On
behalf of the delegation of Niger, I should like Sir, to
express my warm congratulations on your unanimous
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its
fifty-second session. We regard your election as a just
tribute to your country, the Republic of Ukraine, whose
commitment to the ideals of our Organization is well
known.
I would also like to congratulate the other members of
the Bureau, who I am convinced will help you in the
accomplishment of your delicate mission.
In addition, I wish to express to your predecessor,
Mr. Razali Ismail, our deep appreciation for the remarkable
work he did during his presidency.
To Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of our
Organization, may I express my Government's full support
and brotherly encouragement for the commendable action
he is carrying out in order to promote greater cooperation
between our peoples and nations in order to build a world
of peace and progress.
Once again, Niger is pleased to take part in a session
of the General Assembly, which is an ideal framework for
the Member States of our Organization to debate, in a
spirit of partnership, complex matters affecting the destiny
of humanity.
We must all agree that over its 52 years of existence
the United Nations has gained a more than honourable
record in achieving its purposes, especially in the areas of
peacekeeping, decolonization, and the promotion of, and
respect for, human rights, as well as in the search for
global solutions to the major problems of our times —
development, the environment, population and the
protection of women and children, to mention just a few.
The immense work accomplished so far is above all
the result of our capacity to work together in our common
interest and in the interest of future generations. Niger
therefore believes that international cooperation, which is
the basis of these major achievements, must be
strengthened, because it is the source of stability and
progress.
The maintenance of international peace and security,
the primary purpose of our Organization, deserves
everyone's special attention at a time when the
international community, with the cold war finally ended,
is getting down to establishing a new world order that
strictly respects the purposes and principles of the United
Nations Charter.

Niger welcomes the report presented by the Secretary-
General last July on the reform of our Organization. We
support this process and hope that it will provide synergy,
giving the means and flexibility indispensable for the
Organization if it is to meet the numerous challenges it
faces at the dawn of the third millennium.
My delegation believes too that the Security Council
must be reformed in order to make it more effective, given
its responsibilities in the sphere of collective security. In
particular, such reform must address the expansion of the
Council on the basis of the principles of equitable
geographical distribution and of the sovereign equality of
States.
In the same vein, we consider that better handling of
the emergencies that constantly arise in so many places
must include an improvement in the Organization's capacity
to deploy peacekeeping forces in a timely fashion wherever
necessary.
Let me express Niger's deep concern at the conflicts
and tensions in Africa and in the Middle East. Turning first
to Africa, we note with distress that internal confrontations
and disruptions are the main cause of the political
instability in some countries and of the massive movements
of refugees that are at the root of a tragic humanitarian
crisis. Niger has a deep commitment to peace, and must
once again urge the warring parties in the States concerned
to renounce violence and engage in productive dialogue to
find solutions to their disputes, thus restoring stability to
their respective countries.
I take this opportunity to pay a well-deserved tribute
to the people of Liberia, who after seven years of cruel war
accepted the peace plan proposed by the States members of
the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS). The Liberian people's will for peace is clearly
reflected in their respect for the ceasefire and, above all, in
the 19 July national elections, which were conducted in an
atmosphere of calm and openness. I am pleased to pay
tribute to the valuable role played by our great brother
country, Nigeria, in the process of restoring peace to
Liberia.
In Congo (Brazzaville), we hail the tireless efforts of
neighbouring African countries, of the Organization of
African Unity and of the United Nations to calm the
situation. More than ever, that crisis highlights the urgent
need to create an African peacekeeping force. I can today
assure the Assembly that my country is fully prepared to
contribute to the establishment of such a force, as it did
in the cases of Rwanda, Burundi and Liberia.
Turning to the situation in Western Sahara, my
country welcomes the recent agreement by the two
parties; we hope that the referendum will take place in
conditions of peace and calm.
To promote peace and security in the Middle East,
the international community must pay sustained attention
to the tension in the occupied Palestinian territories,
which has been steadily rising since the Israeli
Government decision to build a new settlement in
occupied East Jerusalem. That Israeli decision endangers
the peace process that began in Madrid on the basis of
Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and
425 (1978) and on the basis of the principle of land for
peace.
In the face of that Israeli Government position, the
international community has no choice but to redouble its
efforts to secure dialogue and, above all, justice — which
form the foundation of a peaceful future in the Middle
East, along with the necessary exercise by the Palestinian
people of its inalienable rights, including the right to the
establishment of an independent State, and scrupulous
respect for agreements reached between the Israeli
Government and the Palestine Liberation Organization on
the basis of the relevant Security Council and General
Assembly resolutions.
Since its creation, the United Nations has always
given high priority to disarmament, and in particular to
the elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of
mass destruction. There has been good progress on this
issue with the conclusion of a number of international
instruments, the most notable of which, in our view, are
the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,
the Chemical Weapons Convention and the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Niger is deeply
convinced that disarmament is an essential element in the
maintenance of international peace and security and has
acceded to those important agreements, which are aimed
at preventing the development of nuclear weapons and of
other weapons of mass destruction.
My country is keenly aware also of other, no less
important, issues relating to illegal trafficking in small
arms and to a complete ban on the anti-personnel mines
that constitute a harsh scourge that continues to inflict
unspeakable human suffering.
2

Civil wars and political upheaval in Africa have
fostered the proliferation of illicit weapons. To collect and
monitor weapons illicitly held by individuals, Niger has
joined the United Nations and several neighbouring
countries to take wide-ranging action against this scourge.
On the domestic level, we created in 1994 a national
commission for the collection and monitoring of illicit
weapons.
My country is genuinely pleased also at the existence
of regional disarmament initiatives, some of which have led
to the conclusion of arrangements such as the Treaty on the
Denuclearization of Africa.
In our view, it is essential to benefit from the climate
of confidence and cooperation now prevailing on the
international scene to give new impetus to multilateral
negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament. That is the
only way to make progress towards building a safer world,
which is a legitimate aspiration of all our peoples.
The tragic effects of poverty in a large number of
countries merely exacerbate instability in the world.
Despite the remarkable progress made in recent years
in the economic and social fields, following the
implementation of structural economic reforms, Africa
remains in many respects a region where poverty has
increased spectacularly. On this continent are found the
majority of countries with the lowest indices with respect
to human development.
For this reason, as a Sahelian country, we feel that the
reform process proposed by the Secretary-General must
strengthen the role of the United Nations and its functions
in development matters, making priorities of reducing
poverty and strengthening the participation of more
countries in an expanding world economy. The remarkable
contribution made by the development institutions, such as
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in our country must be
highlighted. We encourage the Secretary-General to ensure
that in the reform process there will be respect for the
autonomy of these bodies in order to preserve their
effectiveness.
We welcomed the United Nations New Agenda for the
Development of Africa in the 1990s, adopted in 1991,
which has been supplemented by the United Nations
System-wide Special Initiative on Africa launched by the
Secretary-General in March 1996. Their purpose was to
help Africa in its recovery efforts. Today it is more
urgent than ever that the industrialized countries grant
broad support to these programmes, and establish funds
for diversification to allow African countries to obtain a
better return for their commodities and thus assure vital
resources for their populations. This support in particular
must take the form of resources to be invested in priority
sectors, such as basic education, health and security of
food and water supplies, sectors capable of laying down
solid bases for sustainable development in Africa.
Africa certainly needs assistance. But my country
remains convinced that the resources the continent needs
for its development efforts can be generated by increasing
trade with the developed countries. African countries are
waiting for the industrialized countries to implement the
measures adopted as part of the Final Act of the Uruguay
Round negotiations, supplemented by specific preference
provisions in the Marrakesh Agreements, to mitigate the
negative effects the reforms envisaged in the negotiations
could have on countries which are net importers of food
products.
Similarly, the external debt of African countries is a
problem requiring viable and fair solutions, going beyond
the measures taken in the Paris Club framework. The new
initiative taken recently by the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund to significantly reduce the
multilateral debt of the poorest countries, should extend
to all those countries, without any eligibility conditions or
deadlines.
Nonetheless, the cancellation of all the debt is the
most appropriate solution in order to ensure accelerated
development by the least developed countries. Such
actions, in my delegation's view, will make it possible to
reduce poverty noticeably.
These recommendations are set out in the Agenda
for Development, adopted during the last Assembly
session. It is up to the international community to
effectively implement this programme to bring about
development and growth in our countries.
Because of its lack of resources, successive droughts
and high population growth, Niger is part of the group of
African countries where poverty is omnipresent. In the
light of its high level of poverty, His Excellency
Mr. Ibrahim Maïnassara Baré, President of the Republic
of Niger, and the Government decided that for society to
progress we needed stable and democratic institutions
guaranteeing respect for and the promotion of human
3

rights. It was also decided to make all our development
actions part of our battle against poverty.
In liaison with its development partners, the
Government of Niger has therefore agreed on a plan to
combat poverty, with policies to stimulate sustainable
growth, improve rural income, give better access to social
services and slow population growth, in particular. We
would like to take this opportunity to invite bilateral and
multilateral donors to play an active part in implementing
this plan to combat poverty in Niger.
Our Government is firmly committed to ensuring good
management of our economy, deepening the
democratization process and bringing about the participation
at all levels of those who would benefit from the execution
of this plan, which is based on principles of good
government. That commitment undoubtedly guarantees its
success.
Moreover, I am particularly pleased to inform the
Assembly, and thus to reassure the my country's backers
and partners that peace in Niger has become an
unquestioned reality. Indeed, since the signing of the peace
agreement of 24 April 1995 in Niamey between the
Government of the Republic of Niger and the Organization
of the Armed Resistance, the peace process has made
remarkable progress. For example, action has been taken
with respect to decentralization, the return of refugees, the
celebration each year of a day of harmony and the
implementation of an emergency programme for the
rehabilitation of our agricultural region. I solemnly appeal
to the international community to contribute to the
completion of the peace progress already begun.
Before concluding, I would like to reaffirm the
complete commitment of a Sahelian country such as Niger
to protecting the environment, whose continuous
degradation is a source of real concern. Niger welcomed the
recent holding in New York of the nineteenth special
session of the General Assembly, devoted to a review of
the implementation of Agenda 21 and the establishment of
new policies for the future.
The special session showed us that while notable
progress has been made with respect to climate change,
biodiversity, combating desertification and the use of
renewable sources of energy, that is not the case with
regard to no less important questions, such as access to
drinking water, which is a real problem for humankind, the
unbridled exploitation of the oceans and deforestation.
Thus, we have to recognize that, at the conclusion of
its proceedings, the special session did not live up to the
hopes placed in it. In particular, it failed to create new
levels of international cooperation or to establish a basis
for legally binding codes of conduct on improved
environmental protection.
In that context, my delegation confines itself here to
recalling Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration, which
emphasizes the concept of common but differentiated
responsibilities for the entire international community
with respect to environmental matters. The
complementarity between economic, social and
environmental questions obliges all our countries to
acknowledge the need for solidarity and joint action to
reach the goals laid down in Agenda 21. We owe this
solidarity to future generations.


Mr. President, I have the
distinct honour and privilege on behalf of my delegation to
extend to you, Sir, our warmest congratulations upon your
election as President of the fifty-second session of the
General Assembly. Your election to this office is a fitting
tribute to your personal qualities and recognition of the
important role of your great nation in world affairs. We are
confident that your wide experience and wisdom will ensure
the success of our deliberations. You may rest assured of
the fullest support and cooperation of my delegation.
I would also like to thank Ambassador Razali Ismail
for his remarkable contribution to the last session. We
thank him for his strong leadership and his hands-on
approach during the discussions of some of the most
difficult and crucial issues concerning the future of our
Organization.
The changes taking place throughout the world today
present new challenges for the United Nations system and
call for a new approach in finding appropriate solutions.
It is my firm belief that the success of the United Nations
cannot be contemplated without reform and renewal of
the Organization. We agree that the United Nations stands
at a crossroads today. Its continued role and relevance
depend on its ability to adapt to the new world
environment.
We now have before us a number of proposals
contained in the Secretary-General’s report designed to
better equip the United Nations to address its tasks in the
new era. I thank the Secretary-General for this in-depth
and valuable exercise. I take this opportunity to pay
tribute to a great son of Africa and to his sterling qualities
of leadership. The report not only addresses the strengths
and weaknesses of our Organization, but also contains
specific proposals to enable it to face present and future
challenges on a sound footing. We subscribe fully to his
view that this reform exercise is a process which will
have to be carried out over a continuous period of time,
given all its complexity and scope. I wish to assure you,
Mr. President, that my delegation will extend its fullest
cooperation and will actively participate in the
deliberations on the report.
We also endorse the Secretary-General’s proposals
for promoting greater synergy within the United Nations
system. We agree that they will advance complementarity
and coherence. The effectiveness of the Organization will
certainly be enhanced if it operates as an orchestrated unit
at Headquarters and at country level, rather than as a
group of semi-autonomous players.
Likewise, we welcome the Secretary-General’s idea
of setting up a development account to be fed by savings
from reductions in non-programme costs. We express the
sincere hope that sufficient funds will be made available
to produce a significant impact on development
programme financing. We should ensure that this dividend
for development does indeed benefit the developing
world, unlike the much-trumpeted “peace dividend” of the
post-cold-war era.
We uphold the proposals aimed at enhancing the
strategic direction which the General Assembly should
provide. However, such proposals should be subjected to
the most careful scrutiny, because of all their
10

implications, particularly in respect to the smaller and more
vulnerable Member States. The General Assembly, as the
Secretary-General rightly points out, is the organ that
“most fully embodies the universal and democratic
character of the Organization.” (A/51/950, para. 40)
While we support the long-standing need for focusing
legislative debates and streamlining this Assembly’s agenda,
we must ensure that this body does not end up being
dominated by the concerns of the strong and powerful
members only. Countries — big or small, like mine —
should have equal possibilities of articulating any issue they
consider important. It is by the way in which this
Organization addresses issues most relevant to its smallest
members that the international community at large will
judge its significance.
The debate on the reform of the Security Council
seems to have registered some notable movement recently.
However, the distance separating the main positions
remains quite daunting. We hope that the wide spectrum of
views expressed so far on this subject will eventually
converge and that general agreement will be reached. Such
agreement should ensure that the composition of the
reformed Council is based on greater representation,
transparency and equitable geographical distribution, with
the inclusion of developing countries as permanent
members. In this regard, we reaffirm our support for the
position of the Non-Aligned Movement calling for the
expansion of the Security Council on the basis of fair and
adequate representation.
Africa has also stated its position on this matter at the
recent Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit. The
current representation of Africa in the Council does not
reflect its status as the most sizeable group of the
Organization’s membership. Reform of this body must,
therefore, restore Africa’s position to the fullest extent
possible.
In the same vein, my delegation would like to reiterate
its support for India’s claim to a permanent seat in the
Security Council.
The globalization of the world economy is adding
increasing pressures on the developing countries to embrace
trade liberalization as a means to achieve economic growth.
During the Uruguay Round negotiations developing
countries made significant concessions in the hope of
obtaining improved access to international markets. Many
of them have still not seen the benefits of the new global
trading system. Instead, they are haunted by the spectre of
imminent erosion of preferences in their major export
markets. Several African countries have made strenuous
efforts to adhere faithfully to structural adjustment
programmes and have adopted trade liberalization
policies. Unfortunately, they have registered but an
insignificant, if not declining, percentage of world trade.
Africa’s trade should become the top priority of the
international community; otherwise, the multilateral
trading system will run the risk of becoming fraught with
tensions and discrimination.
It is unfortunate to note that foreign direct
investment, which plays a central role in the ongoing
integration of the world economy, is still highly
concentrated in a few countries. The recent findings of
the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) indicate that Africa received
merely $5 billion out of $349 billion of foreign direct
investment last year. Excluding South Africa, the share of
Africa in the total investment for the developing countries
figured at only 4 per cent. This is the lowest share since
the early 1980s, and is a further indication that the
African region is not benefiting from the global foreign
direct investment boom. The 33 sub-Saharan countries
that are classified among the least developed countries are
in fact receiving less that 1 per cent of the total foreign
direct investment for Africa. It is vital that these countries
be provided with greater assistance and investment and be
given special attention by the international community.
Otherwise, they will be further marginalized, with the risk
of disappearing from the world economic map.
We therefore wish this Assembly to give more
attention to the development needs of the African
continent. In this context, we welcome the recent special
ministerial meeting of the Security Council, which has
helped focus the attention of the international community
on Africa. After several years of complacency and
stagnation, there is now cause for some optimism.
We agree that it is incumbent upon us Africans to
put our house in order. But unless we are freed from our
debt burden, future generations may never have the
opportunity to have access to clean drinking water, health
care or proper schooling while scarce resources have to
be utilized for debt payments.
For some countries, like Mozambique, which are just
emerging from years of civil conflict, the Bretton Woods
initiative may have to be implemented in order to reduce
debt faster. Indeed, not only do these countries have to
11

reduce their crushing debt load, they also have to free
resources to rehabilitate their economic infrastructure and
fund social expenditure.
Last week the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Robin
Cook, referred to the Commonwealth Finance Ministers
meeting held in Mauritius earlier this month, at which the
British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, made
specific proposals with respect to debt. These proposals,
known as the Mauritius Mandate, are meant to set some of
the poorest nations on a path towards sustainable
development by the year 2000. We welcome this laudable
initiative by the British Government to write off debts
totalling 132 million pounds of heavily indebted poor
countries of the Commonwealth. We hope that this
important measure will encourage major financial
institutions and creditor nations to come forward and
participate fully in transforming the destiny of debt-ridden
poor countries.
We also welcome the various initiatives recently taken
by the United States to promote investment and to develop
a new trade regime for sub-Saharan Africa.
We equally appreciate the partnership between the
European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific
(ACP) countries, which has, through the successive Lomé
Conventions, contributed immensely to the socio-economic
development of the ACP countries. We are confident that
the successor arrangement to the Fourth Lomé Convention
will further consolidate this long-standing economic and
trade partnership, and in this context we look forward to the
continued support of the international community.
We welcome the communiqué of the Denver Summit,
which represents a significant advance over the New Global
Partnership for Development adopted at the Lyon Summit.
The Declaration “Africa: Partnership for development”
focuses attention exclusively on the African continent, with
particular emphasis on the least-developed and landlocked
countries. However, in the pledge to integrate the poorest
countries into this world economy through trade
liberalization and investment policies, no specific targets
were defined on trade expansion or tariff reduction. If these
countries are to be completely weaned from official
development assistance, not only should their capacity to
produce be strengthened, but they must also be given full
access to foreign markets for their products, especially
those coming from their nascent and developing industries.
We are fully conscious of the fact that North-South
cooperation needs to be complemented by effective South-
South cooperation. In this regard, the countries in our
region have intensified their efforts to accomplish that
goal.
For the Southern African Development Community
(SADC), a new promising chapter was opened with the
recent admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo
and Seychelles. With the inclusion of these two new
members, the regional grouping has become an even more
important economic area in the African continent. It has
the potential of becoming the driving force in promoting
growth and development. There is a strong determination
among the SADC members to achieve regional integration
through industrial transformation and trade growth. My
Government is fully committed to this goal, and I am
pleased to inform this Assembly that Mauritius will have
the honour and privilege of hosting the SADC summit
meeting next year.
My Government is equally committed to the Indian
Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-
ARC), which regroups several countries of the Indian
Ocean Rim in a tripartite network of Government, private
sector and academia. The IOR-ARC was formally
launched at a ministerial meeting in Mauritius in March
this year with 14 founding members. It has generated
tremendous interest among the countries of the region and
internationally.
We remain confident that the international
community will lend its support to these regional
associations. We welcome the timely initiative announced
last week by the United States Secretary of State to
enhance dialogue with SADC and encourage investments
and trade exchanges.
It is a matter of regret that the special session of the
General Assembly held last June to review the progress
made in the implementation of Agenda 21 was unable to
agree on a frank assessment of the commitments entered
into at Rio. Unfortunately, very little has been done on
the ground. In some areas, particularly with regard to the
level of official development assistance, the overall
situation has actually worsened. It is disappointing that
the lack of new and additional resources has not allowed
the special concerns of the small island developing
countries, as expressed in the Barbados Programme of
Action, to be adequately addressed.
We also regret that on the question of climatic
change, no consensus on limits relating to the emission of
greenhouse gases could be reached. We hope that the
12

Kyoto Conference on Climate Change will seriously address
this issue and adopt meaningful measures to cut down the
production of greenhouse gases.
This year the General Assembly twice had to convene
an emergency session to consider the extremely serious
situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Unilateral
actions have negated the Oslo peace process. This impasse
must now be broken. The recent diplomatic effort by the
United States Secretary of State, Mrs. Madeleine Albright,
seems to have averted a total deadlock. It is essential that
the protagonists start talking to each other again.
We view with serious concern the recent events in the
Islamic Federal Republic of Comoros, which have resulted
in the loss of human lives on the Island of Anjouan. We
appeal to all the parties to the conflict to show restraint and
to strive together towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
We reaffirm our support to the United Nations stand on the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Comoros. We
also welcome the constructive role played by the OAU and
the League of Arab States in mediating between the various
parties. We look forward to an early convening of the
proposed international conference in Addis Ababa for the
restoration of peace in the Islamic Federal Republic of
Comoros.
The situation in Burundi continues to preoccupy the
international community. We support the Arusha peace
initiative and reiterate our confidence in Mwalimu
Nyerere’s role as facilitator in the process aimed at finding
a lasting solution to the Burundi crisis.
Later this year, we will kick off the celebration of the
fiftieth anniversary of one of the most important seminal
documents adopted by this body — the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. During the year leading to
this landmark event, Mauritius will work together with all
Member States in promoting and strengthening the human
rights situation everywhere, especially in the communities
to which we are more closely associated through shared
history and culture, namely the Commonwealth and the
community of French-speaking countries.
The promotion of human rights has been an article of
faith for my Government. It is also an integral part of our
foreign policy. In this respect we welcome the setting up of
the Indian Ocean Institute of Human Rights and Democracy
in Mauritius for the promotion of human rights and
democracy. We pledge our full support to this Institute.
Human rights for all, including women and children, and
democratic values are matters of universal concern.
As a multi-ethnic democracy, Mauritius has always
raised its voice strongly against discrimination based on
race, religion, culture and otherwise. In this regard, we
note with satisfaction the recent developments in Fiji,
which has finally decided to amend its Constitution in
order to promote social harmony. We hope that the
Government of Fiji will tackle the remaining issues
standing in the way of the full enjoyment of fundamental
rights and basic economic security by all segments of the
population of Fiji.
Mauritius reaffirms its full commitment to total
disarmament and urges the world community to make
every effort to rid itself of all weapons of mass
destruction. It is in this spirit that Mauritius was among
the first countries to ratify the Chemical Weapons
Convention and the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone
Treaty. We also reaffirm our support for the Ottawa
initiative for a universal ban on anti-personnel landmines.
It is regrettable that some major countries have decided to
stay out of this process. We make a strong appeal to all
Governments to become part of this unique and historic
endeavour to eliminate landmines.

Allow me to take this opportunity to reaffirm the
fact that my country, Mauritius, a former French island,
belongs to the great community of French-speaking
countries. This sense of belonging culminated with the
holding in 1993 of the sixth summit of the French-
speaking countries, whose central theme was “Unity in
diversity”, and which celebrated not only the universal
values of the French-speaking countries but also made it
possible for us to enshrine those same values in our
society. Our people, who come from Africa, Asia and
Europe, have deep roots in all the great cultures that form
the French-speaking community. My compatriots can, in
the course of one day, travel through all these cultures,
one after another.
It is for that reason that my country attaches such
great importance to the Francophone plan of promoting
diversity in a world that is increasingly unipolar and
uniform. The upcoming summit in Hanoi will mark a
very important stage in the future of this French-speaking
community, providing it with the effective political means
to make its voice heard on major international issues.

This Assembly is by now well aware of the just and
legitimate claim of Mauritius to the restoration of its
territorial integrity through the return of the Chagos
Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, to its national
heritage. This Assembly should also note that this issue also
has a tragic human dimension. Before Mauritius acceded to
its independence, all of the inhabitants of the Chagos were
forced to leave the land of their birth, where they had lived
for several generations. The plight of those inhabitants must
now be comprehensively addressed.
Likewise, we are still awaiting the return of the island
of Tromelin to Mauritius. As we pursue our efforts to
recover these territories, we call upon the former colonial
Powers to expedite this process through dialogue in the
spirit of the friendship that characterizes our relationships.
My Government looks forward to an early resolution of
these disputes.


I would like to offer Foreign
Minister Udovenko of Ukraine my warmest
congratulations on his election as President of the
General Assembly at its fifty-second session. His skill
and experience will serve us well in directing the vital
work to be undertaken at this session. Ireland, and you,
Ambassador Campbell as Vice-President of the General
Assembly, will spare no effort in assisting the President
in the important tasks of his office.
I also wish to thank Ambassador Razali Ismail for
the energy and commitment he devoted to guiding the
Assembly at its last session.
My colleague Foreign Minister Poos of
Luxembourg, speaking on behalf of the European
Union, set out clearly in his speech to the Assembly the
agenda for action by the United Nations and its
Member States in facing the challenges of the world
today. Ireland associates itself fully with his remarks.
This session is a crucial one for the United
Nations. Decisions must be taken to make the United
Nations more effective in meeting its real objectives
and priorities in future years. The Secretary-General has
presented us with a considered, balanced and substantial
package of proposals for United Nations reform. This
package marks a turning point in the reform and
revitalization process. The Secretary-General has
recognized that the future of the United Nations can be
secured only by a clearer focus and better coordination
of effort, expertise and resources on the key
priorities — real peace and security, sustainable
development, equitable economic and social progress,
humanitarian action and, underlying all of these, the
safeguarding of universal human rights.
Ireland welcomes in particular the proposals for a
more concerted effort in the economic and social
development sector. Together with our European Union
partners, we have been developing our own contribution
in this area. Our aim is a more effective and coherent
United Nations effort which would finally make real
inroads, particularly in the least developed countries, in
the fight against poverty and underdevelopment. We
welcome the intention of the Secretary-General to
channel the resources saved in this exercise to
development programmes of the Organization.
I know that some will feel that the proposals do
not go far enough in one direction, and others in
another. It is not possible to accommodate fully all
concerns. But there is enough in these proposals to
make the start on reform that we have all been looking
for. I therefore earnestly appeal to all Member States to
join this broad consensus of support.
We should also, at this session, work to achieve a
solution to the difficult questions of the financing of the
United Nations and of the enlargement and working
methods of the Security Council. Ireland, my country,
has declared its candidacy for the Security Council in
the year 2000. We shall do everything possible to earn
support for our candidacy.
24

Living through times of dramatic change is rarely
easy. Globalization and liberalization of the international
economy have brought significant benefits to many
countries and are changing the shape of our world. Some
developing countries have benefited from these processes
and made significant economic and social strides. Others,
especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have become even more
marginalized from the world economy, and this is
unacceptable.
Ireland has been increasing its official-development-
assistance budget over a number of years. My
Government is committed to making steady progress
towards achieving the United Nations target of 0.7 per
cent in our development-cooperation assistance.
Specifically, we are committed to having Irish aid reach
0.45 per cent of gross national product by 2002.
Some critics contend that development cooperation
has not succeeded. The best response to this is to point to
what it has already achieved. In regard to the most
fundamental of all human rights, life expectancy around
the world has increased by a third in the past three
decades; infant mortality has been cut in half. These are
not small achievements.
In our present globalized and increasingly
interdependent world economy, we need to seek a new
partnership between developed and developing countries
to address those issues which affect the entire
international community. In this the United Nations has
an indispensable role to play, and we pledge our full
support to assist the Secretary-General in his task.
In June 1998 the General Assembly will meet in
special session to address the drugs issue, both at the
national and international levels. I had the honour, as
Minister of Justice and in the role of President of the
Council of Ministers of the European Union, to address
the General Assembly on this question in 1990. The
Assembly has regularly considered further action to deal
with this menace. But the action that has been taken so
far has clearly been inadequate. We must redouble our
efforts. Drugs are an international cancer which threaten
the lives of the present and future generations,
particularly our young. For all our people, they pose a
real threat to the very fabric of society.
Last week saw the conclusion of negotiations in
Oslo on a global Convention banning landmines, without
reservation, without exception and for all time. This
major step forward will be particularly welcomed by
those countries which have suffered so much as a result
of the use of these barbaric devices. Those countries
not present there and not yet ready to sign in December
must take account of the widespread international
support for this agreement. We appeal to them to help
ensure the maximum degree of adherence to the
Convention. The international community must now
work together with ever greater determination to
provide for the clearing of mines already placed and for
the care and rehabilitation, as well as the social and
economic reintegration, of mine victims.
In 1961, when the then-Foreign Minister of
Ireland, Mr. Frank Aiken, introduced a resolution at the
sixteenth session of the General Assembly calling for
the conclusion of an international agreement that would
prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, he launched a
process which the Irish Government firmly believed
would eventually lead to total nuclear disarmament.
Then as now, our conviction was that genuine
international peace and security can never be achieved
as long as nuclear weapons remain part of the
armouries of States.
We welcome the achievements of recent years,
whether bilateral or multilateral: the START Treaties,
the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the global
ban outlawing chemical weapons and present efforts to
strengthen the ban on biological and toxin weapons.
These show that with the necessary will progress is
possible.
Now is the time for serious consideration of an
integrated approach, encompassing both bilateral and
multilateral negotiations, culminating in an international
agreement on a total ban on nuclear weapons. We must
inject a real sense of urgency into translating the goal
of the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons into a
more concrete reality. My plea is for reflection on the
part of all; for compromise and for cooperation, and for
a flexible rather than a dogmatic approach. I believe
that we can offer no better vision, courage and
leadership in the service of peace than to take up this
challenge.
While we can look forward one day to a world
free of nuclear weapons, no time should be lost in
agreeing how the peaceful uses of nuclear energy can
best be managed. We in Ireland live in close proximity
to a nuclear-fuel reprocessing plant which poses a
considerable threat to us because of the ever-present
risk of a major accident at the plant. In many countries
25

today, nuclear energy is viewed with alarm and
apprehension. Public resistance has persuaded some
Governments to renounce the nuclear option because the
benefits of nuclear energy have failed to convince a
sceptical and questioning public.
The impact of accidents involving nuclear-power
reactors can cross international frontiers. The legitimate
interests of States affected by such accidents demand that
high priority be given to strengthening nuclear safety
worldwide. Reactor safety and the closure of sub-standard
reactors represent for my Government fundamental
necessities that nuclear-energy States must meet.
It is simply unacceptable that poor management of
radioactive waste and spent fuel should threaten the
health and safety of populations or cause serious long-
term damage to the environment of States which have no
nuclear programmes. The recent Joint Convention dealing
with these matters will hopefully bring about
improvements. However, much more needs to be done
through international cooperation to allay the deep
misgivings of a concerned public.
Transport of nuclear materials and radioactive waste
raises the most serious and justifiable fears. We must
insist that this, along with all other nuclear activities, be
carried out in strict accordance with the highest
international standards of safety and security.
Furthermore, the entirely legitimate sensitivities of transit
countries affected by such movements must be
recognized.
As we approach next year's celebration of the
fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, we must recognize that we have fallen
short in implementing the goals and aspirations of the
Declaration. While recognizing that none of us has
grounds for complacency in this regard, it is a reality that
the human rights situation in certain countries remains of
particular concern to the international community. The
European Union, in its memorandum to the General
Assembly, has listed the areas of particular concern to us,
including the human rights situation in Myanmar, East
Timor, Nigeria and Afghanistan, to name but a few.
We must all work together — Governments and
non-governmental organizations and civil society
generally — in dialogue and partnership to ensure that
the human rights principles enshrined in the Charter and
the Universal Declaration are respected to the full.
The current reforms proposed by the Secretary-
General, in particular his decision to consolidate the
two existing human rights offices into a single office of
High Commissioner for Human Rights, are to be
welcomed. They provide a clear opportunity to
strengthen significantly the human rights programme of
the United Nations by fully integrating human rights
issues across the full range of United Nations activities.
It is a cause of great pride to the Government and the
people of Ireland that the Secretary-General has chosen
Mrs. Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland,
as the new High Commissioner.
I wish to turn now to an area of United Nations
activity which is of particular concern and interest to
my country — that of peacekeeping. Ireland has a
proud record of service in almost every major United
Nations peacekeeping operation. We will continue this
role, including our contribution of personnel from the
Irish police force — the Garda Siochána — to the new
and important role for civilian police in United Nations
peacekeeping operations.
Our peacekeepers have at times paid a heavy
price: some 75 Irish peacekeepers have died in the
service of United Nations peacekeeping.
Our support for the role of the United Nations in
its peacekeeping role has not wavered. But it is
tempered by the sober recognition that, despite many
significant successes in past decades, United Nations
peacekeeping, particularly in recent times, has not
always been effective. We must become better at
averting conflicts, through more vigorous preventive
diplomacy and action in dealing with the roots of
conflict. When we are forced to intervene, our response
must be prompt and better informed through effective
early warning systems. Our tasks and objectives must
be better defined, both as regards keeping the peace and
making the peace. The full support, political and
material, of the Member States is essential if they are to
be achieved effectively.
Too often the United Nations has been asked, to
its cost, to keep the peace indefinitely in conflict areas,
without any corresponding efforts by the parties to the
conflict to make peace. All Member States of this
Organization have a responsibility to ensure continuous
and honest efforts to make the peace permanent.
The changing international situation of the last
decade has seen the emergence of new sources of
26

conflict and tension. Old ethnic rivalries and hatreds have
resurfaced, leading to new local and regional conflicts. In
Bosnia and Herzegovina, the killing has stopped, but
progress in building the peace has been painfully slow. In
the Middle East, too, moving the peace process forward
is proving enormously more difficult than could have
been imagined. We call on all parties to live up to their
responsibilities and put the process back on track. In
Cyprus, in the Great Lakes region of Africa and in many
other places, the serious efforts of the international
community to secure lasting peace are making very slow
headway.
In the island of Ireland, we face the task of forging
reconciliation and, leaving behind us the bitterness of
history, ensuring that the root causes of the threat to
peace are addressed effectively.
Successive Irish Foreign Ministers have addressed
this Assembly over the years and informed
representatives of the efforts being made to resolve the
conflict in Northern Ireland and bring about a lasting
peaceful settlement. They have brought news of
significant advances, from the launching of the
intergovernmental approach by Ireland and Britain in
1980 and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in
1985, to the formulation of the Joint Declaration in 1993
and the publication of the Joint Framework document in
1995.
I now bring to the Assembly the joyous news that
yesterday in Belfast we succeeded in launching
substantial and historic all-party talks in which the future
of a peaceful and agreed Ireland is to be mapped out.
What is notable about all of these developments — each
an important foundation stone in the current peace
process — is that they were undertaken in partnership
between the Irish and British Governments. Progress has
been driven by our two Governments, united in the quest
for peace and a lasting and just settlement. That progress
has been defined and directed by the concept of the
“totality of relationships”, with which our two islands are
intertwined and which bears directly on the question of
Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland represents the
interface between the respective traditions and future
aspirations of both Ireland and Britain. Only in the
totality of our relations can we come to terms with our
differing visions of the past and reconcile our hopes for
the future.
The notion of the “totality of relationships” has been
reinforced recently by profound shifts in political and
social attitudes in both Ireland and Britain. The
character of these shifts has much in common in that
they serve to illustrate the commonality that the peoples
of Ireland and Britain share.
Ireland has been undergoing a dramatic and
invigorating process of renewal. This has been most
evident in our economic performance, but it is evident
too in our social and cultural life. I have a deep sense
that it has been encouraged and shaped by our
involvement in the evolution of Europe and the
development of our multilateral relations through the
United Nations itself. This renewal has been marked by
inspiration about what can be done and by what is
needed pragmatically to achieve what we set out to do.
In Britain, there has been a dramatic development
which redefines and reshapes the nature of its political
union. And we too detect that same impulse to
reinvigorate the institutions of the state, to undertake a
reappraisal and a renewal as the new millennium
approaches.
I believe that this sense of change in both islands,
this quickening pace, will be a very important factor as
both Governments and all the parties to the negotiations
in Northern Ireland take the peace process forward. It
will, I believe, impart an urgency and focus to the
deliberations. More importantly, it means that those
who form part of the talks process have the opportunity
to shape their future rather than surrender through
indifference or apathy to the inexorability of change.
For we live in a time which offers an invitation to
shape our common future. That invitation is open to all
those with the courage and vision to participate in the
talks process, which seeks to reshape the relations
which are central to the solution we seek — relations
between the two communities in Northern Ireland,
relations between the North and the South of our island,
and relations between Ireland and Britain.
The efforts of both Governments to construct the
complex structures on which to base a peace process
were undertaken with the very clear acknowledgment
that ultimately it was there to serve all the parties most
directly involved in the conflict and, through them, the
wider community. As the leader of the Social
Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), John Hume, so
clearly recognized, it had to be an inclusive peace
process if it was to be a lasting one.
27

Creating the conditions for this inclusive process
was a difficult task in the face of continued violence by
paramilitaries on both sides — violence which has been
ongoing for over 25 years; violence which threatened to
limit the boundaries of a whole generation to suspicion,
mutual mistrust and division; violence which still seeks to
threaten and disrupt our efforts to build a lasting peace.
The task of creating an inclusive peace process
required us to call on our friends in the international
community. I want to acknowledge those friends,
particularly in the European Union, Canada, Australia,
New Zealand and, most important, in the United States.
The partnership between Ireland and Britain has
been consistently encouraged and assisted by the United
States under the leadership of President Clinton and with
the backing of friends and supporters in the United States
Congress. In particular, President Clinton offered his
personal support and active engagement in the search for
peace. The President undertook to share the risks for
peace which were being taken by both Governments. And
in doing so, he added significantly to the momentum
which secured the ceasefire in 1994 and re-established it
in July of this year.
The United States has been a resource offered
generously in the name of peace. I want to acknowledge
the invaluable role played by Senator George Mitchell in
chairing the multi-party talks in Belfast. And I also want
to express my Government's appreciation for the
cooperation and assistance provided by the Governments
of Finland and Canada, particularly by making available
as co-chairmen of the talks former Prime Minister Harri
Holkeri and General John de Chastelain. They have
shown unfailing forbearance and unremitting commitment
to this delicate and complex process.
With this help, and with the resolve of both
Governments to ensure that an unequivocal ceasefire was
a necessary condition for involvement in the talks
process, another ceasefire was, as I said earlier,
established in July this year. Because the ceasefire has
been re-established, all parties to the problem of Northern
Ireland have now been invited to join the talks process in
Belfast and to begin the task of shaping our respective
interwoven futures.
We have, in the course of the Anglo-Irish peace
process, sought to accomplish the purpose for which this
Assembly was established — to replace mistrust and
violent confrontation with dialogue, negotiation and
agreement between all the parties to conflict. We do not
underestimate the difficulties that lie ahead. As the
history of the United Nations itself has shown, major
conflicts have, for the most part, been avoided.
However, the resolution of localized conflicts has
proven elusive and problematic.
The principles, purpose and practice of this
Assembly and the United Nations itself were formed to
replace conflict — of whatever scale — with peace
through dialogue. In our approach to Northern Ireland,
we have been guided by the same impulse to create
principles, purposes and practices which will replace
the method and means of sectarian hatred and
intercommunal violence.
We have made it clear that in our talks, all issues
are on the table, that no outcome is ruled out of bounds
for discussion or is predetermined. We have constructed
a process and rules of procedure by which the parties
can discuss, refine and eventually agree on the
structures which will embrace the totality of relations
on the two islands and which command the consent of
both unionists and nationalists in Ireland.
We have established as an integral part of the
dialogue that we recognize the rights and wishes of the
unionist community in the same way as we insist that
parity of esteem for Nationalists is a necessary and just
component of any eventual settlement.
We have set out our view that the resolution of the
issue of the decommissioning of arms is an
indispensable part of the process of negotiation. We
have emphatically declared, in our insistence on
adherence to the Mitchell principles of democracy and
non-violence, that only those committed to democratic
and exclusively peaceful means of resolving political
issues and those who renounce force or the threat of
force to influence the outcome of the negotiations can
be a party to the talks process.
We have embraced as a founding principle in the
current talks process and its eventual outcome that any
agreement must command sufficient consensus between
both sets of participants. We have accepted that the
agreement reached will be put to the people of Ireland,
North and South, for their approval.
Both Governments have set a target to conclude
these talks by next May and present proposals to the
people of Ireland, North and South, in parallel
28

referendums. I believe that this target is necessarily
ambitious and realistically achievable.
We may well have setbacks in the interim. We
certainly have difficult issues to confront and
compromises to make which will require courage and
vision.
But both Governments — and I believe the parties
currently in the talks process — are collectively
determined that this process will be pursued, that there
will be no going back, and that the future we seek of
harmonious relations and an honourable and
comprehensive agreement will be secured and that lasting
peace will be brought to our island.


On behalf of the
Vietnamese delegation, I wish to warmly congratulate you,
Sir, on your election to the presidency of the fifty-second
session of the General Assembly. I am confident that under
your wise guidance this session will be crowned with many
fine results.
I should like also to express the appreciation of the
Vietnamese delegation for the active work done by
Mr. Razali Ismail, President of the fifty-first session of the
General Assembly, a session that marked new strides on the
United Nations journey to fulfil its mandate in contributing
to peace and development in the world as a whole.
May I take this opportunity to warmly congratulate
Mr. Kofi Annan, who, within a very short span of time
since assuming the very important post of Secretary-
General of the United Nations, has managed to accomplish
a large amount of work, including efforts related to reform
of the United Nations in the light of the profound changes
in the world, in response to the aspirations of peoples with
regard to our global Organization.
Mankind is rushing towards the end of the twentieth
century and preparing to enter the third millennium with
an earnest desire for a more tranquil and better life. That
desire becomes even more earnest when we look back at
the last century, a century that has been darkened by the
black clouds of two world wars and countless conflicts,
large and small. That desire becomes even more urgent
given that the boundless mind of man has produced
numerous miraculous inventions, opening up a new era
called the “post-industrial era” or “the information age”,
while more than a quarter of the developing world’s
population still lives in poverty, some 840 million go
hungry or face food insecurity, and even in industrial
countries more than 100 million people live below the
poverty line and 37 million are jobless.
Under these circumstances, it is understandable that
all nations see the need to consolidate peace and promote
development as their primary priority so as to turn the
twenty-first century into a century with fewer conflicts
and less poverty.
Peace and development are companions; they go
together like the two sides of a coin. Sustainable
development is only possible if it is built upon the solid
premise of a durable peace: peace for all nations, peace
for every region and peace for the entire planet. Here, we
fully subscribe to the views expressed in the Agenda for
Development: development is a prerequisite for peace,
and at the same time peace is a precondition for
development.

We may take satisfaction from the fact that, during the
past year, a series of events have shown that the trend
towards peace is continuing. Political solutions have been
found for a number of decades-old conflicts. Relations
between various nations, including the big Powers, have
seen some partial improvements. Following in the footsteps
of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) entered into force.
The South-East Asia nuclear-weapon-free zone
(SEANWFZ) has come into existence.
In spite of all this, the world’s people still cannot be
assured of a lasting peace if that peace is not constructed
on an equitable premise. It is truly unfair that a few
countries are entitled to maintain an absolute superiority,
which even enables them to use their power to impose their
will on other countries, while many countries have to live
in the fear of insecurity. In this context, we hold that there
is still a need to free our planet from the burden of nuclear
weapons, to ban, totally and resolutely, the production,
storage, threat and use of this most horrible and lethal type
of weapon. In the same context, we expect the nuclear-
weapon States to sign the protocol annexed to the
SEANWFZ soon, in order to strengthen the power of the
Treaty, thereby making a viable contribution to peace and
stability in South-East Asia.
Our world cannot have peace when conflicts are still
raging in various parts of our planet. Today, the Middle
East is again raising the deep concern of everyone. We
share the position that tremendous efforts are needed to
lead us to a durable and lasting peace for that region, which
has suffered too much and too long. Such a peace can be
achieved only on the basis of ensuring the safety of the
nations living in this region, respecting the fundamental
rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to
establish an independent Palestinian State, and, most
immediately, the strict implementation of the United
Nations resolutions and the principles of the Madrid
Conference, as well as the accords that have been
concluded.
In Asia and the Pacific in general and in South-East
Asia in particular, where, fortunately, stability is on the
rise, incremental efforts are being made to render this trend
more durable. As a country bordering Cambodia, we give
great attention to the situation in that neighbouring nation.
Our position on the Cambodian question is clear to all: in
conformity with our general foreign policy, we persevere in
upholding the principle of full respect for the independence
and sovereignty of nations and the principle that the affairs
of a country must be decided by the people of that country
itself, free from foreign interference. At the same time,
from the bottom of our heart, we wish the Cambodian
people peace and stability so that they can reconstruct a
prosperous country in their homeland. We sincerely wish
to tirelessly foster relations of friendship and cooperation
with the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Bordering the South China Sea, which we call the
Eastern Sea, Viet Nam has always considered that
disputes there should be settled by negotiation on the
basis of international law, particularly the 1982 United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, with a view
to achieving a sustainable and lasting solution. For the
time being, it is necessary to preserve the status quo,
exert self-restraint and abstain from acts that may further
compound the situation and prejudice the stability of the
region and the safety of international maritime navigation.
At the same time, we should seek cooperation measures
acceptable to the parties concerned. We share the
satisfaction at the recent positive developments related to
the situation in the Korean peninsula, and it is our wish
that these developments will lead to a durable peace in
this very sensitive part of our world.
Although peace is the most important condition for
development, peace alone, without cooperation among
States on the basis of equality and mutual respect and
benefits, is not adequate. Today, in a world of ever-
deepening interdependence, and under the impact of
globalization and regionalization trends, the need for
development cooperation is increasingly strong.
It is obvious that nations are facing unprecedented
opportunities for expanding markets, engaging more
partners and intensifying investment and technology
transfers in order to attain higher growth. Besides this,
there is a rather stark reality, especially for developing
countries: the process of liberalization has made
competition extremely acute, and in that competition the
advantages do not go to countries which, due to certain
circumstances, are still at a low level of economic
development. It is therefore no surprise that the gap
between the rich and poor countries is widening, causing
great losses to developing nations.
That situation gives the international community two
choices: either to let things go on, which will cause a
more serious crisis, affecting the global economic and
political situation; or to cooperate for shared development.
In our humble opinion, the first scenario is not beneficial
to anybody, while the latter brings about benefit for everybody.
2

With that perception, we are of the view that it is
necessary to reverse the trend of decreasing official
development assistance, both bilaterally and multilaterally.
With that perception, we look forward to stronger
technology transfers, because outstanding and rapid
scientific and technological progress is presenting a danger
of developing countries being left further behind.
With that perception, we would like to emphasize the
need to set up reasonable trade terms, taking into account
the difficulties faced by developing countries, and to ensure
that the developed countries broaden market access for
commodities from the developing countries.
With that perception, we believe that it is high time to
completely do away with the obsolete ways of thinking and
acting of the past, namely, the imposition of inequitable
terms of economic and trade relations, sanctions and
embargoes, and so forth, which distort international
relations, cause suffering to the people and seriously violate
the minimum right of human beings — the right to a
peaceful life.
Under the general circumstances of our world today,
the need to reform the United Nations has become more
and more imperative. We share many of the ideas that the
Secretary-General has put forth. In our opinion, besides its
contribution to the maintenance of peace, the promotion of
equitable international cooperation — a top priority on the
agenda of the United Nations — must mean more vigorous
assistance to development. We offer our strong support for
the ideas stated in the Secretary-General’s report,
“Renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform”
(A/51/950), which particularly underlined that the
promotion of economic development and development
cooperation was the primary mandate and function of the
United Nations. It is our hope that countries, especially the
developed ones, will enhance their contribution to the
development programmes of the United Nations.
On this occasion, I wish to express our high
appreciation to the institutions of the United Nations system
for the assistance extended to Viet Nam, especially for our
economic renovation to implement social programmes of
poverty alleviation, health care and education development,
and international integration. The commitment to further
enhance the efficiency of the partnership between Viet Nam
and the United Nations development system was made by
the two partners at the conference to review 20 years of
Viet Nam-United Nations cooperation, which took place
recently in Hanoi.
With regard to the United Nations structure, our
consistent view is that it should reflect the fundamental
changes that have been taking place during the last half-
century or more, the most notable highlight of which is
that over 100 independent States have joined the United
Nations. Its organizational structure and working
procedures could be more democratized. The stature of
developing countries needs to be strongly enhanced,
including in the Security Council, and at the same time,
the role of the General Assembly should be further
strengthened. Along those lines, we share the view that it
is necessary to increase the membership of the Security
Council, both permanent and non-permanent categories,
with a satisfactory number of seats given to developing
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and to
ensure that every Member assumes similar responsibilities
and rights. We believe that in order to work out a
comprehensive programme for United Nations reform a
Committee of the Whole should be established.
The National Assembly of Viet Nam has just held
the first session of its tenth term in Hanoi to elect the
highest dignitaries of our State and approve the list of
new government members, thus realizing important
continuity of generations of leadership. This National
Assembly is of special significance, as it will lead our
country into the twenty-first century on the road of all-
round renovation to attain the goal of “Wealthy people,
strong country, just and civilized society”, through the
process of national industrialization and modernization, in
order to turn Viet Nam into a basically industrialized
State by the year 2020.
In its foreign relations, Viet Nam will constantly
pursue an open foreign policy of independence,
diversification and the promotion of multilateral relations
along the line of gradual regional and international
integration, thus making worthy contributions to the cause
of peace, national independence, democracy and social
progress. In line with this policy, Viet Nam will continue
to stand as an active Member of the United Nations and
the Non-Aligned Movement. In line with this policy, Viet
Nam is making constructive contributions to the
intensification of cooperation within the Association of
South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and is actively
preparing the sixth ASEAN Summit to be held in Hanoi
at the end of next year. In line with this policy, Viet Nam
is competing with time to ensure the successful
organization of the forthcoming seventh summit of
French-speaking community in Hanoi. In line with this
policy, Viet Nam is sparing no effort in making practical
preparations to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic
3

Cooperation Council and the World Trade Organization.
Also in line with this policy, Viet Nam wishes to become
a member of the United Nations Economic and Social
Council at the elections to be held at this session of the
General Assembly. We are confident that this reasonable
wish of ours will meet with the generous support of
Member countries.
As we strive for the noble aspirations of peace and
development on the eve of the new century, countries in the
international community will continue to find in Viet Nam
a sincere friend and constructive companion. On our part,
we expect that United Nations activities will be ever more
effective in enabling all countries to work for shared
development in peace and partnership.


On behalf of the delegation of Burundi, which we
have the distinguished honour to lead in the work of this
session of the General Assembly, and on our own behalf,
allow us first and foremost to extend the friendly
greetings of the President of the Republic of Burundi,
Mr. Pierre Buyoya, as well as those of the Government
and all the people of Burundi.
The delegation of Burundi is delighted at the
unanimous choice of the President of the fifty-second
session of the General Assembly. His lofty, moral and
intellectual qualities, his long and rich diplomatic
experience and his in-depth knowledge of the current
concerns of the planet no doubt augur well for a ringing
success in his term of office. Our country offers him its
full support.
At the same time, we would like to extend our
sincere congratulations to his predecessor, Ambassador
Razali Ismail of Malaysia, who so brilliantly conducted
the work of the fifty-first session of the General
Assembly.
We would also like to pay enthusiastic tribute to
Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
for his continuing tireless efforts to promote the ideals of
this world Organization.
Thanks to the institutions and bodies of the United
Nations system, millions of refugees and persons
displaced or scattered in the wake of internal conflicts,
national disasters and other emergency situations have
benefited from substantial humanitarian assistance,
particularly in Africa. The Great Lakes region has
received special attention in this regard.
Aside from peacekeeping and humanitarian relief
operations on the African continent, it is important to
underscore and welcome the United Nations System-wide
Special Initiative on Africa. I would like to take this
opportunity to launch an appeal to all our bilateral and
multilateral partners to mobilize the necessary resources
for the financing of this Initiative, whose fundamental
importance for the development of Africa is obvious.
For four years Burundi has been going through an
unprecedented crisis that has been marked by numerous
crimes and acts of genocide. Aside from the blind
extermination of hundreds of thousands of human lives,
armed groups have attacked the economic, health,
educational and administrative infrastructures of the
country. In short, the political change that occurred on 25
26

July 1996 took place just in time to save the country from
genocide and nightmare.
Contrary to what a certain sector of international
public opinion would have us believe, the vast majority of
the population of Burundi welcomed the new direction of
the country with great enthusiasm and relief. New hope was
born with this change of political regime.
The results in the area of security were immediate.
Aside from certain areas of insecurity related to sporadic
attacks by armed groups, peace and security have returned
to almost the entire national territory. But the population
remains vigilant because terrorist bands have not yet
disarmed. Essentially, they use the territory of Tanzania to
launch massacres against women, children, men and the
elderly.
These repeated attacks are at the source of the
displacement and regrouping of populations. The
Government has never decreed any regroupment policy.
While the camps of displaced persons have not attracted
particular attention, the so-called regroupment camps have
stirred controversy in certain circles of international opinion
that have been exploited and misinformed by terrorist
groups such as the National Council for the Defence of
Democracy (CNDD).
Today these centres of the dispossessed are gradually
being closed. Day by day, people who have been displaced
or regrouped are returning to their villages of origin when
security conditions permit. A recent report indicates that in
less than a month there will practically be no regrouped
persons in the country’s central provinces, which were the
most affected.
We must, however, recognize that problems persist. At
the humanitarian level the afflicted people live in deplorable
conditions. Overcrowding, lack of sanitation, malnutrition,
lack of health care and all sorts of epidemics are the daily
plight of the dispossessed.
My Government wishes to place on record its real
appreciation for all the support of our bilateral and
multilateral partners to relieve the misery of these deprived
populations. We appeal again to the international
community to increase humanitarian assistance to the
afflicted populations in order to meet their food, health and
clothing needs. In order to ensure the reintegration of the
victims, the Government appeals for assistance for
reconstruction and economic recovery.
In the context of its vast social reintegration effort,
the Government of Burundi invites all Burundi refugees,
wherever they may be, to return voluntarily to their
country. It is prepared to welcome them with open arms
and in conditions of complete security and dignity. I
would like to take this opportunity to request the
assistance of neighbouring countries, in particular
Tanzania, as well as of international organizations such as
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, to facilitate the return of our exiled brothers. In
the past year more than 160,000 Burundi refugees have
voluntarily returned to their home provinces.
Since the political changes of 25 July 1996, the
principal objectives of the Government of the Republic of
Burundi have been to ward off the spectre of genocide, to
restore State authority, to organize a peace process based
on dialogue, to reintegrate afflicted people, to rebuild and
revitalize the economy and to democratize institutions.
At present the great majority of the Burundi
population is determined to work to restore peace. This is
why the widespread genocide that was foreseen, and
began, has been contained and stopped. I can today affirm
in all certainty that this danger has been averted. To the
dismay of certain prophets of doom and apocalypse, the
Burundi nation has not fallen apart either. The peace
process under way in Burundi is aimed precisely at laying
the foundation for a lasting peace.
Since the beginning of this year the Government has
initiated throughout the country a series of workshops in
preparation for a genuine national debate, with the goal of
leading the Burundi people to discuss frankly all the
country’s problems. The governmental team is now
engaged in speeding up the peace process, and several
initiative have been taken in this regard. A round table
bringing together all the internal actors has just taken
place in the centre of the country. It is in this context as
well that the Burundi peace conference, originally planned
to take place in Geneva under the auspices of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) from 30 June to 2 July 1997 was held at
UNESCO headquarters from 26 to 28 September 1997.
Some 50 Burundi political actors, along with about 30
international observers, took part in those meetings.
That conference was designed to involve all the
Burundi people, at home and abroad, in political dialogue,
taking into account different political and socio-
professional leanings. Even those who chose the route of
violence participated in that forum in great numbers. That
27

event thus marks an important step in the Burundi peace
process.
Despite the visible difficulties, the Government of
Burundi is determined to negotiate with the various actors
in Burundi — including the armed factions — without
exception. Thus, the phase of the peace negotiations that
could not be held in Arusha on 25 August 1997 as
originally planned — as a result of difficulties connected to
the mediation arrangements — are going to be resumed
very shortly. Consultations are under way on this matter,
and, true to its programme, the Government will participate.
In this context, I would like to recall that my
Government asked for a postponement of the 25 August
1997 meeting only so that it could better consult with its
partners, improve the mediation arrangements and find a
location more amenable to dialogue, outside of Tanzania.
After that postponement the President of the United
Republic of Tanzania called for a summit of the Heads of
State of the region in Dar es Salaam, which was held on 3
and 4 September 1997.
The Government of the Republic of Burundi, which
was not invited, expresses its regret that it had no role in
that summit. It considers that at these meetings devoted
entirely to the Burundi conflict its presence is indispensable
so that it can provide information and explanations that will
enlighten the Heads of State of the region, in the interest of
peace in Burundi.
The Burundi peace process must involve dialogue and
negotiation among the Burundi people. At the conclusion of
the talks, a negotiated transitional government will be put
in place to lead the country in the direction pointed by the
Burundi people themselves. The ultimate objective is to put
in place democratic institutions that all can trust.
The Government of the Republic of Burundi again
expresses its concern regarding the mediation arrangements
and the host country for the mediation. No process can lead
to peace in Burundi if it is not developed in cooperation
with the Burundi people and carried out with their complete
agreement. It is thus imperative that there be greater
consultations between the mediator and the Burundi people
— in particular with the Government that is charged with
leading the country and that has the weighty responsibility
of extracting it from crisis.
To increase the confidence of all the parties in the
mediation and to follow the universally recognized rules for
such undertakings, the Government of the Republic of
Burundi believes that the mediator must be supported by
other personalities and by experts in the techniques of
conflict resolution — people who have no personal stake
in the Burundi problem.
The Burundi peace process will remain stalled, if
Tanzania — the mediating country, the host country of
the mediation — having taken over the Burundi Embassy
in Dar es Salaam, continues to play the triple role of host
country for the armed factions responsible for the
genocide in Burundi, promoter of sanctions against
Burundi and overweening mediator.
The objection of the Government of the Republic of
Burundi to the holding of the talks in Tanzania is thus
easily understood. It is based essentially on the tension
that has been created by the refugee camps that Tanzania
has set up all along its border with Burundi. Many of
them are armed, and from them deadly raids are regularly
launched on Burundi territory. This tension has been
exacerbated by the hostile campaign waged by the
Tanzanian authorities in several African capitals precisely
on the eve of the opening of the talks, originally set to
take place in Arusha on 25 August 1997.
Further, the Government of the Republic of Burundi
does not understand why the fifth summit of the Heads of
the State of the region requested it to halt the process
now under way. Such a halt would unleash disorder and
public insecurity in the country. No Burundi citizen would
be able to understand how the judicial system could
punish minor infractions while at the same time it was
unable to try cases of political assassination and acts of
genocide. The halting of legal proceedings under way and
scheduled is thus unacceptable. The ideal is to assure
each defendant a just and fair trial in which the right to
a defence is guaranteed. The Government has already
made a commitment to do all it can to that end, and we
thank the United Nations for its assistance in this area.
In this regard, the establishment of an international
criminal tribunal for Burundi, which the Government of
Burundi has requested of the United Nations, is now
urgently needed, both to combat impunity and to give the
peace process now under way a chance. Under no pretext
whatsoever should any criminal, nor anyone responsible
for genocide, be shielded.
It is clear that the Burundi peace process is being
held back by numerous constraints.
28

My Government’s efforts to restore peace and security
have been compromised by the completely unjust and
illegal blockade that has been maintained by neighbouring
countries since 31 July 1997. Paradoxically, the supporters
of these inhumane economic sanctions claim that they wish
to restore peace in Burundi. However, those who know my
country know that it is poor and landlocked and has been
beset by almost four years of war.
To support sanctions by word and by deed is
tantamount to killing more children and more disaster
victims through hunger, disease, poverty and war. No
neighbouring country should adopt such a stance, especially
when we take account of the concern that my country has
always shown for its neighbours when they were confronted
with the same problems.
The measures to mitigate the economic sanctions
agreed in Arusha last 16 April have not been implemented
in their entirety. Difficulties remain, particularly in respect
of air transport and the supply of humanitarian fuel. How
then, under these circumstances, can we speak of mitigation
when the released goods cannot reach their beneficiaries?
From this rostrum, my delegation calls once again on
the neighbouring countries in the subregion responsible for
the blockade to please lift these inhumane and degrading
sanctions immediately. It strongly urges the international
community to do everything in its power to make these
countries understand the pressing need to lift these unjust
sanctions, which only impoverish the poorest and enrich the
richest — measures that ravage the most vulnerable sectors
of society.
I should like to remind the Assembly that my
Government has already met all the demands made by the
countries of the subregion, which served as a pretext for the
imposition of the sanctions. These include the restoration of
the National Assembly and of the political parties and the
commencement of negotiations with the rebel army.
Unfortunately, at the risk of hampering the process, each
summit gives rise to new conditions. That is why the quest
for peace in Burundi often resembles the movement of
Sisyphus’ stone.
My country, moreover, continues to be confronted
with repeated border attacks by armed terrorist groups that
are based in a neighbouring country, Tanzania. These
criminal bands recruit in camps housing Burundi refugees
along the common border, in flagrant violation of the
Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
Some of the rebels are based 15 kilometres from the
Burundi-Tanzania border. From there, it takes but a step
to infiltrate Burundi. In that one little step, they can
massacre — as they did last April — several innocent
Burundi people.
In the face of this situation, my Government urges
the United Nations firmly to condemn these terrorist
organizations and to bring pressure to bear on those
countries receiving them to separate genuine refugees
from tribal terrorist groups.
In order to promote the necessary communication in
the context of a political dialogue, we ask Tanzania once
again to liberate the Embassy of Burundi in Dar Es
Salaam in order to facilitate diplomatic relations current
negotiations and the settlement of the question of
refugees.
The Great Lakes region is experiencing an
unprecedented crisis. One of the main reasons for this
upheaval is doubtless the problem of refugees. The spiral
of violence that is engulfing our subregion has prompted
a vast trans-border movement of peoples fleeing warfare
and insecurity in their country or origin. Some are
innocent people who fear for their physical security, but
some belong to criminal groups. Faithful to its policy of
dialogue and concertation, the Government of the
Republic of Burundi will spare no effort to initiate
contacts with its neighbours in order to explore together
appropriate ways and means to resolve this situation. The
goal of this endeavour is to work together to restore a
climate of security on our common borders, in keeping
with our tradition of good-neighbourliness.
Africa is currently facing numerous challenges. A
low rate of economic growth; intense demographic
pressures; a decline in agricultural production; the
continuing decrease in bilateral and multilateral aid — the
result of new alliances; the burden of debt servicing; and
socio-political conflicts — these are the many pitfalls
along the path to Africa’s development. Our continent
will never achieve its development if it does not meet
these challenges, which is why my country resolutely
favours consolidating regional and subregional entities,
which would represent a crucial stage for progress in
Africa. In this connection, we welcome the System-wide
Special Initiative on Africa, launched officially on 15
March 1996. We firmly support and encourage this
ambitious programme, which was set up to support our
continent in its development efforts.
29

Our continent, Africa, is doubtless one of the most
turbulent areas on the planet. The efforts to democratize
political institutions on which so many hopes were pinned
have, regrettably, experienced dramatic setbacks as a result
of factors linked with ethnicity, a lack of preparedness and
a lack of flexibility.
With respect to the Great Lakes region, Burundi
welcomes the positive changes occurring in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, as they can contribute to improving
the political situation and promote trade throughout the
region. We can therefore only encourage this friendly and
brotherly country to move ahead. We also urge the
international community to support it.
Rwanda, our neighbour, is making a great effort at
stabilization and reconciliation. International solidarity vis-
à-vis this country should also be encouraged.
At the same time, it is deplorable to note that Congo
(Brazzaville), a brotherly country, has also been the site of
fratricidal confrontation. In that context, we welcome the
efforts made by the President of Gabon, His Excellency
Mr. Omar Bongo; by the Special Representative of the
Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the
Organization of African Unity (OAU), Mr. Mohamed
Sahnoun; and by other mediators, national and international,
in their efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the Congo
problem.
My Government encourages our Angolan brothers and
sisters to complete the implementation of the Lusaka peace
agreements.
Following a protracted conflict, Liberia has
successfully organized democratic elections with the support
of the international community. We wish that country peace
and stability.
In the Middle East, the deadlock of the peace process
between Israel and Palestine can be overcome only if hard-
liners on both sides show greater flexibility.
My Government has taken note of the report of the
Secretary-General on the reform of the Organization.
Insofar as it seeks greater efficiency and strives for
mobilizing means not to maintain a hefty administration but
rather to achieve the goal of international solidarity,
particularly in the area of development, my Government
supports that reform.
My delegation shares with the Secretary-General his
concern for efficiency and economy: efficiency in an
administration that is streamlined, and efficiency in efforts
to combat poverty as well as in efforts at capacity-
building, particularly in the area of development.
With respect to Security Council reform, my
Government supports the provisions taken in the context
of the last OAU Summit, which met in Harare,
Zimbabwe. The terms of the common African position
have recently been communicated by the Chairman of the
OAU in this forum. Moreover, the developing countries
must be properly represented in the Council. Beyond the
question of representation, my delegation is convinced
that reform of the Security Council must above all
involve its methods of work and its adaptation to the
requirements of today’s realities.
In keeping with our position as stated during this
session of the General Assembly, my Government firmly
supports the establishment of an international criminal
court that would be entrusted with prosecuting and
punishing persons responsible for genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes.
Despite the many difficulties that my country,
Burundi, has faced since the national tragedy of October
1993, it has always sought to be present at the annual
sessions of the General Assembly of our Organization.
This assiduous presence attests to our unfaltering
attachment to the lofty ideals promoted and defended by
the United Nations. Despite the political and economic
crisis exacerbated by the blockade abusively imposed
upon my people, the Government of the Republic of
Burundi has been able to remit an amount of $116,000
dollars since April 1997 as its contribution to the regular
budget of the United Nations. Despite the difficult
economic climate, Burundi will do its utmost to continue,
to the extent that it is able, to honour its commitments
and to support our Organization.
Before concluding, I should like once again to recall
that Burundi is resolved to emerge from this crisis
affecting our country, and will do so through dialogue.
The sooner the next session is programmed, the better.
We hope that the obstacles that prevented the meeting of
25 August 1997 will be overcome.
My country supports the principle of expanding the
Security Council, but the methodology which will be
adopted to that end is of decisive importance. We hope
that all this reform will imbue the United Nations system
30

with the youthful vitality and energy necessary to redress
the shortcomings of the past, to consolidate the
achievements of the present and to lay solid and promising
foundations for the beginning of the next millennium.