Mr.
President, congratulations on your assumption of the
presidency of this historic fiftieth session of the General
Assembly of the United Nations. Leadership has never been
more critical to this Organization, and we are most grateful
for the able work of your predecessor, Foreign Minister
Amara Essy of Côte d’Ivoire, and of the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
We stand at the threshold of a new era, a time of great
peril and magnificent promise. The choices that we make
in the coming weeks and months could rejuvenate the
United Nations for a new century of cooperation and
progress, or they could consign the world body to years of
stagnation, decline, and irrelevance. Neither path is
inevitable, and none of the United Nations shortcomings are
irreparable. The choice is ours.
The world, like the United Nations, is in a period of
transition and flux. Virulent local conflicts in several
regions are being met with global cooperation to contain the
violence, assist the victims and mend the political and
economic fabric of the shattered societies. During this past
week alone, patient and firm diplomacy has yielded
encouraging results in the Middle East and the former
Yugoslavia, two areas known more for conflict than
compromise. In some places, however, gross violations of
human rights and genocide are being committed, even as
great strides are taken globally by way of strengthening
international law and human rights standards, most recently
through the Fourth World Conference on Women. As the
fields of communications, trade and technology have
expanded to global proportions, interdependence has
become a fact of life.
In a world of change, no institution — least of all the
United Nations — can afford to stand still. The world body,
after all, is an experiment. Launched by leaders of vision,
foresight, and courage at another historic turning point half
a century ago, the United Nations has steadfastly stood for
change through peaceful means, for cooperation over
conflict, and for hope over despair. Today, we have been
called upon to reinvent the world Organization to meet the
challenges of the twenty-first century, while we recommit
ourselves to its founding, and enduring, principles.
There is little doubt that this is a time of testing for
the United Nations, but really it is the Member States — all
185 of us — that are being challenged as never before. It
is our collective will, commitment, and inspiration — or
lack thereof — that will determine the fate of history’s
greatest experiment in international organization. Our
responsibilities begin with paying our financial obligations
in full and on time, but they run much deeper and wider.
The Republic of Korea recognizes that the time has come
for far-reaching reform in the way the United Nations
conducts its business and structures its programmes.
Korea gladly joins the many other nations to make this
historic General Assembly session a time of reflection,
recommitment, and renewal.
No dimension of the United Nations work has been
more severely or dramatically tested than its far-flung
peace operations. All of us owe a debt of gratitude to the
men and women from 70 countries whose courage and
fortitude have kept the hope of peace alive under the most
difficult and trying circumstances. We have asked them
to accomplish a great deal with very little. If the United
Nations is to respond effectively to the new forms of
conflict that threaten peace and human security in today’s
uncertain world, it is imperative that its peace operations
be strengthened and renovated. We appreciate the ongoing
efforts to enhance the preventive diplomacy and rapid
reaction capabilities of the United Nations, both within
and outside the framework of the Organization.
One of the most promising avenues for bolstering
United Nations capabilities is the United Nations stand-by
arrangement system, and I would encourage the broadest
possible participation by Member States. Today, my
Government reaffirms its decision to take part in the
United Nations stand-by system and its willingness to
provide some 800 men for this effort, including an
infantry battalion, engineering units, medical units and
military observers.
Since Korea’s first participation in United Nations
peace-keeping operations in Somalia in 1993, when it sent
an engineering battalion to the United Nations Operation
in Somalia (UNOSOM II), it has dispatched a medical
unit to the Western Sahara and military observers to both
the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and
Pakistan (UNMOGIP) in Kashmir and the United Nations
Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). I am also
pleased to inform the Assembly that next week a Korean
bridging unit of engineers will arrive in Angola to take
part in the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEMIII).
My Government is determined to expand its
contributions to the peace-keeping operations of the
United Nations at a level commensurate with our national
capacity.
5

As one of the troop-contributing countries to United
Nations peace-keeping operations, we feel a great deal of
concern over the fact that the number of casualties among
United Nations peace-keepers is sharply increasing and that
their safety is frequently endangered.
We firmly believe that hostile acts against United
Nations personnel, such as armed attack and hostage-taking,
are absolutely unacceptable and should not go unpunished.
While we appreciate efforts for the protection of United
Nations personnel, such as the conclusion of the
Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated
Personnel, we feel that it is the collective responsibility of
all Member States of the United Nations to ensure the
safety and security of United Nations peace-keepers.
The challenges before the United Nations, of course,
are hardly confined to traditional security concerns. Unrest
in many parts of the world serves to remind us of the
economic, social and political roots of conflict. Uneven
patterns of economic and social development are of
particular concern.
On the positive side, despite a slight decline in growth
since last year, the recent economic recovery of the
developed countries and sustained growth in a large number
of developing countries have helped boost the global
economy in 1995. Economies in transition have shown
encouraging signs of improvement. The overall economic
situation in Africa has also made headway, albeit slow and
modest.
However, developing countries, particularly those in
Africa, require the assistance of the international
community in their developmental efforts. Fostering a
favourable external economic environment for them is
essential. In this regard, my delegation believes that the
debate in the Economic and Social Council on the theme of
development in Africa this year was both timely and
appropriate.
In strengthening its cooperation with developing
countries, particularly with the least developed countries,
my Government places primary emphasis on human
resources development. We are implementing a plan, which
was announced by President Kim Young Sam at the World
Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, to provide
technical training for over 30,000 people from developing
countries, particularly from the African continent, by the
year 2010.

We welcome the fact that the issue of development
is receiving renewed attention as a pre-eminent global
concern. My Government is actively participating in the
Working Group of the General Assembly on “An Agenda
for Development”. Although the primary responsibility for
development falls on the individual Government, we
believe that national development efforts also require the
assistance of the international community.
In that spirit, we vigorously support the multilateral
efforts to realize sustainable global development. As a
follow-up to President Kim’s announcement at the
Copenhagen Summit of our intention to increase our
official development assistance, we plan to enlarge our
voluntary contribution to the operational activities of the
United Nations by 65 per cent next year, and will
continue such efforts in the coming years.
In our view, the Copenhagen Social Summit was a
milestone, not only because it laid a sound foundation for
international assistance and cooperation in the area of
sustainable social development, but also because it charted
a clear direction for future action.
Women’s issues have also become a key part of the
global agenda. My Government welcomes the recent
discussions in Beijing on the enhancement of the status of
women and looks forward to the full and early
implementation of the plan of action adopted at the
Conference.
The protection and enhancement of human rights are
an enduring task. The inalienable and basic rights of
human beings must be faithfully protected and preserved.
As articulated in the Vienna Declaration, the primary
responsibility for protecting human rights should be borne
by the respective Government. However, it should also be
noted that the cooperation and attention of the
international community, including the United Nations,
are paramount to the efforts in this field.
Since the inauguration of President Kim Young Sam
in February 1993, the Government of the Republic of
Korea has placed an especially high priority on the
promotion of democracy and human rights. The
Government has ardently supported the democratization
process and has successfully taken various reform
measures to promote human rights in the country. I
should like to take this opportunity to express my
6

Government’s deep concern over the human rights situation
in North Korea. As my Government strongly believes that
the people in North Korea, as our kindred, should enjoy the
fundamental human rights to which all of us are entitled,
we urge Pyongyang to respond positively to the
international calls for the protection of human rights,
especially through opening its society.
An outstanding and emotional dimension of this issue
is the division of families on the Korean Peninsula. During
the Korean War, in 1950 to 1953, 10 million people were
separated from their families. Most were never to hear from
each other again, because even the exchange of letters was
prohibited between the two Koreas. Even after the war,
hundreds of South Koreans were forcibly taken to North
Korea against their will, leaving behind families grieving
over separation and anguished by the uncertainty of whether
the other members were still alive. I believe that it is high
time for the community of nations, particularly the United
Nations, to render its assistance and do its part for these
divided families so that they may at least hear from each
other until they are finally reunited.
Turning to the issue of disarmament, I would like to
take this occasion to declare, on behalf of my Government,
a one-year moratorium, which may be extended, on the
export of anti-personnel land-mines. We hope that our
decision will strengthen the international efforts to limit the
proliferation of land-mines and to end their indiscriminate
use.
Considering the continued importance of the
Conference on Disarmament as a unique negotiating forum
for disarmament, my delegation welcomes the decision on
expansion of membership of the Conference, adopted by
consensus at its plenary meeting a week ago. We hope that
the countries of the Group of 23 that wish to participate in
the Conference will be given full-fledged membership at
the earliest possible date.
The Republic of Korea, as one of the original
signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993,
has taken steps to ratify the Convention with a view to
supporting the international endeavours to prohibit and
eliminate all types of weapons of mass destruction. As we
all recognize, universal adherence to the Convention is an
essential step towards securing an effective non-
proliferation regime in this area. The Republic of Korea
therefore strongly urges those countries, including the
DPRK, which have not yet joined the Convention to do so
as soon as possible.
In our efforts to curb the proliferation of nuclear
weapons, the indefinite extension of the Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) by consensus last May was a watershed
event. We urge the nuclear-weapon States to fulfil their
responsibilities under the NPT to make the world nuclear-
free. In this regard, my delegation joins the call of many
other countries for the early conclusion of a
comprehensive test-ban treaty, a global agreement which
would undoubtedly help facilitate the eventual elimination
of nuclear weapons as envisaged in the NPT.
In the same spirit, it is deeply regrettable that some
countries with nuclear weapons are still engaged in
nuclear testing. On behalf of the Government and people
of the Republic of Korea, I would like to urge those
nations with future plans for testing to cancel them
without delay.
My delegation strongly endorses the efforts to
strengthen the safeguards system of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We believe that the
future of the NPT also depends upon cooperation between
States in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In this
regard, we believe that the legitimate demands of the non-
nuclear States to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear
energy should be duly respected and that resolute
measures should be taken against those States that fail to
fulfil their obligations under the IAEA safeguards system.
The North Korean nuclear issue remains a
paramount security concern for North-East Asia and the
world. The Republic of Korea urges North Korea once
again not only to comply with its NPT obligations and
IAEA safeguards in a full and complete manner, but also
faithfully to implement the Geneva Agreed Framework
between the United States and the DPRK of October
1994. Furthermore, North Korea should live up to its
commitments and obligations under the Joint Declaration
on Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Maintaining peace and stability on the Korean
Peninsula is not just an issue affecting 70 million
Koreans, but also a strategic issue with critical
implications for the North-East Asia region and the world
at large. Accordingly, we believe that the current
armistice agreement must be kept in force until a
permanent peace mechanism is set in place. With a view
to dealing with all inter-Korean issues, my Government
earnestly hopes that the North Korean leadership will
respond positively to our call for inter-Korean dialogue
and cooperation.
7

As I noted at the outset, the fiftieth anniversary of the
United Nations provides a unique opportunity for the
international community to revitalize, strengthen and reform
the United Nations system. To this end, a number of
proposals, studies and reports have been put forward. My
Government is closely following the constructive
discussions which have been conducted thus far in the
working groups of the General Assembly seeking ways to
augment the effectiveness, efficiency and democracy of the
Organization.
As for the Security Council, we are of the view that
in reforming it account should be taken first and foremost
of the need for equitable geographical representation in its
membership and enhanced transparency and efficiency in its
working methods. Given the utmost importance of the issue
and its implication for other issues, we will remain flexible
and open-minded to various ideas and suggestions and
make due contributions to the process of consensus-
building. We also believe that the coordinating role of the
Economic and Social Council should be strengthened,
particularly in the area of operational activities.
On the financial aspect of the United Nations, it is
alarming to note that the total amount of unpaid
assessments is well over $3.5 billion. An effective solution
to the current financial difficulties should be found in order
to meet the increasing demands of the United Nations and
to strengthen it. It is in this context that we again urge all
Member States to pay their assessed contributions on time
and in full.
In order for reform to be successful, however, it is
crucial to secure a broad consensus among Member States.
We must not forget that consolidated political will, mutual
confidence and a sense of common interest and benefit
among Member States are key elements in the process of
reform. In this spirit, reform begins at home, in
rededicating ourselves to the community of interests and
principles that serve to unite the disparate nations of the
world.
In three weeks, in this Hall, the leaders of more than
150 nations — three times as many as met in San Francisco
a half-century ago — will reaffirm their commitment to the
ideals and purposes enshrined in the Charter of the United
Nations.
As the nations and peoples of the world reflect upon
what the United Nations has achieved in its first half-
century and what it should aspire to in the years ahead, the
Republic of Korea wishes to renew its determination to
render full and unswerving support for the revitalization
of the world body in the years ahead. We believe in the
collective ability of nations to build a safer, more
prosperous and just world, and we are committed to do
our part.


I wish to congratulate Mr. Diogo Freitas do
Amaral on his election to the presidency of the fiftieth
session of the General Assembly. His experience and
proven diplomatic skills will guarantee the success of this
important event. I wish also to congratulate his
predecessor, Mr. Amara Essy, for the brilliant way in
which he guided the work of the Assembly at its forty-
ninth session.
I take this special opportunity also to acknowledge
the extraordinary work of the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, to promote peace,
development and understanding among peoples.
In conformity with the premises of the moral
revolution led by the President of the Republic,
Mr. Carlos Roberto Reina, today’s Honduras is making a
unique effort: to consolidate a State truly based on law;
to fight corruption at all levels; to encourage active
participation among all citizens in a framework of
national convergence that will define the guidelines for a
new country; to emphasize absolute respect for human
rights; and, in the context of a dynamic process of
modernizing the State, to adopt substantive institutional
legal measures and changes, with a view to strengthening
our democratic, pluralistic system of government.
Those changes include strengthening the judicial
branch; placing the national police under civilian
jurisdiction; transforming our compulsory military service
into voluntary, educational and humanistic service;
allocating 35 per cent of the national budget to health,
education and social welfare, which reflects the interest of
the State in combating poverty, overcoming social
problems and establishing a system of government
marked by justice, solidarity and participation; adopting
fiscal correction measures to decrease the negative impact
of serious long-standing macroeconomic imbalances;
beginning the privatization of State-owned enterprises;
undertaking financial reform; and taking the action needed
to attract direct foreign investment and encourage joint
investment.
Those are some of the most relevant actions taken
by the Government of Honduras; they show that, although
our democracy was painfully stricken by the Central
27

American crisis of the 1980s, it has had the courage to face
up the unique challenges of today and of tomorrow.
Today, Central America is seeking true participation
in the new international economic order with an agenda of
integration firmly based on the Alliance for the Sustainable
Development of Central America. This endeavour is rooted
in history, tradition, solidarity and, above all, an awareness
of the common destiny of our Central American homeland.
In that connection, we were pleased that last year the
General Assembly recognized
“the importance of implemented, updated and pending
programmes, and, in view of the fact that the
resources assigned to the Special Plan of Economic
Cooperation for Central America have been used up,
request[ed] the agencies of the United Nations system,
in particular the United Nations Development
Programme, and international institutions to mobilize
the necessary resources to set in motion new national
and regional programmes in support of the content of
the Declaration of Guácimo, the Alliance for the
Sustainable Development of Central America
concluded at the Managua Summit, and the
Tegucigalpa Commitments on Peace and Development
adopted at the International Conference on Peace and
Development in Central America”. (resolution 49/137,
para. 23)
We were grateful for the adoption of that resolution, and
hope that its mandate will be renewed at this session of the
General Assembly.
In pursuance of our efforts at integration, my country
will host the next summit of Central American Presidents,
where the central topic will be the establishment of a
regulatory framework for the security of individuals and
their belongings, and the signing of a treaty on Central
American democratic security.
In our region we can no longer delay the creation of
short-term programmes of direct investment, industrial
revitalization, transformation of technology and foreign
trade, with the necessary support of developed countries.
That support can come through the alliance of States
friendly to the Alliance for the Sustainable Development of
Central America, as was the case initially with the Central
America-United States agreement (CONCAUSA).
Central America supports open regionalism; as set out
in the plan of action of the Summit for the Americas, we
believe that free trade is the most appropriate way to
establish the world’s most extensive free-trade area.
The Central American Integration System (SICA),
which resulted from our own efforts and from important
cooperation by the international community, hopes that
the General Assembly will grant it the status of
permanent observer in accordance with relevant
provisions of the Charter of the United Nations. That
status would facilitate and broaden cooperation between
the United Nations system and the Central American
Integration System; I am grateful for the support for the
draft resolution that Central American countries have
jointly submitted to the Assembly for consideration.
It is my country’s tradition always to try to solve its
international conflicts by peaceful, diplomatic means. I
am therefore pleased to announce that, in compliance with
the opinion of the International Court of Justice at The
Hague concerning the boundary dispute between
Honduras and El Salvador, a binational commission has
been established to resolve the humanitarian implications
of its implementation; its work is being carried out
parallel to that of boundary demarcation. It is the honest
wish of the people and the Government of Honduras to
conclude these priority tasks without delay.
Nor is Honduras indifferent to the problems of our
sister Republics, especially those of Guatemala. We wish
to acknowledge the achievements and commitments of the
Government of that country and of the Unidad
Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) towards
peace. We urge them to persist in a peaceful, negotiated
quest for a solution to their internal differences.
My country endorses all the principles set out in the
Secretary-General’s “An Agenda for Development”,
which recognizes that equitable development removes
many of the social and political conditions that result in
threats to peace. Most important, it stresses that the
human being is the ultimate beneficiary of all efforts
towards development and international cooperation.
Clearly, “An Agenda for Development” must
encourage the implementation of agreements reached in
the economic and social sphere. In that context, my
country has decided to endorse the principles and
implement the commitments set out in the Declaration
adopted by Heads of State or Government at the World
Summit for Social Development, held at Copenhagen,
Denmark, in March this year. We consider that
implementation of the Programme of Action is urgent,
28

with a view to establishing a framework for economic
growth and sustainable development, and a national and
international climate favourable to social development, to
the elimination of poverty, to increasing productive
employment, to reducing unemployment and to fostering
social integration.
Only by attaining these goals can we achieve lasting
peace and security, economic progress and the social
emancipation of all mankind. We therefore appeal to the
international community, and especially to developed
countries and international organizations, to fulfil their
commitment to transfer significant economic and
technological resources to developing countries.
Similarly, the Government of Honduras gives high
priority to speedy compliance with commitments and
recommendations made at the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro
in 1992. We note, however, the lack of adequate resources
to implement the programmes and projects adopted as part
of Agenda 21. We hope that developed countries will meet
their commitments, to enable developing countries to meet
their own.
Honduras reiterates its commitment to meet the goals
of the World Declaration and Plan of Action adopted at the
World Summit for Children. My country is a signatory of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and, as part of
its national programmes, has adopted policies aimed at
attaining the goals set in the Plan of Action. Our
Government considers that all boys and girls must enjoy
fundamental human rights such as access to education and
to health services. One of our priorities is to eliminate
family poverty, which is a principal cause of the
exploitation of children and infant mortality.
The Government of Honduras also participated in the
Fourth World Conference on Women, held at Beijing. We
are convinced that the Declaration and Plan of Action
adopted there will make a further contribution to women’s
participation in political, civil, economic, social and cultural
life and in sustainable development.
The recent conference on review and extension of the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
came at important time in history: when the international
community is marking the end of the cold war, an event
which eased international tension and strengthened
confidence between States. My country reiterates its
commitment to the principles and objectives adopted at the
review Conference. We remain convinced that the ultimate
goal is the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and
the adoption of a treaty on general and complete
disarmament under strict, effective international control.
The Government of Honduras attaches great
importance to preventive diplomacy and to the peaceful
settlement of international disputes. We believe it is better
to prevent conflicts through early warning machinery and
good-offices diplomatic efforts than to use political and
military action to try to stop them once they have started.
We attach equal importance to the building and
maintenance of international peace and security, especially
through humanitarian activities that involve the urgent
solution of the tragedy of thousands of persons displaced
and uprooted from their homes and land. Hence, we
reiterate our support for the proposals and
recommendations made by the Secretary-General in “An
Agenda for Peace” and in the Supplement to “An Agenda
for Peace”.
The Government of Honduras considers that the
strengthening of peace, the fundamental objective of the
United Nations, can be achieved only through complete
respect for the provisions of the Charter. For peace-
keeping operations to be successful, they must be based
on the principles of international law: non-intervention in
the internal affairs of States, and the non-use of force
except in self-defence. Moreover, they should be
controlled by the United Nations; peace-keeping
operations and their mandates must be clearly defined.
They should be funded in a timely way and must above
all have the consent of the States involved, which in turn
must not raise obstacles and must cooperate fully with
these operations.
In the context of the peaceful solution of
international conflicts, it is vital to encourage greater
cooperation and coordination between the United Nations
and regional organizations. International crises can be
resolved effectively if we strengthen the various
mechanisms and procedures through which such
cooperation takes place.
We know that the United Nations continues to face
financial problems with a direct impact on peace-keeping
operations. Hence, the current machinery for financing
must be reformed, taking account of the capacity of States
to pay and ensuring that the availability of resources for
economic and social development is not endangered.
In January this year, with particular interest and in
a constructive spirit, we began participating for the first
29

time in the work of the Security Council. Our participation
is shaped by respect for sovereignty and for the principle of
the self-determination of peoples, and by our commitment
to the defence and promotion of human rights and peace.
Aware of its responsibilities and within its modest
means, Honduras has from the outset contributed to the
United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western
Sahara (MINURSO). We have also sent an infantry
contingent to help with the humanitarian activities of the
United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). We are
determined to continue our participation in such missions in
support of peace, security and international humanitarian
law.
In the Security Council we have given our full support
to the Middle East peace process. We hope that the ongoing
negotiations will lead to the establishment of lasting peace
in the region.
We are deeply saddened by the situation in Bosnia and
Herzegovina in particular, and in neighbouring countries as
well. We condemn the attempts at “ethnic cleansing” and
genocide against the civilian population. We therefore hope
that recent peace efforts in the region will bear fruit,
especially following the agreement reached at Geneva on
basic principles for the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
Progress in Angola, Liberia and Rwanda makes us
optimistic about peacemaking in those countries. United
Nations participation has been vital in that progress, and we
therefore unreservedly support it. We hope that in the end
these countries will achieve the reconciliation that will
enable them to begin their tasks of national reconstruction
and development.
On 26 June 1945, 50 nations, including my own, with
high hopes, signed the Charter of the United Nations at San
Francisco. In 1995 we are full of joy at commemorating the
fiftieth anniversary of the founding of an Organization that
has unquestionably served the interests of universality
through its gradual expansion. This is also an apt occasion
to ponder why all the expectations and dreams of the
founders have not yet been met, and to define the mission
the United Nations must carry out on the threshold of a
new millennium.
To address the question of the efficiency and
effectiveness of the United Nations system with greater
dynamism and realism, the international community has
made unprecedented demands for redefinition of the tasks
of the system in the areas of international security and the
promotion of the economic and social development of
Members.
The end of the century approaches; a new
millennium awaits us. We must therefore assess all that
has come before; make an in-depth analysis of the
weaknesses and strengths, the successes and failures of
the Organization; and with realism and fairness set an
agenda for the future that will topple injustice,
exterminate poverty and throttle warlike tendencies and
that will bolster the foundations of a truly unified,
humanistic and fair world order.
It is painful to see the weakening of the high
expectations created by the collapse of bipolar relations.
There have been no substantive changes in the behaviour
of highly developed countries towards the less developed
areas of the planet. We note with concern a wish to
replace the old order with a new, ominous bipolar world:
a world of countries that enjoy plenty, and of countries
that are enmired in poverty and destitution. We must not
permit this fatal design to be carried out. Let us show that
we can still imagine and create a different, prosperous
world that will include us all.
Let us hope that the new millennium will see the
miracle of international coexistence based on peace,
brotherhood and universal well-being. Otherwise, there
will be no further chance to see the light of hope for a
better future; to use the words of the Honduran poet
Roberto Sosa, we will live forever in “a world divided for
all”.


I extend to Mr. Freitas do Amaral my warm
congratulations on his election as President of this jubilee
fiftieth session of the General Assembly. At the same time
I wish to express appreciation to his predecessor,
Mr. Amara Essy, for his very successful work.
On 3 October 1995, in a cowardly terrorist act, an
attempt was made on the life of the President of the
Republic of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov. This assassination
attempt was a deliberate political act intended to destabilize
my country. It was carried out, not insignificantly, at a time
when the centuries-old dream of the Macedonian people for
their own State and for an equal role in the international
community had come true. Furthermore, it happened at the
very time when the resolution of the situation in the
Balkans was in sight and when all of our neighbours and
the world had come to accept the fact that the Republic of
Macedonia was a reality, and a factor of peace and
stability.
The attempt to assassinate President Gligorov is an
attack against the independent and peace-loving position
of Macedonia. It is directed against life in peace and
against the well-being of all our citizens. This terrorist act
has been strongly condemned and decisively rejected by
all of my countrymen, as well as by the international
community.
The efforts of the United Nations against
terrorism — a criminal phenomenon — must continue
with a strong determination to wipe this scourge out
completely. We should all fight unabatedly against the
forces of darkness and the power-hungry demagogues
who are the main source and generator of criminal
terrorist activities.
The attempt to assassinate my President on
3 October 1995 shall not, under any circumstances, divert
us in our pursuit of democracy, reforms, and the
development of good-neighbourly relations with all of our
neighbours, in brief, our efforts to transform our country
into a modern European State.
I wish to take this opportunity to express to the
President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General
and all delegations in this body our sincere gratitude for
their sympathy and solidarity and for their wishes for the
speedy recovery of my President.
As our Organization approaches the next 50 years,
as we approach the twenty-first century, it is timely to
acknowledge and pay tribute to the great achievements of
the United Nations in bringing about a better and safer
world and to stress the need to work together to improve
our Organization and prepare for the challenges of the
future.
Throughout the past 50 years, the United Nations has
been the right place in which to build better
understanding among nations, the right place in which to
address some of the basic problems and needs of
humanity and the right place in which to coordinate
actions towards a brighter future for mankind. The United
Nations assisted in achieving peace in many regions of
the world; it succeeded in preventing many conflicts; it
helped in decolonization; it delivered humanitarian
assistance; it succeeded in minimizing the nuclear threat
and in building bridges over many gulfs between
countries all over the world.
In the past few years, very important decisions have
been adopted at many United Nations conferences, such
14

as the Earth Summit in Rio, the World Conference on
Human Rights in Vienna, the International Conference on
Population and Development in Cairo, the World Summit
for Social Development in Copenhagen, the Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing, the 1995 Review and
Extension Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York
and the discussions on land-mines at the Conference on
Disarmament in Geneva. We must work to implement the
decisions made at these conferences. We must work on
finalizing the comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty, and on
furthering the disarmament process. At the same time, we
must also begin working towards finding solutions to, and
preventing, the new problems and challenges that we are
facing in this ever-changing world. Rapid technological
progress brings new hope for a better future but also puts
dangerous power into the hands of some of the worst
enemies of our civilization. We have to design new
mechanisms that will enable us to face these new
challenges and enable the United Nations to achieve new
successes in the next 50 years.
On the basis of the experience of the past 50 years, we
will have to examine the functioning of the United Nations
system as a whole, to restructure some of its parts, and to
assign new tasks to some of the others for the purpose of
achieving the efficiency of the Organization as a whole.
The United Nations must have as its vision a world that is
more stable, politically and economically. The recent
agreement between Israel and Palestine gives hope for
lasting peace in the Middle East. We strongly support the
Secretary-General’s Agenda for Development and hope that,
at this session, we will carry out this most important
undertaking successfully.
Economic development is necessary for political and
social stability. For many countries access to markets and
the question of finances for development are of essential
importance. We must also ensure that the United Nations
shall continue to be financially viable. Each Member of the
United Nations, however large or small, has an obligation
to do its share. We must also discuss the possible
improvement of the work of the Security Council. To this
end, my delegation fully supports the inclusion of Germany
and Japan as permanent members of the Security Council.
At this session of the General Assembly, I can assure
the President of the General Assembly that he will have the
full support of the Macedonian delegation in bringing to a
successful conclusion the many important issues we have
on the agenda. I would like to take this opportunity to
thank this General Assembly for giving us the important
duty of presiding over the Second Committee. We attach
particular significance to the economic issues that will be
discussed there.
The Republic of Macedonia, despite difficult
conditions, achieved its independence peacefully, without
the use of force and with respect for all international
norms. In a region so burdened by tragic wars, a region
with violations of human rights, with a high degree of
instability, we have pursued the path of our independence
with a strong commitment to resolve all of our problems
and conflicts peacefully, through dialogue, with good will,
with readiness for cooperation with all of our neighbours
and with all international organizations.
We are determined to contribute, within the
framework of our capabilities, to the overcoming of all of
the divisions and conflicts in the Balkans inherited from
the past and to pursue the integration of our country into
Europe as soon as possible, with respect for all of the
European norms and standards of relations between
countries as the only means to avoid repeating the tragic
incidents of this region.
One of the basic principles of our foreign policy is
that of equidistance in our relations with our neighbours,
a readiness to establish equally good relations with all of
our neighbours, based on mutual respect, the inviolability
of borders, non-interference in the internal affairs of other
countries, and non-use of force.
Recently in this building, under the auspices of the
United Nations, through the mediation of Cyrus Vance,
Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, and Matthew Nimetz, Special Envoy of
President Clinton, my country, the Republic of
Macedonia, reached an accord with the Republic of
Greece which regulates many aspects of relations between
the two countries, and creates a basis for good-
neighbourly cooperation. We believe that this accord will
contribute to increased stability in the Balkans and will
have a positive influence on the future development of
events in the region. We believe this accord is a good
illustration of the positive role of the international
community, and especially of the United Nations, in
pursuing peaceful solutions in relations between States,
based on the principles of the Charter of the United
Nations.
The Republic of Macedonia, during its four years of
independence, has faced many challenges. The economy
of the whole region was deeply disturbed by the war to
15

the north of us. As a result of the United Nations sanctions
against Serbia and Montenegro, the usual route to our
traditional markets in Europe was cut off. The losses caused
to our economy by the sanctions amount to over $4 billion.
Since February 1994, we have also been under a unilateral
trade embargo from the south. In the same period, we have
undertaken a thorough transformation of our economy,
turning it into a market-oriented economy, with all of the
difficulties and risks that this transition brings. Despite all
of this, we have succeeded in maintaining a high level of
political, social and economic stability. We have built new
democratic institutions with provisions for full protection of
human rights and a political system in which all national
minorities are recognized and enjoy full participation. We
cannot claim that we have solved all of our problems.
However, we have built the right mechanisms for solving
them.
A great deal of attention has been given during this
session of the General Assembly to United Nations peace-
keeping operations. The enormous efforts of the United
Nations in many peace-keeping operations have had varied
results. Some of them have been more successful than
others. Allow me to say a few words about the United
Nations peace-keeping operation in the Republic of
Macedonia, the United Nations Preventive Deployment
Force (UNPREDEP). It is a very successful operation and
is fully achieving its goals. It has contributed tremendously
to peace and stability in the southern Balkans and has built
confidence among the people of the Republic of Macedonia
in international organizations. This operation proves that
preventive deployment is the most effective channel for
United Nations peace-keeping efforts. This operation is the
best example that results can be achieved even with a
small, almost symbolic deployment of United Nations
peace-keepers, if it is done at the right time and with a
clear mandate. The full support the people of the Republic
of Macedonia are giving this operation shows that the right
decision was made by the Security Council when this
peace-keeping operation was approved. This has been a
very successful operation, and we hope it will serve as a
model for many future activities of the United Nations; if
so, I am confident that the same positive results will be
achieved.
These days there is new hope that peace in Bosnia can
be achieved. This tragic war has resulted in huge numbers
of victims, a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe and
massive destruction. We hope that the efforts of the
international community will result in a solution which will
respect the basic principles of the modern world. Bosnia
should be preserved as an independent State within its
internationally recognized borders. Provision must be
made for full respect of human rights, and repetition of
atrocities and war crimes must never be allowed.
We believe that as soon as peace is achieved it will
be necessary to start the process of the reduction of arms
in the Balkans, to start the process of a Balkan détente.
This year the General Assembly, under item 81 of
its agenda, will consider the report of the Secretary-
General on the development of good-neighbourly relations
among Balkan States, prepared on the basis of resolution
48/84 B, adopted at its forty-eighth session on the
proposal of the Macedonian delegation. It is expected that
special attention will be paid to measures and preventive
activities aimed at the creation of a stable zone of peace
and cooperation in the Balkans by the year 2000.
The only way to achieve long-term peace and
stability in the whole Balkan region is through the full
integration of all the Balkan countries into Europe, with
full respect for European standards and norms. The
independence, territorial integrity and inviolability of the
borders of all Balkan countries must be respected.
Problems of national minorities that have been at the root
of many conflicts in the Balkans throughout its history
should be addressed. All national minorities should be
recognized and their basic human rights fully respected.
It is our duty to work for peace and the democratic
development of the whole Balkan region now, and not to
leave burdens of the past to future generations.
Just as we must work for the stabilization of the
Balkan region as a whole, we must also recognize the
uniqueness of each of the countries of the region. The
problems are not identical, and therefore the solutions
cannot be identical. There are a lot of discussions about
the problems of former Yugoslavia. It is very important
to understand that there is no such entity as former
Yugoslavia”. There are a number of new countries in this
area, each with their own set of problems and prospects,
and there is no way to find a unified solution for these
problems. Each country must be treated individually.
The hope and desire for a better world were the
foundations for the United Nations 50 years ago. At this
session of the General Assembly, it is our duty to lay the
groundwork for the role of the United Nations in the
twenty-first century. We should all work together towards
a safer world and to reduce the fears and threats of the
future as much as possible.


Allow me on behalf of the
Ugandan delegation to convey our warm greetings to
Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral on the occasion of his
election to the presidency of the fiftieth session of the
General Assembly. His election does great honour to his
country, Portugal, with which Uganda enjoys very cordial
relations. We are confident that Mr. Freitas do Amaral will
guide the Assembly’s deliberations to a successful
conclusion.
Allow me also to pay special tribute to His Excellency
Mr. Amara Essy, Foreign Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, for the
skilful manner in which he presided over the work of the
forty-ninth session of the General Assembly.
I salute the Secretary-General, His Excellency
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his tireless efforts in the
service of our Organization.
Fifty years ago, in the aftermath of the Second
World War, with its destructive nationalism, economic
and social depression and the attendant social dislocation,
the United Nations was established. It was founded by
men and women who were determined to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war. They created the
United Nations as the only universal international
organization that would exist to cope with global
problems and ensure that the international community
enjoyed peace and prosperity. The United Nations Charter
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provided
the bedrock for a new system of rights and obligations for
the promotion of international peace and security.
The new order, organized on the basis of universality
and sovereign equality, was intended to encompass all
nations, large and small, strong and weak, in order to
promote the well-being of all peoples. The United Nations
thus emerged as a beacon of hope out of the ruins and
darkness of the Second World War. Today this vision
remains as valid as it was 50 years ago. It is for that
reason that we reaffirm our confidence in the
Organization and its global mandate.
In the five decades of the existence of the United
Nations, the world has witnessed remarkable changes. The
communications revolution and the globalization of the
world economy have transformed the world into a global
village and have increased interdependence among
nations. The cold war, which dominated the post-War era,
ended, with the favourable dramatic transformation of
East-West relations. Over 100 States which were colonial

dependencies in 1945 achieved independence. We also
witnessed the birth of a free, non-racial and democratic
South Africa and the elimination of the obnoxious system
of apartheid.
While the end of the cold war has reduced tension
between the major Powers and has facilitated the resolution
of a number of regional conflicts, we continue to witness
the proliferation of intra-State conflicts. These are new
challenges which call for more innovative approaches and
which underscore the continuing relevance of the United
Nations.
We believe that the United Nations should address in
a concrete and decisive manner the issue of socio-economic
development, without which peace and security cannot be
sustained. The United Nations and the international
community have to renew their resolve to eradicate poverty
and deprivation. This spectre of poverty and deprivation is
rampant in Africa and in the least developed countries. We
should act collectively and decisively to change this
situation. The fiftieth anniversary celebrations are a fitting
occasion to make this solemn commitment.
It is no coincidence that our region, Africa, which is
the least developed in the world, is also the most affected
by strife and conflict. In order to put an end to this we need
to foster a comprehensive approach which addresses the
root causes of these conflicts and consolidates and
guarantees durable peace and security. To this end, we
must, first of all, boost our capacity to anticipate and
prevent conflicts before they occur, through preventive
diplomacy. Secondly, we should be prepared to respond
swiftly to emergency situations. And lastly, we must
consolidate the peace by putting in place recovery and
rehabilitation programmes in order to create the economic
conditions for peace and stability.
In addition to this, there should be increased
recognition of the role of the affected regions in the
formulation of appropriate responses. It is for this reason
that we consider the establishment of the Organization of
African Unity mechanism for conflict prevention,
management and resolution a timely and appropriate
initiative. The Organization of African Unity decision to put
in place a Central Organ for that mechanism was an equally
positive development. We appeal to the international
community to render the requisite financial and technical
support to complement Africa’s efforts to make these
institutions work.
We salute the return of peace to Cambodia, Haiti,
Mozambique and Angola, and we are encouraged by the
positive developments in Liberia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
and the Middle East. We commend the steps being taken
by the Government in Rwanda to restore normalcy and
national reconciliation, and we call for expeditious and
full activation of the International Tribunal for Rwanda.
We believe that it is possible to contain the situation
in Burundi and avoid the replication of the genocide that
was perpetrated in Rwanda last year. We continue to be
concerned about the situation in Somalia and call for
reconciliation among the parties to the conflict there.
As regards Western Sahara, we urge all parties to
exercise the statesmanship necessary to prepare the way
for a just and durable solution. In order to consolidate and
give hope to all these troubled parts of the world the
international community must render all necessary
support. We in Uganda will continue to contribute to
conflict resolution, peacemaking and peace-keeping,
within our capabilities.
The threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction remains a matter of grave concern to this
Organization. We welcome the conclusion of the Review
and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). This
should strengthen the non-proliferation regime. If that is
to be fully realized, it should be complemented by the
entry into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of
the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of
Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. It is
deplorable that, in spite of the indefinite extension of the
NPT, some countries have continued to carry out nuclear
tests. This goes against the letter and the spirit of the
understanding on the indefinite extension of the
non-proliferation Treaty.
We note the progress made so far in the negotiations
on a comprehensive test-ban Treaty, and we urge its early
conclusion. We welcome various regional initiatives
aimed at establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones and we
support the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone
in Africa as a contribution to global disarmament efforts.
In both its domestic and its foreign policy, Uganda
accords high priority to the observance of human rights.
We have entrenched in the new Constitution a human
rights commission as an institutional framework for the
development and observance of human rights. We wish

to express our appreciation to all countries and institutions
that have supported us in our efforts to develop and
strengthen human-rights monitoring and enforcement
capabilities.
We have just completed the process of establishing a
Constitution, aimed at consolidating the rule of law. The
new Constitution was enacted on 22 September 1995 by a
democratically elected Constituent Assembly and is due to
be promulgated shortly. The Constitution paves the way to
the holding of general and presidential elections, which are
scheduled for early next year. This will enhance the
empowerment of the people to take charge of their own
governance and their own destiny.
The Government has made efforts to empower our
people, especially women, young people and other
vulnerable groups. Within the framework of the bottom-up
Resistance Council system, the population has been
mobilized and provided with modest capital —
entandikwa — as part of our national endeavour to create
productive and income-generating opportunities in order to
improve the earning capacity of the family and, thus,
improve the living conditions of the people.
As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the United
Nations, we should reaffirm our commitment to the primacy
of the democratic principle at all levels, including that of
the United Nations. It is in this context that Uganda
supports restructuring of the Security Council to make it
more transparent and democratic in its decision-making, and
more representative of the increased membership of the
United Nations.
In the same vein, we urge that the Bretton Woods
institutions take into account the problems, concerns and
aspirations of developing countries in the formulation and
design of policies and programmes in order to respond to
their social and economic needs.
Many developing countries continue to be adversely
affected by the uneven and inequitable trends in the global
economy. These trends have widened further the gap
between the rich and the poor countries. The socio-
economic situation in Africa is critical and continues to
deteriorate. It is characterized by a weak physical and
institutional infrastructure, underdeveloped human
resources, epidemics and disease, lack of adequate shelter,
poverty and deprivation. All these factors undermine peace
and stability, and this, in turn, hampers growth and
development.
We have undertaken bold economic and political
reforms in Uganda with a view to creating an
environment conducive to the consolidation of social and
economic progress. These reforms have been
characterized by the attainment of basic macro-economic
stability and the enhancement of democracy and the rule
of law, and they have stimulated reasonable economic
growth and social progress. In spite of these modest
achievements our countries continue to depend heavily on
the export of primary commodities, which do not attract
fair prices in international markets. There has also been
a steady decline in the availability of both domestic and
external resources for development. To compound the
situation, most of our countries are saddled with heavy
debts, the servicing of which is no longer sustainable.
All these and other factors have contributed to the
marginalization of Africa and have made it difficult for
the continent to benefit from the positive impulses of
globalization and the liberalization of world trade. These
issues were reviewed at the high-level segment of the
Economic and Social Council, which addressed the theme
of African development and implementation of the United
Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in
the 1990s, and in the ongoing discussion here at the
United Nations about the mid-term review of the Global
Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries
for the 1990s.
The two meetings agreed that the United Nations
New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s
and the global Programme of Action for the Least
Developed Countries for the 1990s remained largely
unimplemented. We should seize the opportunity provided
by the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations to decide
on concrete actions that will give hope to the peoples of
Africa and of the least developed countries.
The stagnation and decline in official development
assistance (ODA) are disturbing. We are equally
concerned at the wavering commitment towards the
eleventh replenishment of the international development
assistance fund. We urge our development partners to
fulfil the internationally agreed obligations with regard to
official development assistance. This would be a fitting
and tangible show of solidarity with Africa and, indeed,
the least developed countries.
Our external indebtedness and debt-servicing
obligations have reached unsustainable levels. We
therefore call for an urgent once-and-for-all development-
oriented initiative on all types of debts, which could
3

include the following: first, an enhancement of the Naples
terms and an improvement in its accessibility; and,
secondly, a significant initiative on multilateral debts,
including a softening of the financing terms of International
Monetary Fund (IMF) loans to make it IDA-comparable.
These initiatives could be achieved through the sale of IMF
gold stocks and by creating an appropriate debt-relief
facility. We believe these actions will release much-needed
resources, which are currently going into the debt-servicing
of development activities, including the eradication of
poverty.
At the moment Africa accounts for a meagre
2.4 per cent of world merchandise trade. In the context of
the Uruguay Round agreements, it is estimated that the
continent could lose up to $2.6 billion annually in the
course of the initial years of the implementation of the
agreement. By contrast, global trade will be boosted by
$500 billion annually. The legitimate concerns of Africa
and the least developed countries have been identified and
specific measures to address them have been recommended
by both the Ministerial Decision of Marrakesh and the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD). For Africa to benefit from the liberalization of
world trade, these measures, including capacity-building,
compensation, enhanced-market-access provisions and
financial assistance towards institutional and economic
transformation, must be implemented fully and without
delay.
To assist in the follow-up and implementation of the
Uruguay Round agreements, two institutions are significant
and must be strengthened and supported — UNCTAD as
the institution with a specific focus on trade and
development issues, especially as they relate to developing
countries; and the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO) because of its role in the promotion
of industrialization.
We note the ongoing discussions under the open-ended
ad hoc Working Group of the General Assembly on an
Agenda for Development. It is our hope that this process
will generate specific measures and commitments to address
the specific problems of developing countries. We also
hope that it will help to forge consensus on development
which takes into account, and builds on, the commitments
and programmes of action already agreed on in the series
of United Nations conferences that have been held since
1990.
Uganda is concerned about the serious problem posed
by the rapid growth and spread of water hyacinth on Lake
Victoria and other lakes and rivers in the Nile valley.
This has adversely affected the ecological balance of our
waters and the livelihood of our populations, who depend
on fishing as a means of survival. Besides, the hyacinth
is threatening to choke the Owen Falls Dam — our only
major source of hydroelectric power. It has disrupted our
water transportation system, which is very important for
a land-locked country such as Uganda. We make an
urgent appeal to the international community to extend
support to enable us to address the problem of water
hyacinth.
We consider South-South cooperation to be an
important aspect of development cooperation. The sharing
and pooling of information, knowledge, markets and
resources are some of the ways in which developing
countries can promote their growth and development. To
this end we are active participants in all arrangements for
cooperation in our subregion and support the
establishment of the African Economic Community. We
believe that these arrangements and the institutions
established to promote them, such as the South Centre,
should be supported by the international community.
The United Nations has over the years provided a
forum for intensive dialogue on all issues. Through a
series of global conferences, it has helped to forge
international consensus on global problems — issues such
as the environment, population, the status of women,
human rights, development, and many more. Its
specialized agencies have made an invaluable contribution
in their respective spheres of activity and have provided
humanitarian and development assistance to many parts of
the world. In recent years, despite drastic limitations on
personnel and resources, the United Nations has
responded to the dramatic rise in the demand for peace-
keeping and other emergency operations throughout the
world. These are laudable accomplishments, which should
strengthen our resolve and our confidence in support of
the Organization.
As we stand in the twilight of the twentieth century
and approach the dawn of the new millennium, we should
use the occasion provided by the fiftieth anniversary of
the United Nations to strengthen the Organization. We
should demonstrate our dedication to the Organization and
its component parts by providing it with the resources
necessary for the accomplishment of its immense
mandate. Our challenge is to bequeath to succeeding
generations a democratic, transparent and more effective
United Nations.
4


In a few days the United Nations will be marking the first
half-century of its existence. This historic occasion, which
the world with its different races, ethnic groups, religions,
and creeds will celebrate, will reach its peak here at
United Nations Headquarters, where world leaders and
Heads of State will meet.
This occasion, while it should reaffirm the need for
the United Nations, and underline its importance and the
importance of its principles, objectives, and activities,
will, at the same time, pose certain questions about the
current state of the Organization and where it stands
today. Such questions must be viewed in the context of
the principles that governed the establishment of the
United Nations and the objectives it was meant to
achieve. For it must be recalled that mankind wanted the
United Nations to be an enterprise for peace, harmony,
solidarity, dialogue, and rapprochement amongst peoples
and cultures of the world.
Through this legitimate dream, mankind sought to
build an edifice for rights, justice and peace. The United
Nations was meant to be an arbiter, a forum where people
could seek to defend their rights whenever they are
denied, and to redress injustice whenever oppression
prevails. By establishing the United Nations, humanity
4

wanted to put an end to the era of war and to open the door
to peace, national sovereignty, independence, and territorial
integrity, and to protect peoples’ freedom of choice.
In the era of the communications and transportation
revolution, when political, economic, demographic, security
and cultural barriers are lowered, people need the United
Nations more than ever. They need a forum for constructive
dialogue and an effective and permanent mechanism for
consultation, cooperation, and coordination.
We are witnessing a scientific and technological
revolution that intensifies the need for a greater synergy
that would enable us to meet increasingly complicated
demands and challenges, to bridge the widening gap
between nations and, together, to do what no nation can do
alone.
The world’s demographic explosion has put the
Earth’s environment under constant pressure to cater to the
increasing demands made upon it. Competition for the
world’s resources is on the rise, as is the imbalance
between human needs and disposable resources. The
accumulation of lethal and sophisticated nuclear, chemical,
and bacteriological weapons, and the concomitant increase
in their destructive capabilities across continents, increase
peoples’ risk of annihilation. Their proliferation and
possession by some States that lack even the absolute
minimum of credibility and fail to provide any political
guarantees regarding the decision to use such weapons,
increases the world’s need for guarantees and controls on
armament.
The information revolution is contributing to the rapid
dissemination of information about political, scientific, and
economic achievements across boundaries. Unequal access
to information by some societies is accentuating their
isolation and causing them to be bound by their traditions,
either because they want to protect their national identity,
or because they are unable to assimilate such achievements.
Extremist and fundamentalist tendencies express the fear
haunting these societies against what are often perceived as
threats to their national identity.
All these risks make it more important than ever
before to reactivate United Nations machinery and to
reinvigorate confidence in its justice and credibility, to free
its decisions from hegemony, to redress its imbalances, and
to apply the same standards in its approach and
commitment. That is the path we should take if the United
Nations is to remain a world authority and an alternative to
heated confrontations.
So, where do we stand at present with regard to the
moral authority and credibility of United Nations
resolutions? How can we apply one standard across the
board?
The world has witnessed and continues to witness a
number of local and regional crises. Lebanon, which has
suffered from the scourge of war, follows what is
happening around the world with grave concern and
interest.
Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina are two clear
examples of our inability to act in the face of horrible
atrocities. More than 20 years have passed and the
Cypriot problem still awaits settlement, despite numerous
relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and
Security Council to unify the island and to protect its
independence and territorial integrity. The question of the
islands of the United Arab Emirates still awaits a solution
that would ease tension in the region.
Four years ago the Madrid Conference was
convened. We were optimistic about the invitation, the
content, and the sponsorship. As the co-sponsors were
super-Powers, and the Conference was to be convened on
the basis of establishing a just, comprehensive, and lasting
peace anchored in the principle of “land for peace”, and
on the basis of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967),
338 (1973), and 425 (1978) respectively, we accepted the
invitation, assuming that those who accepted it were also
in agreement with its content and that what remained to
be done was to discuss the questions of mechanisms and
schedules.
However, years have passed and months have gone
by while some waited for the results of elections and for
the arrival of the opportune moment at the domestic level.
Time has passed while some awaited circumstances that,
they bet, were bound to strengthen their positions, or
conducted secret negotiations that they expected to
weaken, isolate or single out some other side. The result
has been that we are still discussing today the basic
principles which were supposed to have been settled at
the very beginning of the Conference.
The principle of land for peace still awaits the
materialization of the concept of “land”. The principle of
withdrawal is still being obfuscated by the term
“redeployment”. We are told that resistance must cease,
without any guarantee that withdrawal or liberation will
ever take place. We are told that the boycott must end,
but no guarantee is given that usurped rights will be
5

restored. We are required to engage in multilateral
negotiations on complementary subjects while the
fundamental bilateralism remains frozen and while we
know not whether there will be peace, or what the form and
content of that peace will ever be.
We are required to shake hands and to celebrate
before we know what exactly we are supposed to celebrate.
We, the victims of aggression, are required to give security
guarantees to the aggressor. Those who do not possess
weapons are required to reassure those who possess one of
the largest nuclear and chemical arsenals which the world
could not make subject to the Non-Proliferation Treaty
when the Treaty was extended.
The media hype that surrounded the recent signing of
the second Protocol between the Palestinian Authority and
Israel, which glorified the event and amplified its content,
makes us wonder about the extent of the authority that will
be exercised by the Palestinian people, the size of the
territories that would be returned and, ultimately, to wonder
about the fate of three quarters of the Palestinian people
who were displaced from the land of Palestine. What about
their right to return, their right to a nationality, to an
identity? What about those whose status was never
discussed either at Oslo or at Taba? We wonder: Could
those tiny specks of land — in which an authority less than
that of a municipality will be exercised — be called the
Palestinian homeland? Doesn’t the isolation of those tiny
specks into so-called security islands mean additional
prisons in which anger and rancour will fester?
Will the 400,000 Palestinians who are now in Lebanon
and others who are elsewhere in the world ever enjoy their
long-awaited right of return? How can we have faith in a
country that boasts of its desire for peace and its intention
to restore legitimate rights to people while it continues to
violate those rights, to build settlements and to occupy and
confiscate land? It cannot be credited unless it desists from
such actions forthwith, particularly in southern Lebanon,
where it has recently confiscated lands.
Could this bloated glorification by the media serve as
an alternative to the restoring of legitimate rights? Could
this anaesthetization of international public opinion, this
illusion of a solution, actually put an end to the problem?
We in Lebanon are patiently and diligently continuing
to rebuild our homeland after the destruction of a ravaging
war. We are continuing to build our institutions and our
security. Those who had emigrated are continuing to return
to their homeland, and those who were displaced are
continuing to return to their villages. Laws are being
enacted so that Lebanon may regain its natural place in
the Middle East on the economic, political and cultural
levels.
Lebanon has suffered for far too long from the
consequences and reverberations of the Middle East
crises. Lebanon has paid its heavy dues. Once again it
proves that it is capable of facing difficulties and rising
up to challenges and that its unity formula is much
stronger than was once believed, because it is the only
definitive reality.
Lebanon will once again prove that certain nations
have a history that is more extensive than their geography
and a role that is much larger than their physical size. As
long as Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence continue
to be compromised; as long as major parts of its land
continue to be out of its control; as long as the Lebanese
State continues to be unable to extend its full sovereignty
over all its national territory by its own legitimate
national forces; as long as Israel continues to occupy
Lebanon’s territories 17 years after the adoption by the
Security Council of resolution 425 (1978) which
demanded Israel’s complete withdrawal from Lebanon; as
long as Lebanese citizens continue to languish in Israeli
prisons and detention camps, ignored by the international
community in clear violation of their human rights — as
long as all this continues, the wounds will never heal and
the bleeding will never stop.
So long as the occupation of more than one eighth
of our national territory continues; so long as Israeli raids
daily sow our land with cluster bombs, fission bombs,
scatter bombs and booby traps for the killing of children;
so long as such criminal acts continue to be perpetrated
against a people that refuses to surrender; so long as our
women continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones and
so long as our children cry out, the cries of anguish will
continue to haunt the world and the voices raised against
injustice will grow louder than the roar of the guns that
defend a senseless occupation.
The occupier has used all the means available to it,
but has failed to contain this anger. Israel’s logic of
security zones inside Lebanese territories and security
belts has failed also. The cost has by far outweighed the
returns.
The Security Council’s method in dealing with
Lebanon’s complaints does not represent the optimum
means of performing the role of that important body. We
6

have waited so long for the implementation of Security
Council resolutions. Instead, the Council has refrained from
condemning aggression, and if it happens to do so, it tends
to equate the aggressor with the victim of the aggression.
When it fails to condemn, it uses as a pretext the desire not
to cause any distortion to the peace process.
The peace negotiations, however, do not absolve the
Security Council from the obligation to perform its
appointed role at any given moment, especially when an act
of aggression is committed in the shadow of a peace
process. Nor do they absolve the Council from its
responsibility towards international peace. Discriminating in
the application of United Nations resolutions for some and
depriving others of the right to call for implementation;
discriminating in the application of the stipulations of
Chapter VII of the Charter on some trouble-makers while
refraining from such application on others in a sort of
cover-up for the practices of those protected others, will
deprive the United Nations of credibility as an arbiter to
whom the nations of the world have recourse in search of
justice.
The days when the problems of people were confined
to their own countries are over. The days when State
boundaries were barriers that contained a country’s crises
are over as well. Regardless of how distant any country
may be from a crisis area, it can none the less remain
subject to repercussions of such crisis. Thus every country
remains vulnerable to the political, economic,
environmental, demographic and security problems of other
countries.
The Middle East must not forever be a fiery volcano
that threatens international peace and security. This way,
the region will not see better days nor will time be forever
on the side of those who seek peace.
We have to realize that peace must be equitable, not
biased; just, not unjust; genuine, not ceremonial; balanced,
not deficient. Peace must help the refugee to return rather
than consecrate his displacement. Peace must satisfy those
who rebel against injustice, not provoke their anger.
The new tendency to weigh the suitability of
resolutions, to selectively enforce some and freeze some, to
elaborate different interpretations to different resolutions, an
enterprise that is engaged in, from time to time, in the
wings of the Organization under the pretext of having to
interpret resolutions with reference to the circumstances
under which they were adopted, all this threatens credibility
of the United Nations as a whole.
This then is the situation we face today, and it is
against the backdrop of this situation that I congratulate
the President on his election at this session and extend
appreciation to his predecessor, to the Secretary-General
and to the commanders, officers, and soldiers of the
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),
whom I wholeheartedly thank for their valuable efforts
under difficult circumstances.
May God guide us to peace and to acquitting
ourselves in the eyes of the generations to come.