Declaration, and they
should therefore be properly supported by the United
Nations and by the international community. Viet Nam
and ASEAN will also contribute to further advances
along this path.
In many regions of the world, protracted conflicts
continue, causing instability and hindering the efforts
of those regions and the countries in them to eradicate
poverty eradication and attain development. Viet Nam
and ASEAN support the resolution of disputes by
peaceful means, without interference or imposition, so
as to improve and consolidate regional peace, and not
to further complicate the situation and adversely affect
the confidence of the peoples of the countries
concerned in the endeavours of the international
community. Our common responsibility is therefore to
guarantee that there will no repetition of interference of
the kind that occurred recently in violation of the
United Nations Charter and to put an end to the
embargoes that have imposed untold sufferings on the
peoples of Cuba and Iraq.
Greater efforts should be made to further enhance
disarmament, especially disarmament relating to
nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
destruction, and to curb the growing danger of a new
arms race, including attempts to deploy new missile
systems.
In South-East Asia and in East Asia, the ASEAN
countries have been leading the effort to build a region
of amity, cooperation and prosperity, free from nuclear
weapons; to resolve outstanding issues in the region; to
implement the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in
South-East Asia and the Treaty on the South-East Asia
Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone; and to promote the
ASEAN Regional Forum for dialogue and cooperation
with other countries and organizations. In this field,
confidence-building measures should be enhanced on
the basis of strict respect for the principles of non-
interference in the internal affairs of other States, and
of the preservation of the national and cultural identity
of each country and of each region as a whole. Viet
Nam and ASEAN, bilaterally or through the Regional
Forum, will further promote efforts to develop a
regional code of conduct on the South China Sea
between ASEAN and China. We fully support the 1992
ASEAN Declaration on principles for resolving
24

disputes in the South China Sea, and we welcome
recent positive developments on the Korean peninsula.
In order to implement the new major directives of
the Millennium Summit and to follow up the
momentum created by it, the General Assembly should,
at this session, further enhance the process of
reforming, revitalizing and democratizing the United
Nations. Viet Nam supports the restoration and
strengthening of the central position of the General
Assembly, an organ that represents all Member States
on the basis of sovereign equality. The reform of the
United Nations  and most important, the reform of
the structure, composition and decision-making process
of the Security Council ó is the responsibility of all
Member States.
Reform of the Security Council should be based
on the principles of the United Nations Charter. It
should ensure increased representativeness, democracy
and equitable geographical distribution, through which
developing countries will be represented appropriately
and will participate fully in the Council's decisions on
important matters of world peace and security. Viet
Nam supports expansion in both categories of Council
membership, permanent and non-permanent. Regarding
the increase in the permanent membership, the general
package to be agreed upon should ensure that
developing countries from the three continents of Asia,
Africa and Latin America are represented; and it may
also take into account the inclusion of some developing
countries that can play a significant role and of certain
developed countries that have made major financial
and material contributions to the United Nations. Such
countries would include India, Japan and Germany.
Now more than ever before, the United Nations
must ensure that it can demonstrate the ability to
reform itself and move forward with tangible steps. We
need to act, and to ensure that the reform reflects the
abundant vitality of the United Nations.
As it participates in this session, Viet Nam shares
the common resolve to implement the historic
Millennium Declaration to build a just and better world
and a worthier and more effective United Nations.
Fully aware of its responsibility as a Member State
towards the United Nations and towards the
international community, Viet Nam has for many years
been making an effort to attain the common goals of
mankind and of the United Nations, and it will
continue to do so in the future. A very recent vivid
example was the proposal put forward by the President
of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam at the
Millennium Summit, recommending that the first
decade of the twenty-first century be proclaimed a
decade of the greatest efforts towards development and
poverty eradication.
In its capacity as a Member of the United Nations
and as Chairman of ASEAN, Viet Nam will do its
utmost to contribute actively to the development of the
United Nations in general and of ASEAN in particular,
and to promote cooperation between Viet Nam and the
United Nations as well as between ASEAN and the
United Nations. We wish at the same time to develop
close and effective cooperation with other Member
States and with organizations of the United Nations.


Allow me to join my
colleagues in congratulating you, Sir, on your election
to the presidency of the General Assembly. I am
confident that this fifty-fifth session will be most
effective and successful under your guidance. I would
also like to express our appreciation to your
predecessor, Mr. Gurirab, for his skilful leadership, and
I welcome Tuvalu to the United Nations as a new
Member.
Here in this great city just two weeks ago, an
unprecedented number of heads of State gathered and
outlined the challenges facing the world in the new
millennium, together with their nations' achievements
and their visions for the future. It is true that the
myriad views expressed differed in perspective, focus,
attitude and outlook, but it is also true that the leaders
of the world left the Summit having renewed their
common commitment to universal values and
principles and to a more peaceful and prosperous
world. All these were clearly reflected in the Secretary-
General's report and the Millennium Declaration,
which provide us with a blueprint for a common
agenda in the years to come.
This is a global agenda to meet global goals, but,
as is often said, all politics is local and everything
begins at home. Therefore, in the final analysis, it is
each individual State that must take up the
responsibility in its own country and region to make a
difference that will have a cumulative impact on the
quality of the world in which we all live. Armenia is
cognizant of its own responsibility and is committed to
doing its part to enhance regional peace and security
and to elevate the quality of life of everyone involved.
The Secretary-General's millennium report
groups our global challenges under three blunt
headings: freedom from want, freedom from fear and
the freedom of future generations to sustain their lives
on this planet.
Globalization is expected to drive economic
development around the world in order to allow future
generations to sustain their lives and to make possible
the kind of economic self-sufficiency we all want for
our peoples. The major task of Governments around
the world today is the pursuit of sound policies and
appropriate structural adjustments to meet the
challenges that globalization presents and to take
advantage of the opportunities it offers without falling
victim to the hazards it threatens.
At the same time, the revolution in
communication and information technologies has
opened up the global market to new players.
Information technology and the Internet have become
the moving engines for economic growth and, at the
same time, if used appropriately, its great equalizers.
They hold the promise of unlimited progress and allow
even small and landlocked countries to take advantage
of global access in almost every area of their lives.
Armenia is fully cognizant of this and has made
information technology development the axis of its
economic growth. We have already taken concrete
steps towards bolstering the development of
information technology and telecommunications and,
together with foreign investors, have begun preliminary
work towards an information technology industrial
park on the outskirts of the capital.
At the same time, well aware that Armenia's
educational system must be up to matching this call for
infusing the existing intellectual capacity and talent
with new skills, we will ensure that education
curriculums include computer literacy and Internet
familiarity. By 2005, all our schools will have
computer capabilities with unlimited Internet access.
Freedom from want and freedom from fear go
hand in hand. Without a free, democratic, open system
at home and peace and security in our neighbourhood,
it is not possible to achieve economic prosperity.
During the nine years since the establishment of
Armenia's independence, we have made great strides in
anchoring democratic values, the rule of law and
respect for human rights in our society. This year, with
Armenia's membership in the Council of Europe, these
processes will become irreversible. The responsibilities
associated with membership will strengthen and
reinforce all that has been achieved to date.
Economic prosperity also hinges on regional
stability. At the same time, long-term peace, security
and prosperity in our region depend on its equitable
economic development and the development of
multifaceted economic arrangements among countries
and regional organizations. It is apparent that the new

environment of coexistence requires new approaches
from international organizations. Regional and
subregional integration has become politically and
economically expedient. This is especially true in the
Caucasus, which is emerging as a region for competing
political and economic interests. We look at our
security not only in a bilateral, but also in the broader
regional European context. We are convinced that, in
the long run, our national security must be anchored in
regional stability.
We are confident that economic cooperation will
help us transcend political problems and facilitate the
resolution of political issues. A stable and democratic
Caucasus is a work in progress. Still, the promise of
democracy in the region must not shroud the fragility
of the emergent equilibrium. We recognize and
welcome the constructive role that the United Nations
and other international organizations — such as the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE), the Council of Europe, the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation and the Commonwealth of
Independent States — can and must play to consolidate
this regional equilibrium. Armenia intends to expand
its cooperation within those organizations and more
actively to participate in various regional institutions.
These diverse bodies, however, must not, by the
uneven or inconsistent application of their principles,
exacerbate existing regional disparities. Armenia is
confident that the Caucasus is in need of a regional
system for stability and security and we stand ready to
work towards its formation. We were the first to
propose, last year at the OSCE Istanbul Summit, the
beginning of a process towards comprehensive regional
security leading to a stability pact for the region.
Armenia has adopted and will abide by its policy of
complementarity, conducting relations with all
countries which have political or economic interests in
the Caucasus. This approach has worked quite
effectively over the past several years and we believe
that it has contributed to the reduction of polarization
and tension in the region.
However, the region continues to remain
adversely affected by the lack of formal relations
between Armenia and our neighbour, Turkey. Although
Armenia, from day one of its independence, opted for
the normalization of relations and the establishment of
diplomatic ties, Turkey insisted and continues to insist
on certain conditions related to Nagorny Karabakh and
the recognition of the Armenian genocide.
Ten days ago at the Summit, from this podium
President Kocharian addressed this issue and extended
a hand to our neighbour in order that we might together
find a way to live with the truth of the past without
jeopardizing the promise of the future. Unfortunately,
Turkey's response indicated that it continues to let the
fear of history limit its freedom to act. However, there
is no national history in a vacuum. France and
Germany, England and France, the United States and
Japan, in order to transcend their histories of conflict,
war and hatred, had to transcend the past together.
Indeed, many nations have founded their spiritual and
moral resurrection on exorcising their guilt, on the
search for validation through truth, on facing their own
past squarely. Redemption and reconciliation without
truth will remain forever elusive.
The Millennium Summit Declaration addressed a
topic that is very important in relation to Armenians'
right to freedom from fear. The Millennium
Declaration provided for the right to self-determination
of peoples who remain under colonial domination and
foreign occupation. In Nagorny Karabakh, there was
both colonial domination by the Soviets and foreign
occupation by Azerbaijan, which was illegally and
unjustly given jurisdiction over the Armenian region in
1923. For a people whose compatriots lay just over the
border, but out of reach, such a divisive act and the
ensuing double layer of subjugation was untenable.
During the decades of Soviet rule and then after the
collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the
Armenians of Nagorny Karabakh resorted to
demanding their right to self-determination, the refusal
of which led to military conflict, refugees and loss of
life.
During the last six years, the military phase of the
conflict has ceased, and Armenia remains committed to
a lasting resolution that will provide for peace and
security for Nagorny Karabakh, with a continuous
geographical link with Armenia. We will continue to
work intensely with the co-chairs of the Minsk Group
and wish to underscore their contribution to
maintaining the ceasefire regime. With equal fervour,
we are ready to maintain direct contacts with
Azerbaijan in order to search for compromise.
However, we think that direct negotiations between
Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh would be more
productive, as it is the people of Karabakh who will
ultimately determine their own destiny and future.
12

In his report the Secretary-General rightly stated
that today more wars are being fought within States
than between them. Yet no attempt is being made to
address this new challenge in a more effective,
meaningful and realistic way.
Each conflict must ultimately be addressed on its
own terms, and through the actions and the
accommodations of its own peoples and its political
leaders. What the international community can do is
provide not only the support and the potential
incentives for this process of transformation, but also
the intellectual, conceptual models for exploring
appropriate and suitable arrangements for the
resolution of seemingly intractable conflicts. We
believe that in designing appropriate frameworks
within which hostile parties can find a common
language, reassurances may be designed in a flexible
manner which must be specifically geared to
addressing particular types of conflicts. If I may be
allowed a truism, we should think along the lines of
“form follows function”. The function of the probable
solutions that must emerge, as well as the broad outline
of an eventual peace agreement, must rely, we believe,
on devices or principles that are tailor-made, highly
specific and perhaps even unique. Without that kind of
customization, we believe that generic, standard-issue
formulas will not be well-suited to the resolution of the
conflict in which we find ourselves at this moment
deeply involved, and whose long-term outcome is of
great concern to us.
For us, peace in Nagorny Karabakh represents, of
course, the promise of transforming a situation of
hostility and confrontation with our neighbour,
Azerbaijan, into one of cooperation and mutually
reinforced security. We would like to think of the day
when Karabakh is transformed from being a chasm
separating our countries into a bridge built for the
benefit of all the populations concerned.
The political document adopted by the
Millennium Summit sets the guidelines for the
development of the United Nations in the coming
years. Armenia is confident that this Organization,
given its outstanding role and track record, has the
capacity to address the new challenges in a most
satisfactory manner. The vast experience accumulated
over the last five decades can be successfully applied
to secure peace and stability all over the world.
However, in response to today's new challenges
and new demands, United Nations reforms must be
carried through to strengthen this dynamic
organization. With the proposed expansion of the
Security Council, that strategic body will become more
representative, and its decisions will be endowed with
greater authority.
May the twenty-first century be the one that sees
all nations united in shared goals and collective action.


On behalf of my delegation,
Sir, I wish to congratulate you sincerely on your
election as President of the fifty-fifth session of the
General Assembly. This session is indeed historic,
coming as it does in the wake of a Millennium Summit
that witnessed the presence of the largest-ever
gathering of political leaders of the international
community. I also wish to commend the other members
of the Bureau on their election.
May I also take this opportunity to pay a richly
deserved tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben
Gurirab, Foreign Minister of Namibia, whose deep
sense of duty and commitment to social justice helped
shape the United Nations agenda for the new century.
Indeed, the General Assembly gave impetus to such an
agenda when, in December 1998, it decided to hold the
Millennium events, believing strongly that the turn of
the century was a unique and symbolically compelling
moment to articulate and affirm an animating vision for
the United Nations in the new era.
Barely a fortnight ago, world leaders met here in
New York, following that commitment, to address the
challenges of the new century, reaffirm their
commitment to the Charter of the United Nations and
to demonstrate political will for the new process. The
message that emerged from the statements made by the
heads of State or Government at the Millennium
Summit was the reaffirmation of the unique role of the
United Nations in offering the best, and only, universal
framework for confronting the challenges of the
millennium.
It recognized a United Nations capable of
promoting a new development agenda that is people-
oriented and which also guarantees greater
participation of stakeholders, particularly women, the
youth, the private sector and civil society at large; a
United Nations that has been revitalized to play a more
meaningful role in helping developing countries meet
the challenges of poverty reduction, political pluralism
and the ongoing process of globalization; a United
Nations that boldly plays its role as an Organization
working for the good of all, with the confidence of the
world's people.
The conjunction of the fifty-fifth session of the
General Assembly and the beginning of a new
millennium provides a symbolic departure point for the
international community to seek to do better in all
areas of its endeavour. Today, there is no greater
challenge facing our world and no greater issue
defining this millennium than the debilitating
inhumanity of poverty, its heavy hand on wealth
creation, its fast spread across the world, the deadly
effect of economic insecurity on peace and security and
its impact on the environment. It is thus perplexing that
under the effect of globalization, deprivation and
inequality are accelerating globally with as much speed
as innovation, technological progress and integration,
although in different directions. Our collective
ingenuity, that of both developed and developing, is
called upon to produce answers that will bring us
closer than ever before to the purposes of the Charter.
We have encountered disappointments as the
international community has striven for peace, security,
development and respect for human rights. We have
also sought ways of dealing with the impact of
globalization on international trade and investment. We
should not resign ourselves to these reversals, nor
should we accept living with them. To do so would
defeat the objective of development. The way forward
18

is not only to revitalize the United Nations to enable it
to strive more boldly for a more equitable global
society, but also to work together to ensure that equity,
fairness and solidarity characterize international
relations.
On the important question of maintaining
international peace and security, the role of the United
Nations has been, without doubt, that of facilitating
conditions under which countries and peoples may live
together securely and harmoniously in order to give
free rein to their creative talents. One important means
of achieving this objective in the midst of violent
conflicts that keep erupting has been to undertake
peacekeeping all over the world. Ghana has been and
will continue to be a major contributor to this effort, as
conflicts in Africa especially pose a major challenge to
the United Nations efforts to bring about global peace
and prosperity.
The situations in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and Sierra Leone, to name only two examples,
amply demonstrate the complexities of the challenges
which the United Nations must show it can handle. In
the West African subregion, for example, we must all
cooperate in imposing a ban on the purchase of small
arms and especially on the purchase of diamonds that
are not controlled by the Certificate of Origin regime
from countries in conflict. Unless the international
community helps by implementing this aspect of
Security Council resolutions, international peace and
security will continue to be prejudiced by the greed and
ambition of individuals.
Enhancing Africa's peacekeeping capacity to
cope with challenging missions, through training,
logistics and financial support, as well as a stronger
partnership between the United Nations and the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) Mechanism for
Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, is a
crucial goal if we are to return the continent to peace
and security. That is one of the reasons why Ghana
attaches importance to regional and subregional
peacekeeping initiatives. However, such initiatives
should not become an excuse for the United Nations or
the Security Council to shirk their primary
responsibility for the maintenance of peace and
security in Africa.
Disarmament lies at the heart of the United
Nations efforts to ensure and sustain international
peace and security, conditions necessary for all
productive human activity. The nuclear threat of the
cold-war era still looms large over all of us and will
continue to do so until the nuclear Powers and
militarily significant countries disarm. It is therefore
reassuring that, despite the gloom that has beclouded
the United Nations disarmament machinery over past
years, positive results were achieved at the Sixth
Review Conference of the State Parties to the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
The United Nations must capitalize on this
momentum and continue its search for new ways and
means to achieve nuclear disarmament and arms non-
proliferation. It must also embark on confidence-
building measures in order to enhance the process. In
this regard, the Disarmament Commission and other
relevant machinery on disarmament established by the
General Assembly should be given every opportunity
to fulfil their mandates through the demonstration by
Member States of commitment, flexibility and the
necessary political will.
Ghana would therefore use this opportunity to
reiterate its support for the proposal by the Secretary-
General of convening a major international conference
on the nuclear threat. We will also play an active part
in the preparatory process leading to the United
Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms
and Light Weapons in All its Aspects, to be held in
2001.
Ghana believes that the efforts of the United
Nations to promote and maintain international peace
and security should rest on a firm international legal
framework, hence the need to maintain support for the
useful work being done by the International Law
Commission and related institutions in the United
Nations system. We believe that the tremendous
progress made in the establishment of legal
frameworks for the pursuit of crimes against humanity,
for example, must continue if our societies are to be
maintained.
In the particular case of Africa, support for the
International Criminal Court is not only desirable; it is
a must, since censure by the international community is
now very necessary in dissuading warlords and rebels
from committing the heinous crimes that we continue
to witness in countries such as Sierra Leone, Rwanda
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ghana
recommends, therefore, that international law should
19

ensure that the perpetrators of such crimes are punished
and that they do not enjoy amnesty from any country.
The spirit of compromise which led to the
overwhelming endorsement of the Rome Treaty
establishing the International Criminal Court, must be
kept alive to achieve our objectives in this field.
The situation in the Middle East continues to
engage the serious attention of us all. Ghana
acknowledges the current propitious climate in the
Middle East as a result of the revival of contacts
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at the
highest levels. The withdrawal of Israeli Defence
Forces from Southern Lebanon has given these talks a
sense of optimism, and so have the meetings between
Chairman Arafat and Mr. Ehud Barak. While we
commend President Clinton's efforts, the two leaders of
the Middle East are urged to show flexibility and stay
the course, as the obstacles to peace cannot be removed
without compromise, painful sacrifices, diplomacy and
a strong desire for durable peace. Both sides should
remember that this is perhaps the finest hour for
reaching agreement. The negative forces in Israel,
especially, are regrouping, while the younger
generation in Palestine are growing more and more
impatient. No sacrifice should therefore be too great
for success.

In this new era we must have the boldness to end
attitudes and situations that are no longer helpful to the
process of globalization. In spite of the regular
acknowledgement by world leaders and other
influential policy makers of the need for poverty
alleviation, those in a position to do so have failed to
offer credible arrangements for debt relief, market
access and financing for development which would go
a long way in enabling developing countries to build
viable socio-economic systems capable of overcoming
the fragmentation and marginalization being suffered
as a result of globalization. On the contrary, they are
using their pre-eminent political and economic
positions to try to control and manipulate developing
countries, especially countries whose Governments
they do not support.
It seems to me that the world community is yet to
translate the traditional parochial affirmation of the
need for equity, fairness and solidarity for national
development into concrete international actions.
Furthermore, the United Nations will be able to teach
lessons of equality and justice to its members only
when it practises those norms itself.
At the end of the cold war the peoples of the
world heard a lot about the peace dividend. Only a
decade after this new concept was trumpeted from the
rooftops, it has turned out to be non-existent. But that
concept can be real if the tenor of our negotiations
reflects an awareness of our common humanity and its
highest values rather than the diplomatic stock-in-trade
of an era shaped by competitive warfare and an
unequal advantage of the rich and powerful over the
poor and militarily insignificant countries.
International cooperation for development must replace
inequity and war.
Transforming the context of international
cooperation for development depends as much on the
level of commitment of individuals and groups in our
respective countries as it does on what we do as
political leaders and policy makers. In this connection,
reinforcing and enhancing the network of linkages
between the United Nations and civil society is a
fundamental necessity. Unless our actions reflect this
strategic understanding of the nature of decision-
making in the world today, we are unlikely to benefit
from the mistakes of our past efforts.
We accordingly urge the Secretary-General to
examine ways of ensuring common, acceptable
standards for accountability and transparency, even in
the operations of non-governmental organizations with
respect to their participation in the United Nations. In
addition, a greater effort should be made to build the
capacity of non-governmental organizations in
developing countries so that non-governmental
organization participation in the United Nations could
reflect the diversity of interests across the world.
Ghana welcomes the contribution of non-
governmental organizations to the work of the United
Nations and individual countries, but must at the same
time caution against replacing the genuine and
democratic voice of a people with those of externally
controlled non-governmental organizations and the
private sector. Non-governmental organizations and the
private sector are vital agents of change in developing
countries, but they should not replace the voice of a
people, if democracy is to retain credibility.
In an age of globalization and of our increasingly
knowledge-based society, we feel that the United
20

Nations has a major responsibility to support the
development efforts of the developing countries, and
that the international community should provide the
necessary resources for it to do so. We therefore call
once again on all Member States to fulfil their financial
obligations under the Charter in full and on time.
The challenges facing the international
community, such as the growing income and
technology gaps between the North and the South,
poverty and deprivation, point to the need for stronger
cooperation between the developed and developing
countries. A concerted effort will be required to
promote a systematic dialogue between the two groups
to find solutions to these problems.
It must be the vocation — indeed, the
commitment — of the North-South partnership to
ensure that in the new millennium governance,
nationally and globally, rests on the recognition that the
wealth of some must not lead to the impoverishment of
others, and that every person on this earth must have
access to certain basic social services, such as health
care, education, food and safe water, no matter which
corner of the earth he or she inhabits. Thus the rich
countries have an indispensable role to play by further
opening their markets, by providing larger and faster
debt relief and by giving more and better focused
development assistance, which would enable poorer
countries to sustain a meaningful level of development.
It is only fitting that as a developing economy,
Ghana identifies itself with the cause of the least
developed countries, most of which are in Africa. In
this connection, we fully subscribe to the preparatory
work for the Third United Nations Conference on the
Least Developed Countries. We expect consensus to be
reached on the accessibility of products of least
developed countries to the developed markets.
Our comments on this occasion would be
incomplete without touching upon the crucial question
of the empowerment of women and the attainment of
gender balance. We also wish to express concern about
the persistence of discrimination against women in
most parts of the world in spite of the progress
achieved since the Fourth World Conference on
Women, held in 1995. The challenges to the
achievement of gender balance can be eliminated
through a renewed commitment to the implementation
of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women. We therefore call on all
countries which have not yet ratified the Convention to
take steps to do so, and urge prompt implementation of
the provisions of the Convention. We also urge those
who have entered reservations incompatible with the
purpose of the Convention to reconsider their stance, in
the interest of advancing the cause of women.
The promotion and protection of the rights of
children are of equal concern to my delegation. They
are the compelling reasons for our co-hosting jointly
with the Government of Canada a workshop on
children in armed conflicts. It is our expectation that
Member States will endeavour to ratify the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
before the General Assembly's special session in 2001
that will review the implementation of the World
Declaration on the Survival, Protection and
Development of Children and of the Plan of Action. It
is also our hope that the positive outcome of the just
ended International Conference on War-affected
Children, held in Winnipeg, Canada, will be fully
implemented to ensure the worldwide protection of
children during conflicts.
I now turn to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, whose
impact has been greatest in sub-Saharan Africa, where
it is estimated to have affected the modest gains in
social development. Statistics released during the XIII
International AIDS Conference in South Africa in July
this year showed that almost a third of all people with
HIV/AIDS are between the ages of 15 and 24 years.
Every minute six people under the age of 25 catch HIV,
with girls more than 50 per cent more likely to contract
the virus than boys. Based on this data, the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has emphasized
that to defeat the disease, Governments must commit
themselves to “the largest mobilization of resources in
their history” and organize themselves as if they were
fighting “a full-blown war of liberation”, with young
people in the forefront.
This staggering situation must prick the
conscience of the entire international community into
rendering full support for efforts to control and
minimize the spread of the disease. Ghana supports the
Secretary-General's proposal for the adoption of 2005
and 2010 respectively as deadlines by which to reduce
the rate of infection of young persons through the
assurance by the developed partners and their
pharmaceutical industries of the easy availability of
inexpensive vaccines. To reach that goal, we must also
invest in education, publicity, open discussions and
21

moral counselling of our youth, in particular. They
must understand that it is indeed possible to avoid the
disease by exercising care, since this fatal disease is
transmitted in a very limited number of ways. We
appeal to our developed partners for their full
cooperation.
Finally, there is no doubt that the United Nations
remains the only instrument for confronting the
challenges of this millennium. However, it can
surmount these challenges only by sustaining the good
will and credibility it enjoys among Member States and
this can be achieved only by expediting the
democratization of the Organization. May the new
vision which our leaders have charted for the
Organization in this new century spur us all to concrete
action to free our peoples, whose faith and trust reside
in us, from fear, want and exclusion.