Mr. President, the delegation of St. Vincent and the
Grenadines welcomes your election to preside over the work
of the General Assembly at this its forty-eighth session. By
your elevation to this exceedingly demanding position, the
General Assembly has acknowledged your well-known
personal merits, proven ability and professional skills. I am
confident that you will guide this session to a successful
conclusion of the business before us.
Your country, Guyana, shares a number of common
interests and affinities with St. Vincent and the Grenadines
and other sister States in the Latin American and Caribbean
region. It is therefore with a deep sense of pride that we
congratulate you on your unanimous election and pledge the
full cooperation of the delegation of St. Vincent and the
Grenadines throughout the difficult and challenging period
ahead.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines was pleased to be in the
Chair in August 1992 when the Group of Latin American
and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) unanimously endorsed
the Caribbean candidature for the Presidency of the General
Assembly at its forty-eighth session. It was the first time
that the Group had so acted, and I wish to congratulate all
those who were involved in the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) effort, and to thank all member states of the
GRULAC for their cooperation. We in CARICOM are
steadfast in our commitments, and this demonstration of
hemispheric solidarity augurs well for continued
strengthening of our ties, not only in placing candidates in
important positions in the international arena, but even more
critically in promoting and securing the best interests of our
member countries in the post-cold-war world.
I wish to take this opportunity to express our deep
appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Stoyan Ganev, former
Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, for the able and inspired
manner in which he guided the work of the General
Assembly at its forty-seventh session .
I wish also to thank the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for the extraordinary role he is
playing in shaping the future of the international system.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines welcomes the
representatives of the States newly admitted to membership
of the United Nations, namely, the Czech Republic,
Slovakia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Eritrea, the Principality of Monaco, and Andorra. We
particularly wish to congratulate the people of Eritrea on
winning the long battle for their self-determination, and we
express the hope that their diligence in the pursuit of
political independence will be combined with an appropriate
strategy for economic achievement.
The admission of a nation to this body always marks a
significant event in the international arena as it takes us
another step forward towards the objective of universal
representation.
Adherence to the purposes and principles of the United
Nations Charter and the right of the world’s peoples to self-
determination are the main barometers used in the admission
of States to membership of this body of nations. However,
the Republic of China on Taiwan, a nation of over
21 million inhabitants, which today has one of the most
vigorous economies in the world, is excluded from
membership of the United Nations. In this post-cold-war
era, when a number of countries which once had a single
identity and representation in this Organization now find
ready admission as separate and sovereign members, it is
appropriate that all States capable of maintaining such
sovereign identity be so recognized. Moreover, the Republic
of China on Taiwan has demonstrated its capacity to be in
the forefront of world economic development and should be
provided with an opportunity to participate in, and contribute
to, the programmes of the United Nations.
My delegation heralds the signing of the United
Nations- brokered Governors Island Accord last July by
President Aristide and the military-backed Government of
Haiti, headed by General Raoul Cedras, as an historic
opportunity for the Haitian people, the hemisphere, and the
principle of democratic rule. The interim period until
President Aristide’s return to Haiti on the 30th of this month
must be a time for healing and laying the groundwork for a
smooth take-over, and for a concerted rehabilitation process
aimed at bringing some measure of economic and political
stability to that long-suffering country.
My delegation takes this opportunity to reiterate our
solidarity with the Haitian people, who have struggled over
the past months amidst persistent and blatant human rights
abuses and political repression. We hail the efforts and
initiatives taken by the United Nations, the Organization of
American States, and the Government of the United States
of America in bringing the usurpation of authority to an end.
Let us pray that the clear message from the resolution of the
Haitian crisis by international response will halt the
ambitions of the various military aspirants there.
As the United Nations moves to perform its
peace-keeping, peacemaking and peace-enforcing roles in
Forty-eighth session - 12 October l993 7
many troubled areas around the world, harassment, beatings
and murder of its personnel, both civilian and military, are
on the rise. Earlier in the year a number of United Nations
personnel in the Middle East and Cambodia were slain.
These killings followed the murder of a nurse working with
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza and of a
United Nations driver in Afghanistan. This year the world
has also been shocked by the deaths of a number of
Pakistanis, Italians, Moroccans, Americans and nationals of
other countries serving in the United Nations Operation in
Somalia (UNOSOM).
My Government takes this opportunity to express its
condolences to the Governments and peoples of those
countries whose nationals paid the ultimate price in their
desire to bring peace and deliver humanitarian assistance to
the suffering peoples of the world. We also wish to express
our sympathy to the bereaved families of all those United
Nations personnel who died in the line of duty. Member
States must be reminded of their responsibility to protect
United Nations workers and of their obligation to act
promptly and effectively to deter, prosecute and punish all
those responsible for violence.
We salute the courage and commitment of those
dedicated people who continue to accept considerable
personal risks in order to carry out United Nations missions.
The international community must take appropriate steps to
protect its members and we eagerly await the submission of
concrete proposals designed to enhance the safety and
security of United Nations forces and personnel.
It is evident that the perceived disarray in the United
Nations military operation in Somalia is fuelling instability
in the country and detracting from the achievement of the
original goals of restoring peace and security and ensuring
the distribution of humanitarian relief, thereby paving the
way for the re-establishment of civil society in the country
at large. Naturally, these objectives cannot be achieved
unless the international community continues to work in
earnest to ensure that disarmament is achieved throughout
the country in conformity with the provisions of the Addis
Ababa agreement of March 1993, to which all factions are
signatories.
In this regard, my delegation is of the view that
appropriate measures must be taken against those who
continue to impede disarmament, in direct contravention of
Security Council resolutions and the Addis Ababa
agreement. My delegation welcomes signs of a willingness
to negotiate on the part of rebel forces.
From this point on all actions by the United Nations in
Somalia should be aimed at winning the trust of the Somali
people as a prerequisite to the re-establishment of peace and
security, national reconciliation, restoration of the Somali
State and the reconstruction and development of the country.
My delegation congratulates the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), under the leadership of Mr. Yasser
Arafat, on concluding an agreement with the Rabin
Government of Israel to end hostilities among their peoples.
We see this as a significant first step that will fail unless it
leads to the implementation of the resolutions long agreed to
in the United Nations on the territories occupied by Israel
and the acceptance by the United Nations of Palestine to
membership. Just as my delegation has persistently endorsed
the right of Israel to exist within secure borders, we assert
the same right for Palestine. At the forty-fifth session of the
Assembly, when we were discussing the invasion of Kuwait,
my delegation called on this body to demonstrate consistency
in responding to its resolutions, and we do so again.
We wish to congratulate the Government of Norway on
the pivotal and historic facilitating role they played in the
process of mediating in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. We
admire the dignified manner of their contribution and
subsequent response.
The rapidly deteriorating situation in Bosnia and
Herzegovina cries out for urgent resolution. The state of
affairs cannot be tolerated much longer. Immeasurable harm
in both human and material terms has already been done,
and the Serbs and Croats appear to be bent on the
dismemberment of Bosnia and Herzegovina through border
changes, by force and by ethnic cleansing. The international
community cannot agree to a solution dictated by the Serbs
and Croats at the expense of the Bosnian Muslims. We also
cannot accept any territorial solution unless it has the
agreement of the three parties. My delegation wishes to
state unequivocally that the measures necessary to bring
about a reversal of the Serbian aggression must include the
immediate immobilization of heavy weapons, placing them
under effective international control, and the effective
enforcement of comprehensive sanctions on the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia until all the conditions in the
relevant Security Council resolutions are met. My
delegation calls on all those with the resources to influence
a return to normality in this part of the world to honour their
moral responsibility.
The end of the cold war has resulted in a new spirit of
cooperation between erstwhile enemies. Ongoing
8 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
restructuring of the world body is designed to enhance the
capacity of the Organization for preventive diplomacy,
peace-keeping and peacemaking. Regrettably, these changes
do not mean the end of bloody regional conflicts. The strife
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nagorny Karabakh and Liberia
continues. In Angola, Sudan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan
there is conflict and distress.
The demands on the United Nations for peace-keeping
and peace-building are increasing daily in the number of
operations and personnel as well as in the scope of their
mandates. But in order to bring peace and security to these
troubled areas the international community must redouble its
efforts to bring about a resolution of their conflicts.
One of my country’s most important priorities is
support for the right of all peoples living under colonial or
alien domination and/or foreign occupation to self-
determination and independence. Stressing our commitment
to the goal of the complete eradication of colonialism, we
once again pledge to strengthen our solidarity with all those
countries facing aggression or intervention or interference in
their internal affairs.
Consistent with this position, we strongly condemn the
continuous efforts of certain segments of South African
society to perpetuate the system of apartheid. At the same
time, we welcome the recent progress towards the
establishment of a non-racial democracy, paving the way for
the first non-racial elections, scheduled for April 1994, and
the eventual reintegration of that country into the
international political and economic community.
We welcome the adoption by acclamation on Friday, 8
October, of the General Assembly resolution in support of
Mr. Nelson Mandela’s call for the immediate lifting of
sanctions against South Africa.
The delegation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is
particularly pleased that four vital pieces of legislation,
setting up, the Independent Electoral Commission, the
Independent Media Commission, the Independent
Broadcasting Authority and the Transitional Executive
Council have been adopted by both the Negotiating Council
and the South African Parliament, and are in the process of
being enacted into law.
With the changing world environment the Organization
has been catapulted into new prominence and there has been
renewed hope, and high expectation, as well as new ideas on
the functioning of the General Assembly. The same
movement of change is also of vital importance in the
Security Council and in the economic and social fields. Let
us not lose the momentum in our quest to give new life to
the Organization.
The General Assembly is a body that has been
functioning below the capacity envisaged by its founding
fathers. On the other hand, we have a Security Council that
has expanded in scope and power without a corresponding
increase in its membership or a reorganization of its
functions. The need has also been established for
strengthening the role of the Economic and Social Council
through a better distribution of its functions and a
rationalization of its activities.
My delegation is of the view that at a minimum the
Security Council should be expanded to allocate permanent
seats to Japan and Germany and up to six new rotating seats
to be filled on a regional basis in order better to reflect the
increased membership of the United Nations and the
changed international situation. Certainly, we do not grant
to Japan and Germany the recognition they richly deserve.
The Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit was about nations
joining together in common resolve to do a better job in the
future and to offer our children the hope for a brighter
tomorrow. The centrepiece of this international effort,
Agenda 2l, is a blueprint for our planet which the
Governments of the world adopted by acclamation. With the
creation of a Commission on Sustainable Development and
the restructuring of the economic and social functions of the
United Nations, we now have the institutional arrangements
in place to ensure that the measures prescribed by Agenda
21 are adequately addressed.
In the interim between Rio and the convening of the
first substantial session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development, it appeared to many that the spirit of Rio was
beginning to fade away, due in part to the failure of the
industrialized countries to make firm financial commitments
to the programme approved at UNCED. There is, however,
renewed hope because, since the June session of the
Commission, machinery has been firmly put in place to
follow up on pledges made at the Rio Summit.
The establishment by the Commission of two working
groups to tackle the thorny issues of financial flows and
technology transfer to the developing countries of the South,
in addition to reviewing mechanisms for innovative financing
of Agenda 21 and for analysing conditions that determine the
flow of financial and economic resources, such as debt
relief, terms of trade and commodity prices, is a positive
approach, and it should give new impetus to the
Forty-eighth session - 12 October l993 9
implementation of the global plan which the Rio Summit
adopted to protect the world from environmental degradation
through the twenty-first century. We wish to thank those
who have contributed to the Global Environment Facility,
which makes grant funding available to poor countries so
that they may properly shoulder their share of environmental
responsibilities in our global community.
As we observe new trends in the world economy, it is
noteworthy that there is potentially greater capacity for
growth of real consumption in developing countries than in
the developed ones. Those of us who live in small island
States have limited options in response to the international
economic environment. The banana industry, which is the
lifeline of our economies in Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines and the other countries of the Windward Islands,
is currently under threat of extinction. My delegation wishes
to record, at this session of the General Assembly, our
gratitude to the European Economic Community for its
support for this vital component of our economies.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a small developing
archipelagic State, with all the generic circumstances
associated with small size, limited resources, geographical
dispersion and relative isolation from markets. Naturally we
also have advantages, which we continue to exploit in the
national interest. Development in all its forms is of
paramount national importance to us. In this regard, we
look forward with enthusiasm to the World Summit for
Social Development in 1995, the International Conference on
Population and Development in 1994, and the Global
Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States, which is scheduled to convene in
Barbados in 1994. It is our fervent hope that the
international community will recognize the special
characteristics and developmental needs of this category of
countries, which have not changed in the new configuration
of world politics. We pray also that there will be tangible
benefits following the conclusion of these Conferences.
The United Nations has designated 1993 the
International Year for the World’s Indigenous People.
Forced off their ancestral lands by settlers and colonizers,
indigenous peoples in many parts of the world have faced
untold discrimination and poverty and are often afforded
little say in their political future. It is no surprise, therefore,
that they are increasingly seeking to exercise their full range
of human rights. The world’s communities are urged to
treat minorities and indigenous peoples, and persons
belonging to them, on the basis of equality, and to take
measures that would, inter alia, facilitate their full
participation in all aspects of the political, economic, social,
religious and cultural life of the society.
My delegation is proud to state that in Saint Vincent
and the Grenadines the indigenous people, the Caribs, are
fully integrated into Vincentian society and are beneficiaries
of all rights and freedoms under our Constitution. They
participate fully in the political process, and today an active
representative in the House of Assembly is a descendant of
Joseph Chatoyer, the Paramount Chief of the Caribs and a
national hero of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Our
Government has also taken specific steps, through its land
reform and distribution policy, to empower the Caribs, who
are the main beneficiaries of the Government’s acquisition
of the area formerly occupied by Orange Hill Estates, and
the subsequent distribution, with title, of economically viable
plots to them.
My Government will ensure that our indigenous people
continue to participate fully in national society and that their
views are solicited and taken into consideration in
decision-making processes that affect them and the nation as
a whole.
My delegation is proud to co-sponsor a draft resolution
of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Ministers
Responsible for Foreign Affairs of the Caribbean
Community calling for the annual observance of an
International Day of Indigenous Peoples. I hope that this
draft resolution, when brought before this body, will be
adopted by acclamation and will receive unanimous
follow-up support from Member countries.
The Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
welcomes and values highly the deepening of relations
between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Latin
America in general. We are also encouraged by the degree
of cooperation which is being developed between
CARICOM and Central America. In the increasingly
competitive world environment, which is gradually being
dominated by large trading blocs, it is imperative for our
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to forge closer
ties through economic and other forms of functional
cooperation.
My Government totally condemns the illicit production,
trafficking in and consumption of drugs. These harbingers
of violent crime and corruption pose a serious threat to the
health and well-being of our economies and our people,
endanger our democratic institutions and jeopardize national
and regional security.
10 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
We are firmly convinced that only integrated regional
and international efforts can effectively address the drug
problem, and, accordingly, we stress the need for increased
local, regional and international cooperation. Greater
emphasis should be placed on programmes that generate
employment and income for persons attracted to drug
production and trafficking as a means of livelihood. These
should be pursued concurrently with programmes for the
prevention of drug use and the rehabilitation of drug users.
The appropriate measures must also be taken to strengthen
our judicial institutions to ensure that the perpetrators of
drug abuse and related crimes are brought to swift and
effective justice.
We in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are closely
observing the evolution of democracy in the States of
Eastern Europe and the territories of the former Soviet
Union, as well as its consolidation worldwide. We agonized
with freedom-loving peoples when the Russian constitutional
crisis threatened to "put democracy under a shade." We
regret the loss of life that resulted from the struggle for
control, and we hope that the emergence of a full- fledged
system of democracy, with the ultimate power residing in the
hands of the people, will not be impeded by any self-serving
acts on the part of major players.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines welcomes the
constitutional resolution of the political impasse in Pakistan.
As a member of the Commonwealth, we welcome Mrs.
Benazir Bhutto back as Prime Minister of her country and
look forward to meeting her in Cyprus at the Commonwealth
Heads of Government meeting.
My delegation wishes to reiterate its resolute
commitment to the democratic ideal and the concomitant
free enterprise system. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
like the other countries of CARICOM, has gone through a
historic constitutional journey, from Crown Colony
Government, with its limited franchise, to full political
independence under universal adult suffrage. We have
adhered to the principles and practice of participatory
democracy and the market economy, even when these ideals
were not as pervasive and mandatory as they are today. We
have stayed the course, by choice and conviction, and our
people have reaped the benefits. They will have it no other
way.
In this post-cold-war era we are determined to maintain
the gains of our democracy which we have accumulated over
the years, even as we face the increasing difficulties
associated with the marginalization of small States in the
face of bloc consolidation and other emerging trends of our
time.


First of all, I should like to
extend to the President of the General Assembly at this
forty-eighth session my sincere congratulations on his
election. He was unanimously supported for this position
because of his excellent qualities; and his election is also a
tribute to his country, Guyana.
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, our Secretary-General, also
deserves our wholehearted thanks and appreciation for his
constant and resolute efforts in implementing the decisions
of our Organization and applying the principles of our
Charter.
The already very broad universality of the United
Nations has been further strengthened - and I welcome this -
with the admission of six new countries: the Czech
Republic, the Slovak Republic, Eritrea, The Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Monaco and Andorra.
Mr. Willy Claes, the Belgian Minister for Foreign
Affairs, yesterday expressed the views of the European
Community and its member States. I shall therefore be able
in this statement to focus on a few matters of particular
concern to my Government.
Three years ago, from this very rostrum, we welcomed
the end of the East-West confrontation and its corollary, the
end of the threat of nuclear annihilation. Throughout the
world, democracy and respect for the state of law were
progressing in a most encouraging way. But given
developments in the last few years, it would seem that we
should somehow dampen our enthusiasm.
Changes in the balance of forces between the Powers
that dominated the old order have allowed nationalism and
regionalism to develop. In some cases, this has led to the
destabilization of entire regions following upon rivalries
between neighbors, ethnic tension and religious fanaticism.
Nationalism is of course not in and of itself evil. It is
in some sense a logical manifestation of feelings of pride
and self-confidence which can finally express themselves
after long years of oppression during which free speech was
forcibly repressed.
But once the legitimate expression of this regained
pride of a people is transformed into open hostility towards
everything that is different, then nationalism carries within
itself the seeds of grave danger.
Extreme nationalism can be seen in many places,
whether it be in the territory of the former Soviet Union or
the former Yugoslavia, where it has found its most
intolerable expression. It leads to explosions of violence,
armed aggression, acts of terrorism and unspeakable
suffering for the civilian populations.
Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 31
Ethnic conflicts are proliferating in all regions of the
world. In Western Europe itself, it can be seen in the
resurgence of racist and xenophobic incidents.
As a challenge to the primacy of law and to respect for
human rights, extreme nationalism constitutes a threat to the
international order.
A clear and coherent strategy is necessary to respond to
this challenge.
First of all, education with regard to tolerance should be
renewed; and, secondly, legal protection for minorities must
be ensured.
The principles and rules drawn up in this area by the
Council of Europe and the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe might suggest some solutions. New
instruments are to be defined next week at the summit of the
Council of Europe. The plan for stability in Europe is part
of this same approach.
Thirdly - and this is the most important action to be
taken - we must do everything possible at the national,
regional and international levels to strengthen
democratization and to promote protection for human rights.
It is on the basis of these principles, focused on the free
expression of peoples and the development of democratic
structures, that the United Nations has proposed solutions
and agreements to resolve the conflicts which are being
submitted to it in ever-increasing numbers.
The Government of Luxembourg expresses its deep
satisfaction over the agreement on mutual recognition and
the agreement on the autonomy of occupied territories
concluded between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation
Organization.
We should like to pay tribute to those who forged the
agreements, in particular Prime Minister Rabin, his Foreign
Minister Peres and President Arafat. They have given the
world a lesson in courage and clarity of vision and in
political realism as well.
The developments we have witnessed are of a historic
significance comparable to that of the collapse of the Berlin
Wall. They fundamentally change the facts of the Middle
East; they have launched a process of reconciliation in order
to put an end to an explosive, untenable and unjust situation.
In a region devastated by more than 40 years of war,
violence and hatred, a window is now opening on a more
peaceful and democratic future. The still fragile dynamic
that has been created must be strengthened without delay.
This can first be achieved by the conclusion of peace
agreements between Israel and its neighbours: Lebanon,
Jordan and Syria. The Government of Luxembourg
encourages the leaders concerned to overcome the last
obstacles and to open the way to normalization of their
relations with Israel.
The Israelis and the Palestinians must then act together
and in good faith, with the solidarity of the regional and
international community to implement successfully the
agreement on autonomy in the occupied territories, the first
step towards a comprehensive settlement. The first
contributor of funds, the European Community and its
member States, is prepared to increase cooperation on behalf
of a population that must be helped to emerge from poverty
and build a more dignified and prosperous future. Our
Government will participate fully in that effort.
Thanks to the United Nations, peace was restored in
Namibia and Nicaragua three years ago.
Today in Cambodia the effort led by the United Nations
has enabled the people of an ancient culture, humiliated by
decades of bloody oppression and foreign occupation, to
participate on a mass scale in free and open elections. By
consolidating a State of law and national reconciliation, the
country will be able to rebuild itself.
In Haiti a firm policy of close cooperation between the
United Nations and the Organization of American States
(OAS) has led to an agreement which provides for the
restoration of democracy.
In El Salvador the assistance of the United Nations was
decisive in putting an end to the civil war and recommencing
the construction of a civilian society and the process of
national reconciliation. Free elections in which all
Salvadorians will be able to participate are to be held next
year.
In Somalia, however, intervention by the United
Nations has demonstrated the limits of armed intervention in
a tribal civil war in the absence of a political agreement and
a cease-fire. Nevertheless, the difficulties encountered in
Mogadishu should not make us forget that the United
Nations made an essential contribution to combating the
famine.
32 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
In South Africa further decisive progress is being made
towards the definitive abolition of apartheid. I welcome the
agreement on setting up a transitional body to draw up a
provisional Constitution and prepare for free elections in
April 1994. Only a shared determination and close
cooperation between all the parties will make it possible to
stop the deadly violence which continues to kill and which
jeopardizes the process of reconciliation.
Significant progress towards restoring democracy and
towards national reconciliation has also been made in other
countries in Central America and in Africa.
Those achievements, however imperfect, are
encouraging, and demonstrate the role that our Organization
can play in preserving peace and consolidating democratic
regimes.
The situation in the former Yugoslavia is still extremely
disturbing. Every day we see on television the barbarism
that accompanies "ethnic cleansing" and the bloodstained
dismemberment of Bosnia and Herzegovina -a country which
was once an example of ethnic and religious coexistence.
The agreement between the three Bosnian parties,
which has yet to be finalized, is admittedly complex and far
from perfect. Yet it has the merit of opening up the
prospect of putting an end to terror and violence. It offers
a comprehensive arrangement for emerging from the crisis.
Its success, which is far from being assured, presupposes a
real desire on the part of the three parties to reach agreement
and to carry out and abide by what is signed. The European
Community and its member States, where necessary assisted
by the Western European Union (WEU), are ready to
contribute to implementation of the agreement, in
cooperation with the United Nations, the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Sanctions could be
lifted when the various Security Council resolutions on the
former Yugoslavia have been implemented and when a
satisfactory solution to the problem of minorities has been
found.
Overall, our Organization’s peace-keeping activities
have reached an unprecedented level. Almost 80,000 Blue
Helmets, military and civilian, are in the field in an
unparalleled number of humanitarian missions and peace-
keeping operations. I pay tribute to all those who serve the
cause of peace and in particular to those who have lost their
lives during these actions. We have a duty to ensure better
security for personnel.
Luxembourg, itself born as a modern State of an
international treaty guaranteed by the Powers of the time, is
particularly sensitive to the need for security and the need to
preserve the peace. It has therefore contributed actively to
United Nations peace-keeping operations, sending military
personnel and making suitable financial contributions. My
Government intends to continue this cooperation in the
future.
Luxembourg also firmly supports the efforts to step up
United Nations activities in the area of preventive
diplomacy. These efforts must be increased. Measures such
as fact-finding missions, the use of rapid alert systems, the
establishment of a rapid deployment group, and a
reinforcement of the roles of regional organizations could all
be very useful in preventing conflict. Once a conflict has
been unleashed it requires a much more costly intervention
to ensure the restoration of peace.
New cooperation is developing between the United
Nations and regional organizations, which will increasingly
be called upon to carry out peace-keeping functions at their
level or to support and supplement United Nations activities
in the area of collective security. The WEU, of which my
country currently holds the presidency, is in the course of
defining its role in peace-keeping operations. NATO and the
CSCE are doing likewise.
The preservation of peace and the promotion of
democracy and the rule of law go hand in hand with the
protection of human rights.
Over the years, our Organization has succeeded in
developing and progressively codifying human rights. But
that is not enough; we must also see to it that these rights
are better respected. The annual reports of organizations
involved in the defence of human rights show that we are
still far from attaining that objective.
We are pleased that the Vienna Conference on Human
Rights allowed encouraging progress to be made. The
universality of human rights was clearly affirmed. Specific
proposals were made for ensuring broader knowledge of
human rights, promoting them and respecting them. It is
now for this Assembly to approve those proposals, including
the establishment of a High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
There is an indissoluble link between respect for human
rights and the promotion of democracy. Within the United
Nations system this link takes concrete form in the
Organization’s growing activities in the area of technical
Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 33
assistance and international supervision of electoral
processes. I support the proposals by our Secretary-General
to broaden these support activities to include the
establishment of a free press, political parties and an
independent judiciary.
In this context, I welcome the decision taken by
President Yeltsin to organize free elections in order to ensure
democratic legitimacy for all State bodies in Russia.
The United Nations must also increase its activities in
the economic, social and environmental areas. This will also
require the continued courageous reform of its structures and
working methods.
We can have no lasting peace while peoples are
subjected to abject poverty and famine and while they have
no hope for progress towards greater justice and equality.
Cooperation and trade: these are the two foci of a single
policy, which must be followed. In the past few years my
Government has doubled the aid it designates for
development and cooperation. We are in favour of the swift
conclusion of a balanced agreement in the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Such an
agreement can provide at the world level a new impetus to
trade and economic relations.
Following the Rio Conference on Environment and
Development, the new Commission on Sustainable
Development must be determined to ensure that the
commitments entered into at that Conference are followed
up.
The world’s population has more than doubled over the
past 40 years and according to estimates will double again
in the next 30 years. The international community must
engage in a thorough analysis of the consequences of that
level of growth - for example, the problems of refugees,
urban concentration, and the enormous constraints in the
areas of food, housing, health and education. That is why
the Conference on Population and Development to be held
in Cairo in 1994 has such importance.
It is not surprising that social problems are becoming
increasingly important at a time when many economies are
facing difficult adjustment processes and others are carrying
out a delicate transition from a planned economy to a market
economy. Moreover, all recently published reports confirm
that there is a disturbing increase in the gap between the
richest sectors and the poorest sectors of populations, both
within countries and between countries.
The World Summit for Social Development which will
take place in 1995 will, if it is adequately prepared, offer the
international community an opportunity to develop a strategy
to combat poverty and to ensure the better distribution of
wealth.
More than a year ago the Secretary-General issued his
report "An Agenda for Peace", which was designed to
strengthen the Organization’s capacities in the area of
preventive diplomacy and the maintenance and restoration of
peace. Some of the proposals it contains are already being
applied in practice, but others are still pending. We hope
that the current review of the Agenda will lead to specific
results that can meet the Organization’s needs.
Reform of the Security Council is a delicate issue
which touches on the very heart of international post-war
cooperation. The Council has now been in operation for
50 years, and the time has come to have a candid and in-
depth discussion of the question. The fiftieth anniversary of
the Organization in 1995 could offer us a good opportunity
to do this.
The second crisis facing the United Nations - and this
point has been emphasized in all the statements made here
so far - is the chronic budget deficit. To put it bluntly, the
United Nations is bordering on insolvency. This is all the
more astonishing in that the annual budget of the
Organization is about the same as that of a medium-sized
city.
The legal obligation that binds all Member States
makes it incumbent on them to pay their financial
contributions in full and at the proper time. The credibility
and the operational capacity of the United Nations depend on
this.
In conclusion, let me turn to an old Europe.
In building European union the members of the
European Community have tried to seize an unprecedented
opportunity for the entire continent to achieve a truly unified
Europe, a Europe of countries that have often made war
against each other in the past.
Without denying the current difficulties, I believe that
the process of integration being carried out by the European
Community can serve as the inspiration for initiatives for
regional integration in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
European unification was thought up and implemented
on the basis of principles that are still fully valid:
reconciliation between peoples that only yesterday were
34 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
enemies; broad-ranging political, economic, commercial and
cultural cooperation; and the development of a social model
based on pluralistic democracy, the market economy and
solidarity. Such a model guarantees justice and social
cohesion even if we are never able to make it perfect and it
must be constantly adjusted.
It is on the basis of these common values that all the
peoples of Europe can, for the first time in their history,
build their future together. I believe that at the world level
also, thanks to concerted international action, we will be in
a better position to overcome the obstacles to peace and to
create a world order that is more democratic, more tolerant,
more just and more social - in a word, more in keeping with
the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations.


First of all, I should like to congratulate the
President on his assumption of his important post at the
forty-eighth session of the General Assembly.
I should also like to express my gratitude for making it
possible for me to comply with the instructions of the
President of Turkmenistan, Mr. Niyazov, and the entire
Turkmen population in speaking to the world community.
A unique situation prevails in the world today. There are no
longer two inimical camps, and we virtually have eliminated
the most pressing problem of global nuclear conflict.
Furthermore, ridding ourselves of the ideological yoke has
freed us from internal conflicts and contradictions. As
political scientists said after the end of the standoff between
the two blocs, we now have on the world agenda urgent
problems - new and bloody regional and internal conflicts,
which are no less dangerous to the world than a global
confrontation.
What are the reasons for this seemingly unfathomable
outbreak of aggressiveness and conflict? In our view, the
answer to this question can be found in the lack of political
pragmatism and in a failure to understand realities. One of
Forty-eighth session - 5 October l993 25
the major reasons is the lack of a deep-seated political
culture and of restraint, and the desire to do everything at
once. But there are no miracles. We need political courage,
which has been demonstrated by the President of
Turkmenistan, in order to avoid the pitfalls of unrealistic
decisions, something which might, to put it mildly, lead to
social disappointment.
From the very first days of our independent existence,
Turkmenistan found itself faced with a whole series of
difficult and unique problems, which were determined by the
special characteristics of its attaining statehood. Proclaiming
its sovereignty and independence is only the starting-point
for a lengthy process which is to lead to the establishment
of an efficient political system, a strong national economy
and a workable social structure. For this, we need
essentially not just reforms but a full reorientation of the
political system and of the economy. I should like to
emphasize especially this aspect, since at the same time very
difficult reforms will be needed in other areas as well.
The natural economic and social development of our
people was interrupted for seven long decades. As a result,
people lost the notion of private property, and their ways of
thinking and social morals became out of touch. This is an
important aspect, and we should bear this mind in
establishing new States on a new legal basis.
At the present time, the most important possessions of
all the citizens of Turkmenistan are independence and the
opportunity to solve their problems independently. Perhaps
this would seem to be axiomatic, but as we see it, of the
entire system of priorities formulated by the Government of
our country, this is the most desirable in the current
circumstances prevailing in Turkmenistan and in the area.
In order to achieve large-scale reforms of the political
and economic system in Turkmenistan, a programme of "10
years of stability" has been adopted. What are the tasks of
that programme? First and foremost, to wean the economy
away from the notion of State property, in particular from a
foodstuff-dominated economy and production towards the
production of prepared products. The second is the
formation of the political, economic, social, spiritual and
cultural life of the State, without the infamous system -
inherited from the past - of roles played out in advance.
Thirdly is the formation and development of democratic
institutions, including a multi-party system. Against the
background of these processes, we see social psychology
transformed, away from political apathy and the lack of
responsibility.
In this regard, we are trying to pursue our policy in
such a way that we would strengthen our ability to avoid
social upheaval, breakdowns in all sectors of society and the
lack of social harmony. This is not easy. The people of
Turkmenistan need unity and solidarity. This gives us hope
for the future, however. Pragmatism will be a determinant
in overcoming our difficulties in establishing the major
criteria for Turkmenistan’s current foreign policy. In solving
these economic problems, we are offering to our foreign
partners businesslike cooperation without any ideological or
political passions, and we have found understanding
everywhere. The logical outcome of this development has
led us to the formulation of a foreign-policy concept of
positive neutrality, which is in keeping with the national
interests of our State and in the interest of maintaining peace
and stability in the region.
In solving military problems, we have been guided by
our neutral status, which stems from the principle of non-
interference in the internal affairs of States and the
recognition of territorial integrity and the inviolability of
their borders. It is well known that sometimes the concept
of non-interference can be questionable or even rejected.
But in our view, a new independent State in Europe and
Asia also needs conditions for the peaceful resolution of its
internal problems in order to achieve civil calm and in order
to find the necessary compromises. Obviously, based on
military force, we cannot achieve development and progress
in the broad sense of the word. And we need to move away
from internationalizing the internal problems of various
States through military force. At the same time, we support
the peace-keeping actions of the United Nations and other
international organizations.
These are the factors that determine our view of events
in Tajikistan. I can state that our position has found support
and understanding among other countries. We have reached
agreement with the leadership of Iran on a new agreement,
one of the most important conditions of which is the
transformation of the 1,500-kilometre border between Iran
and Turkmenistan into a border of peace and cooperation.
We are actively engaged in political dialogue with the
central Government of Afghanistan and also with the
authorities of the northern and north-western provinces.
Such a policy has brought positive results. Recently we
signed a three-party memorandum on the construction of a
railroad from Turkmenistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan.
In addition, Afghanistan will see the first major railroad in
its history. We will make it possible, therefore, to have an
outlet to the ports of the Indian Ocean through the States of
Central Asia and Europe.
26 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Speaking of relations with our neighbours, we must
especially emphasize the role of Russia in the creation of an
independent Turkmenistan. We well understand that this
process began in Russia and was initiated by its leadership.
A high degree of understanding at the level of leadership
and the traditional mutual respect of our peoples has
established a lasting basis for the development of mutually
advantageous bilateral cooperation on new and equitable
bases. In speaking of this, I should like from this rostrum
to state that Turkmenistan supports the efforts of the
leadership of Russia to establish order and to establish
conditions for the active continuation of political reforms and
the full dismantling of the totalitarian system and its
replacement with a system chosen by the people.
Turkmenistan is actively developing relations with
Turkey, Austria, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Pakistan,
Malaysia, Germany, France, Argentina and Italy, and
constructive dialogue with the United States is under way.
President Niyazov’s recent visit to Belgium laid the
groundwork for new cooperation between Turkmenistan and
the countries of the European Community and between
Turkmenistan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
We are also opening a number of Turkmenistan Embassies
abroad. In short, our country is actively involved in
international relations.
We support those agreements that will lead to an end
of confrontation and make possible peaceful and constructive
dialogue. Among those agreements, we note with
satisfaction the recent changes in the relationship between
Israel and the PLO.
Turkmenistan’s geopolitical situation - our country is a
member of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE) and is at the same time connected by deep
historical and cultural roots to the Middle and Far East -
enables us, in view of our country’s stability, to play a
constructive role in bridging the gap between two major
regions of the world.
I should like to say a few words on Turkmenistan’s
position vis-à-vis the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Turkmenistan is in favour of the Commonwealth, in favour
of the development of integrationist processes and, while it
opposed the establishment of any kind of rigid centralized
system in the past it is in favour of coordinating structures.
In our view, the coming forth today of super-national
formations has held back the process of independence and
has now led back to the former system of decision by force.
In States that have arisen since the dissolution of the Soviet
Union, we now see respect for national interests alone, and
we see only the bare beginnings of a process of inter-State
relations on new, qualitatively different bases. The
statehood of these countries is a difficult matter, and this
process must respect national specificities and social and
economic factors. If all these factors are borne in mind, any
kind of rigid coordinating structure is impossible. Attempts
artificially to impose positions and a unified model for
development on new independent States cannot but work
against sovereignty and national interests. In the final
analysis, such an approach would lead to the establishment
of a new centre.
From the very outset, Turkmenistan actively attempted
to develop relations with the countries of the Commonwealth
of Independent States on the basis of bilateral relations and
various types of agreements, in view of the fact that the
Commonwealth is primarily a consultative mechanism that
gives us the opportunity to exchange ideas and experience
and to lay down programmes of action. We feel that such
an approach is more flexible and therefore more effective.
Experience has shown that at this current stage - and I
emphasize, at this current stage - bilateral agreements are a
more reliable basis for solving problems as they arise.
We often see the example of the European Community,
and, supposedly, the same thing could happen in our region.
To my mind, anyone who tries to achieve what the European
Community has done over 40 years is not taking into
account some essential factors: the high-level starting-point
of the unification of Europe, the very different market basis
of its economies and what might be called the European
psychology. We have none of these factors.
It is important to establish the fact that if we cannot
count on our future relations, the Commonwealth of
Independent of States has no prospects. We in Turkmenistan
believe, and have always believed, that a solution should be
found within the framework of the Commonwealth, should
be adopted by consensus and should be very broad and
based primarily on economic feasibility and attractiveness.
This will be only the first step, and it needs to be followed
by others on a higher level of integration.
But for this, the Commonwealth of Independent States
and the countries of which it is composed need a period of
transition in order to work out acceptable approaches and
adequately evaluate the existing realities. Over two years of
independent development, we have done a great deal of
work in establishing a legal basis for the market. We have
already established the basis and guarantees that opened up
the Turkmen market to foreign investors and enterprises. In
Forty-eighth session - 5 October l993 27
Turkmenistan we have introduced private property,
including land, and we have established zones of free
economic development. Today we have a stable political
situation and social agreement. It is important that society
be psychologically prepared for new economic relations.
On 1 November this year, Turkmenistan will introduce
its own national monetary unit, the manat. We are in an
extremely unstable monetary zone, which would mean
certain limitations for Turkmenistan if we gave up our
sovereignty and formed our own policy regarding prices,
taxation, budgeting, credit and monetary policy. Hence, our
country has sometimes absorbed some losses because of
continuing inflation and the economic crisis.
All of this was conditioned by the need to introduce our
own currency. We believe that our own currency policy will
be closely linked to that of the United States dollar, and we
intend to ensure, from the time we introduce it, its
convertibility. According to prognoses of international
experts and our own evaluations, we have a real opportunity
of doing this. The manat will be a reliable currency for the
State reserves. The introduction of a national currency
policy will hasten structural changes in the economy and
bring us closer to the market.
With the International Monetary Fund we have worked
up a programme of structural economic changes, including
a step-by-step process. From 1 October we have begun a
broad liberalization of prices, including plans to enter the
world price system and this also includes energy prices.
With the introduction of the manat as our currency we are
beginning active privatization, which involves, first and
foremost, the sphere of services in the area of medium-sized
and large enterprises. This is to be done by selling
enterprises at auction and distributing shares among workers.
We hope to conclude the privatization process by the end of
1995.
I should like to point out that the privatization
programme has been carried out in close cooperation with
the World Bank. In addition, measures to free prices have
been undertaken by the Government in order to free up
trade. Licensing of exports will take place with a view to
observing norms ensured through national security and the
protection of our cultural and artistic heritage. We shall also
undertake other steps designed to promote maximum
stimulation of international trade and eliminate administrative
barriers and to increase access to the market. In a time of
transition to a market economy, we intend to make the
State’s role more streamlined and open and significantly
reduce its interference in economic activities.
We welcome the attention the United Nations
specialized agencies have paid us with regard to our
problems. Despite our difficulties and the problems yet to
be solved, the Republic has achieved considerable success.
Over the first six months of 1993, Turkmenistan’s national
income increased by 112 per cent. Such growth would not
have been achieved by many States in a similar situation.
Over that same period industrial output increased by 116.9
per cent, and agricultural production increased by
124 per cent.
The stronger our economy, the more reliable the fabric
of political and social life in our State. At the same time,
we believe that economic development is inconceivable
without our country’s steady development of a society in
which the individual and his interests are regarded as the
most important end. For Turkmenistan, which for 70 years
had a totalitarian system with backward social development,
development of the economy remains the keystone of our
State policy. In this context, along with other forthcoming
major international events, such as the International
Conference on Population and Development, the Fourth
World Conference on Women, with the three objectives,
equality, development and peace, and the International
Conference on Population and Development, which will deal
with problems of human beings and their need for shelter,
we welcome the preparations for the World Summit for
Social Development, to be held in Copenhagen in 1995,
which will deal, we think, in detail with social consequences
of economic reform and restructuring as applied to countries
in transition. In the context of social problems, I should like
to point out that in 1990 we had the World Summit for
Children, which established a new basis for improving living
conditions for children the world over.
The Government of Turkmenistan gives priority
attention to these endeavours. Turkmenistan joined in the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and intends very soon
to sign the Declaration that was adopted at that World
Summit. We also have serious work under way for national
programmes of action in order to achieve the goals outlined
in the Declaration.
28 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
We share the view of the international community that
we must rebuild the Earth’s ecology. We support
international cooperation in United Nations efforts in this
timely endeavour. In our view, it is sustainable development
and balanced attention to the interests of all countries that
will ensure the successful solution of global, regional and
subregional problems; this should accord with the
conclusions of the 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development and of the Convention on
climate change.
I announce before the Assembly that Turkmenistan
intends to eliminate all its nuclear weapons and will continue
its support for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT), for the chemical weapons
Convention, and for the bacteriological (biological) weapons
Convention.
I convey the gratitude of the President of Turkmenistan,
of our Government and of our people to the United Nations
for its support and its understanding.
I should also like to pay a tribute to the Secretary-
General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
for his tireless and innovative work.
Turkmenistan wishes to state without reserve that it will
honestly and openly cooperate with all States that share its
attachment to the principles of the Organization. Our
policies will be based on common sense and on protecting
our people’s interests. Turkmenistan, in creating a
democratic, secular State, is open to peaceful cooperation
and ready to engage in broadly-based, mutually beneficial
cooperation.


Many speakers before me
have eloquently debated the theme for this session. I
am delighted that no one disputes the evidence that
science presents to us concerning climate change.
Today we meet in this Hall as neighbours and residents
of this one planet earth. We are bound together by our
common humanity and shared future. We have within
us the capacity to act resolutely to save our planet, and
now is the time. We cannot afford to squander any
more opportunities, for tomorrow might be too late.
 William Shakespeare instructs us, in his famous
work, Julius Caesar, that:
“There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.”
 We are convinced that we should focus on
working together to save our planet from the increasing
threat of global warming and all its attendant
consequences. When we meet as the peoples of the
world, we must of necessity remind ourselves of the
original and higher purpose of the United Nations.
Many of the global challenges we face persist, not
because they are insurmountable, but because we have
fallen short of the commitments and obligations freely
entered into under the Charter.
 We, the peoples of the earth, have the human and
cultural resources and technology to end severe global
poverty and disease, reverse climate change, prevent
wars and alleviate human suffering. Unfortunately,
substantial resources continue to be wasted on
destructive endeavours rather than constructive work.
We squander valuable assets in the production of
weapons of war and mass destruction rather than
development.
 The world would be a much better place if the
natural resources on this planet were exploited to feed,
clothe, educate, care for the sick, prevent diseases and
build communities. Young men and women should
grow up looking forward to doing extraordinary things
to advance the cause of economic and social progress
and not spending precious time manufacturing bombs
and weapons of war or planning how to kill other
human beings.
 It is deeply regrettable that nations continue to
give higher priority to the narrow pursuit of national
interests than to cooperation for the common good and
mutual benefit. This emphasis on rivalry breeds
injustice, intolerance, extremism and aggression. We
must remind ourselves that all of us are the people of
this earth and no other. We are bound by our common
humanity. We must rise to the challenge of the
founders of this unique universal Organization, so that
we may live for our respective countries rather than die
for them and together build a more just and equitable
future for us all.
 The United Nations has touched the lives of the
vast majority of our fellow human beings. We therefore
reaffirm our abiding faith in its efficacy and usefulness
in addressing global issues. The Organization embodies
our hope and aspirations for peace, security, respect for
human rights and development; in one word, a better
life for all. In that respect, the search for consensus in
all aspects of United Nations reform must of necessity
continue in a fair, just and balanced manner.
 From 51 Member States in 1945 to 192 in 2007,
the United Nations has grown in diversity and
universality. It has also spread and consolidated its
legitimacy and authority throughout the world. The
United Nations is the centre for harmonizing the
actions of nations towards the attainment of the
common good. Its strength lies in its unparalleled
legitimacy. Without the United Nations, States, both
large and small, would encounter many formidable
challenges.
 It is hardly surprising, therefore, that for this
Organization to live up to its mandate and to people’s
expectations, it has to constantly reform itself to
respond to contemporary global challenges and
realities. In his inspiring and visionary statement at the
closing of the San Francisco Conference 62 years ago,
President Harry Truman of the United States proffered
timeless wise counsel when he said,
“This Charter, like our own Constitution, will be
expanded and improved as time goes on. No one
claims that it is now a final or a perfect
instrument. It has not been poured into a fixed
mold. Changing world conditions will require
readjustments   but they will be the
readjustments of peace and not of war.
Those visionary words of one of the founding fathers
of the United Nations should guide us in dealing with
United Nations reform. We call upon the original
signatories of the United Nations Charter and, in
particular the permanent members of the Security
Council, to assume greater leadership in the search for
consensus and compromise on the reform of the United
Nations Security Council. They should be more
flexible in responding to proposals put forward on the
reforms of the Security Council.
 As nation States we are encouraged to build
sound democratic institutions. It is imperative,
therefore, that the principle of fairer, more inclusive,
participatory and accountable institutions should be
extended to global governance. In that respect, it
should be perfectly understandable why a substantial
number of Member States consider it not only
necessary, but also long overdue, to increase
membership of the Council in both the permanent and
non-permanent categories. Today, important matters of
international peace and security cannot be resolved
through the monopoly of fire power. It requires greater
participation and collaboration of nations   large and
small.
 Botswana recognizes that we cannot all be
members of the Security Council. There are those
among us who have the capacity to carry the daunting
responsibilities of permanent membership. That is why
it should be possible for us to reach consensus in
making “readjustments of peace and not of war”. An
all-or-nothing approach is not in our best interest.
Botswana strongly supports the search for a
compromise on that long-standing issue, which if left
unresolved can only become an unnecessary distraction
to other equally pressing priorities.
 Conflicts in Africa cause the loss of hundreds of
thousands of innocent lives. Many people are driven
into abject poverty and exposed to disease due to the
massive displacement of populations and destruction of
their productive capacity. Huge amounts of resources
are annually allocated to the United Nations
peacekeeping budget to resolve conflicts. Even more
resources are needed for the care and upkeep of
refugees and displaced peoples.
 The situation in Darfur continues to cause
concern. Concerted efforts are needed to bring that
conflict to an end. In this respect, we welcome the
Security Council decision to deploy a peacekeeping
mission in Darfur and call upon our brothers and sisters
in the Sudan to work together to find a lasting political
settlement.
 Botswana is concerned about the situation in
Chad and the Central African Republic. The loss of
civilian lives is intolerable. We call upon Chad, the
Central African Republic and other parties to those
conflicts to commit to a peaceful political process to
avert further loss of lives. It is clear that the resolution
of conflict in that region will require closer
cooperation, collaboration and partnership between and
among those countries involved in conflict situations.
 Following elections in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo we are hopeful the country is on the road
to recovery. It is important for the international
community to continue to support the Democratic
Republic of the Congo in its post-conflict
reconstruction and development efforts. The marauding
lawless militias that continue to undermine the peace
process should be left in no doubt that anarchy will not
be tolerated.
 The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the
countries of the Great Lakes region of Africa will for
the foreseeable future require the assured support and
partnership of the international community, not only in
peacebuilding but more importantly, in the prevention
of conflicts.
 Botswana acknowledges the existence of those
problems, not because we consider the future of Africa
to be hopeless or bleak. We do so in order to arrive at a
correct diagnosis of the illnesses and hence the
prescription of the right remedy.
 The African Union is playing a pivotal role in the
prevention, management and resolution of conflicts on
the continent. While the United Nations Security
Council has the primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international peace and security, Africa
should be a dependable and indispensable partner in
responding expeditiously to the urgent need to end the
conflicts and save lives.
 The countries and peoples of Africa should
recognize that the primary responsibility for durable
peace and social and economic development lies with
them. In that respect, we should adopt sound policies
and programmes that promote economic growth and
development, foreign direct investment as well as
domestic investment.
 Indeed we are witnessing significant economic
growth in Africa. The latest International Monetary
Fund projections are that, in 2007 the African economy
is expected to grow by six per cent, just below the
seven per cent per annum target of the New Partnership
for Africa’s Development, that is necessary to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
 We look to our development partners to deliver
on the pledges to scale up official development
assistance to Africa, effect meaningful debt relief,
improve market access for African goods and services
and encourage their private sectors to invest in Africa.
 In the year 2000, at the dawn of the new
millennium, we convened in these hallowed halls to
chart a new path for the United Nations development
agenda. We adopted the Millennium Declaration and
the Millennium Development Goals. We undertook to
eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, promote gender
equality as well as to combat HIV and AIDS.
 The Millennium Summit followed many global
conferences of the 1990s at which we made numerous
commitments to combat poverty and
underdevelopment. The outcomes of these United
Nations conferences and summits provide a veritable
template for addressing the debilitating scourge of
poverty, disease, hunger and underdevelopment in the
world.
 Today, as we meet here seven years after the
adoption of the Millennium Declaration and half way
to 2015, we should pause and take serious stock of the
progress made or the lack of it. It is evident that, while
other regions of the world are making progress towards
the realization of the MDGs, indications are that unless
something is done to support Africa, the continent is
unlikely to achieve any of the Goals by 2015. Statistics
tell tales of a continent that is host to huge numbers of
the poor and the hungry. Diseases, in particular
HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, still kill many
people in Africa. Those factors require an urgent
response, as they create conditions that pose a threat to
peace, stability and security.
 In this interdependent world, the United Nations
cannot realistically hope to achieve the MDGs by 2015
if one part of humanity is lagging so far behind.
Something must be done to assist and support Africa.
In March 2002 at Monterrey, Mexico, we recognized
the imperative of global cooperation and partnership in
the achievement of internationally agreed development
goals. We agreed that
“achieving the internationally agreed development
goals, including those contained in the United
Nations Millennium Declaration, demands a new
partnership between developed and developing
countries” (resolution 58/130, para. 11).
Let us honour our commitments and move forward.
 Let me conclude by reiterating the fact that
Botswana has long recognized that sustainable
development has to be a nationally owned and led
process that requires sound democratic institutions and
prudent economic management. Adherence to those
principles, coupled with the exploitation of mineral
resources and donor support, enabled us to achieve
rapid economic growth and some measure of
development.
 Continued assistance is necessary to enable us to
consolidate the gains of the past few years and ensure
sustainable development. In that respect, the scope of
development cooperation should include private sector
development, private investment and access to
technology. Assistance to middle-income countries
such as Botswana is crucial and in the long-term
interest of the global economy. We are asking not for
handouts, but for assured support, partnership and
collaboration.


I wish to take  this opportunity to congratulate you most sincerely on
your election as President of the General Assembly at
its sixty-second session. My delegation is confident
that your in-depth knowledge of international
economic and political issues, complemented by your
extensive diplomatic experience, will serve you in
good stead to guide our deliberations effectively in the
coming months.
 I also wish to take this opportunity to express
Trinidad and Tobago’s deep appreciation for the
leadership of your predecessor, Her Excellency
Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, the first Arab woman
to hold that lofty position. As President of the General
Assembly, her efforts contributed to focusing the
attention of the international community on the
pressing challenges of climate change, inter alia,
thereby facilitating, in the process, global awareness
and increased support for internationally agreed action
on this issue given its impact on our planet and,
especially, on the very survival of several small island
developing States.
 I consider this occasion opportune, as well, to
convey Trinidad and Tobago's unequivocal support for
our current Secretary-General His Excellency Mr. Ban
Ki-moon. We commend his leadership role in the
troubling humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of
the Sudan and applaud his initiative to convene the
High-Level Event on Climate Change. These are
indeed apt demonstrations of his willingness to
confront forcefully and resolutely issues of
transcendental importance to the present and future
well-being of peoples everywhere.
 Though small in size and population, Trinidad
and Tobago, through visionary leadership, transparency
and public accountability and prudent management of
our natural resources, is continuing along a path of
sustainable development. Our development strategy
seeks to go beyond the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and to ensure that by the
year 2020 all sectors of our multi-ethnic and
multicultural society will enjoy a standard of living
comparable to that of the developed world.
 The performance of our economy draws its
strength from vertically integrated and well-developed
energy and petrochemical industries, which are
complemented by buoyant and competitive
manufacturing and service sectors, including financial
services and tourism, as well as by the ongoing
transformation of the agricultural sector. All these
factors provide the basis for economic growth levels
off 8.6 per cent over the last five years and a recorded
rate of 12 per cent in 2006. We have also been able to
achieve a 7 per cent reduction in poverty from a high
of 24 per cent in 1998 and are currently experiencing a
low unemployment rate of 5.9 per cent.
 It is on the basis of this strong economic
performance that Trinidad and Tobago has continued
its commitment to the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM), as we seek to advance the integration
process, moving from the current stage of the single
market to that of a single economy. Effective
participation in this process of furthering strengthening
and deepening the regional integration movement
remains a major foreign policy goal of the Government
of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is for this
reason and given the fact that our economic fortunes
are inextricably linked, that Trinidad and Tobago
continues to provide economic and humanitarian
assistance to several CARICOM countries adversely
affected by natural disasters.
 Our further economic development and that of
the global community as a whole, is dependent on the
existence of global peace and security. In this regard,
the Security Council has continued to take timely
decisions on global crises in different parts of the
globe, on terrorism and on nuclear non-proliferation.
 The reform of that principal organ of the United
Nations, charged with maintaining international peace
and security, continues, however, to elude us. It is time
to engage in bona fide negotiations on this matter. The
status quo is unacceptable. The Security Council must
be reformed to reflect the current geopolitical realities
of the twenty-first century and no longer the world as it
was in the aftermath of World War II. New and
important actors from Africa, Asia and Latin America
and the Caribbean are a part of today’s global reality.
An expanded and enhanced Security Council would
provide the Council with even greater legitimacy and
support in the carrying out of its Charter
responsibilities. Trinidad and Tobago is of the view
that much progress was made during the sixty-first
session and the political momentum which was
generated there should not be lost.
 A reinvigorated Security Council is needed to
address the major issues that continue to bedevil
contemporary international relations. In the Middle
East, the failure to move forward on the peace process
has set back global efforts to achieve a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace in the Middle East. The
Palestinian people have yet to exercise their legitimate
rights to self-determination and to the establishment of
an independent Palestinian State in an undivided
homeland.
 We call on the Quartet to resume the Road Map
process for peace in the Middle East, so that the world
can, in the foreseeable future, see two States, Israel and
Palestine, living side by side in peace, within
internationally recognized and secure borders.
Additionally, internationally acceptable solutions must
be found to address the fate of the Palestinian refugees,
the status of Jerusalem and the issue of Israeli
settlements in the West Bank. All these matters have
remained pending for far too long and the Palestinians
should no longer be denied the realization of their
statehood.
 While there has been little or no progress in the
matter of peace in the Middle East, the Government of
the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is pleased to note
that, with respect to the humanitarian crisis in the
Darfur region of the Sudan, agreement has finally been
reached, which has resulted in the deployment of a
hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping
force for Darfur. We welcome this positive
development. While we hope that the hybrid United
Nations-African Union peacekeeping force will bring
peace and stability to the region and enable
humanitarian relief to flow once again to where it is
most urgently required, all our efforts must now be
turned towards putting a cease-fire in place and
striving to have all the rebels groups fighting in Darfur
move towards a peace arrangement with the Sudanese
Government. Peace and justice are, however,
inextricably linked and there can be no lasting peace in
Darfur without accountability for the heinous crimes
committed against the people of Darfur during the
conflict.
 While international political and security
developments continue to pose major difficulties for
the international community, developments in the area
of international trade give rise to even greater concern.
We are mindful of the reality that the steadfast efforts
of Trinidad and Tobago, of the subregion and of other
developing countries to confront effectively the
challenges of globalization and liberalization would be
rendered futile in the absence of a fair, transparent and
equitable international economic trading system. The
Government of Trinidad and Tobago therefore remains
deeply concerned that, after many years of protracted
negotiations characterized by many missed deadlines,
the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations has
yet to reach a compromise that would pave the way for
an agreed outcome, particularly in the areas of
agriculture and industrial products, and that
incorporates the development dimension. We
underscore the importance of ensuring that the
principle of special and differential treatment is truly
reflected throughout the negotiating modalities, and we
call upon all parties in the negotiations to take fully
into account the special needs of small and vulnerable
economies.
 The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and
Tobago fully expects that the negotiations will resume
in good faith and that there will be commensurate
progress in agriculture, industrial products and all
other areas of the negotiations, in keeping with the
mandate of a single undertaking. That will ensure the
successful conclusion of the Round and an outcome
that fully reflects the commitment undertaken at Doha
to put development at the heart of the multilateral
trading system.
 While those trade negotiations seem to have
stalled and will require the injection of a high degree
of political will to bring them to a successful
conclusion, the international community is faced with
yet another global concern in the form of climate
change. As a result of greenhouse gas emissions from
fossil fuel use and land-use changes through
deforestation, the world is already destined to an
increase of 1.14 degrees Celsius by the end of the next
two decades.
 There therefore needs to be a clearly defined
global mitigation strategy that keeps the long-term
temperature increase at less than 2 degrees Celsius
above pre-industrial levels. Increases over 2 degrees
Celsius are very likely to have an increased adverse
impact on small island developing States, such as
Trinidad and Tobago. In order to avoid a global climate
disaster, the Government of the Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago calls for urgent and ambitious action by all
States in accordance with their common but
differentiated responsibilities, respective capabilities
and social and economic conditions.
 As a State party to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the
Kyoto Protocol, we call on all States parties to
UNFCCC, particularly major emitters of greenhouse
gases, to agree at Bali to launch negotiations on a
post-2012 regime. In those negotiations, the
Government of Trinidad and Tobago and other
like-minded Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
member States will seek to achieve substantial and
legally binding emission reductions in the shortest
timeframe possible and significant increases in the
level of resources available to developing countries, in
particular small island developing States, to assist them
in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. To
this end, the Government of the Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago has already made a voluntary contribution
of $1 million to the trust fund for the Caribbean
Community Climate Change Centre in Belize to
strengthen that institution, so that it can assist
CARICOM member States in implementing their
adaptation strategies to deal with the adverse effects of
climate change.
 But we in the Caribbean are not only concerned
about global warming and its adverse effects on
Caribbean States. We are also deeply interested in
preserving the marine environment of the Caribbean
Sea, which is an important natural resource for all its
littoral island and continental States, given their
varying degrees of dependence on tourism. The
passage through the Caribbean Sea of ships carrying
radioactive waste is an issue to which all CARICOM
Governments attach the highest importance. Allow me
to take this opportunity to reiterate the continued
objection of Caribbean countries against the use of the
Caribbean Sea for the trans-shipment of radioactive
waste. The repeated scientific and safety reports may
offer some reassurance, but they do very little to
appease our concern.
 Our Prime Minister, Mr. Patrick Manning, in his
2008 budget statement, brought into sharp focus the
vision of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago for our cosmopolitan society. He
emphasized that the mission in which we as a nation
are engaged collectively is a transformation process
aimed at bringing sustained prosperity and the requisite
higher quality of life to every individual, family and
community across the country. The Government has
therefore sought to give concrete expression to the
national quest for a highly competitive, productive,
innovative and caring society, in which all are
encouraged to attain their highest potential and are
facilitated in doing so.
 It is, accordingly, in this spirit that we have just
signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, which was adopted and opened for
signature during the sixty-first session of the General
Assembly, and we will take steps to ratify the
Convention once the necessary implementing
legislation is put in place to complement what is
already provided for in our domestic policy with regard
to persons with disabilities.
 It is this confidence in and respect for the
international rule of law that has encouraged Trinidad
and Tobago to campaign, since the late 1980s and at
the highest political levels, for the establishment of an
International Criminal Court (ICC). We are keenly
aware of the important strides being made by ICC, as it
devotes its attention to the prosecution of individuals
accused of committing the crimes within its
jurisdiction, namely, genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity.
 Trinidad and Tobago recalls in this connection the
adoption at the Rome Diplomatic Conference of a
resolution recommending that a conference to review
the Court’s Statute also consider the inclusion of
trafficking in illegal drugs on an international scale as
being within the Court’s jurisdiction. We must seize the
opportunity now forced upon us by international trends
to fully engage ICC in efforts to stem the tide of that
scourge, and similarly, to consider the inclusion of acts
of terrorism, once that term is clearly defined by the
international community.
 Our approach will be grounded in the recognition
of the continued deleterious effects that the
international trade in illegal drugs is having on the
social fabric of societies the world over, including in
the Caribbean. The time has come for the international
community to recognize the illicit trafficking of drugs
as an international crime subject to the jurisdiction of
ICC.
 Another area of public international law to which
Trinidad and Tobago attaches the utmost importance is
the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea. This year’s meeting of the United Nations
Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans
and the Law of the Sea addressed the important issue
of marine genetic resources. Part XI of the Convention
explicitly provides that the area beyond national
jurisdiction and its resources are the common heritage
of mankind. Trinidad and Tobago is accordingly of the
view that any legal regime developed to regulate the
marine genetic resources of the Area must be guided by
the common heritage principle. Adherence to such a
principle would ensure that the resources of the Area
are exploited for the benefit of all members of the
international community, and not just for the benefit of
those with the financial wherewithal and the technical
know-how.
 Similarly, we recognize that all States parties to
the Convention are ipso facto members of the
International Seabed Authority. Despite the importance
of the current work of the Authority on polymetallic
sulphides and cobalt crusts, many States parties fail to
attend the annual sessions of the Authority held in
Jamaica. The continued absence of States undermines
the common heritage principle laid down in Part XI of
the Convention and threatens the very legitimacy of the
work of the Authority. We accordingly call on all
members of the Authority to attend regularly the
sessions of the Authority and thus assist it in adopting
regulations governing the exploration and exploitation
of the mineral resources in the Area, which are of
benefit to all mankind.
 Trinidad and Tobago, like its Caribbean
neighbours, acknowledges its maternal links to Africa
and notes that 2007 was an important year for the
peoples of that continent and for the African diaspora
worldwide. Earlier this year, we observed here at
Headquarters and in the capitals of all CARICOM
States a programme of activities intended to raise the
consciousness of peoples the world over regarding the
horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and the
deleterious effects it had on Africa, depriving that
continent of millions of its inhabitants, and on people
of African descent in the Americas. We in Trinidad and
Tobago have used the opportunity to educate all of our
citizens on the degrading treatment to which those
human beings were subjected and to demonstrate that,
notwithstanding our history of slavery, followed by the
indentureship of other segments of our population, the
people of Trinidad and Tobago have developed a
harmonious cosmopolitan society, which is an
accomplishment worthy of emulation in other parts of
the globe that are fractured by fratricidal ethnic and
religious struggles.
 In order for the suffering of millions of enslaved
Africans not to have been in vain, the Government of
the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago intends to make a
financial contribution to the CARICOM initiative for a
permanent memorial to be erected within these
hallowed walls of the United Nations in remembrance
of all those who perished in the Middle Passage and on
the plantations in the New World in their struggle for
freedom and liberation from the yoke of slavery. We
call upon the international community to contribute
generously to such a worthwhile and historic venture.
 In conclusion, the United Nations remains a
centre for harmonizing the goals and aspirations of all
mankind. There is no other universal forum with
greater legitimacy or a more suitable mandate to bring
about an improvement in the human condition. We
must address all these global issues with firmness of
purpose and in a resolute manner if we are to save
coming generations from the adverse consequences of
war, underdevelopment and poverty, as well as the
deleterious effects of climate change, and to ensure that
all humanity can enjoy improved standards of living in
freedom and in dignity on a habitable planet.