It gives me
profound pleasure to welcome and congratulate
Mr. Julian Hunte in regard to the lofty position that he
now holds. It was not long ago that he was fighting
alongside the ambassadors of the Latin American and
Caribbean Group. He represents the smallest country
that has ever ascended to the presidency, and, for his
Caribbean colleagues, there will be additional rejoicing
when his photograph appears on the Wall of Presidents.
It is my hope that our younger diplomats will
endeavour to emulate him and continue to demonstrate
the mettle of small island developing States. But let me
also pay tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan, for
the able and skilful manner in which he conducted our
deliberations during the fifty-seventh session. The
Secretary-General and his staff must also receive
acclaim for their diligence and steadfast work. We
mourn and grieve for the United Nations staff members
killed and wounded in Baghdad, and, indeed, for all
members of the staff who have made the ultimate
sacrifice in upholding the ideals of the United Nations.
We have often repeated statistics on human living
conditions, but it seems to be just a recitation.
Nonetheless, in the hope that this year figures may
move those in control to make a meaningful attempt at
25

remedies, let me join the list of other colleagues who
have recalled the fact that almost half of the world’s
population subsists on less than $2 a day, and a fifth
lives on less than $1 a day. The point to be stressed is
that global inequality has increased. The digital divide
is widening, the number of refugees and displaced
persons has grown, and the AIDS crisis is devastating
numerous societies.
What tends to be ignored is what developing
countries have been doing for themselves. In the
Caribbean, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
countries have come to each other’s assistance in times
of crisis, whether there be natural devastation by way
of earthquakes, volcanic eruption, drought or floods.
We have used our military forces positively, to rescue,
to stabilize and to rehabilitate, when suffering the
vicissitudes of nature. Strapped as we are in regard to
finances, we have assisted one another in regard to the
severest of economic constraints. If an unbiased
evaluation is made, it will be clear that average gains in
human development in low- and middle-income
countries have been substantial and higher than gains
in income. Life expectancy has increased by 59 per
cent, and illiteracy has been reduced from 39 per cent
in 1970 to 25 per cent at the turn of the century.
Nevertheless, current development trends are not
sustainable and are placing extreme pressure on the
environment and on the impoverished, who bear the
overwhelming brunt of environmental degradation. Our
coastal systems are threatened, dominant countries are
fishing indiscriminately within our exclusive economic
zones, and our coral reefs have not only been damaged
but are disappearing. Yet aid has declined as a share of
gross national product, and World Bank research
indicates that, without a doubling of development
assistance, the endorsed Millennium Goals are unlikely
to be achieved.
Development experts appear to have a single
focus. We fully accept the necessity for market
reforms, but they are insufficient in themselves. There
is a need for broad social reforms. Equitable income
distribution and secondary school enrolment have been
found to be insensitive to growth, while air quality has
been negatively correlated to growth. The global
institutions continue to listen to their identified experts
and to disregard local experience, whether from the
aged and wise or from the young and brilliant.
Sustained development requires a significant
percentage of domestic or local ownership.
Our religious literature states that continuing a
lifestyle demands the depositing or planting of seeds,
from which, in a relatively short period of time, comes
new life and the continuance of organic existence. With
that in mind, it is imperative that development
strategies clearly take into consideration those who will
succeed us, and Antigua and Barbuda, which devotes
much attention and planning to the advancement of its
youth, is advocating continued global focus on this
issue in order to ensure a more harmonious
international atmosphere than the one in which we
carry out our activities.
With that in mind, Caribbean heads of State and
Government have met with representatives of the
World Bank and are jointly in the process of, first,
identifying the risk and protective factors and
determinants of youth behaviours and development;
secondly, demonstrating that the negative behaviours of
young people are costly not only to themselves but also
to society as a whole; and, thirdly, identifying key
intervention points for youth development,
underscoring identified risk and protective factors.
Presently, as a result of this joint thrust, we are
targeting sexual and physical abuse, HIV/AIDS as
linked to misguided values about sexuality, the
incidence of rage, youth unemployment, and social
misconceptions as to the use of alcohol and marijuana.
Moving forward requires modernizing the educational
system and maximizing the protective effect of schools,
upgrading public health-care systems, making families
a top policy issue, and strengthening community and
neighbourhood support to adolescents.
Antigua and Barbuda believes that, whereas aid is
sorely needed, its effectiveness will be limited unless a
level playing field is provided in regard to trade and
investment in developing societies. There cannot be
meaningful progress by talking about the relative
significance and importance of free trade. We listen
and see the dominant countries employ various and
diverse forms of agricultural protectionism, while
taking away from former colonies of exploitation vital
preferences needed to keep their products on the
market. Why should globalization be oppressive to the
pusillanimous? We have been listening to the
modifications of the philosophies of Cobden and
Bright, but are feeling the yoke of global practices,
knowing that never in modern history has there ever
been free trade.
26

The fears of developing countries in regard to the
practices and realities of globalization, as opposed to
its often-vaunted philosophy, were manifested at
Cancún in September of this year. Cancún, we have
been made to understand, means snake pit in the local
Mayan language, and our hope is that there will be
some meaningful effort to overcome the drawbacks.
Developing countries will be hindered from developing
themselves if lip service alone continues to be paid to
poverty. The first step in the elimination of poverty is
to adequately recognize the multifunctional role of
agriculture. This multifunctional role incorporates food
safety, animal welfare and the preservation of land.
Unfortunately, Cancún proved once again that the
dominant countries would continue to exempt
themselves from the rules governing free trade and to
domestically provide substantive subsidies to their
farmers, while denying the former colonies of
exploitation the right to preferences.
The year 2004 will mark the tenth anniversary of
the first United Nations Global Conference on the
Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States, which was held in Barbados in 1994. In looking
back at the almost 10 years since that Conference, we
hold these following truths to be self evident: In the
Barbados Programme’s attention on the unique
circumstances of small island developing States, the
corresponding actions to address these circumstances
by the international community, has been lacking. This
is the opportunity presented by the international
meeting, to review the implementation of the
Programme of Action that will be held in Mauritius in
August 2004. It presents us with a second chance to
identify a set of concrete actions which will be needed
to further the implementation of the Barbados
Programme of Action and thereby regain the
momentum lost by small island developing States in
their quest for sustainable development. So far we have
not been satisfied that problems relating to the trans-
shipment of nuclear waste through our waters, bilging
and fishing indiscriminately in our Exclusive Economic
Zones have been given any meaningful consideration.
My Government welcomes the entry into force of
the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention
on Biological Diversity, having recently deposited our
instruments of ratification for both the Protocol and the
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants. As a Party to the Kyoto Protocol to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, we wish to lend our support to the call made
by the Foreign Minister of Japan for parties to the
Climate Change Convention to maintain the
international momentum for climate change
negotiations, for the early entry into force of the Kyoto
Protocol and for the formulation of common rules that
will facilitate participation by all countries.
The Millennium Development Goals constitute an
ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving
lives. The challenge to implement them is enormous. A
case in point is the target of halving by 2015 the
proportion of people without access to safe drinking
water and proper sanitation. To meet this target, the
world will need to connect approximately 200,000
people to clean water and 400,000 people to improved
sanitation each day.
That will require three things: first, innovative
financing mechanisms to assure the necessary doubling
in financial flows to developing countries for water and
sanitation, from current spending of $10 billion each
year, to about $20 billion a year; secondly, greatly
improved governance of scarce water resources, built
around holistic, integrated water resources management
strategies that encompass priorities from drinking to
agriculture and industrial development; and thirdly, a
clear focus on building capacity where it is needed
most: working directly with local communities,
especially women, to help craft and implement their
own solutions. And this is just for water.
We see, as the dominant Powers repeat their call
for universal democracy, that the former colonies of
exploitation must remind them that democracy is most
difficult to achieve among those witnessing the tears
and the conditions of hungry children. Democracy
struggles to maintain itself among those who are
racked with illnesses and weak from the lack of
adequate nutrition. Democracy is practically a utopian
ideal, in which there are defined class divisions and
insurmountable social barriers. For democracy to thrive
and prosper, all sectors of the society have to
participate fully with regard to economic growth and
an adequate distribution of income. It is, therefore,
incumbent that society work toward integral, equitable
and sustainable social and economic development. In
Antigua and Barbuda, in the midst of our trials and
tribulations, we have maintained democracy, and it is a
hallmark of our existence.
27

The products of science, technology and
innovation have to be harnessed and designed to add
value to the real components of development. Wealth
must be generated in order to raise the dignity and the
esteem of mankind, and to garner respect for the
internationally recognized fundamental rights and
principles of labour. Without such, socio-economic
development and, consequently, the full enjoyment of
democracy will be held in abeyance.
My country is at a loss to fully comprehend why
some of the major countries of this world oppose the
International Criminal Court (ICC). It is vital to our
security and development. The Court represents a
revolution in legal and moral attitudes toward some of
the worst crimes on Earth. Whereas many developing
States have suffered under the yoke of globalization,
the ICC represents a plus for the globalization process,
its principles of justice and the rule of law in
international affairs. The Rome Statute has sufficient
checks and balances to allay all fears, and we remain
convinced that the ICC will be a legitimate judicial
institution to adequately judge individuals for war
crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. We
reiterate that this can be done while guaranteeing States
their rights, as they are protected from any interference
by the Court if they pursue the given crimes at the
national level, and that the prosecutor’s autonomous
power is accompanied by guarantees against using the
Court for specious or politically motivated endeavours.
The Non-Self-Governing Territories of the
Caribbean look to Caribbean members of the Special
Committee on Decolonization, more commonly known
as the Special Committee of 24, to give guidance in
regard to their constitutional evolution. This year there
was a breakthrough in Anguilla, as the United
Kingdom agreed to have the regional seminar held in
one of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, and for the
first time the United Nations Secretariat agreed to write
directly to the local representatives, rather than through
the representatives of the administering Powers. But
more importantly, the United Kingdom sent a senior
official from the Commonwealth and Overseas Office,
who was to gain the respect of the seminar participants.
The Non-Self-Governing Territories greeted this
development, and all sent delegations that were vocal
and explained that their options had never been
explained to them. They were eager to remain in touch
with the United Nations Secretariat, and sought to take
advantage of whatever experiences, educational and
otherwise, the United Nations could provide. In an
atmosphere of cordiality, the administrating Power and
the non-self-governing territories expressed ways and
means of promoting development and advancement for
the territories. Quite significantly the non-self-
governing territories hailed the new policy of the
United Kingdom for consultation with the elected
officials of its territories on the appointment of
governors.
My country would not like to give the impression
that we are only concerned with development, as this
would be far from the truth. We are cognizant of other
global issues, particularly with reference to peace and
security. The images that are constantly before us with
reference to Iraq and the Middle East leave us
questioning the brotherhood of mankind. The United
Nations has to be unified with reference to the
rehabilitation of Iraq, and the transition of its
administrative structures into the hands of its nationals.
We subsequently give our support for the peace
process in the Middle East, based on the respective
resolutions of both the General Assembly and the
Security Council. Likewise, we give wholehearted
support to the preservation of the role of the United
Nations and other organizations in working toward the
stabilization and security of Afghanistan.
In the same vein, we support and encourage the
efforts made to resolve the conflicts in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, and the stabilization of peace in
parts of West Africa and the Balkans.
We continue to press for the revitalization of the
disarmament process, non-proliferation of nuclear
weapons and general arms control.
These are indeed perilous times, and, when an
event occurs in a distant part of the globe that can
drastically affect us domestically, total disregard of the
need for tolerance will not only produce resentment but
also the dangerous practice of intolerance. For such
times it is far better to remember the words of Thomas
Paine, who stated that “The world is my country, all
mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my
religion.”


A few days
ago, the United Nations was again attacked in Baghdad
  just one month after the United Nations
Headquarters was targeted in a devastating terrorist
attack. My heartfelt sympathies   not only as the
Foreign Minister of Austria, but also as a former staff
member working here at the Headquarters of the
United Nations   go to the victims, their loved ones
and all colleagues in the United Nations family. Sergio
Vieira de Mello and his colleagues died as heroes. As a
host country to the United Nations, Austria firmly
supports the Secretary-General's call to provide the
utmost security for United Nations personnel on
missions everywhere in the world. Those United
Nations staff members had dedicated their lives to
helping the most vulnerable. Today, we are called upon
to live up to their cause.
This has also been a year of lethal attacks on
politicians who courageously stood for a human face
for politics. We remember, with sadness, the outstanding
leadership qualities and invaluable contributions of Zoran
Djindjic and Anna Lindh. We are equally saddened to
learn that Ms. Aquila al-Hashimi, member of the Iraqi
Governing Council, has succumbed to the wounds she
suffered in the recent terrorist attack.
What is at stake today is the way in which the
United Nations can best shoulder its responsibility for
global security and peace and how we as Member
States can support the United Nations in this task.
Austria, as one of the host countries of the United
Nations, feels a sense of responsibility for the future
functioning of the Organization.
The intense public scrutiny of the Security
Council's actions over the past 12 months has opened a
window of opportunity for re-launching our efforts to
find unity of purpose based on a common security
agenda between all nations. In this context, I greatly
welcome the report of the Secretary-General on the
implementation of the Millennium Declaration, which
makes one thing crystal clear: we face nothing less
than the need for a far-reaching overhaul of the United
Nations system in order to enhance efficiency and
legitimacy.
We must respond to this challenge and
energetically revive the reform debate. The urgency we
are faced with today should render a new attempt more
successful.
First of all, a priority issue should be the reform
of the procedures of the United Nations system. The
composition of the Security Council is at odds with the
geopolitical reality of the twenty-first century. It does
not reflect the growing number of United Nations
Members or the necessary regional balance. Decision-
making is therefore perceived by many as lacking
legitimacy. In my view, this discussion is not only
about who should be represented in the Security
Council, but   and this is at least as important
about ensuring that the decision-making is in the
interests of world peace and global security. In this
context the regional groups have to accept their
responsibility by coming forward with solutions.
As a member of the European Union, which is
about to give itself a constitution for the twenty-first
century, it is important to note that we are moving
gradually towards a genuine common foreign and
security policy. To this end, a security doctrine is being
elaborated by High Representative and Secretary
General Solana for the European Council. Speaking
with one voice also means more common positions in
Security Council matters. This logic might one day
even lead to the European Union having a seat on the
Security Council.
Austria sees its national interest best served by
the multilateral approach of a strong United Nations
system, with the Security Council living up to its
responsibility for world peace and with the primacy of
international law and the universality of human rights
maintained by all.
International terrorism is a direct and lethal threat
to global and collective security. The terror attacks of
11 September 2001, and those against the United
Nations Headquarters in Baghdad, have one thing in
common: they were targeted against civilization as a
whole. United Nations leadership is needed more than
ever to prevent and combat terrorism globally. In the
United Nations system-wide division of labour, the
Vienna-based Terrorism Prevention Branch of the
Office on Drugs and Crime contributes to counter-
terrorism efforts and offers valuable technical
assistance to States with regard to signing, ratifying
and implementing international conventions and
protocols related to terrorism.
36

Another hard threat to international security is the
proliferation of arms, in particular the spread of
weapons of mass destruction. What is needed is
obvious: the strengthening and universalization of
existing disarmament, non-proliferation and export
control regimes. As a practical contribution to this
cause, Austria has agreed to serve as an immediate
central contact for the 109 subscriber States of the
Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile
Proliferation.
Furthermore, the Conference on Facilitating the
Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-
Ban Treaty, which I had the honour to open on 3
September, appealed, in its Final Declaration, to all
States to sign and ratify that Treaty, in particular to
those 12 countries whose ratification is required for the
Treaty's entry into force. Let me repeat and support
that appeal.
In the field of non-proliferation, the work of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the
leadership of Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is
essential. Last week's General Conference of IAEA
unanimously endorsed the necessity of strengthening
the international nuclear safeguards system. Recent
issues of compliance concerning Iran and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea have again
shown the central role of IAEA.
One of the most important immediate tasks is the
stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq. We are
convinced that success in the aim of restoring the
sovereignty of Iraq as quickly as possible will hardly
be feasible without the United Nations playing its part
on the basis of a sound, viable and coherent policy.
In line with the human security approach, Austria
was among the first to offer humanitarian aid. In
Austrian hospitals we provided urgent medical
assistance for children in critical condition.
Furthermore, Austria participates in the Adopt a
Hospital' programme and is about to equip two
hospitals in Nazariyah. Together with Slovenia and
Jordan, we are preparing the establishment, south of
Baghdad, of a centre for war-traumatized children.
These are efforts aimed at providing relief for the
weakest and most vulnerable members of Iraqi society.
In spite of renewed efforts by the international
community to revive the Middle East peace process,
the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has
again tragically deteriorated. But current setbacks must
not stall the implementation of the road map. Austria
continues to strongly support the role and the
responsibility of the Quartet. The concept of two States
remains the only viable solution. The promise of land for
peace must be reactivated to create a basis of trust and
respect on which to build. Terrorism destroys such hope.
I turn now to what the Secretary-General called
soft threats. Here, his report coincides with the goals of
my recently concluded presidency of the Human
Security Network to strengthen the universal system by
forging interregional consensus on issues pertaining to
human security. That places the individual human
being and his or her protection at the centre of our
policies. As a concrete result of my presidency, the
ministers of the Network adopted a manual on human
rights education. That unique training tool, based on
the universality of human rights, is designed for global
use and adaptable to target groups. The Network also
adopted a strategy for supporting children affected by
armed conflict, along with a training curriculum for
child rights experts and a compendium of the relevant
international child protection standards   an effort in
which we cooperated closely with the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General, Olara Otunnu.
The Millennium Development Goals have
become fundamental benchmarks in our efforts to
achieve more inclusive and equitable globalization, and
we   both developing and developed countries
need to strive for their implementation at the global,
regional and national levels. In that context, as part of
the partnership effort agreed to in Monterrey, I am
happy to announce that Austrian official development
assistance will be increased by 35 per cent in 2004.
The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development recognized the importance of energy for
the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
Austria welcomes the additional impetus created by the
Renewables 2004 Conference. I am also glad that the
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership
will establish its secretariat in Vienna. Meanwhile,
Austria will use the synergies created by these
activities to continue its endeavours to build up the
capacity of the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy,
which I launched in 1999.
At this point, let me express Austria's
disappointment that the Ministerial Meeting in Cancun
could not sustain the momentum towards achieving
acceptable solutions for fair trade. Such a setback must
37

not repeat itself, not least because trade is an engine for
development. I support the notion that we also need to
begin a reform of the decision-making process within
the World Trade Organization. We must avoid a
tendency towards ending multilateralism and towards
relying exclusively on bilateralism or regionalism in
trade.
This year, we commemorate the tenth anniversary
of the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human
Rights, which confirmed the universality, indivisibility
and interrelatedness of human rights as well as the
important nexus among human rights, democracy and
development. Human rights disasters that we have
witnessed since   such as those in Rwanda and
Srebrenica   must not be allowed to recur. One
essential step in that regard is the Optional Protocol to
the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
which I signed this morning.
Human rights must protect in particular the weak,
women and children. As a woman and as Foreign
Minister of my country, I have always spoken out in
favour of the rights of women and against the
frequently terrible infringements of those rights, such
as genital mutilation, the stoning of women and the
enslaving and trading of women and girls on the sex
markets. Those horrendous practices must stop. And
there is reason for hope: today is a good day for
women's rights. News has reached us that Ms. Armina
Lawal was acquitted by the Nigerian court. I am very
happy about that outcome. Let us remind ourselves that
the all-important fight against terrorism must not entail
a lessening of hard-fought-for human rights standards.
Over the years and under the guidance of the
Secretary-General, Austria has placed great importance
on a comprehensive dialogue of cultures and
civilizations. This November, I will host a second
media seminar on the topic of Cultural diversity: the
quest for common moral ground and the public role of
the media', exploring how the free media can
contribute to cultural understanding and respect. A
seminal event in the context of that dialogue was the
first-ever conference of European Islamic leaders in
Austria, held in June of this year, which adopted a
strongly worded declaration in support of tolerance.
How can we contribute to stability in the regions
of the world? Europe has its own experience with
creating a zone of stability and welfare. The signing of
the European Union (EU) accession treaty with 10 new
prospective members in April of this year is an
important contribution to security on our continent.
The strategy of EU is also geared towards exporting
that peace dividend to new neighbours of the enlarged
EU further to the east and to the south-east and in the
Mediterranean region. Let me highlight one
encouraging event from that region, which I was able
to witness from a close vantage point when I visited
Belgrade less than two weeks ago. I am talking about
the important gesture of President Marović of Serbia
and Montenegro and of President Mesić of Croatia,
apologizing on behalf of those of their countries'
citizens, who had committed acts of violence against
one another in recent history.
The vision of global solidarity, collective security
and a global culture of human rights are rooted in the
purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter
and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I
am grateful to the Secretary-General for his courage
and leadership to engage us in an honest, future-
oriented debate. The time to act is now. I can again
assure the Secretary-General that Austria supports him
in that important endeavour.


Three
years ago, we held the Millennium Summit, during
which we crafted a clear-cut common vision for the
twenty-first century, a road map to confront the
challenges of globalization: peace and security now
facing new threats, development and international
cooperation, the environment, pandemics and so forth.
One year later the first challenge to this
reassuring and ambitious edifice arose, the terrorist
attacks of 11 September 2001. The international
community reacted unanimously and immediately
adopted a collective response. A few months later we
witnessed the aggravation of tensions with the Iraq
crisis, which severely tested the principle of collective
security and moral authority of the United Nations, to
the point that we doubted the rationale for and the
survival of what should be, after all, our common
home.
Finally, and most recently, we have witnessed the
failure of the Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in Cancún. This deadlock in
defining a negotiating process to revive the Doha round
places in jeopardy the growth prospects of the world
economy which would otherwise benefit all people.
This can also be interpreted as a new opportunity to
marginalize the countries of the South.
All of this shows that this present session is being
held in a particularly worrisome context. These
developments are dangerous for the management of
international affairs that should be marked with a spirit
of dialogue, consultation and openness.
We must, therefore, return to the spirit of
multilateralism that characterized the Millennium
Summit. We must reaffirm, loud and clear, the role of
the United Nations as a central axis of collective
security and inspiration for the rules of international
cooperation aimed at justice and equality.
For this reason it is important to strengthen the
role of our Organization and improve its effectiveness.
The Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has now
presented a very edifying report in this connection and
we very much encourage him to persevere along the
path of reform and rationalization and to place the
multilateral system at the core of the management of
crises and the display of leadership in the world.
Your election, Sir, to the presidency of this
session of the General Assembly is, for us, a
tremendous asset. It symbolizes the sovereign equality
of all States, large and small, and is a way of paying
tribute to your great qualities and your diplomatic
experience. We are convinced that you will know how
to skilfully guide our debate on multilateralism to a
satisfying outcome, very much in keeping with the high
expectations of the community of nations.
This year, once again we see the challenges to
peace and international security at the very core of our
major preoccupations. Everyone remembers the attack
of 19 August 2003 against the United Nations offices
in Baghdad. The death of the Special Representative of
the Secretary-General, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, and
several dedicated servants of the United Nations, is still
alive in our memories.
In paying tribute to their courage and dedication,
we must do everything within our power to ensure that
their sacrifice was not made in vain and that the cause
they served so heroically does indeed triumph in the
interests of the Iraqi people and the noble ideas of the
United Nations.
We must therefore encourage the Security
Council to return to its essential unity so that the
international community, led by the moral authority of
the United Nations, can help the Iraqi people to find
peace, security and stability and reconstruct their
country devastated by war and many years of embargo.
Not far from Iraq, the international community is
still confronted with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
14

This shows that the infernal cycle of violence can only
lead to a dead end. The two parties must come to their
senses and return to the vision set out in the road map,
which provides for the creation of a Palestinian State
that is independent, democratic and viable, living side
by side with Israel and its other neighbours in an
atmosphere of peace and security.
The Security Council approved this vision in
Security Council resolution 1397 (2002) and the two
parties committed themselves to respecting the road
map on 4 June 2003 at the outcome of the Aqaba
Summit. We must now bring them back to the
negotiating table, with no pre-conditions, and demand
that they refrain from any measure or unilateral action
that is incompatible with the goals of the road map.
Still on the subject of peace and security, it seems
to be necessary and essential to emphasize that we
must refrain from conflating terrorism, religion or
civilization as belonging to any geographical area or
supporting any national liberation struggle.
Just as we must be firm, demanding and united
when confronting acts of unjustifiable blind violence,
we must also be vigilant so as not to be tempted by
convenience.
In our relentless struggle against terrorism, it is
important to give appropriate responses when it comes
to the sovereignty of peoples, respect for human rights,
social justice and combating poverty. We must also
seriously analyse the causes that serve as the breeding
ground or pretext for terrorism. This is also part of
conflict prevention and, to some extent, the prevention
of terrorism.
This year we are celebrating the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the first special session of the General
Assembly on disarmament. It is regrettable to note that,
since the end of the cold war, so little progress has
been accomplished and today’s deadlock in the
Conference on Disarmament is a tragic display of our
failure.
At a time when the international community is
legitimately concerned about weapons of mass
destruction that might fall into the hands of terrorists, it
is important to remind all of the actors that they must
abide by the multilateral agreements and scrupulously
respect them.
Within the context of disarmament activities, we
welcome the holding, last July in New York, of the first
Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the
Implementation of the 2001 Programme of Action on
Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. My
country hosted in Brazzaville, from 12 to 14 May 2003,
a sub-regional seminar on the implementation in
Central Africa of the United Nations Programme of
Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit
Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its
Aspects and presented at that time a report reflecting
Africa’s firm determination to eradicate this scourge.
As part of its implementation of the Ottawa
Convention on anti-personnel landmines, from 9 to 10
September 2003, Congo destroyed its stock of
landmines. During two public operations carried out
with the support of Canada and the United Nations, our
Government destroyed 5,220 landmines. We intend to
continue with an operation to search out landmines in
the southern part of our country that borders on Angola
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This is to illustrate the degree of cooperation that
prevails among the countries of Central Africa when it
comes to questions of peace and security.
Africa is seen today as the focal point for the
challenges confronting humanity, in particular as
regards armed conflict, underdevelopment and the
proliferation of pandemics. But this is not all that
Africa has to offer the rest of the world. Various
courageous initiatives now show Africa’s
determination to take its fate into its own hands: the
adoption of the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD), the African Peer Review
Mechanism and the Council for Peace and Security.
The African Union Summit that was just held in
Maputo, Mozambique, eloquently displays this attitude
of ours. My delegation associates itself with the
statement made on 24 September by His Excellency
Mr. Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of the
Republic of Mozambique, on behalf of the African
Union. The Acting President clearly informed the
international community about the resolve of the
African continent to overcome current obstacles to
building a new Africa in the areas of peace, security,
democracy, human rights, economic development and
regional integration.
It is precisely in this sprit that His Excellency
Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic
of Congo, put forward his thoughts in a statement
entitled, “For a Pan-African Pact against Aggression”
15

at the summit in Maputo, which constitutes a
contribution to preventive diplomacy that will help to
spare the African peoples the horrors of fratricidal
strife and enable them to devote themselves exclusively
and usefully to development objectives and a code of
conduct between African States, lending timely support
to the framework outlined by the Peace and Security
Council of the African Union. My country, which is the
current acting President of the Economic Community
of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Central
African Economic and Monetary Community
(CAEMC), takes such concerns to heart as it discharges
its mandates in the management of various crises that
are shaking our subregion.
We have already had the opportunity to deplore
the fact that Central Africa suffers from the paradox of
being both one of the richest subregions on the
continent and one of the weakest zones in terms of
human development indices. All the current initiatives
of the leaders of the subregion are geared towards the
resolution of this paradox. Thus, during the past year,
significant progress had been registered in the various
countries that have experienced, or are experiencing,
armed crises — Angola, Rwanda, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Congo, the Central African
Republic, Burundi and Chad. In the quest to resolve
these crises, we have counted on the cooperation of
diverse partners, especially the United Nations and
African Union.
Allow me to briefly touch on some of the
situations that require particular attention from the
international community. With respect to Angola, while
we welcome the return of peace in that country,
ravaged for nearly three decades by civil war, we wish
to urge the international community to help the
Angolan authorities in their efforts at reconstruction.
We continue to support the intention of the Angolan
Government to submit for consideration at the present
session a draft resolution on international assistance for
the reconstruction and economic development of
Angola.
We also welcome the positive developments
under way in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
distinguished in particular by the establishment of
transitional institutions and the deployment of the
United Nations Organization Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo in Ituri. We urge the
international community to continue its support for the
pacification and reunification process under way in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and to further
contribute substantively to the reconstruction
programmes in place. I would like to reaffirm our
steadfast wish to see this neighbouring and brotherly
country find peace again, a guarantee for stability of
the subregion.
I am also duty-bound to draw the attention of the
international community to the situation in the Central
African Republic, which has been confronted for years
with serious and persistent economic, social and
security problems. I would like to recall here that
alarmed by this ever-worsening situation, CAEMC has
established an ad hoc committee on the Central African
Republic, presided over by His Excellency El Hadj
Omar Bongo, President of the Gabonese Republic. It
has also deployed a peacekeeping force in that country.
CAEMC’s involvement in the Central African
Republic, which has received much encouragement,
particularly from the Security Council, mainly aims at
the reconciliation of the Central African people, the
pacification of the country and the prompt restoration
of constitutional order. The holding of a Central
African dialogue fits precisely in the framework of the
recommended measures.
This country, which has suffered greatly these
past years, truly needs assistance from the international
community to regain peace, stability, economic growth
and democracy. That is the meaning of the appeal made
at Brazzaville on 17 May 2003 by the ECCAS
Ministers at the meeting of the United Nations
Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in
Central Africa.
Still with respect to our subregion, I would like
finally to stress in particular the crisis that raged in the
Democratic Republic of Sâo Tomé and Pr'ncipe in July
2003. At that time, ECCAS, the African Union, the
Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries and
Nigeria worked in perfect concert to re-establish the
constitutional order shattered in this country on 16 July
2003. While we commend the contribution made by the
United States and South Africa, we would like to
appeal again for the entire international community to
give substantial assistance to the Democratic Republic
of Sâo Tomé and Pr'ncipe, particularly to the
emergency programme that has just been established by
the Government of this country.
We must also follow with great interest
developments in Burundi, where every step forward
16

must be supported and encouraged to make the process
irreversible. To that end, the international community
is urgently called upon to make good on the financial
commitments made during the conferences in Paris and
Geneva.
The situations that I have just mentioned lead us
to the relevant conclusions of the open Security
Council meeting on 22 October 2002 on strengthening
cooperation between the United Nations system and the
Central African region in the maintenance of peace and
security. At that meeting, we expressed our
appreciation for the cooperation between our region
and the United Nations while welcoming, inter alia, the
work of the Standing Advisory Committee on Security
Questions in Central Africa. We welcomed the multi-
country programme of demobilization and reintegration
put forward by the World Bank.
Since then, we welcomed the visit of the Security
Council in June 2003 to the Great Lakes region and the
multidisciplinary mission of the United Nations
system, and we are eagerly awaiting its conclusions.
These conclusions will allow us to meaningfully
participate in the future public debates of the Security
Council on our subregion, one year after the meeting
that elaborated a comprehensive, integrated,
determined and concerted approach to the problems of
peace, security and development of Central Africa.
Energized by that approach, we intend to
participate in the international conference on peace,
security, democracy and development in the Great
Lakes region. We intend to seize this historic
opportunity to exorcise the demons of hatred and
violence and lay the foundation for peaceful
coexistence among our peoples and nations, which
share a common destiny.
While reaffirming the central role that the
Democratic Republic of the Congo has to play in that
conference, I would like to stress that the Republic of
Congo, my country, which is close to the Democratic
Republic of the Congo in so many ways, would not
understand if it had to attend as an observer at this
crucial event. The same goes, by all accounts, for other
neighbouring countries of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, such as Angola and the Central African
Republic.
The issues of peace, security and building
national unity were at the core of the Congolese
authorities’ concerns during the past year. It is in this
framework that the 17 March 2003 agreement must be
placed, thanks to which peace continues to reign
throughout the entire territory.
Having regained peace, we are seeking to build
on it each day, particularly by implementing the
programme of disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration of ex-combatants. We are also working
towards the resettlement of internally displaced
persons. It is not hard to fathom that these missions
require considerable funding, which the Congo cannot
provide alone. We would like to thank all our partners
for their active solidarity.
We must still meet the great challenges of
reconstruction, economy recovery, poverty reduction
and the fight against HIV/AIDS, all sectors for which
national strategies have been adopted. To implement
this vast project, which we have called “The New
Hope”, we are mobilizing all the national forces
capable of providing assistance to the State, including
local government authorities, non-governmental
organizations, civil society and the private sector. In
that framework, we have conducted negotiations with
our external partners with a view to benefiting from the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative.
All of these achievements can be implemented
only in a world free from fear, as envisaged by the
founders of our Organization, and as we believe today.
This is why we wish to reiterate our faith and
attachment to the United Nations, an irreplaceable
framework and beacon of all hopes for peace for
humanity, and which has never seemed more clearly
necessary than today.


I bring a message of
peace from Bangladesh.
Please allow me to congratulate the President on
his election. I wish him every success in the formidable
task of leading the United Nations to continued
relevance and credibility in these stormy times. I am
confident that he will build upon the legacy left by his
predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan.
We commend the Secretary-General for his
stewardship in these difficult times. The United
Nations has been faced with extremely challenging
situations over the past year. We have lost one of our
most outstanding men of peace —
Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello and many of his colleagues.
Such senseless and despicable acts must not be
repeated.

The new millennium, which we all heralded with
so much hope, has been plunged into turmoil.
Intervening events in the last three years have changed
our world forever. They have left us groping for
solutions. The events of 11 September 2001, the
Afghan and the Iraq war, the open confrontation
between Israel and Hamas and the African civil wars
shape some of the dimensions of this world of disorder.
Driving these crises are new realities — an all-out
offensive against terrorism, arguments for pre-emption
and unilateral action as an option for security, the
targeting of Islamic radicalism and its fall-out as
religious profiling. Somewhere, the coin of global
cooperation has been debased.
Each year we come to this Assembly to reaffirm
our faith in the United Nations and our commitment to
the purposes and principles of the Charter. Today, we
pause to grapple with doubts that have arisen about the
relevance of the world body. I hasten to add that for
Bangladesh, this pause is very short-lived. The cardinal
question is not what is wrong with the United Nations,
but what is right with it and how we can make it serve
our purposes despite seeming setbacks.
Three compelling factors stand out. The first is
universality. All 191 States of the world wish to be
within the fold of the international community. Second
is the flip side of globalization. The bottom line is that
no one State alone can deal with the intricate problems
facing our world — be it the dysfunction of the
collective security system, an interlocking economic,
monetary, financial and trade grid, the challenges of
globalization, international terrorism, environmental
degradation, new diseases, trans-border organized
crime, and so on. The conclusion is clear. The United
Nations is indispensable as the central organ for the
collective management of world affairs.
The third factor is legitimacy. As has been
underlined, the greatest strength of the United Nations
remains its legitimacy, founded on the bedrock
principles of international law. There is no substitute
for that legitimacy. It is by this measure that we look to
the United Nations.
But as the Secretary-General notes in his report
on the implementation of the Millennium Development
Goals, “The war exposed deep divisions in the
international community, with accusations of double
agendas”. He goes on to observe that “The war in Iraq
brought to the fore a host of questions of principle and
practice that challenge the United Nations and the
international community as a whole”. This is a sad
commentary on the state of the world body today.
In contrast, we have noted that wherever the
United Nations was allowed to take up its rightful role
and responsibility, and where it was provided with
necessary support, it has achieved success, durable
peace and stability. The experience of East Timor,
Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, to name only a few, have vindicated the
legitimacy, role and relevance of the United Nations.
War can be won by military might; the challenge lies in
winning peace. That is what the United Nations, with
over half a century of experience in peacemaking,
peacekeeping and peace-building, is best placed to do.
We in Bangladesh place our full trust — and have
total confidence — in the capacity of the United
Nations to address matters of international and global
concern, including peace and security. We see the
United Nations as a source of inspiration, initiative and
support in our national, regional and international
endeavours. It is in this forum that we establish
common standards, universal values and shared
programmes. In a globalizing world, no nation is an
island; none can prosper alone. We therefore believe
that today, more than ever before, the Organization
deserves the support of all of our nations in a more
active and demonstrable way.
The Secretary-General deserves our appreciation
for bringing the focus of the Organization back to its
socio-economic agenda. We welcome his report on the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
His assessment of the progress in achieving the
Millennium Development Goals is sobering. While
signs of progress for a given region are noted, the road
to 2015 is long for many of our nations. The report of
the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific and the United Nations Development
Programme concerning the Millennium Development
Goals, for instance, draws attention to the worrying
declines in the flow of official development assistance
to the least developed areas and countries; it described
that as “unacceptable and unconscionable”. The report
has also called for reforms in the international trade
system to help the poorest countries.
Against that backdrop, the setback at the World
Trade Organization Ministerial Conference, held at
Cancún, warrants an early resumption of the
12

negotiations. A breakthrough will require courageous
decisions and significant compromises. Our
commitment to the Millennium Development Goals
also requires that the negotiations be concluded
successfully. The global economic situation today
dictates equitable trade policies and fair trade practices,
which were sought in the Doha round. The economic
survival and the socio-economic stability of many
nations depend on how we handle post-Cancun
challenges. The stakes are very high for all of us, in
both the short and the long term.
The development policies and programmes of our
Government, led by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh,
Begum Khaleda Zia, are based on the Millennium
Development Goals. Our resource allocation in the
social sector remains high, and we have prepared a
three-year economic growth, poverty reduction and
social development strategy. That is a major initial
policy framework. We look forward to working closely
together with our development partners in our
implementation of those policies.
The governance paradigm in recent decades has
happily embraced the fundamental tenets of democracy.
In Bangladesh, we have the necessary institutions in
place. We are reforming, modernizing and expanding
them. As a thriving democracy ourselves, we support
United Nations efforts aimed at promoting the rule of
law, good governance and human rights. We believe
that all human rights — including the right to
development — should be pursued in a comprehensive
manner and with a holistic approach.
The past year has seen serious developments in
the international peace and security situation,
especially in Africa and the Middle East. Bangladesh
has taken a positive and constructive approach to all
these issues. We have consistently supported the efforts
of the United Nations in that regard. We have done that
as a matter of our commitment to the purposes and
principles of the United Nations and its Charter.
In practical terms, Bangladesh has remained a
major partner of the United Nations in its peace and
security mission. Over the past two decades,
Bangladesh has participated in United Nations
peacekeeping operations in four continents, including
the most perilous ones. We are currently among the
largest contributors of troops and other personnel to
United Nations peacekeeping operations, with
thousands of our troops in eight Missions, in Côte
d’Ivoire, Western Sahara, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Kosovo,
Timor-Leste and Georgia. Recently, we are also
committed to taking part in the proposed United
Nations mission in Liberia.
The people of Iraq have inherited a civilization
that is ancient and one of the most glorious. The
present situation in Iraq should be resolved while
preserving the interests of the people of Iraq and
ensuring long-term peace, security and stability in the
region. Bangladesh reiterates its support for the
sovereignty, territorial integrity and political
independence of the country. We stand ready to take
part in the reconstruction and rebuilding of Iraq in the
true spirit of brotherhood that characterizes the
relationship between our two nations and peoples. We
reiterate our call for ensuring a clear, effective and
credible role for the United Nations in Iraq’s transition
to democracy and in the country’s reconstruction.
Bangladesh supports the forthcoming international
conference on Iraq’s reconstruction to be convened by
the United Nations, and we look forward to a
successful outcome.
The recent developments in the Middle East are
extremely worrying. It is clear that the progress made
from Oslo to Madrid and the present is now seriously
threatened. The road map that the Palestinian side
accepted with great courage has not been seriously
accepted or implemented by the other side.
Preconditions have been imposed, making peace
difficult. The Israeli practices that are well known to
the Assembly continue to be applied in occupied
Palestine. There are gross and systematic violations of
international humanitarian law and fundamental human
rights. The vicious and criminal announcement of the
intention to expel and even assassinate President
Yasser Arafat calls for global condemnation in the
strongest possible terms. All of that runs counter to the
global demand for the peaceful settlement and
establishment of a Palestinian State to live as a good
neighbour in peace and security.
Bangladesh reiterates its support for the early
establishment of a sovereign, independent State of
Palestine in accordance with the relevant United
Nations resolutions. We call for a more active role on
the part of the United Nations, and we ask the Security
Council to assume its responsibilities towards the
people of Palestine. We urge the diplomatic Quartet to
intensify its efforts to prevent further escalation and to
13

address the threats against President Arafat, a Nobel
Peace laureate and the undisputed leader of the
Palestinian people. We urge that the peace process be
placed back on track. We call for renewed efforts
aimed at a comprehensive solution of the Middle East
issues within a given time frame.
International terrorism remains a scourge. In the
post-11 September 2001 context, it has taken centre
stage in our global concerns. We reiterate our
unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms
and manifestations. Bangladesh is party to several
international conventions on combating terrorism, and
we are in the process of acceding to the remaining
ones. We are actively involved in the elaboration of an
additional protocol to the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation’s Regional Convention on
Suppression of Terrorism. The protocol will strengthen
the Convention by incorporating provisions that
include those contained in recent Security Council
resolutions, in particular resolution 1373 (2001).
Bangladesh attaches great emphasis on disarmament.
We believe that it is closely related to international
peace and security and has a direct relationship with
development. Bangladesh is party to all international
disarmament treaties covering nuclear, biological,
chemical and conventional weapons. Seeking general
and complete disarmament is our constitutional
commitment. International peace and security, human
security and the security of our planet have been the
prime considerations in making our policy choices.
We have supported all efforts at disarmament. We
continue to believe in the value of all measures, even
partial efforts at arms control and disarmament. Our
conviction has been vindicated by our progress in the
control and ban of a number of weapons. The
multilateral track, including the Conference on
Disarmament, needs to be revived.
Bangladesh has renounced all weapons of mass
destruction — biological, chemical and nuclear. The
situation along the borders of the two nuclear-armed
South Asian countries has been a matter of global
concern. As a close neighbour, we too have a
legitimate cause for concern. In this context, we
applaud the Secretary-General for his recent call for the
elimination of all nuclear weapons. The imperatives, in
view also of the threats to the existing regimes and
their implications, do not require elaboration in this
House. We would thus urge a renewed consideration of
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion and the
report of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination
of Nuclear Weapons.
In our region, as elsewhere, particularly since we
are challenged by abject poverty, hunger, illiteracy,
lack of safe drinking water and disease, our priorities
should be socio-economic development, not
nuclearization. We need to foster cooperation, not
prepare for confrontation.
It is with this thought that our late
President Shaheed Ziaur Rahman conceived of
institutionalized regional cooperation leading to the
emergence of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC). We firmly believe in the value
and indeed the imperative of cooperation in our region.
We hope that together we shall also be able to establish
a peaceful, friendly and prosperous South Asia. We
would draw inspiration from other parts of the world
where such regional economic integration has worked
well for the people of those regions.
In today’s world, perhaps the most potential
sources of conflict of interest within countries and
among them would centre on natural resources, in
particular, fresh water. We call for management of
shared resources without depriving or causing damage
to the economy or ecology of any of the countries
concerned or the region.
For example, any unilateral withdrawal of water
from international rivers should be prohibited, as such
action would cause great damage to the environment,
agriculture, industry and the overall economy and
ecology of other countries. All actions in such areas
should conform to international law and the norms of
equity, justice and, of course, fair play. Any decision
with regard to shared natural wealth should be through
consultation among all concerned countries.
Bangladesh identifies itself closely with the
problems of Africa. We believe in the efficacy of
South-South cooperation as a mutually beneficial
practice among societies at comparable stages of
development. The launching of the African Union has
been inspiring and that of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD), encouraging. We are
confident that the leadership of Africa and its people
will succeed in transforming the continent into a
peaceful and prosperous one.
We have developed greater knowledge, special
bonds and closer friendship with many African nations
14

through our participation in their democracy and
nation-building efforts and through peacekeeping and
development activities. Bangladesh will continue to
work together with them in addressing the challenges
of building durable peace and sustainable development.
The specific problems facing the landlocked and
small island developing countries require special
attention. We hope the Almaty Conference has created
a fresh impetus to address their needs. We must also
accord support to countries that are in the process of
transition in their economies.
The 1990s have seen a series of major United
Nations conferences. Each has adopted an elaborate
implementable programme of action with clear and
specific responsibilities at national, regional and
international levels. The International Conference on
Financing for Development, held in Monterrey,
Mexico, the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, held at Johannesburg, and the Third
United Nations Conference on the Least Developed
Countries, which met in Brussels, have reinforced the
earlier commitments. Now is the time to focus our
efforts — individual and collective — to implementing
the programmes of action emanating from those
Conferences.
The United Nations has, in recent years made
significant progress in reforming itself in
organizational and substantive terms. Further progress
remains to be achieved in various areas, including the
Security Council, where reforms are essential to make
the Council more representative, democratic and
effective.
Also in need for further reform are the General
Assembly and other major organs, including the
Trusteeship Council, which could be revived. We need
certainly to go further. Bangladesh welcomes the
proposal of the Secretary-General to establish a high-
level panel of eminent persons for examining the
challenges to peace and security. We look forward to
their report. In this regard, we would underline the
importance of preserving multilateralism and
consensus.
Decisions on budget cuts must not compromise
the functioning of the Organization and budgetary
exercises must not adversely affect the interests of the
developing countries, in particular the least developed
ones. There should be adequate provision for mandated
activities in the developing countries.
It will remain our goal to bring the United
Nations to the centre of global development efforts.
The Economic and Social Council can play a crucial
role in this regard. It must examine innovative and
creative methods in its work. Bangladesh has sought
election to the Economic and Social Council during the
current session. As we have done in the past,
Bangladesh seeks to contribute, as a member of the
Council, to the pursuit of the United Nations social and
economic agenda. We hope we shall receive valuable
support from all Members of the Assembly.
The Millennium Development Goals set a number
of achievable targets in the most pressing areas.
Bangladesh is committed to achieving them for our
people. We shall also work closely with all other
nations so that these objectives are realized equally for
all of us. But we aspire to go beyond. We urge
continued focus on the implementation of the outcome
of the 1990s cycle of international conferences. They
represent a comprehensive agenda for humanity for our
century. We must follow up on them for our present
and future generations and for the progress of
humankind. Let us all try to create a better world for all
generations.


At the outset, I pay sincere tribute to
the President on his election to preside over the
Assembly at the fifty-eighth session, which is being
held in a particularly important context in this century.
His long experience and his expertise on international
issues, as well as the role that his country, Saint Lucia,
plays in the Caribbean region, guarantee that our work
will be a success.
I also congratulate the other members of the
Bureau, and cannot fail to commend the skill with
which the President’s distinguished predecessor, Mr.
Jan Kavan, of the Czech Republic, conducted the work
of the fifty-seventh session.
I reiterate to the Secretary-General the full
support of the Transitional Government of the Central
African Republic for his unceasing work at the head of
the Organization to ensure peace and security in a
world beset by terrorist threats and widespread
insecurity.
The Central African Republic joins those who
have honoured the memory of the United Nations
personnel who fell victim to the wanton violent act of
terrorism in Baghdad on 19 August, including Mr.
Sergio Vieira de Mello, and reiterates its sincere
sympathy to the Secretary-General. We appreciate his
decision to maintain the United Nations mission in
Iraq, despite everything.
24

For a decade, the General Assembly has adopted
many recommendations, whose implementation has not
always brought solutions to our diverse shared
concerns.
Before my delegation contributes its appraisal of
the state of the world, against the backdrop of the many
challenges of the twenty-first century, I would like, on
behalf of His Excellency François Bozizé, President of
the Central African Republic, and of the Republic’s
Government and people, to express the wish that our
meetings may be crowned with success.
A world that cherishes peace, progress, solidarity
and concord is the objective to which the entire world
aspires and the main philosophy of the founding fathers
of the United Nations. Indeed, when peace is not
assured, various crises ensue. Aggravating factors like
destitution, penury, extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis and malaria, combined with intolerance,
injustice, indifference and social inequality, greatly
threaten the balance of peace in many regimes of the
world, and particularly in the Central African Republic.
It was against this background that a surge in
patriotism occurred on 15 March this year in the
Central African Republic as the outcome of a process
to which all the leading lights of the nation contributed.
The situation that prevailed in my country before
15 March was the subject of several debates, and
unsuccessful attempts at settlement, by the Security
Council, the African Union’s/Central Organ of the
Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and
Resolution, the Central African Economic and
Monetary Community (CAEMC) and the Community
of Sahelo-Saharan States. A number of bilateral
initiatives also failed.
I reiterate once again the gratitude of the
Government and people of the Central African
Republic to the Secretary-General, the United Nations
Peace-building Support Office in the Central African
Republic, the Security Council members and
particularly friendly countries, who generously
contributed to supporting the Central African people at
an extremely difficult time.
Since 15 March the resolve of the Transitional
Government to work for a return to normal
constitutional life has resulted in significant advances,
in the framework of the implementation of
commitments according to the following timetable:
May 2003, establishment of the National Transition
Council to replace Parliament;. September 2003, the
holding of a national dialogue for the Central Africans
to examine the deep causes of their long-standing
confrontations; 2004, holding of a constitutional
referendum; the third quarter of 2004, presidential
elections; and fourth quarter of 2004, municipal and
legislative elections.
This consensual transition, scheduled to end in
January 2005, should establish security throughout the
country, improve public finances and revive the
economic and social sectors, which are engines of
growth.
These main points of our overall policy and of the
Transitional Government’s economic and social
recovery strategy now being implemented are
supported and commended by the neighbouring
countries in general, and in particular by the members
of CAEMAC, which acknowledge the work of the new
regime.
The member countries of the United Nations
Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in
Central Africa, at their nineteenth ministerial meeting,
held in Brazzaville from 14 to 17 May this year,
expressed their support for the change that had
occurred in Bangui in a declaration, and appealed to
the international community to provide assistance to
the Central African Republic.
The exhaustive report of the situation before
15 March presented by the President of the Republic,
His Excellency General François Bozizé, to the special
summit of CAEMAC devoted exclusively to the
situation in the Central African Republic led heads of
State and of delegations to understand and support the
Transitional Government’s efforts to bring about a
return to constitutional order. Clear signs of the
significant progress in establishing national
reconciliation and restoring constitutional and
democratic order are the fruitful discussions with many
friendly countries and partners, the consultations
between the Central African Republic and the
European Union which have been going on since
22 May, and the fact-finding visit to Bangui from 17 to
21 August of the Committee of Ambassadors of the
African, Caribbean and Pacific States.
In his introductory report to the Millennium
Summit, the Secretary-General recalled that people are
the purpose of any activity. Nothing could be more
true. My delegation would like to see the United
25

Nations regain its authority in order to help promote
human rights, democracy and development throughout
the world.
Protecting and guaranteeing human rights
contributes to a country’s national concord and to the
strengthening of its democracy. This was so well
understood by the Central African Republic that on
15 March we chose consensual governance, at the
centre of which the well-being of the citizens and the
protection and guarantee of their rights are the highest
priorities.
Implementing this will require resources that
permit the widespread promotion of human rights and
social development. My delegation hopes that the
United Nations will become more involved, at the
beginning of this third millennium, in international
action to create a true human rights culture. To do this,
the United Nations needs to reform, renew itself and
adapt to today’s world. It will have to rationalize its
procedures, methods and approaches to all questions
within its purview.
It will be understood that my delegation would
like to see the Security Council reformed, so that it
may better discharge its noble mission. Even if the veto
is not as abused as it was during the cold war, Security
Council membership needs to be reformulated, both at
the level of permanent membership and non-permanent
membership, in order to reflect the new realities of our
world. This is the view of the delegation of the Central
African Republic.
The need for a new approach in relations between
States means that we all need to make a real
commitment. This led to the adoption of the
Constitutive Act of the African Union as an expression
of the desire of Africa to meet, together with the
United Nations, all the challenges of the twenty-first
century. My country will spare no effort to promote
this new dynamism.


My congratulations go to you, Sir, and to the people of
Saint Lucia on your election, together with my thanks
to your predecessor, Mr. Kavan, for his work over the
past year. You have our full support and best wishes in
all your efforts to promote the interests of the members
of this Assembly.
May I couple these greetings with my great
appreciation to our Secretary-General and his staff. We
are very grateful indeed for their dedication and service
during one of the most difficult years in United Nations
history.
In particular, I wish to add once more the deepest
sympathy of the Government and people of Brunei
Darussalam to the families of Sergio Vieira de Mello
and of all who lost loved ones, colleagues and friends
in the attack on the United Nations headquarters in
Baghdad. His Excellency and his staff were our public
servants, our representatives and our people. The attack
on them was an attack on us all. As such, we condemn
it and all other acts of terrorism.
When Brunei Darussalam had the honour of
becoming a Member of this Organization, we
committed ourselves to two principles. The first was
nationhood and all that this implies in terms of the rule
of international law and the procedures that govern the
affairs of this Assembly. The second was multilateral
decision-making and, in turn, all that this also
implies — respect for fellow members, sensitivity to
their deep concerns and the need for dialogue and
consultation as equal partners in the conduct of
international affairs, no matter how long and how
frustrating the process involved may be.
We continue to maintain our belief in these
principles in spite of many disappointments in the past
year, both here in the United Nations and earlier this
month at the World Trade Organization. We feel that
they are the only basis upon which international affairs
can be conducted fairly. They apply to all the great
political and economic organizations of which we are
members and we especially look to the United Nations
to uphold them.
By this token, the United Nations is whatever we
ourselves make it. We form the largest coalition in
history and we share responsibility for its successes
and its failures. Among those is our failure to bring in
the changes that are necessary if we are to evolve with
the times in which we live.
Since 1992, this Assembly has been debating
reform. It has the support of a large majority here,
including all members of the Non-Aligned Movement.
The results of our failure to build on this support can
now be clearly seen. Our Security Council has been
gravely divided and the past year has left a legacy of
bitterness. The consequences for the ordinary people
we represent — the people of developing nations year
after year, the people of Iraq for the past 10 years or
more, and the citizens of Palestine for over half a
century — have been ever more disastrous.
In all this time, Members have been well aware
that decision-making at the United Nations needs to be
more inclusive and genuinely multilateral. On many
occasions, they have expressed the desire that the
Organization reflect today’s world rather than the
world of half a century ago. They wish to feel truly part
of the decisions it makes.
As it operates now, however, many observers feel
that the actual Members of this Organization are too
weak to act effectively in solving the great affairs of
the day. It is claimed that international affairs are now
beyond the control of individual nations. They are
global — global finance; global economics; global
development; global poverty; global crime; and, of
course, global terrorism. Consequently, some voices
declare that an Assembly of individual nations, many
of them small and still developing, has no power to
address such matters.
That is a depressing scenario and, of course, none
of us here really wants to believe it, but it does have
one merit. It forces us to examine what the United
Nations can actually do most effectively and what it
can realistically achieve. The reply from too many of
our people today would be, we fear: not much. This
presents a powerful case for reform.
I therefore feel that we must frankly acknowledge
our part in the feelings of hopelessness and frustration
that are being voiced by ordinary people and indeed by
many Governments. At present, restoring belief in the
United Nations ability to act on their behalf may be our
most important immediate task. On the one hand, the
great world institutions are technically multilateral.
They are run by the Governments of the world. Yet, in
21

fact, many of these Governments feel excluded from
the most important decisions. Many interested parties
feel that they are also on the outside.
Multilateralism, in other words, appears to have
its limits. Beyond them, it seems, the stronger nations
take over. This basic division, we hope, can be brought
to an end. That is why we were so pleased to hear our
Secretary-General emphasize the need for reform in his
address last week. We congratulate the Secretary-
General on the structural reforms he has overseen. We
also thank him for the many times he has kept us in
touch with his thinking and that of his staff and we
thank him for the hopes he has continued to express
about the future of our world Organization.
We still share his optimism. Nevertheless, that
feeling can be maintained only if agreement on reform
of the whole United Nations system is a real
possibility. We accept that the task of bringing about
this kind of overall change is extremely hard. The
reports of your own Working Group, Mr. President,
show a difficult pattern emerging over the past 10
years. There are more and more proposals and basic
approaches continually diverge. Even though we
largely share the same objectives, we remain divided
on the means to achieve them.
The divisions we have seen this year, however,
suggest that we cannot keep postponing change. They
offer a test of whether the United Nations is indeed
capable of evolving. That test must be passed, so we
continue to support work on Security Council reform
and offer our strong encouragement to the Secretary-
General in the proposals he outlined last week.
In the face of today’s problems, the United
Nations must continue to offer powerful reasons for
optimism about the future. We believe that this calls for
a determined and united effort to address the root
causes of the anger of all who feel unjustly treated. To
do this, the United Nations as a whole must be a
genuine partnership between nations. It must stand for
shared idealism and a shared sense of human justice.
That is what no other body can do.
That is what the work of Sergio Vieira de Mello
and his colleagues was dedicated to. In their memory,
and in that of all who have given their lives to this
Organization, we all need to do a lot better at working
together than we have over the past year.


It is my distinct honour,
on behalf of the Prime Minister, the Government and
the people of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, to
congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at this, its fifty-
eighth session. We share in the celebration of the
election of a distinguished son of the Caribbean to steer
the course of this body for the next year. My delegation
pledges its full support to you and to the other
members of the Bureau in the performance of that
challenging task. I also take this opportunity to
congratulate your predecessor, from the Czech
Republic, for his outstanding leadership of the fifty-
seventh session. In addition, I should like to greet and
pay tribute to the Secretary-General, who continues to
serve with great distinction, honour and exceptional
courage. My delegation salutes the Secretary-General
for the tremendous amount of work he has undertaken
since we last convened this body.
I also wish to pause at this time to pay tribute to
Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, the late Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, and to
all other United Nations staff members who were killed
or wounded in the deadly bombings of the United
Nations headquarters in Baghdad on 19 August and 22
September 2003. We feel that loss most deeply. For us,
the United Nations is paramount in ensuring the rule of
law and justice in an increasingly complex world. An
attack on the United Nations is an attack on the
principles that bind us together as an international
community. We must stand firm against efforts to
undermine those principles. There is no finer tribute to
those who lost their lives than to say today: Now, more
than ever before, we need the United Nations.
Such events remind us that the world is changing
dramatically. It is imperative that we, as an
Organization, be able to respond to those changes
quickly and appropriately. The Bahamas welcomes the
ongoing efforts to revitalize the General Assembly and
to reform the Security Council. It is essential that those
principal bodies be able to function effectively if we
are to have any credibility and if we are to attain our
goals of maintaining international peace, security,
justice and development.
As we are all too well aware, the process of
reform of the Security Council has stalled, as we
6

remain deadlocked over critical issues. The time has
come for us to take hard decisions and to agree to a
practical programme of reform that takes fully into
account the need for more representative membership
as well as the need for a more democratic and
transparent Council. My delegation has raised those
issues in a number of bilateral discussions with other
concerned States, and we look forward to working with
the presidency and with other delegations as we strive
to rationalize the work of the entire Organization,
while making it more transparent and accountable.
While the problems in our own part of the world
may not have received as much international attention
as have conflicts in other parts of the world, their
resolution is of paramount importance to us. The
Caribbean is our home, and we will spare no effort to
protect it against those who seek to destabilize the
region. The illegal transit of drugs, of weapons and of
human beings is an affront to us and a serious
challenge to our national and regional security.
The Bahamas is grateful for the support that the
region has obtained from the international community
in addressing these areas, but reminds Members that
we need to continue to be vigilant. We urge the
Assembly to enhance its cooperation with the
Organization of American States (OAS), as that
regional body strives to find solutions to difficult
problems involving territorial disputes between its
member States and as it seeks to promote human rights
and to consolidate the foundations of democracy in a
number of those States. In that context, we welcome
the OAS Special Mission for Strengthening Democracy
in Haiti as a demonstration of the region’s commitment
to this field.
The Bahamas is strongly committed to the further
strengthening of international efforts to prevent,
combat and eliminate terrorism in all its ugly forms,
and supports the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the
elaboration of a draft comprehensive convention on
international terrorism. We are continuously reviewing
our national legislation in order to strengthen it in
those areas, with particular emphasis on cracking down
on the financing of terrorism. Even now, a terrorism
bill is before our Parliament. It will further strengthen
the laws that limit the ability of those who would
commit such acts to obtain monies to fund their
activities. The commitment of the Bahamas in this fight
is unyielding.
The fight against the forces that would seek to
undermine the rule of law in order to achieve political
objectives has forced each country to review its
commitment to freedom within and outside its borders
and to determine how to protect the freedom that our
citizens so dearly cherish.
Last year, in our address to the Assembly, the
Bahamas reminded this body that, in our quest for
security, we must not undermine the very values we
want to protect, preserve and defend. But it is clear that
our conventions and established and respected
traditions are being challenged before our very eyes,
and we must be careful to guard against this while
ensuring that all of us are safe.
The Caribbean as a whole is perhaps more
sensitive than any other region to these issues of
change and the implications for the way of life that we
enjoy, characterized as it is by an abiding respect for
the privacy of the individual. It should be remembered
that most of us in the region are small island
developing States, which are especially vulnerable in
security and economic issues. But, at the same time,
our peoples are fiercely proud of our independence and
the traditions of freedom connected therewith.
Nowhere is the paradox of the pressure on our
now independent status more sensitive and apparent
than in the exercise of a presumptive legal authority by
a body of powerful, but faceless, un-elected
bureaucrats, being advanced from some of the
developed world’s multilateral bodies, which, in the
view of many, threaten to re-impose the status of
dependence, without calling it so by name, and thereby
undermining our economies.
In that connection, the Bahamas is particularly
concerned, along with its regional neighbours, about
the threats to its way of life, in particular as it is
underpinned by the legitimate wealth creation in its
financial services sector. There are those who argue
that the financial services sectors in our region
undermine economic development and wealth creation
in developed States, but we maintain that the evidence
shows that the wealth accumulation facilitated by the
financial services sectors in the region assists in the
further development and economic growth of the
developed world. Our country is committed to fair and
equitable trade in services on a level playing field with
established rules, without ever-changing goal posts.
7

Over the next year, we shall endeavour to bring
this matter more clearly into focus by calling, in this
and other assemblies, for the convening of a global
forum on the pressures being applied to small and
vulnerable States in ways that threaten the
independence of these countries and, which some
argue, is unlawful interference in the internal affairs of
a nation-State. It is imperative that any rule-making
forum on these issues be open to all Member States of
this body. Similarly, all rules emanating therefrom must
be equitably applied.
And so, as we bring these matters to the attention
of the world, we repeat the obvious. The fight against
international terrorism must be a major focal point of
the Assembly, as should other matters such as the fight
against HIV/AIDS, the protection of the environment
and the sustainable development of our fragile
ecosystems.
The Bahamas is committed to fighting on all of
these fronts. It is especially concerned about the future
of the world’s children and young people, as
HIV/AIDS threatens to undermine decades and
centuries of progress in healthcare and in developing
healthy populations that facilitate economic growth
throughout the world. The Bahamas is a leader in the
fight against HIV/AIDS in the region. We urge the
continued and unrelenting fight against the disease, to
rescue the world’s developing nations from the clutches
of this most recent scourge. It must take all of the
political will and financial power of the world’s nations
to ensure that the scourge is brought under control and
then eliminated.
The Bahamas welcomes the outcome of the
special session of the General Assembly on children,
held from 8 to 10 May 2002. We look forward to
participating in the consideration of the follow-up to its
outcome at this session. It is of critical importance that
we reaffirm our commitment to implementing the
provisions of the outcome document, “Building a world
fit for children”, in the four priority areas of health,
education, protection of children from abuse,
exploitation and violence, and combating HIV/AIDS.
Our country and its people are especially concerned,
even as I speak, about the safety and security, both
physical and economic, of children everywhere, but in
particular children in the Bahamas today, and about the
need to foster an atmosphere of love and care so that
they may grow into their rightful places in the adult
world.
The Bahamas, as do many of the small island
developing States, depends heavily on the environment,
which is the natural beauty of the land, the sea and
marine life. Tourism is our lifeblood. For the region,
the natural environment is the primary source of
sustenance and, therefore, we cannot allow our
environment to be destroyed. Doing so threatens our
very survival. We are, therefore, acutely aware of the
challenges small island developing States face within
the context of achieving sustainable development. The
sustainable development of our country therefore
remains of critical importance to the Government and
thus, we, as a matter of the highest priority, continue to
take steps to preserve and protect our environment.
We are also committed to working with all the
other small island developing States and the other
members of this Organization, civil society and all
other concerned stakeholders, including non-
governmental organizations, to ensure that the
Barbados Programme of Action is fully implemented.
In that regard, the Bahamas welcomes the convening of
the international meeting to review the Barbados
Programme of Action, which is to take place in
Mauritius in 2004, and we are proud to host the
interregional preparatory meeting in Nassau, which
will be held prior to that, from 26 to 30 January 2004.
It is our hope that the renewed commitment to this
international meeting by all Member States will take us
a step closer to honouring our commitment to the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
It is an inescapable fact that there can be no
social or economic development without security. For
many of us in the Caribbean in particular, this security
is being undermined by the activities of those
trafficking in illegal drugs and weapons. By virtue of
its geographical position, the Bahamas continues to be
an unwitting transit point for illegal activities,
including the illicit trade in narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances. What is often overlooked by
those who are the consuming countries is that the
Bahamas neither produces these substances, nor does it
produce guns, nor is it the final destination for them.
However, as a trans-shipment point, the Bahamas
is suffering from a plethora of illegal activities
associated with this trade, including the deadly nexus
between illicit drugs and the illicit trade in small arms
and light weapons. These weapons, which are illegal in
the Bahamas, are contributing to an increase in violent
8

crime in my country and they are undermining the
economic and social fabric of our nation.
We, therefore, welcome the convening of the first
Biennial Meeting of States to consider the
Implementation of the 2001 Programme of Action on
Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, held
in July of this year. At the same time, we call on
developed countries to take the same extraordinary
measures they use in seeking to stop drug trafficking
into their countries, to stop illegal small arms from
reaching our shores from their countries.
We believe that the Charter constitutes a viable
and firm foundation on which the Organization can
balance and achieve its objectives — to maintain
international peace and security and promote economic
and social progress. I wish to reaffirm the Bahamas’
commitment to the principles enshrined in that
universal document, which will stand as a guiding
beacon as we continue to chart a rocky, yet crucial,
course towards peace, security and sustainable
development for all of the world’s inhabitants. While
progress may seem meagre, we must not be swayed
from our course, and we must remain confident that the
benefits of our activities and efforts will redound to
future generations. Now more than ever, the world
needs the United Nations.