At the outset, I would
like to warmly congratulate you, Mr. President, on your
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
this session. I am confident that your vast experience
and outstanding record of achievements will guarantee
the best results for this session. I wish you every
success in this crucial role. I would also like to extend
my thanks to your predecessor, His Excellency Mr.
Theo-Ben Gurirab, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Namibia, for the productive way in which
he managed the affairs of the fifty-fourth session. I also
welcome Tuvalu as the new Member of our
Organization.
Globalization is definitely the most typical
phenomenon of the upcoming turn of the millennium.
It is frequently criticized and at other times is accepted
uncritically; however, it definitely brings
unprecedented progress and, at the same time,
problems and challenges. The economic boom also has
another aspect in the form of large social differences.
The environment often suffers from the industrial
boom. Due to new communication technologies, direct
human contact is forgotten. I could continue in this
vein.
The world community also has to face other
problems, which are beginning to display a
transregional nature — for instance, organized crime,
terrorism and emerging armed conflicts. Who is better
prepared to tackle all this than the United Nations —
the most global institution we have.
In my view, the Millennium Summit was the most
significant step on this very demanding road. It spelled
progress when compared with similar meetings in the
past, as this time it dealt with the urgent problems of
civilization to a greater extent. Moreover, the
Millennium Summit managed to draw the attention of
the whole world to problems which the United Nations
considers to be of the greatest importance. However, to
make progress, a lot still remains to be done.
Therefore, I will take the liberty of commencing my
contribution precisely with the topic of the reform of
the United Nations.
The report of the Secretary-General, “We the
Peoples: the role of the United Nations in the twenty-
first century” (A/54/2000) displays great promise in
this direction. The United Nations reform process must
continue. The key point is the reform of the Security
Council. The positions and the opinions of Member
States on the crucial issues of Security Council
reform — the increase in the number of permanent and
non-permanent members and the issue of the veto
right — unfortunately still vary greatly, making it very
difficult to achieve a substantive outcome in the near
future. The results of the work the Open-ended
Working Group on the Question of Equitable
Representation on and Increase in the Membership of
2

the Security Council and Other Matters related to the
Security Council for the past seven years are not
encouraging. Despite this, Slovakia will support the
renewal of the Working Group's mandate for the fifty-
fifth session of the General Assembly. We consider
next year's session of the Working Group to be crucial
for the further advancement of the reform process
within this forum.
Slovakia has already presented its position
regarding to the key issues of Security Council reform.
We support strengthening its representative character,
effectiveness and transparency of the decision-making
process and working methods.
With regard to the enlargement of the Council, we
consider the increase in the number of members in both
categories to be justified. However, in our view, the
number of members in both categories does not have to
necessarily increase simultaneously. The failure to
reach an agreement on one category should not prevent
the eventual conclusion of an agreement on the
enlargement of the other. The total number of members
should not exceed 25, in order not to jeopardize the
Council's effectiveness and flexibility in immediately
reacting to crisis situations. The Group of Eastern
European States, whose membership has more than
doubled over the past years, should not be omitted
from the enlargement of the Security Council.
Since its founding, the United Nations, as the
world's universal organization, has under the Charter
assumed primary responsibility for maintaining
international peace and security. This concept
continues to be fundamental to the United Nations and
is reinforced every time an international development
necessitates a call to our community for rapid
peacekeeping response.
The evolution in the nature of United Nations
peacekeeping operations — from performing
traditional military functions to the greater need for
multidisciplinary approaches, including interim
administration and post-conflict peace-building —
along with the significant expansion of regional and
international conflicts worldwide and the growing
demand for the involvement of the United Nations in
their prevention and settlement, puts the United
Nations potential in this vital area to a challenging test.
The need for peacekeeping has never been greater.
However, such international assistance can be effective
only if it is based on peacekeeping operations well
suited to dealing with all the problems and the needs of
the situation to which it is deployed.
Therefore, we welcome the report of the expert
Panel on United Nations Peace Operations, which we
consider to be an important step toward a meaningful
reform of United Nations peacekeeping activities. The
Brahimi report (A/55/305) presents a serious challenge
to various actors involved in meeting the requirements
of today's peacekeeping operations.
One should agree, and recent experience has
confirmed, that good intentions in deploying
peacekeeping operations must be supported by clearly
defined and achievable mandates. Only an adequate
mandate and appropriate resources, both human and
financial, can bring success to and strengthen the
credibility of the United Nations in its peacekeeping
efforts, and not cause more problems. It requires an
appropriate and responsible approach by key players,
including the Security Council, Member States and the
United Nations Secretariat, in acting promptly on their
own, as well as effective cooperation to give a rapid
and decisive response to conflict situations.
Apart from the reform of the Security Council,
qualitative improvements must be achieved in
modernizing and streamlining the responsible
departmental units in the Secretariat to enhance their
efficiency and the effectiveness of their output as much
as possible. At the same time, Member States must
support the ability of the Secretariat to carry out the
tasks we ask it to do, since its ability to act depends on
the will of Member States to contribute troops and
other assistance to potential peacekeeping operations.
Member States should provide adequately
prepared troops who are able to fulfil the tasks
assigned. Simultaneously, peacekeeping operations
should, from the very beginning, be provided with
adequate financial resources to support the wide array
of mandates. It is therefore equally important to ensure
that the financial system providing the funding for
United Nations peacekeeping is stable, equitable and
transparent and that there is a flexible mechanism in
place with the ability to stabilize finances for current
and future peacekeeping operations. The revision of the
United Nations peacekeeping scale of assessment over
the next few months will provide a genuine opportunity
for the General Assembly to take a critical look at the
current method of assessment and, with the emerging
3

consensus of Member States, to take important steps to
find a viable solution to this pressing issue.
I am pleased to announce today our strong
support for revising the financial structure of
peacekeeping and our readiness to meet our financial
commitment under a reformed peacekeeping scale.
We would like to express our appreciation to the
Secretary-General for his significant role in the process
of United Nations reforms. We welcome his
commitment to implement the changes recommended
in the Brahimi report for which he is responsible. We
should do our part and continue our personnel, material
and financial support to United Nations peacekeeping
missions. Slovakia has traditionally been participating
in peacekeeping operations and, as part of its latest
activities, is ready to send an engineering unit to the
United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
authorized by the Security Council last Friday.
Due to the geopolitical position of Slovakia, we
closely follow the situation in the Balkans. We are
aware that problems can only be effectively addressed,
and crises and tension in the region eliminated, when
all the countries concerned are maximally involved;
when they are willing to collaborate to search for
compromises, and are prepared to overlook historical
feuds with a view to developing relations in a
complicated region, from both an ethnic and
nationalistic perspective. We hope that the elections in
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will be held in a
peaceful atmosphere, and that neither of the parties will
resort to violence. It is necessary that the elections
abide by the rule of law, and that they be democratic,
free and fair. Otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve
the basic objective: the stabilization of the situation in
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in the region as
a whole.
In the area of disarmament, we welcome the
consensus achieved at the sixth Review Conference of
the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons, which confirmed commitments to
the provisions of the Treaty and its strengthened review
process. This positive impulse needs to be efficiently
utilized in the process of further implementation of the
Treaty.
We also welcome the ongoing preparatory
process for the United Nations Conference on the Illicit
Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its
Aspects in 2001. The outcome of the Conference
should provide us with clear strategies on how to cope
with the issue in its complexity.
Slovakia fully supports respect for the norms of
international law and the execution of international
treaties in good faith, in compliance with the principle
of pacta sunt servanda. The harmonization of
traditional theories based on the principle of State
sovereignty as the basic element of international law
with newly developing principles based on global
respect and guarantees of fundamental human rights
and freedoms will be necessary for the future
development of international law. New ideas and
concepts should be the subject of extensive discussion
and negotiations between States, resulting in a
consensus in the international community, as was the
case 55 years ago, when the United Nations Charter
was adopted.
Slovakia supports the early establishment of the
International Criminal Court. The results of the
negotiations of the Preparatory Commission for the
International Criminal Court, especially the adoption of
the draft Rules of Procedures and Evidence and the
Elements of Crimes by consensus last June, are very
encouraging.
Slovakia equally supports the work of the United
Nations in the field of combating international
terrorism. The adoption of the international Convention
for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism is the
latest fruit of the work in this field. Slovakia will sign
the Convention by the end of the year 2000.
In facing all the challenges of our era the United
Nations must prove its relevance. Slovakia is
convinced of the irreplaceable role of the United
Nations in a whole range of global issues, the solution
of which is practically impossible by Member States
alone, on an individual or group basis, or at a regional
level. If we want the term globalization to have only
positive connotations, the endeavour to tackle the
accumulated problems must become a matter of the
highest interest to all of us. I believe that this
Assembly will contribute to this endeavour.


On
behalf of the people and Government of Papua New
Guinea, I join previous speakers in congratulating you,
Sir, on your election to your prestigious post. Your
unanimous election as President of the General
Assembly at the dawn of the new millennium shows
the high esteem in which the international community
holds both you personally and your country, Finland.
We are confident that you will guide the historic fifty-
fifth session to a successful conclusion.
The skill with which your predecessor, Mr. Theo-
Ben Gurirab of Namibia, cooperated to develop the
theme of the recent Millennium Summit, and presided
over the drafting of the outcome document and ensured
the smooth management of the Summit earned our
sincere appreciation for a job very well done. We also
congratulate him on his very positive contribution to
our collective deliberations during the previous year.
May I also take this opportunity, through you, Sir,
to heartily congratulate the heads of State of both
Finland and Namibia on their magnanimous
stewardship and successful conclusion of the recent
unprecedented large assembly of approximately 150
heads of State and Government in New York, which
paved the way for the pursuit of our common vision
and security into the twenty-first century.
Beyond the millennium celebrations, this is a
time for reflection and looking ahead. The Millennium
Summit took place on the eve of the twenty-fifth
anniversary of Papua New Guinea's independence. The
same anniversary also marks the first quarter century of
my country's membership of the United Nations. It is
therefore an apt occasion both for reflecting on
experience and for looking ahead.
My particular focus is on the changing character
of, need for and potential for international cooperation.
The conjunction of the millennium with Papua New
Guinea's silver anniversary invites us to take a number
of different time perspectives: the short, medium and
long terms. For those of us who have been privileged to
play an active part in public life during this period, it
also provides the opportunity to compare the ambitions
we had 25 years ago with the challenges we face now.
As the Secretary-General recently reminded us in
the very title of the document (A/54/2000) he prepared
to guide and stimulate the Millennium Summit, the
United Nations was formed in the name and with the
objective of furthering the common purposes of “We
the peoples of the United Nations”. In similar fashion,
the Constitution that came into effect when my country
became independent was made and adopted in the
name of “We the people of Papua New Guinea”.
2

As someone who had the honour of participating
in making the Papua New Guinea Constitution, I am
very mindful of the national goals and directive
principles we set for ourselves at independence. While
some have a distinctively national character — such as
preserving, developing and building on Papua New
Guinean ways — others resemble challenges that the
United Nations faces today. They include such
universal challenges as promoting integral human
development, equity and participation, and sustainable
use of natural resources and the environment. They
also include the challenge of maintaining,
strengthening and making mutually beneficial use of
national sovereignty and self-reliance.
But look at us now. What have we achieved?
What remains to be done? The most striking feature of
contemporary Papua New Guinea is the way in which
we have had to trim our objectives. Our situation is,
obviously, not unique, but it certainly warrants the
most careful consideration.
When the present Government, led by the Prime
Minister, The Honourable Sir Mekere Morauta, came to
office in the middle of last year, we set ourselves five
very carefully defined objectives: to restore integrity to
State institutions; to stabilize our national currency —
the kina — and the national budget; to remove
obstacles to investment and growth; and to continue the
process of working for lasting peace in Bougainville by
peaceful means.
The national goals and directive principles
continue to guide our long-term ambitions and plans.
But experience and the realities of governance in the
age of globalization have required us to focus on much
more specific, short- and medium-term objectives. We
cannot blame others — or even such largely impersonal
processes as economic and technological
globalization — for every aspect of our current
situation. Much of the responsibility lies with leaders
and institutions at home. Both fortunately and
unfortunately, it is part of the human condition at the
start of the twenty-first century that we are not on our
own. Despite important differences in origins,
processes and outcomes, our situation is not unique.
Many other developing countries face similar
challenges in the short and medium terms.
International cooperation is an important key to
collective self-help, both between countries with
similar weaknesses and strengths, and between
countries that are different and complementary —
especially rich and poor.
As regards global cooperation, as a member of
the global community Papua New Guinea is able to
draw on support from the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, our
development cooperation partners in Europe, and the
Asia-Pacific countries that have formed themselves
into the Friends of Papua New Guinea.
While my delegation has come to New York to
discuss global issues and explore the potential for
global cooperation, Papua New Guinea also
participates in various forms of regional, interregional
and bilateral cooperation. Papua New Guinea
recognizes the value of, and is firmly committed to
further strengthening, global cooperation through
bodies like the World Trade Organization (WTO).
My Government is disappointed that the next
round of World Trade Organization (WTO)
negotiations has been delayed, and calls for them to be
held at the earliest possible opportunity.
As one of the countries where increasing areas of
land are already becoming unusable or actually
disappearing as a result of rising sea-levels caused by
climate change, we believe in the urgent need for full
implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.
On an issue where the very survival of certain
members of the global community is clearly at stake —
and where global security depends on coordinated
global action — there must be no backsliding, no
compromises, and no special cases allowed because of
inability or unwillingness to honour global agreements
for whatever reason.
Papua New Guinea is pleased to welcome our
close island neighbours and very good friends from
Tuvalu to membership of the United Nations.
What a terrible tragedy it would be if the
international community were to fail them at the very
time when they, together with other small island
States — including countries which joined the United
Nations last year — are assuming the responsibilities
which go with becoming full participants in the
Organization's affairs.
Certain security issues, such as climate change,
require a global approach. So do efforts to limit the
3

proliferation that would bring about the complete
elimination of nuclear weapons.
Global cooperation is the only means by which
the international community can realistically hope to
achieve the objective which the Secretary-General set
for the Millennium Summit of ensuring that
globalization becomes a positive force for people,
instead of leaving them behind in squalor, especially in
developing countries.
However, as the Secretary-General also suggested
in his report (A/54/1) to the fifty-fourth session of the
General Assembly, different regions have different
problems. Even similar problems in different settings
may require different approaches. Security policies that
work in one region may not work in others. The road to
success can require complementary national, regional
and global efforts.
Thus, Papua New Guinea is addressing the
unwelcome spread of small arms and light weapons by
imposing a complete ban on the issuance of new gun
licenses. We support efforts to deal with the spread of
illegally obtained or held arms through the Pacific
Islands Forum.
We look to the forthcoming United Nations
Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and
Light Weapons in All Its Aspects to provide a global
framework and global support for the efforts that
individual States and regional organizations are taking
to deal with the problem within their respective
jurisdictions.
When it comes to the management of ocean
resources, Papua New Guinea sees regional and
interregional cooperation as complementary to
measures designed to ensure the sustainable harvesting
of fish in national waters.
We therefore welcome the agreement recently
concluded under the auspices of the Multilateral High-
level Conference on fisheries with the purpose of
ensuring sustainable fishing for tuna and highly
migratory species throughout their ranges in the
Western and Central Pacific.
Papua New Guinea would also like to see both
broader and deeper cooperation between coastal States
in other aspects of oceans and ocean-bed management,
including deep-sea mining.
In terms of regional cooperation, such
cooperation is indispensable to dealing successfully
with many important global and national issues. But
regional cooperation can itself have a variety of
different dimensions and employ different means.
In the South Pacific, for example, two of our
closest neighbours, Fiji and Solomon Islands, are
experiencing internal difficulties that have given rise to
serious concern on the part of their friends.
We do not condone the illegal overthrow of
democratic and constitutional Governments or other
threats to the security of the Governments and citizens
of other States, but, regrettably, and despite repeated
efforts by previous Papua New Guinea Governments
and other States, the main intra-regional body engaged
in promoting regional cooperation in the South Pacific,
the Pacific Islands Forum, does not have a mechanism
for dealing promptly and effectively with challenges to
the security of States in the region.
It has, therefore, been unable to arrange
consultations, let alone facilitate a coordinated
approach  to the situations which have arisen following
armed challenges to the Governments of Fiji and
Solomon Islands. Some of our neighbours have
responded by looking for support outside the region.
With the recent addition of six additional Pacific
members to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)
group of States party to the Lome Convention, 14
Pacific island States now have access to a very
practical mechanism for dealing with such situations.
The upshot is that, when Ministers and
Ambassadors from Pacific ACP member States met in
Cotonou, Benin, in June for the signing of the new
framework agreement between the ACP and the
European Union, we decided to set up a ministerial
mission to report on the situations in Fiji and Solomon
Islands.
In doing so, we were mindful of the need for, and
grateful for the support of, the European Union.
The offer made by the French Minister for
Economic Cooperation at the regional forum of the
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to
ensure that the European Commission would defer
making a final decision on sanctions until the Pacific
ACP Ministerial Mission had reported was especially
welcome because of the meaning and support it gave to
our effort at regional cooperation.
4

The imposition of sanctions against a country can
be a very blunt instrument indeed, causing innocent
and powerless people to suffer at the same time as the
powerful and influential, and sometimes
disadvantaging them even more. Even so-called smart
sanctions can have wide, unintended effects while
leaving their objects largely unaffected.
When a small group of armed men try to take
over a Government, imposing sanctions that affect
innocent men, women and children can be not only
ineffective but even counter-productive.
Sanctions might leave armed youths unaffected
and in a position where they are even unable to
appreciate, or are indifferent to, the wider
consequences of their actions.
The underlying causes of inter-group tensions in
Solomon Islands and the events which followed the
attempted civilian armed coup in Fiji could be difficult
to identify, and are beyond influence by sanctions.
It is, therefore, vital that serious difficulties such
as those currently affecting Fiji and Solomon Islands
be properly studied and carefully addressed.
Sometimes, the people best equipped to
understand such situations and identify underlying
causes are neighbours with similar cultures or other
shared values.
In terms of the ACP Ministerial Mission, at the
request of other Pacific ACP States, I have recently had
the honour of leading the Pacific ACP Ministerial
Mission to Fiji and Solomon Islands.
My colleagues included the Ministers for Foreign
Affairs from Cook Islands, Mr. Robert Woonton, and
Vanuatu, the Honourable Serge Vohor, as well as the
Minister for Education from Samoa, the Honourable
Fiame Naomi Mata'afa.
With the active support of the Governments of
both countries, we followed a crowded itinerary of
meetings with the Prime Ministers, ministers and
officials in Fiji and Solomon Islands, members of the
previous Governments of both countries and business
and trade union leaders, as well as a wide cross-section
of other elements of civil society, including women's
organizations. We were also able to interview victims
in towns and rural areas, and to examine instances of
destruction at first hand.
My colleagues and I are currently working on our
report. We expect to present it to the European
Commission, the ACP-EU Joint Assembly and other
ACP, EU and joint bodies in October.
The commitment made by the French Minister for
Economic Cooperation, whose country currently holds
the presidency of the EU, means that the region — or,
at least, our report — has been given the opportunity to
influence events. The process on which we have
embarked is, therefore, more meaningful than any
existing alternative. We, the Pacific ACP members,
offered to share our report with the Pacific Islands
Forum, and the support our initiative has received from
the region reflects our commitment to wider
cooperation, not to mention our unwillingness to
become involved in even the appearance of
competition between rival regional bodies or groups.
The initiative has been welcomed and praised,
both in the region and further afield. It sets an example
which is worthy of close study both for the precedents
it sets for cooperation among Pacific ACP States and as
a possible model for similar efforts in other regions.
With regard to the Bougainville situation, Fiji and
Solomon Islands are not the first States in our region to
experience serious internal difficulties, though we pray
not only that there will be real improvement very soon
but that they will be the last States to experience such
difficulties.
After more than eight years of armed conflict —
from 1989 to 1997 — the part of Papua New Guinea
known as Bougainville is now at peace. The
progressive political settlement is moving ahead. The
Lincoln Agreement on Peace, Security and
Development on Bougainville commits the parties to
peace-building on several levels, from weapons
disposal and the re-establishment of civil authority,
through reconciliation among former combatants to
reconstruction of infrastructure, restoration of services,
economic and social recovery and early resumption of
the kinds of development which are part of the return
of normalcy.
The national Government is committed to such a
multidimensional approach. It is the way by which we
hope to cooperate in building for a lasting peace by
peaceful means. The priority which the Prime Minister
gave the Bougainville peace process more than 12
months ago remains in place. Evidence of its
continuing significance can be seen in the initiative he
5

has recently taken to meet key Bougainvillean demands
within the framework of the Papua New Guinea
Constitution.
The Government, which took the initiative in
inviting our neighbours, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand
and Vanuatu, to set up the neutral, regional Peace
Monitoring Group (PMG), values the contribution its
unarmed personnel make to promoting mutual
confidence on the ground. The PMG's success can be
judged from the peaceful way in which it is now
beginning to disengage by substantially reducing its
size. The process needs greater support from the
Bougainvillean parties so as to avoid the vacuum which
has followed the departure of similar peacekeeping
operations elsewhere, by cooperating in the re-
establishment of policing, courts and correctional
institutional services, as well as by strengthening the
institutions at community level that help to maintain
public order, dispense justice and uphold the rule of
law.
As the initiator of the request for the United
Nations observer mission in Bougainville, and as its
host, Papua New Guinea appreciates the support which
the Security Council and other organs of the United
Nations provide for the Bougainville peace process. We
are determined to keep on working for lasting peace by
peaceful means within a flexible framework which will
allow Bougainville a high degree of autonomy
consistent with the integrity, security and sovereignty
of the nation.
With regard to social and economic issues, as a
developing country with 25 years of independence,
Papua New Guinea is experiencing very great difficulty
in improving national performance as measured by
human development indicators. In some areas, our
record is actually becoming worse. The current
Government's five main objectives are intended to
focus attention and effort where they are most needed.
Our determination to pursue them is already making a
very real difference, especially as far as economic
management and the delivery of Government services
are concerned.
Structural adjustment, including quite
fundamental public sector reform, is one of the key
means of bringing about often long-overdue change.
We need the continuing support of our economic
partners to succeed, including access to markets;
increased investment in priority areas, such as
downstream processing, which provides increased
opportunities for productive employment; and aid on
concessional terms. The recently concluded partnership
agreement between the ACP countries and the EU is an
example worthy of much wider emulation.
As a developing country that achieved
independence only a quarter of a century ago, Papua
New Guinea is firmly committed to the proper
preparation for orderly decolonization. Impressed with
the progress being made to implement the Noumea
Accord, we continue to believe very strongly that the
rights of the indigenous Kanaks of New Caledonia
must be respected. Conscious of the consequences of
other forms of decolonization, we welcome the re-
emergence of East Timor as an independent entity. We
look forward to receiving a delegation later this year to
discuss how we might develop technical and other
forms of mutually beneficial South-South cooperation.
Meanwhile, even as we continue to deepen and
broaden cooperation with other Pacific island
countries, we respect the integrity of our other
neighbours and continue to benefit from the exchanges
which flow from our status as a special observer at
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
meetings. In the broader arena of Asia-Pacific
cooperation, we value our membership of the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum and
continue to work towards honouring the reciprocal
commitments APEC members have made to liberalize
markets. APEC includes some of our closest bilateral
partners and friends. Common membership, and the
process of developing economic ties with other APEC
economies, do not detract from other aspects of Papua
New Guinea's foreign relations. They do not affect the
commitments we have made to such good friends as the
People's Republic of China. We will not allow them to
do so.
In conclusion, I should like to say that, 25 years
after independence, Papua New Guinea has one of the
longest unbroken records of constitutional and
democratic government among countries that have
become independent in the last 50 or so years. We have
experienced difficulties, and had some near misses.
The stresses and strains which have affected our system
of Government have tested our strengths. In doing so,
they have increased our understanding of countries
experiencing serious internal difficulties — although
not our sympathy for those who deliberately violate
democratic principles or established constitutional
6

practices — while reinforcing our commitment to good
governance, both at home and abroad.
Apart from the obvious consequences that this
commitment has for Papua New Guinea's response to
countries experiencing serious internal difficulties,
including our preference for a positive, forward-
looking approach and not negative sanctions, it also
underlies our support for United Nations reform.
The reform must extend from improving
administrative performance to making the Security
Council more representative of United Nations
Members as a whole. It must, in fact, extend to the
performance of United Nations Members themselves,
especially when it comes to paying their dues in a
timely way and in full.
The millennium marks an important turning point
in the calendar, and, because of my country's silver
anniversary, in Papua New Guinea's history too. The
United Nations is also at a critical turning point, with
the Secretary-General drawing members' attention
back to the original basis and focus among the people
the Organization should serve.
The recent review of United Nations peace and
security activities has produced an excellent report
which challenges us to turn another corner and ensure
that the increased responsibilities which the
Organization has assumed since the end of the cold war
help to keep and build peace in very different
conditions.
I conclude by paying tribute to the vision which
participants in the Millennium Summit have expressed
on our behalf. In doing so, let me add that the real
challenge we face is, emphatically, not to make more
speeches, but to turn their wise words into practical
forms of cooperation which help us achieve common
purposes without sacrificing the diversity which is the
basis of our need and ability to engage in global self-
help.


I have the honour to convey to you, on behalf
of the United Arab Emirates, our sincere
congratulations and regards on your election to the
presidency of the fifty-fifth session of the General
Assembly. We are confident that your experience in
international affairs will contribute to the success of
this session's proceedings. We also thank your
predecessor, His Excellency the Minister for Foreign
Affairs of Namibia, for the efficient manner in which
16

he directed the work of the previous session. I would
also like to express our appreciation to Secretary-
General Kofi Annan for his prudent leadership and for
the efforts he exerts to strengthen the role of the United
Nations in maintaining peace, security and stability in
the world.
The convening of the Millennium Summit a few
days ago in this world forum was a clear embodiment
of the political will of the leaders of the world to deal
effectively with the problems and challenges that face
the international community, such as the proliferation
of proscribed weapons, armed conflicts and increasing
poverty and debt, as well as other attendant
transnational issues, such as drugs, organized crime,
international terrorism, environmental pollution,
persistent violations of human rights and the disparities
resulting from globalization and information
technology.
The consequences of these prevailing conditions
have, more than ever before, reinforced our awareness
of the importance of adhering to the principles
embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and of
consolidating the rule of international law through the
peaceful settlement of disputes, respect for the
principle of equality and the right to self-
determination, as well as of strengthening the spirit of
cooperation and tolerance among the different cultures,
beliefs and legacies of the various civilizations, for
achieving the desired security, stability and human
development.
The United Arab Emirates reiterates its welcome
of the border treaties concluded between the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia and both the State of Kuwait and the
Republic of Yemen, as an important political and
historic event that will promote confidence-building
measures and good neighbourly relations. At the same
time, we call upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to
follow the example of those fraternal States and to
respond to our peaceful initiatives that call for either
entering into direct and serious bilateral negotiations
aimed at finding a peaceful solution for ending Iran's
occupation of our three islands Greater Tunb, Lesser
Tunb and Abu Musa, or agreeing to submit the dispute
to the International Court of Justice.
In this context, we would like to reaffirm that all
actions and measures taken unilaterally by the Islamic
Republic of Iran on those three islands and its
continued construction of military and civilian
installations on them, are illegal measures considered
null and void, and do not establish or entail any legal
rights, regardless of the duration of the occupation. In
fact, they represent a violation of the territorial
sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates and
contravene the principles and purposes of the Charters
of both the United Nations and the Organization of the
Islamic Conference, as well as declared Iranian
peaceful intentions in the region.
More than a year has elapsed since the Gulf
Cooperation Council entrusted a tripartite Ministerial
Committee, composed of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman and the State of Qatar,
with developing a mechanism for direct negotiations
between the United Arab Emirates and the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Iran has not yet responded to any of
the endeavours of that Committee, thus preventing the
reinforcement of the foundations of peace and security
in the Arab Gulf region.
Despite the fact that almost ten years have
elapsed since the end of the second Gulf War, the Arab
Gulf region is still experiencing the negative effects of
that War. Consequently, it is imperative that political
and diplomatic efforts continue in order to find a
peaceful solution that would lead to ending the human
suffering of the Iraqi people. At the same time, we
invite the Iraqi Government to cooperate by completely
fulfilling its obligations, particularly those relating to
the release of Kuwaiti and other countries' prisoners of
war or detainees and to the restitution of Kuwaiti
property, in implementation of the resolutions of the
Security Council. In this regard, we would like to
underline the importance of respecting the national
sovereignty, territorial integrity and political
independence of both Iraq and Kuwait, as well as
refraining from the threat or use of force, in order to
ensure the entrenchment of security and stability in the
region.
The Middle East peace process recently witnessed
important developments during which major efforts
were exerted with the objective of arriving at equitable
and fair solutions based on the resolutions of
international legitimacy and the principle of land for
peace. Yet, despite all those efforts and all the flexible
and constructive proposals put forward by the
Palestinian side for finding a comprehensive and just
solution to the Palestine issue in all its aspects, the
Israeli Government persisted in its positions of
procrastination, delay and stalling, and in failing to
17

abide by the agreements it had concluded with the
Palestinian side.
Thus, in affirming our position of solidarity with
the fraternal Palestinian people and their leadership,
represented by the Palestinian Authority, we renew our
call to the co-sponsors of the peace process — in
particular the United States of America — and the
other active States to continue exerting political and
diplomatic efforts that support and promote
negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,
with the aim of finding a just and comprehensive
settlement of the Palestine issue. In particular this
settlement should resolve the issues of Al-Quds Al-
Sharif and the refugees, on the basis of Security
Council resolutions, especially resolutions 242 (1967)
and 338 (1973). This should enable the Palestinian
people to exercise their legitimate and inalienable
rights to return to their homeland and to establish their
own independent State, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its
capital.
Also in this context we reaffirm our unceasing
support of the position of sisterly Syria in its efforts to
regain its Golan territory up to the line of 4 June 1967.
We call on the international community to demand that
Israel resume negotiations on the Syrian track on the
basis of relevant United Nations resolutions, in the
interest of attaining peace, stability and growth for all
the States and peoples of the region.
The United Arab Emirates, in welcoming once
again fraternal Lebanon's regaining of its territory,
expresses support for Lebanon's efforts to complete the
extension of its sovereignty over all of its national soil.
In the same vein, we support the demands of
sisterly Libya that the economic sanctions imposed on
it be lifted, particularly since it has implemented
relevant Security Council resolutions.
We also express our satisfaction at the outcome of
the recent Somali reconciliation conference in Djibouti
and invite all Somali factions to reinforce national
unity for the sake of restoring peace, stability and
sustainable development to Somalia and the rest of the
region of the Horn of Africa.
The growing number of problems resulting from
the continuation of wars, disputes and ethnic cleansing
in some parts of the African continent, the Balkans,
South Asia, Afghanistan and other places is a source of
constant concern for the international community.
Consequently, we support all regional and international
efforts aimed at dealing with these issues by peaceful
means, and we emphasize that just and lasting
resolution of these issues cannot be attained until the
parties concerned demonstrate the necessary political
will to achieve national reconciliation and demonstrate
their commitment to implement relevant Security
Council resolutions.
Despite international unanimity, shown in the
Disarmament Conference and other international
forums, regarding the need to limit the spread of
weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear
weapons, progress in this field remains slow, which is a
matter of concern to us. We are particularly concerned
at this time as some States are striving to outdo each
other in stockpiling certain classes of these weapons, in
particular nuclear arms and ballistic missiles, as a
means of settling their territorial disputes. Since such
actions escalate conflicts and disrupt the strategic
security balance, at both the regional and international
levels, we call upon the States concerned to review
their policies in this respect and to promote the
establishment of zones that are free of weapons of mass
destruction, including nuclear weapons, especially in
the Middle East, the Arab Gulf and the Indian Ocean.
We also urge the international community to demand
once again that the Israeli Government accede to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
and agree to subject its nuclear facilities to
International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
Despite the multidimensional changes that the
world economy is witnessing as a result of the
deregulation of markets, globalization and modern
technology, the economic and social gap between the
developed and developing States still exists and is
growing — thereby exacerbating poverty and
unemployment, environmental degradation and debt
accumulation. Thus, the convening of the Millennium
Summit and the Summit's Declaration highlight the
great importance our countries attach to these issues.
This makes it incumbent on all of us to work
assiduously on carrying out the commitments and
undertakings contained therein regarding the creation
of an environment favourable to development,
elimination of poverty and free access for the exports
of the least developed countries to the markets of
industrialized countries. I confirm the determination of
the United Arab Emirates to support this plan and to
18

work towards narrowing the gap between the rich and
the poor.
The United Arab Emirates continues its sustained
efforts in support of economic- and social-development
projects in many countries of the world, particularly in
Africa and Asia, be it through direct participation in
financing such projects or by supporting international
and regional efforts to attain those goals.
Finally, the ever-increasing burden of economic,
social and human development, which is the first
safeguard of the political stability that we desire,
demands that mechanisms for regional and
international cooperation, foremost among which is the
United Nations, be created. Hence, we call for
continued efforts to carry out the structural reform and
development of the world Organization, in particular
the Security Council and the General Assembly, so that
the Organization can keep pace with the rapid changes
in international relations.


Finding ourselves in a new
century and in a new millennium, it is natural to review
what we have done right and to meditate also on what
we could have done better. The United Nations is the
forum and the system that allows us to contemplate the
status of the world's development from the widest
possible perspective.
Latvia is small, but the success of our democracy
and the success of our efforts at European integration
will have a strong positive effect on the destiny of the
Baltic Sea region. The success of an Organization like
the United Nations can be measured by how its work
has affected the lives of individual people in all
countries. In the age of globalization the challenge we
7

collectively face is to ensure that all can be
beneficiaries.
As a result of the revolution in information
technology, the world has grown smaller. Nations and
people are closer to each other than ever before. This
underlines the importance of the principle of
universality. Today the decisions taken in one part of
the globe affect people and nations all around the
world. This calls for wider representation and, in the
case of the United Nations, for the reform of the
Security Council, which needs to be carried out to
reflect the present political and economic realities.
To respond to modern challenges, the United
Nations needs both political will and courage. In this
regard, I would like to express my appreciation to the
Secretary-General for his efforts in strengthening and
modernizing the Organization through its reforms.
The United Nations also needs to be better
equipped to prevent and manage conflicts.
Unfortunately, the demand for peacekeeping is still
high. The Member States, both individually and
collectively, must do more to meet this demand. Latvia
has done its best to make its practical contribution to
peace and security. During the past year Latvia's
peacekeepers have been present in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Kosovo as a part of North Atlantic
Treaty Organization-led forces. In accordance with the
United Nations decision to extend the mandate for the
operation in Kosovo, Latvia will continue its
participation and will allocate more resources for
peacekeeping operations in next year's budget.
As a future member of the European Union,
Latvia attaches great importance to the development of
a common European security and defence policy that
will increase the European capabilities in conflict
prevention and crisis management. We are willing to
contribute our forces and to participate in European
Union operations.
To provide the United Nations with proper tools
for peacekeeping, the reforms of the scale of
contributions must be implemented to reflect the
capabilities and responsibilities of every Member State.
At the same time, the United Nations must ensure that
the resources are spent wisely and operations managed
properly. For its part, Latvia is considering a review of
its contribution to the peacekeeping budget with a view
to gradually increasing its share.
Human rights must remain high on the agenda of
the United Nations in the twenty-first century. As a
member of the Commission on Human Rights and its
Bureau, Latvia remains strongly committed to the
strengthening of the United Nations human rights
mechanisms. In particular, the role of the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
and its programmes, including the development of
national capacities for the promotion and protection of
human rights, should be strengthened.
Latvia remains committed to the establishment of
the International Criminal Court. We welcome the
efforts of its Preparatory Commission in tackling the
task of finalizing the texts of the rules of procedure and
evidence, and the elements of crime, in a timely
manner. Those who commit crimes against humanity
must not go unpunished.
Fifty years of foreign occupation left us with a
heavy social, economic and psychological burden.
From the time of our return to independence in 1991,
Latvia has made every effort to overcome this legacy.
To be successful in the new millennium, we need the
consolidated input of all our people, regardless of their
occupation, ethnicity or place of residence. That is why
the Latvian Government has elaborated its programme
of integration of society. This is an experiment and in
many ways unique. The integration programme is our
vision of how our society can function most effectively
on the basis of democracy and respect for human
rights.
This programme complements the integration
measures being implemented through education with
the help of the United Nations Development
Programme. The programme will increase public
participation and it will reduce differences among the
various regions of Latvia. It is a sign of Latvia's
readiness to explore new ways of improving the living
standards and the social climate.
Latvia's international role has grown in the past
decade of freedom. Each year we are able to do more
for the people of Latvia and the international
community. With the beginning earlier this year of
talks for European Union membership, Latvia entered a
new phase in its international relations. This November
Latvia will assume the presidency of the Council of
Europe  our first presidency in a pan-European
organization.
8

Latvia is determined to participate even more
actively in the work of the United Nations. Therefore
Latvia has put forward its candidacy to be a non-
permanent member of the Security Council for the
period of 2006 to 2007. I believe Latvia is ready to
assume this high responsibility.
It is an honour to present Latvia's perspective
here today at the outset of the fifty-fifth session of the
General Assembly. I wish all of us a very useful and
productive session.


It was by
unanimous vote that our Assembly elected our
President to be in charge of our work. Whereas we are
already aware of his professional skills and his human
qualities, may I take the liberty of congratulating him
and assuring him of the support and the cooperation of
the delegation of Chad to assist him in performing this
difficult but very inspiring task.
His predecessor, the Minister for Foreign Affairs
of fraternal Namibia, very tactfully and effectively
guided the work which was entrusted to him during the
fifty-fourth session. He is now deserving of our
congratulations.
Our words of congratulations and our
encouragement are likewise addressed to our brother,
Mr. Kofi Annan, whose devotion to the cause of peace
and development in the world undoubtedly represents a
guarantee for the success of our Organization.
Last year during a visit to the headquarters of the
United Nations Development Programme in New York,
the President of the Republic of Chad, His Excellency
Mr. Idriss Deby, declared:
“A new world is being built before our very
eyes. New standards are being set which are
giving lasting shape to the behaviours of
individuals and relations among States. New
technologies are pressing us forward to even
greater progress in those societies which possess
them. Those which are closed to change are being
marginalized, since they are incapable of making
their ambitions come to life in the context of the
new world. This frightening prospect, since it is
synonymous with being left behind, is very real
for many developing countries. But, I reject this
prospect for my country.”
The President of the Republic is here referring
specifically to a world which is in constant change
because of rampant globalization, which has become a
fact of life that is sometimes highly praised for its
benefits and sometimes shunned because of the harm it
does. Meanwhile in Chad, men and women are doing
everything they can to derive benefit from
globalization and to avoid the downside in order not to
miss the train of political, economic, social and
technological progress.
In other words, faced with the threat that
globalization represents to stability, security and
development of the weaker, Chad is waging an out and
out struggle to occupy its proper place in the concert of
nations.
Yes, the men and women of Chad are struggling
courageously and with resolve to emerge from
obscurantism, from poverty and from domination. The
results of their daily struggle speak for themselves
when you look at what has been achieved in the various
36

areas of national life. Politically, the democratic
experiment which began on 1 December 1990 is being
further developed and consolidated. Thus, political
pluralism is functioning while respecting diversity on
the basis of consensual and participatory democracy.
The various fundamental freedoms which
underlie and which breathe life into any democratic
political system are being fully exercised. The freedom
of expression of the private press, which gives no
quarter in its criticism of the action of the Government,
as well as the burgeoning of associations of civil
society, particularly those dealing with human rights,
young people and women, bears witness to the political
determination of the Government of Chad to promote a
culture of democracy.
In this connection, particular attention should be
paid to strengthening the role of women in public life,
as well as the rights of and the protection of children.
Likewise, through the establishment of a supreme
court, a constitutional council and a superior council of
judges, the final touches have been put on the judicial
institutions that underpin our democratic system.
Furthermore, I am pleased to recall that the first multi-
party elections took place in Chad in 1996 in a climate
of calm and transparency, as the international observers
noted. The next elections will take place in six months.
In general, the political authorities in Chad are doing
all they can to ensure their success.
I would therefore like to emphasize from this
rostrum that Chad's attachment to pluralistic
democracy cannot be unseated, because the people of
Chad as a whole are profoundly convinced that this is
the only way — indeed their unique opportunity — to
improve their living conditions. The most recent
meetings in Syrte, Libya, and the various declarations
made by Chadian political actors are all encouraging
signs that, as we would like, this attachment is firm. In
all events, the Government of Chad welcomes these
new arrangements, which are to be seen as part and
parcel of the policy of outreach that has been
advocated by His Excellency Mr. Idriss Deby, the
President of the Republic of Chad.
After gaining this hard-won peace and this firm
attachment to democracy, the Government of Chad
quite naturally then proceeded — with the support of
international institutions and Chad's bilateral
partners — to tackle the question of economic and
social development. A genuine plan to fight poverty
has been created. This plan includes the elaboration of
a national strategy for the reduction of poverty. This
strategy has been further strengthened by the fact that
the objectives of poverty reduction and economic
growth during the 2000-2002 period have been made
part of the major, high-priority social and sectoral
programmes that were adopted at the Geneva IV round
table on the development of Chad.
Part of this struggle against poverty is the
struggle that the people of Chad have waged to
complete the project for the extraction and export of its
oil. This success was achieved thanks to the
determination of the President of the Republic, His
Excellency Mr. Idriss Deby — but also thanks to
unflagging support of the Bretton Woods institutions
and of friends and other partners of Chad. Here we
would like these supporters to know that the
Government and people of the Republic of Chad
recognize and are grateful for their assistance.
Chad nevertheless does not see its
development — and even less its security and
stability — in an isolated fashion. Therefore Chad is
doing everything possible to make its contribution to
creating a climate of peace and prosperity in Africa —
particularly in Central Africa. The subregion of Central
Africa — despite its immense potential, and perhaps
because of this immense potential, I might add — now
appears to be the region of upheaval par excellence, a
region characterized by armed conflicts and crises of
all sorts. Undoubtedly some hotbeds of tension have
been slaked. This is true of the Central African
Republic and of the Republic of the Congo, which are
gradually regaining their stability. But this stability
remains fragile. The international community therefore
must help these countries to consolidate this peace by
actions in support of reconstruction and assistance.
Two other conflicts, unfortunately, persist and
also dangerously threaten the subregion. One of these
is the conflict occurring in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, where the belligerents' failure to respect the
Lusaka Agreement has unfortunately resulted in
exacerbating the rivalries among the foreign forces in
the Congolese territory, further complicating the
situation and holding up the effective implementation
of that Agreement.
As far as the Angolan conflict is concerned, it has
certainly become even more complex because of its
duration, the resources that nurture it and all the
37

international complicity that Mr. Jonas Savimbi has
taken advantage of. But we must support the efforts of
the legitimate and legal Government of Angola, as well
as the efforts of the international community, so that
this long-suffering people can recover the peace and
tranquillity that they have not known since they
acceded to independence.
In the framework of the United Nations Standing
Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central
Africa, the States of this subregion have not remained
inactive. They are devoting themselves to exploring
ways and means of establishing peace and tranquillity
through measures designed first and foremost to create
trust among themselves.
The first of these steps is the possibility offered
by the periodic meetings of the Committee. These
provide an opportunity for political dialogue in the
interest of preventive diplomacy. For having created
this Committee, the Security Council is deserving of
our gratitude.
Furthermore, structures and mechanisms to
promote peace and stability are gradually being
established. Among others, we might note the
establishment of an early-warning mechanism in
Libreville and of the subregional centre for human
rights and democracy in Yaoundé. The creation of the
Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa is
under way with the signing, by the heads of State or
Government, on 24 February at Malabo, Equatorial
Guinea, of the protocol regarding this Council and the
mutual assistance pact.
In the area of security there is a plan to organize a
joint military exercise for the peacekeeping operations
of the armed forces of the States of the subregion. As
for the other contributor to instability — the
proliferation of small arms and light weapons — the
member States held a subregional conference on this
topic in N'Djamena in October 1999. A number of
measures were advocated; among them, we might
mention the project of “arms for development”, which
was initiated by Canada and certain donor countries —
a project that is intended to set up micro-projects to
help those who turn in their arms. For the time being
this project involves the areas along the borders of
Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad. In
this connection, a mission of evaluation visited the
countries concerned in July 2000. The initiative is only
at the conceptual stage, but it is to be hoped that it will
take concrete form as soon as possible. I would
therefore like to make an appeal to the other partners to
join with Canada in order to broaden the scope of these
projects to include the entire subregion.
Instability and insecurity in Central Africa are
also among the major causes of refugee flows, a
phenomenon that has spared no State. Aware as we are
of the negative effects of this phenomenon, member
States took this matter up during a conference that was
held last August in Bujumbura. The relevant
conclusions of this conference deserve to be supported.
The political situations in other subregions of the
African continent also concern us. Certainly there has
been a definite improvement with the consolidation of
democratic institutions, good governance and respect
for the fundamental rights of the African people.
Nevertheless, several crises are persisting and must be
a subject of concern for the entire international
community. Thus in West Africa, Sierra Leone has not
yet achieved peace, despite the commitments entered
into by the parties to the conflict. Chad, for its part,
gives its total support to the efforts of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the
United Nations to seek peace in this embattled country.
Likewise, we have every confidence in ECOWAS to
smooth out the difficulties between Liberia and Guinea.
With regard to the conflict between Ethiopia and
Eritrea, His Excellency President Idriss Deby has
personally dealt with this matter as current President of
the Community of the Sahel and Saharan States by
setting up a good offices mission to the leaders of the
two fraternal countries, in support of the mediation by
the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
The Government of Chad is very pleased to see
that the two parties have finally reached a peace
agreement. We encourage them to respect their
individual commitments in order to bring lasting peace
to this part of the African continent.
Regarding the Somali crisis, Chad welcomes the
fact that the people of Somalia have awakened to their
destiny through the recent conference of national
reconciliation which was held in Alta, Djibouti, thus
demonstrating courage and imagination in their
determination to endow their countries with republican
institutions. The international community must help
them and encourage them to build further on this
initiative in order to reach total and just peace.
38

The presence here of a delegation bearing the
name of the Republic of Somalia, whose seat has been
vacant for almost 10 years now, is a matter of pride and
satisfaction for the friends and the partners of this
fraternal people.
It is an example that should edify our brothers of
the Comoros and Burundi.
We should also congratulate the Government of
Djibouti for their contribution and devotion to the
cause of peace in the subregion.
We believe it is time to lift completely the
embargo against the Great Socialist People's Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya, because it is no longer justified and
arbitrarily penalizes the fraternal Libyan people and,
indeed, beyond them the entire subregion.
Chad has not lost sight of the crisis situations
prevailing in other parts of the world.
In the Middle East, it is following with interest
the negotiations underway between the Palestinian and
Israeli authorities and believes that the time for the
peace of the worthy has now come. The parties to the
conflict should seize this historic opportunity and, as
President Clinton said: the world should help them to
take the risk of embarking on peace.
In Iraq, Chad believes it is urgent to put an end to
the embargo whose consequences have been so
disastrous for the civilian population, which is
suffering the atrocious evils resulting from this unjust
decision. Quite clearly any solution should also cover
the very pertinent matter of the prisoners from Kuwait
and other countries.
The Korean peninsula is showing encouraging
signs of the two fraternal countries drawing closer to
each other. The historic inter-Korean Summit, which
took place between the leaders of these countries last
June, has laid the foundation for trusting relationships
that are so central for any dialogue.
The international community should encourage
both of these countries to press on in order to
eventually sign a peace agreement which would pave
the way to peaceful coexistence.
The inter-Korean dialogue might also arouse
some interest on the part of the Taiwan Strait where
tension unfortunately continues to be abnormally high.
Whereas economic and trade relations between the two
countries are being developed on a regular basis,
political relations are non-existent, despite the fact that
on both sides of the Strait semi-official structures have
been set up which serve as channels of communication
between the People's Republic of China and the
Republic of China, Taiwan.
Both parties should show political determination
and imagination in exploring ways and means of
reducing tension and opening a genuine dialogue. In all
events, the international community is duty bound to
reconsider the whole question of admitting the
Republic of China, Taiwan to membership of our
Organization, particularly in light of the weight and the
importance of the economic role it plays internationally
and the fact that it is so closely involved in actions for
development and the reduction of poverty.
For its part, the Government of Chad supports the
request by the Republic of China, Taiwan, to seek
membership in the United Nations and its specialized
agencies.
I could not conclude my remarks without
referring to other ills which undermine and sap all the
development efforts of countries like mine. These ills
include indebtedness, protectionist measures in the
markets of the northern countries, deterioration in the
terms of trade and various kinds of trafficking.
Those countries which hold the key to the
solutions to all these ills, particularly the northern
countries, must go beyond simple declarations of
intention and take concrete steps to relieve countries
from the burden of indebtedness, to throw open their
markets and to pay a fair price for our exports.
As if this were not enough, another evil which is
even more insidious and devastating, has made our task
even more difficult. The prospects for solution are
remote indeed and it is to be feared that this will reduce
to nothing our hopes to relieve our peoples of poverty.
I refer to the HIV/AIDS pandemic which brings death
and bereavement to families on a daily basis.
Not only is it a burden for our meagre financial
resources, but also on our human resources,
particularly young people who are the spearhead of our
nation.
We have the collective responsibility to
effectively mobilize ways and means to conquer this
scourge which defies the entire international
community as a time when there is so much
technological and scientific progress being made.
39

In the light of all these challenges, Chad believes
that its development should also benefit from the
political and economic integration of Africa, which is
an important and determinant dimension of this global
village. Therefore we would welcome and salute the
major political acts which have been taken by the
Conference of Heads of State and Government of the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) on 12 July in
Lomé: I refer to the adoption of the Constituent Act of
the African Union.
This major historic event, which is the result of a
collective commitment on the part of the African
peoples, is a responsible reply on the part of today's
Africa to meet the number of challenges of the twenty-
first century by means of political, economic and social
integration.
The African Union will create the necessary
conditions for genuine partnership in irreversible
globalization, but a globalization that would not be
synonymous with exclusion and the dictatorship of the
marketplace. This globalization, we believe, should be
synonymous with sharing and openness. It should have
a human face or it will not exist at all.
But none of this can be achieved without further
democratization of the United Nations starting with an
enlargement of the Security Council so that it can be
more effective and, particularly, more legitimate.
In other words, it is in our interest — in the
interest of us all — that the Security Council be more
representative of the international community in whose
name it claims to act. What we are referring to here is
the credibility of its decisions which, unfortunately,
have long been used against the weaker with its policy
of double standards.


I wish to congratulate the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Namibia, Theo-Ben
Gurirab, on his wise leadership of the fifty-fourth
General Assembly and his able preparation of the
Millennium Summit. I would also like to offer the
incoming President, Harri Holkeri, my best wishes
upon your assumption of this high office. Your
commitment and experience will be invaluable in
ensuring the success of the fifty-fifth session of the
General Assembly.
Italy fully supports the statement made on behalf
of the European Union by the current President, French
Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine, and will make a
decided contribution to the objectives he has indicated.
Allow me to add that it is also in order to step up our
commitment to achieving common goals that Italy is
presenting its candidature for the Security Council for
the next biennium.
The year 2001 will be the United Nations Year of
Dialogue among Civilizations. By unanimously
adopting the relevant resolution in its fifty-third
session, the General Assembly demonstrated its great
sensitivity and attention to the profound structural
changes under way in our national societies. It thereby
sent a strong signal on a number of themes that the
Secretary-General has put forth in his report on the role
of the Organization in the twenty-first century. These
themes cannot fail to include the new face of
international migration, whose gravest aspects include
illegal immigration and the trampling of human
dignity.
Dialogue among civilizations should not be
addressed in the abstract, academically. It demands real
contact and a bond between individuals and peoples.
To ensure that these contacts and this bond do not
mutate into tensions and strife, the community of
States must try to understand and manage migratory
phenomena. We must work together to prevent
migration flows from plunging into chaos, a chaos for
which the human person ultimately has to pay the
highest price.
Migration needs to be governed by fixed,
transparent rules. The source, the rationale of these
rules is the United Nations, to which the San Francisco
Charter in Article I, paragraph 3, entrusts the
fundamental role:
“To achieve international cooperation in solving
international problems of an economic, social,
cultural, or humanitarian character.”
I submit to you that today migration between or
within continents has become an international problem
with an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian
character.
Any solution to the problems connected with
migration must come to terms with the globalization
process. Globalization has reduced distance and time.
To an unprecedented degree it has linked countries at
opposite ends of the earth. There are even those who
speak, perhaps not wrongly, of “the end of geography”.
The paradox facing us stems from the real
difficulties of globalization extending not only to the
economy, finance and information but also to the
movements of peoples. Most of these difficulties can
be ascribed to the complex transition of many advanced
countries to multi-ethnic and multicultural societies.
Human beings are not commodities. When
individuals move, they preserve their roots, their
specificity and their experience, even when they come
into permanent contact with societies different from
their own. Hence the need for mutual tolerance, to
safeguard our respective customs and traditions.
9

The growing dimensions of migration have
widened the gap between individual government's
management capabilities and the individual person's
ability to move, which is heavily influenced by
progress in communications. All too often this gap is
filled by organized crime, by ruthless criminals who, in
some cases, traffic in human beings, in what amounts
to a modern form of slavery.
We need to ask how we can safeguard freedom
while impeding slavery; how we can prevent global
economic development from sparking social tensions;
how we can ensure that the growing contact between
different civilizations will produce dialogue rather than
intolerance. It will take a strong, determined
commitment from all of us to draft rules that, if
applied, can have a positive impact on international
migration flows, to the benefit of both home and host
countries.
Improving millions of human lives is the
fundamental challenge of development: we need a
clear, explicit and effective commitment to eradicate
poverty. We must realize that in a globalized world,
migration can gradually impoverish areas that are
already economically and socially disadvantaged.
Development assistance initiatives from
industrialized countries and non-governmental
organizations alike cannot defeat misery and poverty,
unless they are accompanied by an awareness that
foreign debt is a huge burden for Governments,
families and individuals. Generous remission of the
poorest countries' debt is not just an option: I feel it is
a must. This is why the Italian Parliament recently
approved a law to reduce foreign debt owed to Italy by
a total of $6 billion over the next three years.
Italy will also play a pro-active role in urging the
leading actors in the field of development assistance to
show determination in preparing the conference on
less-developed countries scheduled to take place in
Brussels next May. Moreover, my country confirms its
support for the needs and aspirations of the small-
island States and the landlocked countries, as it has
emphasized in the Economic and Social Council and
other forums.
But debt reduction is not enough. It should be
coupled with sound government policies in the
beneficiary countries, as part of an integrated strategy
underlying a new international social contract. In other
words, we must promote a package that combines
responsible political, economic and social reforms with
an opening-up of international markets. The 2001 high-
level intergovernmental meeting on financing for
development will provide us with a close opportunity
to finalize a strategy.
The fears that immigration sometimes generates
should not lead industrialized countries to build new
walls and fences. Such fears reject contact with
diversity and make some feel as if they were strangers
in their own country. A Europe built on fear, for
example, would ultimately cast immigrants as the
imaginary enemy, as a race apart. Any effort to
overcome such negative stereotyping should be
applauded, such as the Conference against Racism,
scheduled for 2001 in Pretoria.
The European Union has a great capacity to take
in people, and already has large immigrant
communities. But only now is it developing a common
approach to immigration. The European Union's
strategy relies on cooperation with other countries,
since the issue cannot be addressed solely through
border patrols and tougher repression of illegal
immigration, regardless of the cost.
For many years Europe did not have to worry
about the long-term consequences of immigration. But
today, with a declining birth rate and an ageing
population, Europe needs a strategy that embraces the
complex process of integrating people from different
regions of the world.
Then, there is the tragic, heinous trafficking in
human beings. As the United States Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright stated in this Assembly, we must
put a stop to this trafficking, a stop to boats being cast
into the sea, filled with sadness and desperation, driven
by hopes in a promised land. The pictures of these
illegal crossings have become unbearable. They
epitomize a state of affairs governed by the black
market, where there is an over-abundance of illegal
labour. This new form of piracy would be impossible if
those involved knew that they could not count on
collusion, safe havens and, all too often, impunity.
For example, the Mediterranean Sea, around
which great civilizations have prospered, is being
crossed by people who pay ruthless exploiters and
sometimes become their victims. In many cases, illegal
immigrants find it hard to gain access to the rule-of-
law society, and end up being treated as commodities.
10

As we know, immigration has various causes:
poverty, ethnic and religious strife, the repression of
totalitarian regimes, and the demands of more affluent
economies. Today, as never before, immigration is
driven by broadcast images that often distort honest
hopes for a better life. Moreover, it has reached
unprecedented proportions. In fact, since the early
eighties the number of countries that receive
immigrants has risen from 39 to 67, while the number
of countries of emigration has risen from 29 to 55. We
would be fooling ourselves to think that a phenomenon
of such proportions could be brought under control
solely through bilateral agreements.
The European Union has made cooperation
between national Governments a priority since the
European Council meeting of October 1999. But recent
experience points to the need for an approach in which
only the United Nations can confer the indispensable
character of universality.
Italy has much to share in this regard. Until a few
decades ago, large sections of our population were
forced to seek work in distant lands with different
languages and traditions. Their lives were often marked
by hardship, want and family separation. This chapter
of social history had points of light and of darkness,
but on the whole it was a source of great moral and
spiritual wealth.
Starting in the early 1970s, Italy became a land of
immigration, although it could not yet provide full
employment for all its people. As a land of both
emigration and immigration, Italy is well situated to
address in a constructive manner global migration
today. Italian domestic law is based on the principle of
“soft integration”, designed to provide permanent
residents with an opportunity that does not force them
to renounce the rich heritage of their native cultures.
It is on these grounds that, here before the
General Assembly, I urge the United Nations to raise
the awareness of the community of States and
introduce appropriate instruments. Three instruments,
in my view. deserve to be coordinated and integrated.
First is assistance to the developing countries;
assistance in preventing and quelling the tensions that,
at least in part, give rise to migration flows, as well as
assistance in easing the integration of their economies
with those of the more advanced countries. As we all
know, this is a priority that the United Nations is
pursuing through various committees and through the
enhanced role of the United Nations Development
Programme. We must strive to improve the instruments
already available to us, responding to the visionary
proposals of Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Secondly, as a deterrent to illegal entry, we need
stricter and more consistent law enforcement. Success
depends on effective cooperation between the countries
of origin, the countries of transit and the countries of
arrival. Such efforts should also aim to prevent the
spread of pockets of illegality and organized crime by
promoting greater stability, moral authority and control
in fledgling democracies. This would be invaluable to
securing the support of public opinion in industrialized
countries for cooperation policies.
Thirdly, we need to manage migration so that it is
a source of stability and wealth, to the benefit of all.
For this to happen, migration must take place legally. If
everyone complies with the law, immigrants will be
welcomed in their host countries and become fully
integrated into society.
These three guidelines must be set within a global
framework. There are plenty of organizations that deal
with migration at the international level. Yet while they
provide praiseworthy services, their sectorial nature
means that they cannot have the kind of overall vision
that only effective coordination can guarantee.
A solidarity pact, therefore, is needed to find the
best and most effective way of balancing the supply of
and demand for labour, while fully respecting the
diversity of the people concerned. The greatest
challenge in the age of globalization is to design new
forms of cooperation between Governments that will
enable each to see that its interests are reflected in
international policy decisions. The United Nations
continues to be the most natural forum for adopting
such decisions and ensuring their implementation.
I want to conclude my message today by recalling
the words of a great American President, John
Fitzgerald Kennedy. Almost 40 years ago he said,
“Now the trumpet summons us again ... to
bear the burden of a long twilight struggle ...
against the common enemies of man: tyranny,
poverty, disease and war itself.
“Can we forge against these enemies a
grand and global alliance, North and South, East
and West, that can ensure a more fruitful life for

all mankind? Will you join in that historic
effort?” (Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961)
That is what he said, and this is the wish that I
should like to make here: that the United Nations,
through its indispensable role, may strengthen its
contribution to creating a better and more just world
with the unflagging support of its membership.


On behalf of the
Government and people of Lesotho, I extend our most
sincere congratulations to the President on his election
to preside over the fifty-fifth session, and wish him
every success in the discharge of his duties. We are
confident that his personal, diplomatic and leadership
qualities will guide us through the session, and assure
him of our support and cooperation at all times. Let me
also pay a well deserved tribute, and express our thanks
and gratitude, to his predecessor, our colleague,
Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab of Namibia. We thank him
in particular for his statesmanship, sterling guidance
and effective organization during the difficult times of
the fifty-fourth session.
We also remain deeply indebted to Secretary-
General Kofi Annan for his continued dynamic
leadership and commitment to our Organization, and
for his relentless efforts in achieving the Organization's
goals.
The admission of a new Member to our
Organization is always a moment of joy, and that of
Tuvalu is no exception.
19

This, the first session of the General Assembly in
the new millennium, offers an opportunity for us to
reflect on the challenges and threats we face as we
enter the new century, a century that has ushered in a
revolution that future generations will likely
characterize as one that had the greatest impact on
human civilization since the advent of the telegraph,
radio and television. The world is indeed witnessing a
revolution in the information systems and their
integration into the lives of men, women and children,
leading to the term “information age “. The information
age of the twenty-first century is taking root as it
impacts on the lives of all sectors of society at both the
national and international levels.
There can be no doubt that for some information
technology and globalization are beginning to turn
theoretical possibilities into fact, as the use of
computers and computer-dependent systems have
resulted in improvements in basic health conditions and
increases in life expectancy, efficiency and
productivity, thus offering tremendous economic
potential and prosperity. Unfortunately, the majority of
others who have been left out of that prosperity
continue to live in conditions of extreme poverty,
remain embroiled in unending conflicts and are
ravaged by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other
diseases.
The challenge for the United Nations of the
twenty-first century is to eliminate those disparities by
bringing poor countries into the digital age, thus
making them extract value from globalization instead
of watching globalization extract value from them.
Education remains the key for the attainment of these
objectives. In fact, our message from Lesotho here is:
education, education, education.
A disturbing phenomenon for the international
community, and in particular for Africa, is that while
the rest of the world is experiencing an increased flow
of financial resources Africa's development prospects
continue to be hampered by unsustainable debt
servicing obligations. Just as we have placed poverty
eradication at the centre of economic and social
development, it is equally necessary to accord similar
importance to the debt problems of developing
countries. In our view, that would be a vital
contribution to the realization of the goal of halving the
proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a
day by 2015.
Lesotho falls into the category of countries that
are not eligible for debt relief under the existing
framework. In our Millennium Summit Declaration we
made pledges to grant more generous development
assistance to poor countries that plan to apply their
resources to poverty reduction and to deal
comprehensively with their debt problems. We need to
concretize these pledges by adopting measures to
accelerate debt relief such as the cancellation of the
official debt of those countries and the expansion of the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative. This
would assist us in ensuring that by 2015 the majority of
our people have access to safe drinking water, that all
children complete a full course of primary education,
and that joblessness is reduced among our youth. It
would also help us curb the spread of HIV/AIDS and
assist the children orphaned by this scourge.
The Government of Lesotho adopted poverty
reduction as its highest development priority in its
sixth and seventh National Development Plans. We
have taken firm measures to reduce poverty. Based on
our democratic dispensation and peaceful environment,
we have successfully embarked on an aggressive
investment promotion campaign for job creation. I am
pleased to report that we are experiencing initial
success in attracting foreign investment.
We believe that South-South cooperation is an
important tool for developing and strengthening the
economic independence of developing countries. To
this end, we in southern Africa have made modest but
encouraging progress with respect to South-South
cooperation by accelerating the entry into force of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Trade Protocol, which encompasses deeper economic
cooperation, cross-border investment and trade, free
movement of factors of production, and free movement
of goods and services.
The Third United Nations Conference on the
Least Developed Countries, to be held in Brussels next
year, is both timely and crucial. Since this body
recognized, some years ago, the least developed
countries as the poorest of the developing countries,
there has not yet been any improvement in the weak
economic situation of those countries, whose numbers
have instead increased from 25 in 1971, to 48 in 1997.
Lesotho therefore looks forward to the
Conference, which will review the internal constraints
to the development of the least developed countries and
20

the adequacy of international support measures in the
critical areas of official development assistance, debt
relief, market access and trade.
The High-level International Intergovernmental
Event on Financing for Development, to be held in
2001, will come to naught unless we are resolved to
undertake it armed with the requisite political
commitment and global solidarity to achieve our
development goals nationally, regionally and
internationally.
The Government of Lesotho remains keenly
aware that good environmental management requires
concerted efforts from all members of the community.
Therefore, we have established partnerships at the
international, regional and national levels to address
the problems of environmental degradation. We believe
that the environment is too important an issue to be left
in the hands of one Organization. In this regard, we
look forward to the process of the 10-year review of
the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), at which we will share our
experiences with, and learn from, our counterparts in
the international community.
Regarding the integrated and coordinated
implementation of, and follow-up to, the major United
Nations conferences and summits, my delegation
values the review meetings because they offer us the
opportunity to evaluate our performance and to
consider the way forward. They also rekindle our
political commitment to achieving global
developmental goals. We therefore feel that the review
process should continue in the twenty-first century,
with a stronger emphasis on the evaluation of
achievements and constraints.
Like globalization of the economy, globalization
of human rights cannot be avoided. Today human rights
are well established as the legitimate concern of all
humanity. If, as the world agreed in Vienna in 1993,
“the promotion and protection of all human rights
is a legitimate concern of the international
community” (A/CONF/157/24,chapter III, section
I, para.4),
this calls for a more pragmatic approach in identifying
pertinent situations requiring the protection of
humanity, including in situations where a state has
collapsed or disintegrated.
Among the promising developments as we begin
the century is the growing world consensus on the need
to stop impunity by punishing those responsible for
genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, as
evidenced by the number of signatories and
ratifications to the Statute of the International Criminal
Court (ICC). This momentum has rekindled our hope
for peace and for an end to the persistence of human
rights violations. Lesotho's ratification of the ICC
Statute is a further clear indication of its commitment
to the protection of human rights and to bringing to
justice all those who commit gross violations of these
rights.
As we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the
United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women,
we must be reminded that the goal of gender equality is
far from being achieved. Despite pessimistic forecasts,
and despite different evaluations of the achievements
of the special session on women, the Beijing + 5
conference's adoption of a final document proposing a
series of actions and initiatives in the 12 critical areas
identified in Beijing is an indication of the
international community's renewed commitment to
women's rights. Implementation of the norms
enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women remains
critical for the attainment of the goals set in Beijing.
As technology brings the peoples of the world
closer together, thus removing political and other
barriers, societies continue to be ravaged by racial
discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of
intolerance, exemplified by “ethnic cleansing”, racial
hatred and new forms of slavery. A challenge for the
United Nations is to define goals and global strategies
focused on urgent and effective measures to eliminate
racial discrimination and ethnic conflicts. Lesotho thus
welcomes the convening of the World Conference
against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance, to be held in South Africa in
2001. This Conference will offer an opportunity for us
to develop action-oriented measures to rid the world of
these scourges.
Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction — nuclear, chemical and biological —
remains one of the most important tasks facing
humankind in the twenty-first century, as these
weapons remain a major threat to world peace. The
pursuit of arms reduction and the challenge of
achieving sustainable disarmament thus remain the
21

only bulwark against the use or threat of use of
weapons of mass destruction.
While we welcome the nuclear-weapon States'
undertaking to eliminate their nuclear arsenals, their
failure to agree to a specific timetable for doing so is
regrettable. The challenge is to translate these
undertakings into concrete actions to eliminate all
nuclear dangers. We thus support the Secretary-
General's call for a new international conference on
eliminating nuclear dangers as a means of advancing
our disarmament goals. We also remain convinced of
the need and desirability of convening a special session
of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament.
Thanks to the efforts of all actors, both
governmental and non-governmental, the world is
beginning to witness tangible results as the production,
trade and use of landmines slowly drops, thus lowering
the number of casualties. This, however, should not
lead to any complacency, as evidence of the use of
mines in some conflict areas, particularly in Africa,
continues to surface. We look forward to a day when
the world will be free of these weapons and encourage
all those who continue to use mines, as well as those
who remain outside the Convention banning landmines,
to heed the rapidly growing international and regional
momentum for the ban on those weapons.
Lesotho supports the convening of a United
Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms
and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in June and July
2001, as mandated by General Assembly resolution
54/54. We share the view that the outcome of the
Conference should be a global action plan with specific
timetables for the implementation of commitments on
issues such as codes of conduct, legislative and
regulatory measures, control, enforcement,
transparency, and tracing measures and mechanisms.
The proliferation of armed conflicts in Africa
continues to hamper efforts to achieve progress in
economic and social development. The lack of political
will to find lasting solutions to ongoing conflicts and
the emergence of new ones continues to effectively
cripple the productive activities of those countries as
well as further erode the poor social infrastructure that
exists in many countries. The illicit trade in arms,
diamonds and other natural resources, as well as the
diversion of resources from development to military
activities, continue to fuel these conflicts, thus
undermining democracy and development.
The challenge for Africa remains the management
and resolution of conflicts, the avoidance of war and
the strengthening of democratic institutions. These are
enormous challenges which require Africa's
commitment to stability and the rule of law, but, above
all, they require strong political will on the part of the
Africans themselves and resources from the
international community to reinforce democratic
government, to deter attempts to overthrow it and even
to reinstate it where it has been overthrown by illegal
means.
We in Lesotho have bitter experience of attempts
to overthrow a legally and democratically elected
Government. Thanks to our SADC partners, order has
been restored in Lesotho and the Government is
vigorously pursuing a programme of reconstruction,
which includes the creation of a climate of political
reconciliation on which the consolidation of
democratic gains and democratic culture can rest. The
Government of Lesotho remains fully committed to
developing a culture of democracy, good governance,
observance of human rights and constitutionality. The
international community's assistance remains
indispensable to the success of these efforts. We
therefore stand solidly behind the position held by the
Organization of African Unity, SADC and the
Commonwealth of disallowing Governments that come
into power by illegal means from participating in our
councils. This should include our councils in the
United Nations.
Despite positive steps being taken by the
Government of Angola to stabilize the situation in that
country, peace continues to elude the people of Angola
because of the non-fulfilment by Jonas Savimbi of the
Lusaka Protocol. We urge the international community
to observe all Security Council resolutions against
UNITA and to fully cooperate with the United Nations
to ensure the effective implementation of sanctions
against UNITA.
We appeal to all parties to the Congolese conflict
to honour their obligations under the Lusaka Ceasefire
Agreement and to lend their support to the process of
internal dialogue under the facilitation of Sir Ketumile
Masire of Botswana.
We support all measures aimed at ending the
illicit trade in diamonds in Sierra Leone and applaud
the Economic Community of West African States for
its efforts to bring peace to that country. We are
22

gratified to see the cessation of hostilities between
Ethiopia and Eritrea and call on both parties to that
conflict to redouble their efforts for a lasting peace. We
also urge all armed groups in Burundi to fully and
effectively participate in the negotiations so as to
facilitate the speedy conclusion of a ceasefire
agreement and a comprehensive peace accord. We look
forward to the conclusion of the process in Western
Sahara so that the people of that country can freely
determine their own future.
We reaffirm the right of the Palestinian people to
exercise their inalienable rights and we urge parties to
the Middle East peace process to redouble their efforts
to find durable peace in the Middle East.
The real test for the United Nations in this
century is how far it is prepared to go in addressing all
these challenges and how far it will go in turning
promises into reality, thus enabling the large majority
of the people of the world to fulfil their potential and
realize their aspirations. While we appreciate the
magnitude of these challenges, we continue to have
faith in the United Nations capacity to solve global
problems, its broad universal support and its ability to
uphold and reaffirm our shared values of peace, equity,
social justice, democracy and human rights.