I should like first of all to extend
my heartfelt congratulations to you, Mr. President, who also
serve as Guyana’s Ambassador to Japan, on your election
last week to the presidency of this session of the General
Assembly. Let me also express my deep appreciation to the
previous President, Mr. Ganev, for his achievements during
the past year, particularly in pursuing General Assembly
reforms.
I want to take this opportunity to commend
Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali for his selfless devotion to
the cause of global peace and for his bold efforts towards
United Nations reform.
Finally, I warmly welcome the representatives of the six
new Member States that have joined the United Nations over
the past year.
In Japan, the reins of government recently changed
hands for the first time in 38 years. The coalition
government that emerged has appointed me Prime Minister.
Political changes in Japan are part of the dramatic changes
in the international community since the end of the
East-West confrontation. The post-cold-war era has opened,
not just a new page, but a whole new chapter in Japanese
politics. This means an era of basic reform in three main
areas, namely, political, economic and administrative
reforms. I believe these reforms are vital in strengthening
Japan’s bonds with the international community.
As I devote my attention and energy to these domestic
reforms I have come to the United Nations General
Assembly on my first official visit abroad. I have done so
because Japan believes that the United Nations has a crucial
role to play in the maintenance of international peace and
security. I also wished personally to convey Japan’s
determination to contribute, both financially and in terms of
personnel, to various United Nations efforts.
Further, I wish to state again that Japan continues to
feel a sense of remorse over its past actions and that it is
firmly resolved to make further contributions to the goals of
world peace and prosperity.
As for the current situation in Russia, Japan continues
to support President Yeltsin in his reform efforts. Japan
strongly hopes that a political environment which reflects the
will of the Russian people will soon be created and that the
reforms will be further promoted.
Today, the primary objective of the United Nations and
its Member States is to establish world peace on the basis of
the universal principles of freedom, democracy and respect
for human rights.
There are four areas in which the international
community must direct its greatest efforts in pursuit of this
objective.
I shall begin with the issue of disarmament. The Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is the
centre-piece of efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons. I wish to affirm that Japan supports the indefinite
extension of that Treaty beyond 1995. It is critically
important that countries which have not yet acceded to the
Treaty do so to enhance its universality. At the same time,
the indefinite extension of the NPT should not mean the
perpetuation of the possession of nuclear weapons by the
nuclear-weapon States.
Japan thus welcomes the progress made towards nuclear
disarmament by the United States and Russia and
emphasizes that all nuclear-weapon States must work in
earnest to achieve further progress in nuclear disarmament.
We hail the decision to commence substantive negotiations
aimed at a comprehensive nuclear test-ban. For its part,
Japan will work actively to help reduce world stockpiles of
nuclear weapons. For example, we are ready to assist in the
dismantling of nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union.
We also strongly urge North Korea to dispel international
concern about its development of nuclear weapons by, for
example, fully implementing the safeguards agreement with
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
On the transfer of conventional arms, the effective
implementation of the United Nations Register of
Conventional Arms is essential. I strongly urge all nations
to participate in this endeavour. In extending its official
development assistance, Japan continues to pay full attention
to such trends as military expenditures in recipient nations.
The second point I wish to make is the importance of
diplomatic efforts in the prevention of conflicts. The value
of regional security arrangements and bilateral or multilateral
political and security dialogue is undeniable in preventing or
settling armed conflicts.
In this connection, I was deeply moved by and heartily
welcome the historic signing of the declaration of principles
for Palestinian interim self-government by the Israelis and
the Palestinians. I pay a sincere tribute to their political
leaders for taking this courageous step. It is essential that
the international community support this agreement actively
and promptly in order to realize peace in the region. Japan
will continue to play a constructive role in the multilateral
negotiations that are part of the peace process. I am pleased
on this occasion to announce Japan’s intention to extend
about $200 million in assistance to the Palestinians over the
coming two years. This assistance will include grant aid for
food and medicine and concessional loans for infrastructure.
Humanitarian considerations, particularly respect for
human rights, are inseparable from the issue of peace.
Where there is war, human rights are often neglected.
Conversely, in countries where respect for human rights has
been firmly established, hostilities are less likely to break
out. Japan must actively contribute to the solution of
humanitarian problems. I would like to see my fellow
countrymen and women roll up their sleeves and work side
by side with people from many other countries, whenever
and wherever humanitarian activities are called for.
The third area of focus is economic development as a
foundation for peace-building. Today, the market economy
has become a common language in most nations of the
world, including many of the former socialist States. The
development of the global economy based on principles of
market economy should be urgently promoted. Japan and
other industrialized nations must provide support to
developing countries in their development efforts, as well as
to former socialist countries in their political and economic
reform efforts. It goes without saying that assistance to
countries in transition must not come at the expense of aid
to developing countries.
Already the world’s top donor of official development
assistance in absolute terms, Japan recently established its
Fifth Medium-Term Target to further expand such
assistance. Japan intends to provide official development
assistance totalling between $70 billion and $75 billion over
the five-year period beginning in 1993. As part of its aid
efforts, two weeks ago Japan hosted, in Tokyo, the Third
Mongolia Assistance Group Meeting. Next week, in
cooperation with the United Nations, we will hold the
International Conference on African Development in Tokyo.
The fourth item I would like to address concerns global
issues such as the environment and population. The urgent
need to solve the problems of the global environment cannot
be overemphasized. Japan is willing to assume a leading
role in international efforts to tackle environmental problems.
In so doing, we will draw upon the experience and
know-how we have gained in overcoming serious pollution
problems at home. Not only is Japan developing new
technologies for environmental protection, it is taking the
lead in transferring such technologies to developing countries
through the International Environmental Technology Centre
of the United Nations Environment Programme, which was
set up in Japan last year. At the 1992 United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, Japan
pledged approximately $7 billion to $7.7 billion in
environment-related official development assistance over the
five years beginning 1992. In fact, Japan has already
implemented more than one fourth of that amount.
Population problems often lead to poverty and famine.
Solving these problems is therefore crucial to the goal of
sustainable development and will require a broad-based
approach including education and public information efforts.
With these thoughts in mind, Japan will sponsor a meeting
of eminent persons on population and development next
January, prior to the International Conference on Population
and Development to be held in Cairo next year.
The year 1995 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the
founding of the United Nations. Since the birth of this
Organization immediately following the Second World War,
the international climate has changed dramatically. In the
meantime, United Nations membership has grown from 51
States in 1945 to the present 184. Today, the international
community is placing ever- higher expectations on the
United Nations. But serious reform efforts are necessary if
the United Nations is to respond to these expectations and
meet the new demands awaiting us at the threshold of the
next century.
I would like to comment on three specific areas in
which reforms are necessary - namely, peace-keeping, the
structure of the Security Council, and United Nations
administration and finance.
Last year, Japan enacted the International Peace
Cooperation Law enabling it to contribute personnel to
United Nations peace-keeping operations. Since then, it has
dispatched Japanese personnel to Angola, Cambodia and
Mozambique. Japan intends to continue to promote such
cooperation in the future.
Among recent United Nations peace-keeping operations,
the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
(UNTAC) stands out as a major achievement. I would like
to take this opportunity to express my deep respect for the
efforts of UNTAC personnel and all the countries concerned.
The success of the operation in Cambodia owes much to the
comprehensive framework for peace that was put in place
and the support it received from the international
community. I am convinced that its experience in Cambodia
will provide the United Nations with useful insights for its
future activities.
Ensuring the security of the personnel engaged in
United Nations peace-keeping operations is a task of high
priority to the international community, and I hope this issue
will be the subject of thorough debate at the current session
of the General Assembly. Other issues demanding our
attention are the need to determine a so-called "sunset" for
each peace-keeping operation to evaluate each operation
properly and to review strictly the activities of an existing
operation in deciding whether to extend its mandate. Japan
also strongly hopes that the Peace-keeping Reserve Fund,
which was established last year, will be fully funded and
used effectively.
The sharp increase in the number of regional conflicts
has meant a dramatic expansion of the role of the Security
Council. Accordingly, it is necessary that the functions of
the Council, which has the primary responsibility for
maintaining international peace and security, be strengthened.
It is important that those countries having both the will and
the adequate capacity to contribute to world prosperity and
stability be actively engaged in that effort. The views
expressed by many Member States, including our own, in
response to a General Assembly resolution on this subject
last year, generally indicate the need to expand the
membership of the Security Council, while ensuring that its
effectiveness is maintained. Japan intends to participate
constructively in the discussion on Security Council reform.
Today the United Nations finds itself in extremely
serious financial straits. In particular, the rapid expansion of
peace-keeping operations has made it increasingly difficult
for this Organization to meet its financial needs promptly.
Without adequate financial resources, the United Nations
Forty-eighth session - 27 September l993 19
would be powerless to engage in any activity, no matter how
meaningful it may be. I would like to remind all United
Nations Member States how important it is that they face
this reality and fulfil their obligations.
At the same time, I note with concern the frequent
allegations of inefficiency or wastefulness at the United
Nations. I hope the United Nations will make the utmost
efforts to meet the need for greater financial discipline and
effective budgetary control.
Japan is prepared to do all it can to discharge its
responsibilities in a United Nations reformed with the
previous three points taken into account.
When the forerunner of the United Nations, the League
of Nations, was established in 1920, the renowned Japanese
educator Mr. Inazo Nitobe was appointed as one of its
Deputy Secretaries-General. Mr. Nitobe, who had sought to
introduce Japan’s philosophical traditions to the world,
remarked that the Japanese place great value on moral
principles. I would like to conclude my address by offering
a quote from one of Mr. Nitobe’s lectures which reflects my
own view on the evolving bonds between Japan and the
international community:
"An international mind is not the antonym of a
national mind ... The international mind is an
expansion of the national mind, just as
philanthropy or charity ... should begin at home."


As I stand today at this rostrum, a
flood of memories rushes to my mind. I recall appearing as
Premier before the United Nations Committee on
decolonization in 1961 to plead the case of my country’s
independence. Like so many other colonies after the Second
World War, Guyana was anxious to secure its freedom and
exercise its right to self-determination.
The road, however, was far from easy. Along the way
there were many stumbling-blocks and casualties. It was not
until 1966, long after most subject peoples had been set free,
that we became independent and took our place in the family
of nations.
The world today is radically different from what it was
then. The total membership of the United Nations has
grown significantly. The cold war, which had bedevilled
international relations since 1947, has ended, with a promise
of a new and more democratic world order. With the
collapse of the Soviet Union, one of the two super-Powers,
there are severe difficulties for the new structures which
have been established. Nevertheless, hope is alive for the
construction of an era of peace, based on respect for all
peoples and the promotion of their general welfare. It is an
exciting moment in world history, and for the United
Nations there is a defining role.
Guyana has been honoured by the unanimous election
of its representative to the presidency of this forty-eighth
session of the General Assembly. This session will
undoubtedly be a challenging one. I wish to thank the entire
membership for its vote of confidence in our ability to
undertake this lofty responsibility. It is, after all, an
acknowledgement that all States, irrespective of their size,
can play an important role in the Organization’s work. I am
especially grateful to the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) group and the wider Latin American and
Caribbean Group for their full endorsement of our
candidacy. I must also pay a tribute to His Excellency Mr.
Stoyan Ganev for his capable direction of the forty-seventh
session and to our distinguished Secretary-General for his
efforts to promote the continuing success of our world
Organization.
Success in these volatile times is often tempered. For,
notwithstanding its important accomplishments, the United
Nations cannot be said to have fulfilled the highest
aspirations of its creators. The scourge of war is still
rampant in many places. Colonialism is certainly not extinct,
and today it threatens to survive in different forms. Many
aspects of colonialism are evident in the ever-widening gap

between the developed and the developing countries and the
dependence of impoverished millions on the largesse of a
few. This prevailing economic and social disparity provides
a breeding ground for hunger, disease and poverty and
ultimately constitutes a threat to international peace and
security.
As the focal point of multilateralism, the United
Nations must continue to explore the full limits of
international cooperation in order to eliminate, or at least
alleviate, the problems of the disadvantaged. I should like
to think that there is now agreement that the grave situation
requires collective action. Whatever its limitations, it is still
the best forum available to States for diplomacy, dialogue
and negotiation, and thus for the avoidance of conflict. We
should seek, therefore, to enhance its ability to address our
common goals.
As a small developing State, Guyana is fully committed
to the ethos of multilateral cooperation which is embodied
in the United Nations. We have come here to renew
publicly our faith in the Organization and to urge all
Members to pledge to deepen and strengthen multilateralism
as a foundation for inter-State relations. Experience has
shown that no nation, however powerful, can exist in
isolation. Its borders are not impervious to encroachment by
universal ills. Ultimately, it must come together with the
rest of the world to find common solutions to common
problems. AIDS, narcotic drugs, poverty and pollution are
striking examples of the pandemic which affects us all.
Control of these scourges requires concerted action by the
United Nations as a whole. Added to these are natural
disasters, such as the recent earthquake in India. Our
deepest sympathy goes out to the Indian people and
Government.
We note with some disappointment that international
conflicts continue to undermine the capacity of the
Organization to promote the cooperation which is deemed
essential for reaching solutions to current global problems.
The real value of the United Nations in this period will
depend on its collective ability to respond effectively to this
wave of international conflicts, and to find acceptable means
of peace-keeping and peacemaking which will not be a
burden on its membership.
Such a development will inspire confidence among
member nations to refer issues to the United Nations body,
and to restore their reliance on the Organization’s ability to
resolve disputes before they resort to the battlefield.
Our first effort at constructing a framework for
international peace and security through the League of
Nations ended in failure. The reason can be found in the
inherent weakness of the League, in the resultant inability to
contain rampant nationalism, particularism and insularity and
in the lack of respect for its fundamental principles. The
United Nations is a second experiment, prompted by the
disasters consequent upon the failure of the League. At San
Francisco we vowed to spare succeeding generations from
the scourge of war. We have before us today another
opportunity to secure an era of real peace and stability, to
deploy fully the resources of the Organization in the service
of humanity, and to reach for a broad-based, sustainable
development and some measure of prosperity and fulfilment
for the peoples of this planet.
In our efforts to bolster international peace and security,
the report, "An Agenda for Peace", which was prepared by
the Secretary-General in response to the Security Council’s
request, sets out a number of proposals which merit serious
consideration. While recognizing the need to provide the
Council with enforcement capacity under Chapter VII of the
Charter, we place special importance on preventive
diplomacy, which would obviate recourse to physical
intervention. As the experience of some recent peacemaking
and peace-keeping operations has shown, these measures are
fraught with uncertain political consequences. Moreover,
they have proved extremely costly, particularly to small
States such as ours which can ill afford such expenditures.
So diverse are the origins of conflict that each situation
must be examined in depth to determine the most
appropriate means of peaceful solution. In some cases the
dispute may have legal implications and may therefore be
best handled by a suitable judicial body. More often than
not, however, the roots of conflict are embedded in a history
of complicated political, economic and social factors. In
such instances the ground must be carefully prepared for the
cultivation of peace and stability. Fortunately, the
advantages of the diplomatic approach are not lost in the
United Nations, which increasingly is using the good offices
of the Secretary-General and his representatives to induce
solutions to long-standing conflicts.
We believe that these examples reaffirm the virtue of
dialogue and negotiation. However, although promising for
the future, other situations remain tenuous and require
constant monitoring. Somalia and Sudan must be carefully
nurtured back to normalcy. In Europe, Bosnia and
Herzegovina stands out as an horrific example of man’s
inhumanity to man, and compels us to search for a quick end
to the wanton killing of innocent thousands. Indeed, the
Forty-eighth session - 1 October l993 3
United Nations must hasten to devise new strategies to deal
with these persistent convulsions in the global body politic.
The Middle East has been embroiled in conflict for
much too long. With the recent signing of the declaration of
principles for Palestinian self-rule, the road ahead is
encouraging. Peace and stability throughout the region now
seem to be within our grasp. We hope also that the
territorial problems between Iraq and Kuwait can be
amicably settled.
As far as South Africa is concerned, the announcement
of a date for elections, coupled with supporting structures,
gives rise to the hope that majority rule is not far off and we
may in the near future welcome that country back into the
fold of the international community. We urge the peoples of
South Africa to eschew further violence and to come
together for their common good.
I wish to record with satisfaction the view that a return
to democratic traditions and respect for good governance and
human rights has helped to further promote peace. Guyana
will support any confidence-building mechanism which
favours dialogue over confrontation as the means of choice
for the pacific settlement of disputes. Because of the
inherent correlation between peace and development it
behoves each member of the international community to
continue the search, where needed, for creative ways to
settle disputes that could otherwise imperil not only
international peace and security but also national
development.
In this hemisphere, of which Guyana forms part, we are
concerned that, despite the end of the cold war, Cuba
remains outside the inter-American family. We truly believe
that this is a serious anomaly in the context of the
Organization’s efforts to build a new world order based on
mutual understanding and respect among all States in a
united international community. We appeal to the United
States and Cuba to demonstrate their good will and seek
urgently to reconcile their long-standing differences. The
Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which has a vested
interest in the early rapprochement between these two major
partners, stands ready to play a role in this process.
We are particularly pleased that the Central American
region, which for far too long has been entrapped by
anachronistic economic and social structures, has emerged
from a vicious cycle of internecine violence. CARICOM
welcomes the opportunity which this development offers for
closer cooperation between two neighbouring regions. We
are equally pleased that, after being held hostage by a
military dictatorship unwilling to heed the popular will, Haiti
is once again free to pursue a democratic path. We offer to
President Aristide and his government our ready cooperation
in the urgent task of reconstruction for social progress.
Guyana has itself only recently emerged from a difficult
electoral process that, under international vigilance, proved
to be free and fair. We are particularly grateful for the role
the United Nations played in ensuring that the democratic
will of our people was fully respected. After all, the right
to choose one’s government is a fundamental human right,
which should never be denied. We commend the United
Nations for providing electoral assistance at the request of
those who seek it, and with due respect for the principle of
national sovereignty. Elections alone, however, do not
guarantee the preservation of democracy: they must be
accompanied by the establishment of machinery that protects
every individual in our societies. I am pleased to report that
one of the first steps my Government took upon assuming
office was to accede to the Optional Protocol to the United
Nations Human Rights Covenants. We followed that with
the establishment of an Inter-Agency High-Level Committee
on Human Rights, whose function it is to ensure that Guyana
complies with its reporting responsibilities under the Human
Rights Conventions.
It is not enough, however, to satisfy the civic and
political rights of our citizens: their fundamental economic
and social entitlements to food, clothing, shelter and so on
must also be provided. Human rights are indivisible, and to
prefer one above the other is to deny their essential
interrelatedness. The Vienna Conference appears to have
recognized this fact and to have confirmed the need for a
holistic approach. My own Government is dedicated to the
proposition that human development must be comprehensive
if our society’s welfare is to be secured. Our stated policy,
therefore, is to create an environment in which democracy
will work to fulfil our people’s spiritual and material needs.
To implement our development programme, however, we
shall require the cooperation of the international community
to supplement our own limited resources.
As I observed earlier this year at a Conference entitled
"Poverty in Guyana - Finding Solutions", we are in a
situation of crisis. For, while we have recently begun to
experience high growth rates, the economy continues to be
weak: unemployment is high; human and financial resources
are scarce; and basic infrastructure has deteriorated, leaving
the social sectors vulnerable to all the ills of poverty. We
have been somewhat successful in raising production and
productivity levels, but are seriously limited by a heavy debt
burden. Some 90 cents of each dollar earned now go
4 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
towards the repayment of the national debt. And the
proportion of our external commercial earnings for payment
of our foreign debt is nearly three times the average of the
47 least developed countries - an unbearably heavy burden.
Even though we attempt to manage expenditure judiciously,
through good governance - efficient management, a clean
and lean administration and fullest respect for human rights -
we cannot perform miracles. At the end of the day, we must
look for assistance to buttress our domestic efforts and to
preserve our tender democracy. With nearly 80 per cent of
our people below the poverty line, we shall succeed in
consolidating democracy only through economic
development with social justice.
At the present time, however, the prospects for such
support appear rather bleak. There has been a noticeable
contraction in development aid as the economies of some
donor countries experience difficulties. Their own
electorates appear increasingly concerned with domestic
problems, such as unemployment and falling living
standards. Whatever limited resources are available are
allocated by the developed nations largely on the basis of
strategic concerns. The international agenda is therefore
being set more and more at the sacrifice of the developing
world. There is consequently an urgent need to reorder our
priorities and to place development at the top of our agenda.
At best, however, development aid is no more than a
palliative. Significant economic and social progress will
come to the developing countries only when inequitable and
unjust economic and trade practices in the global system are
removed. As the 1992 human development report pointed
out, we are denied some $500 billion in market opportunities
annually, 10 times what we receive as foreign assistance,
primarily because of protectionist policies still being pursued
by the developed countries. We call, therefore, on those
countries to open up their markets to our goods at prices that
compensate us fairly for our labour and production. In this
context, we urge the industrial nations to expedite the
conclusion of trade negotiations, taking fully into account the
interests of our small, developing economies. We would
also wish and ask that the formation of large regional
economic groupings - the megablocs as they are called -
guard against the further marginalization of our economies
and our countries.
Additionally, a definite solution must be found, during
the current decade, to the third world’s crushing external
debt problem. In Latin America and the Caribbean, with
181 million out of 441 million people living below the
poverty line, in the mire of destitution, how can human
development take place when, despite onerous debt
payments, the stock of debt continues to grow? A
prospective Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean (ECLAC) study for the region over the
1985-1995 period shows a serious aggravation in terms of
poverty, unemployment and foreign debt during the decade.
Between 1981 and 1990, the region’s foreign debt payments
were $503 billion, of which $313 billion were interest
payments. However, in the same period, the region’s
consolidated foreign debt increased from $297 billion in
1981 to $428 billion in 1991. Little wonder that the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) publication entitled
"Children of the Americas" commented that this mechanism,
whereby the more you pay the more you owe, is perverse
and must be stopped.
Debt relief in the form of debt cancellation, grants, soft
loans and rescheduling is urgent if the developing countries
are to eradicate poverty, protect the environment and play a
meaningful role in expanding world trade and ending
stagnation and recession in the industrially developed
countries. Debt relief must be seen as an investment not
only in the development of poor countries but also in the
security of the rich nations.
Recognizing the link that exists between poverty, trade,
population, development and the environment, we must
hasten to implement the Rio programme of action outlined
in Agenda 21. The developing countries urgently require the
resources - both financial and technological - necessary to
fulfil their obligations under that compact. As proof of its
commitment to protect the environment, Guyana has set
aside nearly 1 million acres of its tropical forests for
research, management and development of our rich
biodiversity. With the welcome of entities such as the
Commonwealth Secretariat, the United Nations Development
Programme and the Global Environment Facility, the
Iwokrama project, as it is now known, has been fully
launched. At the commissioning ceremony held on World
Environment Day this year, I dedicated the enterprise to our
indigenous peoples, who are not only the principal
inhabitants but also the custodians of our forests. It is
fitting, especially in this, the International Year of the
World’s Indigenous People, that full recognition be given to
the important role they play in harmonizing man’s
relationship with the Earth on which he lives.
We also urge full support for the Global Conference on
the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States, scheduled to commence in Barbados in April 1994.
We trust that there will be adequate preparation and the
widest participation in that Conference.
Forty-eighth session - 1 October l993 5
In a spirit of genuine cooperation, therefore, let us
proceed to address the proposed agenda for development,
which we have accepted as a natural concomitant to "An
Agenda for Peace". Indeed, peace cannot prevail in the
absence of development. Our attempts at peacemaking and
conflict resolution in general will not succeed if inequitable
and unjust economic and social conditions are allowed to
persist. Of late, many of the organs and agencies engaged
in the development process have had cause to lament the
growing diminution of resources available to them, a
problem now aggravated by continuing diversion of funding
to a multiplicity of peace-keeping operations. Obviously,
one recognizes the importance of maintaining global peace.
However, it should not be at the cost of a disproportionate
sacrifice of development, which leads to peace-keeping
becoming an end in itself instead of a means of encouraging
economic and social welfare.
The United Nations, whose universal membership
encompasses both developed and developing nations,
remains the ideal forum for forging a consensus on the
major issues of peace and development. It is evident,
however, that, as currently conceived and structured, it
cannot adequately perform the role expected of it. That
realization has led us to undertake the exercise of reforming
and restructuring the Organization. To this end, we must
ensure that the changes we make are not simply cosmetic
but serve effectively to enhance the Organization’s capacity
to deal with the challenges of the post-cold-war period. Our
reforms must therefore seek to establish the United Nations
as the principal forum in which macro-political, economic
and social policies are collectively and consensually devised.
If truth be told, the United Nations is still largely
perceived, notwithstanding its recent successes in the
political field, as a "talk shop". Like the old Congress of
Vienna, which was described as a "perpetual dance", it is
viewed in the eyes of our peoples - particularly the poor and
the suffering - as an endless round of dilatory debate which
produces fine resolutions but precious little by way of
concrete action. To survive and succeed, therefore, the
United Nations must become relevant to the lives of men,
women and children everywhere.
Urgent action is required at this explosive period of
mounting external debt, falling economic growth, falling
third-world commodity prices, increasing unemployment,
environmental destruction, underdevelopment and the
persistence of poverty. Our troubled planet calls for
statesmanship, political will and cooperation for meaningful
change. Market forces alone are not providing the people
with adequate opportunities to participate in and benefit from
economic growth and development. We have a paradox of
growing poverty in the midst of potential plenty. Science
and technology have the capacity to eradicate poverty in the
not too distant future and to halve it by the end of the
century. Instead, we have today, both in the developed and
in the developing countries, only about half the growth rate
of a decade ago and the catastrophic phenomenon of "jobless
growth" - fewer and fewer jobs and more and more poverty
and inequality.
It is necessary to ascertain the root causes of global
poverty and to develop an integrated strategy for its
eradication. This necessitates a comprehensive world view
and a recognition of the major contradiction of our time: the
tremendous growth of the means of production and the
anachronistic relations of production and the collective will
to resolve this contradiction.
In the intense competition in a shrinking global
market - owing in large part to the increasing poverty and
the widening gap between the rich and poor in both the
North and South, and between the North and the South - the
three centres of the industrialized world - North America,
Western Europe and Japan - are resorting to even more
capital-intensive growth and the use of more and more
sophisticated technology: computers and robots, cybernetics
and automation. How can the poor and unsophisticated in
the third-world countries survive in the "global village", in
the "borderless world" when collectively these countries have
not attained the target projected long ago of 25 per cent in
the production of industrialized goods and with the great
majority light-years behind in human-resource development
and burdened by the dead weight of unconscionable and
immoral debt payments? The rapid advance to robots and
automation in the North also poses a threat to the
advantageous position of competitive wage rates in many
countries of the South. And the industrialized countries with
budget deficits, growing numbers of jobless and retirees and
inadequate welfare funds cannot afford the Keynesian luxury
of pump-priming and "workfare".
In a situation of confusion and uncertainty, and with no
solution in sight, the reactionary ultra-rightists and
neo-fascists are getting stronger politically and becoming
more vocal and strident. There is no answer to the
hopelessness and despair of the more than 30 million
unemployed in the countries of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. Despair is leading
to alcoholism, narcotics use, crime and suicide. Meanwhile
nationalism, xenophobia and neo-fascism are on the rise,
leading to racial and ethnic tensions and growing civil strife.
6 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
The North-South dialogue has been languishing and has
become a dialogue of the deaf. In the South, rising
unemployment and abject poverty are interacting with rapid
population growth, urbanization, overcrowding, disease, the
production and use of narcotic drugs, increased flows of
refugees across international frontiers and irreversible
damage to the environment. Whereas it was said previously
that the Berlin Wall prevented peoples in the Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe from travelling to the West, now new
walls are being erected to prevent people from entering the
developed, industrialized countries.
It is not enough to treat the symptoms of the global
malaise. Radical reforms are urgently needed. Structural
adjustment is as necessary for the developed countries as for
the developing countries, but reforms must be predicated on
social justice and have a human face. Human needs and
human security should be the object of development. In this
regard, greater emphasis must be placed on human capital
and natural capital, and much more must be done to speed
up disarmament so that the despairing and hungry of the
world can benefit from greatly enhanced savings.
The development agenda must include a critical analysis
of possible options and must deal with the international
competitiveness of the third world, the basis of new
modalities of international cooperation for development and
the financing of development. It must also address core
problems: alleviation of poverty, expansion of productive
employment and enhancement of social integration,
particularly of the more disadvantaged and marginal groups.
To attain these objectives, the people - I repeat, the
people - must play a central role. They must be fully
involved in all aspects of life to take advantage of their
initiatives and creativity in the fashioning of a better future
and a peaceful and prosperous world.
As the leader of a small nation which continues to
believe in the vast potential of this Organization for making
the world a better place in which to live, I appeal to the
Assembly to devote itself to this urgent task. Let us work
together to advance the cause of global peace and
development.


Allow me to congratulate
His Excellency Mr. Insanally on his election to the
presidency of the forty-eighth session of the United Nations
General Assembly. Given his talent and experience, I am
confident that he will guide this session to the successful
completion of the noble mission entrusted to it by the
Charter of the United Nations. I would also like to express
my appreciation and thanks to his predecessor, Mr. Ganev,
for the contribution he made to accomplishing the tasks of
the last session.
I wish to take this opportunity to extend my warm
welcome and congratulations to the six States that have been
admitted to membership of the United Nations over the past
year.
I stand before the Assembly as the Foreign Minister of
a small, land-locked, newly independent country of 3.5
million under complete blockade, with no energy resources,
still not recovered from the devastating earthquake of 1988,
flooded by hundred of thousands of refugees fleeing the
conflict between Nagorny-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, and
under constant provocation by Azerbaijan to be drawn into
that conflict.
I am also the Foreign Minister of the only democracy
in the region, an island of stability in a sea of political chaos
and turmoil, a country with close to 30 registered political
parties, a free press and freedom of conscience and religion,
and with laws guaranteeing civil and political rights and
freedoms. The Government of Armenia has also made
headway towards establishing a market economy and has
taken several significant steps to integrate its economy into
the global economy. Armenia has moved swiftly in many
areas of reform. Most agricultural land and homes and
many small enterprises have already been privatized, and a
tax programme, a pricing policy and legislative reform to
create the legal framework for a free-market economy are
effectively under way. Nevertheless, substantial work will
need to be done if these advances are to contribute
effectively to a successful transition.
It is encouraging to see that the United Nations has
recognized that full integration of the economies in transition
into the world economy will not only help those economies
but also have a positive impact on world trade, economic
growth and development, and is prepared to support the
process of bringing about economic reform and restructuring
through its special bodies and specialized agencies.
I wish to take this opportunity to convey my
Government’s deep gratitude to the Secretary-General for
establishing the United Nations - United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) interim office in Armenia.
As a result of adverse natural and geopolitical circumstances,
Armenia is currently in a state of economic and social crisis.
We see the importance of short-term assistance in these
times of great need, but at the same time are fully aware that
it is the pursuit of long-term goals that will bring Armenia
to function at full capacity as a member of the international
community. We are convinced that the presence of United
Forty-eighth session - 11 October l993 7
Nations specialized agencies in Armenia such as the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the
World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations
Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), providing technical
and advisory assistance and coordination would enhance the
durability of the transition that is well under way.
As we and other nations grapple with problems unique
to each, the collapse of regimes and empires continues to
fuel violent conflicts throughout the world. But there is an
apparent change in the pattern of international conflicts.
Very few wars are fought between nation States any more.
The rest are struggles for self-determination turned into
bloody conflict and civil war in one and the same nation
State. These movements need a forum in which to lodge
their claims, identify and understand their rights, negotiate
with government authorities, establish just administration of
their affairs, and peacefully work out realistic political and
territorial arrangements for the future.
Now more than ever, it is incumbent upon the United
Nations to revisit its provision of non-intervention in matters
which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of
Member States, and to define more stringently the extent of
the impact of a conflict on the peace and security of other
nations. Having in clear view the essential role the United
Nations can play in enhancing peacemaking efforts
throughout the world, we concur with recent proposals in
academic circles that the United Nations transform the
near-moribund Trusteeship Council into a modern clearing-
house for self-determination.
Under the proposed system, a "trust territory" would be
that part of a Member State voluntarily placed into
trusteeship by the Government of that State for the purpose
of resolving a self-determination claim under United Nations
supervision without prejudicing the final status of the
territory. We believe that the trusteeship system could save
lives and prevent the escalation of a self-determination
struggle to a devastating civil war, or worse, to a regional
conflict involving other countries.
The conflict over Nagorny-Karabakh has claimed the
lives of more than 10,000 people and has caused close to a
million innocent people to be uprooted from their homes
during the past five years. This conflict continues to
threaten the security and stability of the whole region. The
international community has yet to come to grips with the
root cause of the conflict and devise appropriate measures to
find a peaceful solution.
Armenia’s position on the Nagorny-Karabakh conflict
has been clear and consistent since day one. The conflict is
between the people of Nagorny-Karabakh, who are striving
for their self-determination, and the Azerbaijani Government,
which is refusing to address the rights and security concerns
of the people of Nagorny-Karabakh.
As an interested party, Armenia has advocated an
unconditional cease-fire and has fully supported all the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)
initiatives. The Government of Armenia sees no alternative
to the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, than that
which can be reached within the framework of the CSCE
Minsk Conference.
The recent developments of the peace process are
promising. Nagorny-Karabakh has at long last been
recognized as a party to the conflict and direct talks between
the leadership of Nagorny-Karabakh and Azerbaijani
authorities, mediated by the Russian Federation, have
brought about a cease-fire, which has continued to hold for
more than a month now and is unprecedented in the
five-year history of this bloody conflict. On 28 September
during its meeting in Paris, the Minsk Group produced the
"Adjusted timetable of urgent steps to implement Security
Council resolutions 822 (1993) and 853 (1993)", to which
Armenia has given its agreement, and is hopeful that a
similar position will be adopted by the main parties to the
conflict, Azerbaijan and Nagorny-Karabakh.
There is now a genuine opportunity for peace.
Therefore, the convening of the Minsk Conference must not
be delayed. Once peace is established, legal questions, first
and foremost among which is the issue of the status of
Nagorny-Karabakh, can be negotiated. The clear position of
the Government of Armenia is to accept and be gratified by
any solution agreed upon between Nagorny-Karabakh and
Azerbaijan at the Minsk Conference.
The CSCE has an explicit security role in the new
world order, consistent with the provisions of Chapter VIII
of the United Nations Charter. Last May, the
Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Chairman
of the CSCE Council agreed on a framework for cooperation
and coordination between the United Nations Secretariat and
the CSCE, namely through the regular exchange of
information in the fields of early warning, conflict
prevention and the promotion of democratic values and
human rights. The CSCE is also striving to obtain United
Nations observer status, an initiative which Armenia fully
supports.
8 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
The successful cooperation between the United Nations
and the CSCE over the Nagorny-Karabakh conflict can serve
as a case study in how to reconcile, practically, the
conflicting claims of regionalism and universalism. Such
cooperation will enhance the role of regional organizations
in conflict prevention, peace-keeping and the peaceful
settlement of disputes.
Armenia appreciates the Secretary-General’s report "An
Agenda for Peace" which embodies the notions of
peace-keeping, peacemaking and post-conflict peace--
building. History has taught us, however, that development
is intrinsic to peace, and that the two can no longer be
thought of as separate processes. Starvation, poverty and
poor living conditions in many parts of the world loom as
serious threats to stability and peace. The United Nations in
its commitment to secure peace for all the Earth’s
inhabitants must place development high among its priorities.
Indeed, it must establish economic and social development
as guiding principles for the Organization’s activities.
Armenia fully supports the Secretary-General’s initiative for
an agenda for development and looks forward to contributing
to this important milestone towards world peace. Armenia
also gives its full support to the convocation of the 1995
World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen.
Today, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
poses another grave threat to both global and regional
security and stability. Armenia supports the indefinite
extension of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
beyond 1995. The United Nations should work to ensure
universality and strict compliance with the Convention on
the prohibition of chemical weapons.
Development and human rights are also mutually
inclusive values. There can be no genuine development
unless systems of thought and government are based on
respect for the full spectrum of the rights of individuals. It
is auspicious that this year coincides with the forty-fifth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The spirit of the Declaration and the Vienna World
Conference on Human Rights held last June will
undoubtedly deepen the understanding of the significance of
human rights for stability, freedom, peace, progress and
justice.
It is my Government’s strong conviction that the
adoption and implementation of all human rights principles
by nation States will create solid ground for unity and
harmony throughout a world which is being transformed and
is searching for new constants.
For more effective implementation of the principles of
human rights we feel it is imperative to establish the post of
high commissioner for human rights and a permanent
international criminal court where cases of gross violations
of human rights and other crimes against humanity are
submitted and prosecuted.
In 1995, the United Nations will celebrate its fiftieth
anniversary. In the past 50 years, the Organization has
grown and has witnessed historic events, in many of which
it has played a considerable role. As the Organization has
entered a period in which it is being called upon to take an
increasingly active guiding role in a changing world, it too
must be prepared to respond effectively to these changes.
Armenia supports the call for restructuring the Security
Council that has been placed before the United Nations by
its Member States. Because the international community is
looking to the Security Council to take a more dynamic role
in the maintenance of international peace, it is necessary that
the Security Council increase its membership in order that it
may be able to address the issues before it in a more
balanced and equitable way.
Improving the United Nations administrative
performance must also become a top priority at this time.
We welcome the current initiatives of the Secretary-General
to streamline the Organization’s administrative and
management structures and procedures to meet the demands
that are now being placed upon the Organization.
As the world seems to have grown accustomed to the
dreadful routine of tragic news coming from various regional
hotbeds, it is inspiring to reflect on some of the more
positive reverberations of the end of the cold war, which can
be epitomized by the historic accord between the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel signed recently.
It is my privilege to salute the leaders of Israel and the PLO
for taking this courageous step.
No less significant are the processes currently in motion
in South Africa. Armenia joins the other Member States in
supporting the negotiating process there, and believes that
lifting economic sanctions at this time could encourage the
people of South Africa to take up the task of building a truly
free and democratic country.
In the United Nations, the end of the cold war
continues to translate into ever closer cooperation between
its Members. In 1992, as in 1991, despite the large volume
and the diversified nature of the issues examined in the
Security Council, none of the members of the Council
exercised its right to veto. There is a growing harmony of
Forty-eighth session - 11 October l993 9
interests among nations that is creating an atmosphere of
trust and cooperation, which are the prerequisites for the
realization of the goals envisioned by the founders of the
United Nations 48 years ago in San Francisco.
Indeed, for the first time since its inception, the United
Nations has been given the opportunity to become what it
was intended to be: a collective security system, with a
Charter providing for special forms of cooperation between
sovereign States, designed to ensure peace and prosperity
throughout the world.


It is with pleasure that, on
behalf of the Ghana delegation, I convey to Mr. Insanally of
Guyana our congratulations on his election, by acclamation,
as President of the General Assembly at its forty-eighth
session. He assumes this high office at a momentous time
in the history of mankind, as we endeavour to establish a
new world order based on freedom and justice. The skills
and experience that he brings to his office assure us of
success during his tenure. The cordial relations that happily
exist between the President’s country and mine increase our
satisfaction, hopes and expectations. We pledge to him and
to the Bureau our full cooperation and support.
Let me place on record also our appreciation of the
effective leadership that the President’s predecessor,
Mr. Stoyan Ganev of Bulgaria, gave to our Organization
during his stewardship. His ability to navigate the General
Assembly through the turbulence of a contradictory context
in international relations was admirable.
Once again, the Secretary-General has shown, through
a display of his remarkable skills as a thinker, an
administrator and an accomplished diplomat, that he is on
top of his job. The credit is no doubt shared by the staff,
whose dedication and commitment have been maintained.
The universality of the General Assembly, which makes
it the most representative organ of the Organization, has
again been reaffirmed with the admission of five new
Member States since August 1992. We take this opportunity
to welcome them and to extend to them the cooperation of
the Ghana delegation.
The search for enduring peace is still the greatest
challenge of the Organization, in spite of the end of the cold
war. The collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics and the accession to independence of its
constituent parts, the freedom and independence of the
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 21
countries of Eastern Europe, German reunification, and the
cold-war relics of trouble spots have brought to the fore
"Simmering disputes, violent conflicts, aggression and
foreign occupation, interference in the internal affairs of
States, policies of hegemony and domination, ethnic
strife, religious intolerance, new forms of racism and
narrowly conceived nationalism", (A/47/675, annex,
para. 3)
as the Jakarta Message of 1992 of the Non-Aligned
Movement so aptly stated.
At the same time, our world is faced with an economic
and a social situation similar to that which preceded the two
world wars. All these developments, aggravated by global
recession, threaten to undermine the purposes of the United
Nations.
We must continue to pursue the goal of total
disarmament. We should like the proposed United Nations
Register of Conventional Arms to include nations’
production of arms and all other weapons of mass
destruction.
The goal of complete and total disarmament would
obviously be easier to pursue in an environment of peace
based on mutual confidence. It is in this context that we
welcome the efforts of the United Nations to shoulder the
increasing burden of peace-keeping and peacemaking. In
Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola, South Africa, the former
Yugoslavia, Somalia, the Middle East, Cyprus, and
elsewhere, the efforts of the United Nations have served as
a positive check on the threat to international peace and
security. There are, however, lessons to be drawn for
current and future operations. The holding of elections in
Angola and in Cambodia without the fulfilment of certain
conditions, such as the disarming and cantonment of troops,
was tactically unhelpful, in spite of the circumstances that
led to the elections - a mistake which, thankfully, the United
Nations does not intend to repeat in Mozambique. We
should also remind ourselves that peacemaking may be a
slow and painful process. The need to retain the confidence
of all parties and their support for, and participation in, the
process is fundamental and crucial to the success of such
operations.
We are disappointed at the instability that continues to
engulf the former Yugoslavia. Whilst we still regret the
initial reaction of the international community - in particular,
the regional institutions - to developments there, we wish to
reiterate that unrestrained nationalism that seeks justification
in the much-cherished principle of self- determination is
unacceptable. Furthermore, the expression of such
nationalism in "ethnic cleansing" is as barbaric and revolting
as it is reprehensible and totally at variance with civilized
behaviour. The readiness of the United Nations to act
decisively in Somalia contrasts sharply with the timidity and
hesitation that have marked our presence in the former
Yugoslavia and threaten to erode the credibility of the
Organization. It is for these reasons that we welcome
Security Council resolution 859 (1993), in which the
Council, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, calls for
the immediate cease-fire and cessation of hostilities
throughout the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina that are
essential if a just and equitable political solution to the
conflict is to be achieved through peaceful negotiations. We
expect the Security Council to monitor the implementation
of the resolution.
My Government warmly welcomes the historic
agreements on limited autonomy for Palestine and on mutual
recognition between Israel and the Palestine Liberation
Organization. These accords are a tribute to the courage,
foresight, determination and outstanding statesmanship of
Chairman Yasser Arafat and of Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin. They usher in the beginning of the
end of decades of war, mistrust, violence, destruction and
wanton killing and suffering that the Arab-Israeli conflict has
brought to the people of the Middle East. They lay a solid
foundation for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the
Middle East. We therefore urge the entire international
community to support them.
From the new dawn of relations in the Middle East
emerges a powerful, compelling and inspiring truth - that
there is no conflict that is not capable of solution. That is
why we consider that the "no war, no peace" situation in
Cyprus should not be permitted to lure this Organization into
complacency. The search for a settlement should be
accelerated. To this end, the recent decision to maintain the
United Nations presence in Cyprus should encourage all the
parties involved.
The situation in Sudan, equally, cries out for a peaceful
solution and for greater United Nations involvement as a
contribution to the search for an enduring settlement to an
essentially political problem that has brought such suffering
to the people and has created an unbearable refugee problem
for neighbouring States.
Our Organization has recorded laudable success in its
implementation of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV)
on the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to
22 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Colonial Countries and Peoples. The independence of
Namibia is the latest of the success stories of decolonization.
However, the Territories and peoples that remain under
colonial rule demand our active and sustained attention and
render premature any conclusion that the decolonization
process has been completed.
We welcome the progress that has been made in the
negotiations in South Africa. However, the international
community needs to remind itself that apartheid is far from
being completely eradicated. The process of democratization
in that country must be completed so that all its citizens may
be enabled to exercise their voting rights. The world
community has a responsibility to maintain its vigilance
regarding South Africa until the election on 27 April 1994,
which will put in place an acceptable constitutional
programme for a transitional Government based, for the first
time in the history of that country, on universal adult
suffrage.
Of equal concern is the impasse over Western Sahara.
The United Nations peace plan must be allowed to work,
and the timetable set for the holding of elections must be
respected by all. In the light of the call for a more prudent
use of the resources available to the United Nations, it is
imperative that the task of the United Nations Mission for
the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) be
completed rapidly, to the full satisfaction of all concerned,
particularly the Sahraoui people.
The new impetus for peacemaking and peace-keeping
represents a major advance in our collective engagement in
the task of seeking and creating a peaceful and safe world.
In this Assembly it has been suggested that the United
Nations should limit its commitments, that it should not take
on every conflict. But which conflicts must it address, and
which ones should it decline to get involved in? That is the
crucial question. The unity of the purposes of the Charter
and the universality of our Organization compel us to
recognize that a threat to peace anywhere is a threat to peace
everywhere.
But even if the suggestions have merit, either on the
grounds of lack of funds, constraints in logistics or the
United Nations inability to heal all the world’s wounds, my
delegation wants to stress the need for the United Nations to
see all the peace-keeping assignments it is engaged in
through to their logical conclusion. The United Nations
cannot, at this juncture, turn its back on South Africa,
Liberia, Rwanda, Angola, Mozambique, Haiti, Somalia or
the former Yugoslavia. It would be a sad day indeed if all
these laudable initiatives were abandoned on the grounds of
well-reasoned arguments pleading lack of funds or of the
will to help these nations enjoy the peace that has eluded
them for years.
In recognition of the fact that the United Nations cannot
undertake too many initiatives, it should devise mechanisms
for shoring up regional efforts at conflict resolution, such as
in Liberia. We also wish to stress that the internal parties to
the various conflicts which the United Nations is striving so
hard to resolve have a moral responsibility to play their part
in accelerating the process towards peace. Human decency
and the sanctity of human life impose this duty on them. In
this respect, we must encourage the Inkatha Freedom Party
and other right-wing groups to join the process of
negotiations in South Africa, and we should condemn in no
uncertain terms the treachery of UNITA and the attitude of
some of the Somali warlords.
Whatever mistakes the United Nations Operation in
Somalia (UNOSOM) may have made, it is grotesque for any
Somali leader to seek to be a hero by engaging the United
Nations in combat. Such a show of ingratitude may have
long-term damaging consequences in terms of the
willingness of Member States to undertake humanitarian
missions. And what would be the consequences for the
Somali people should the United Nations decide to abort
UNOSOM? Any leader who has the interest of his people at
heart needs to reflect on that.
It is noteworthy that many of the conflicts plaguing us
are in the developing countries. We hope the call for
limiting the peace-keeping role of the United Nations is not
an attempt to shirk the burden of engaging in solving the
political problems in these countries in the same way as the
fundamental economic concerns of these countries have been
marginalized.
As we concern ourselves with the resolution of these
sometimes malignant conflicts, let us not forget to address
the fundamental factors that generate many of them. We
know that a great proportion of these problems can be traced
to economic deprivation and underdevelopment. My
delegation has stressed time and again in this Assembly and
elsewhere that underdevelopment and conflicts have a link.
It is often the poorest countries or countries where economic
decline has been steep that relapse into savage violence. We
have also said that the source of the condition of
underdevelopment can be largely traced to a global economic
system that has been inimical to the interests of developing
and poor countries.
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 23
It is time the United Nations, in its effort to construct
peace and keep the peace, addressed some of the
fundamental economic issues that hamper all efforts to
eradicate global poverty. In this connection, the perennial
problems that plague the economies of the South must now
be fully tackled as part of the energetic search for world
peace. We have said in almost all United Nations forums,
including the Assembly, that the debt burden cripples our
economies. We have spoken regularly about the
unacceptable levels of resource flow from the poor nations
to the rich. We have drawn regular attention to the unequal
terms of trade, protectionist barriers and a disastrous global
pricing system that does not pay us adequately for the fruits
of our labour, whether we produce coffee, cocoa or copper.
It is time the United Nations placed development and
the crucial need for restructuring the world economy on its
priority list side-by-side with, if not above, its peace-keeping
and peacemaking agenda. The United Nations must defend
each nation’s right to earn its way by being an equal
participant in the global market place. Many of us have
undertaken structural adjustments. Yet the returns of the
great sacrifices we have made remain low. So many of us
cannot provide adequate social services in the form of
schools, clinics or clean water for our people. In many
instances, bowing to the conditions set for the loans we
contract to expand our export base, we have to lay off
workers and thus consign thousands or even millions of
families to indigence as the small pay check that puts a meal
on the table, buys medicine when the child is sick, or
provides the uniform for the new school-goer in the family,
is no longer forthcoming.
The United Nations has been advised, correctly in our
view, to run efficient peace-keeping operations, to refurbish
itself administratively and to upgrade its skills in all the
spheres of its endeavours. We wish to add that the United
Nations must now also place upon its active agenda the
question of development and tackle it with the seriousness
it deserves. We have striven in this Organization to link the
environment, human rights, democracy and humanitarian
relief with development. It is time we realized that
peace-keeping and peacemaking can be carried out
efficiently, and the problems that generate conflicts can be
resolved, only if we promote the issue of development with
vigour. And this can be done if the United Nations insists
on a more just, equitable and transparent world economic
system that will confer the means for development on all
nations. The task of eradicating global poverty must receive
the same attention, concentration and energetic action as are
given to peace-keeping and peacemaking.
The democratization process, which is part of the effort
to promote and uphold human rights, should not be limited
to the national level. The full implementation of the
principles of democracy within the family of nations should
also be one of our central concerns. It is in this context that
we seek the revitalization of the General Assembly, where
the sovereign equality of Member States finds full
expression. We look forward to the General Assembly’s
playing its full role in the maintenance of international peace
and security as required by the Charter. We also welcome
the initiative of the Security Council to make its work,
including its decision-making process, more transparent.
Such transparency will obviously enhance the legitimacy of
its decisions and, equally importantly, reflect the fact that it
is the Members of the Organization which, under Article 24,
confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international peace and security, and that in
discharging its functions the Security Council acts on their
behalf.
My delegation sees no need to go over the case, which
has already been well established, for the reform of the
Security Council. Suffice it to say that, whatever the final
form of a restructured Security Council, it is clear that its
reform should be based on the principle of the sovereign
equality of Member States and the clear
24 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
recognition that the Security Council acts on behalf of the
Members of the Organization and should reflect the
universality of our Organization. The Ghana delegation is
ready to participate in the search for a more legitimate and
effective Security Council.
We welcome the commitment made by
President Clinton to ensure the payment of contributions due
from the United States in respect of peace-keeping
operations. It is to be hoped that in the years to come the
United States, which pays a substantial portion of the United
Nations budget, regular and peace-keeping, will continue to
abide by this commitment and also address the question of
outstanding contributions to the regular budget.
It is the hope of Ghana that this session will mark the
beginning of the renaissance of the United Nations, ready to
collectively commit itself to the pursuit of the objectives of
our Organization as reflected in the principles and purposes
of the Charter.


It is always an honour and
a great pleasure to address the General Assembly. My first
task, a happy one, is to congratulate you, Sir, most warmly
on your election as President of the forty-eighth session of
the General Assembly. We know that in your hands this
will be a session of accomplishments.
Let me also thank your able predecessor, His
Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev of Bulgaria, for his
outstanding service during the forty-seventh session.
I would next express our concern and sadness over the
recent disastrous earthquake in India and extend to the
Government and, especially, to the families affected our
profound sympathies.
Two years ago, when I last stood here, there was a
sense of high expectation, for we were witnessing the drama
of political changes to a new world. Many new nation
States emerged from that process. We welcome the newest -
and some of the smallest - Members of our global family
who joined us this year: the Principality of Andorra, Eritrea,
the Czech Republic, the Principality of Monaco, The Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Slovak Republic.
As a small State itself, Samoa is particularly pleased to add
its welcome, assured of the contribution these new Members
will make to our common effort.
Let me also pay a tribute to the Secretary-General and
express to His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali our
deepest admiration and appreciation for the spirit of reform
and quality of leadership he brings to the work of the
Organization.
With one voice we in this Hall have hailed the ending
of East-West tensions. We are right to do so. It has
brought about deep and positive changes. Now, as never
before, the international community has real opportunities for
cooperation and peace. In Washington, barely a month ago
today, leaders of two great peoples, men of magnificent
courage and foresight, seized such an opportunity for the
Israelis and Palestinians. In our global village there is an
imperative to secure a comprehensive, just and durable
solution to the overall Arab-Israeli conflict. In turn, that
peace effort needs to be able to draw sustenance - moral,
political and financial - from the whole family of nations.
Most warmly we applaud the courage and vision of this bold
step. From our distance, and no matter how inadequate, I
pledge to the people of Israel and to the Palestinians
Samoa’s entire support.
But the new opportunities for cooperation in this post-
cold-war era are being severely challenged by conflicts that
rage in many lands and by the human misery they cause.
Tragedy and carnage are seemingly endless in Bosnia, in
Somalia, and in territories of the former Soviet Union. In
other areas, too - far too many - we witness daily the most
shocking violations of the human person and wanton
disregard for the rule of law. This year alone, there have
been close to 25 substantial conflicts in the world.
And war is not the only scourge. For we have not
freed our world of hunger, poverty or illness. Millions of
people have fled from internal strife and persecution, famine
and natural disasters. Millions more are migrating for
economic reasons.
In my part of the world, island communities now live
under the constant threat of ecological disasters. A rise in
sea levels and destructive tropical cyclones are particular
dangers. The evidence we have is that these are the global
and adverse effects of induced climate change. They prey
on the natural vulnerabilities of many lands and their
peoples, and severely undermine the national livelihood and
economic development efforts of many Governments.
My purpose is not simply to catalogue misery and the
negative, but rather to point to the vastness of our task.
There is no scope for retreat - we must advance with
resolve. The world cries out for responses and solutions.
And the fact is, the world is now looking more and more to
the United Nations. We do not, for a moment, delude
12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
ourselves about the complexities of these conflicts or the
depth of longstanding animosities - least of all, in the
territory of the former Yugoslavia. But I am compelled to
say that the horrors being perpetuated in Bosnia offend
common decency and almost every principle for which this
Organization stands.
That is why we feel that the international community
has not been swift or decisive enough in taking action to end
the calculated brutality in Bosnia and avert the devastation
of so much that is sacred in that land. We pray for the
speediest possible settlement, one that is comprehensive and
has realistic prospects for the lasting peace and economic
prosperity of all concerned. There should be no reward for
aggression.
The grim outlook for many troubled areas of the world
should not, however, cast a shadow over the hope typified
by the Palestinian-Israeli peace accord. Cambodia is a high
point in peacemaking, and we rejoice in this special
accomplishment for the people of that ancient country and
for the United Nations, as we do in the announcement in this
Assembly by Nelson Mandela of the imminent demise of
apartheid. South Africa’s move towards a multiracial and
democratic society is the attainment of a dream we have all
shared for so long. We pray for the peaceful success of the
announced general elections in April 1994.
We are indeed at a turning-point - a point at which
we should now turn to the healing process. We must put
behind us the divisiveness and acrimony which have
characterized the debates and the decisions of past years.
Almost every speaker in this debate has focused on
peace-keeping and the unprecedented demands being made
of the United Nations. Our support of United Nations
peace-keeping operations is total, as is our acceptance of
preventive diplomacy as fundamental to "An Agenda for
Peace". We have no military resources or experience, and
we have been able to assist only by way of our assessed
contributions. But it is clear to us that failure to provide
adequate financial and other resources undermines both the
peace effort and the authority of the United Nations.
It seems to be generally acknowledged that, in the
space of some two years, the cost of United Nations peace-
keeping has quadrupled to a level currently four times larger
than the United Nations regular budget. In our humble
opinion, peace-keeping at such a level cannot possibly be
sustained without adequate and improved financing and
financial management. Above all, peace-keeping objectives
and mandates need to be clearly identified and managed.
There is everything to be gained by the application of the
principles of accountability, consistency and transparency.
Peace-keeping at current levels has compounded the
tragedy of war through the loss of United Nations staff and
personnel. In the strongest terms, we condemn the attacks
and deliberate targeting of United Nations peace-keeping
forces wherever they occur. We support early and effective
international measures and necessary arrangements within
the United Nations system for the full protection of United
Nations personnel and forces, as well as action against those
who commit acts of violence against our messengers of
peace.
In all this, the Security Council is the vital link. We
now have a proposal before the Assembly to take a closer
look at the arrangements and strengthening of the Security
Council. We also acknowledge the useful report the
Secretary-General has sent us on the various views
expressed. Our own concern is for the efficacy and
effectiveness of the Council. So long as these are assured,
Samoa would support the required reforms to the Security
Council. But, no doubt, we should all take sufficient time
to ponder these matters.
In the wider aspect, we believe that no amount of force
and no measure of peace-keeping can sustain peace and
security without attention to the root causes. The general
experience is that human misery, brought about by poverty
and the denial of human and democratic rights, is the real
and fundamental problem. We therefore uphold the belief
expressed by many leaders from this rostrum that socio-
economic development and democratic reforms areessential
to the prevention of political and social crises. We think this
should remain a major preoccupation of the United Nations.
We believe deeply in the underlying importance of
human rights in all United Nations activities. In this respect,
we welcome the Declaration and Programme of Action
produced by the World Conference on Human Rights in
Vienna and the acknowledgement in unquestionable terms of
the universality of human rights. The results of the Vienna
Conference constitute a significant advance in the promotion
and protection of human rights, not least in the recognition
that development has a true claim to be considered a human
right.
We agree with and support the proposal to establish a
United Nations high commissioner for human rights. Such
an office could serve as a strong focal point for coordination
of the currently fragmented branches of the United Nations
human rights system and could help to ensure that human
Forty-eighth session - 12 October l993 13
rights are integrated into the work of all United Nations
programmes.
The very basis of human rights is the right of peoples
to determine their own future and governance. This is
fundamental, and it is something very close to our hearts,
given our experience and the political evolvement of our
own State. The South Pacific Forum has continued to call
on the metropolitan countries to take into account the wishes
of the people in the Territories and to respect their right to
self-determination.
We welcome the ongoing dialogue between France and
all parties in New Caledonia regarding the future of the
Territory. The peaceful evolution towards self-determination
in New Caledonia is in accordance with the principles of the
United Nations Charter. Its attainment was made possible by
the constructive intervention of the United Nations
decolonization Committee and by the willingness of the
Government of France, the parties in New Caledonia and the
South Pacific Forum to show restraint to give full
consideration to each other’s concerns and sensitivities.
What we see in New Caledonia today stands as a testament
to the cooperative spirit characteristic of the Pacific region
and as a true example of peaceful and preventive diplomacy
at work.
At the same time, we acknowledge and respect the
views and interests of those Territories that wish to continue
with the status quo.
Peace, stability, security and the preservation of our
environment are crucial to the South Pacific region. Our
commitment to these objectives is unwavering, and Samoa,
together with its regional partners, will continue to call for
a permanent end to nuclear testing, to the dumping of
chemical and toxic wastes and to the transportation of these
materials in our waters. The South Pacific Forum countries
have continued to urge the remaining nuclear-power States
to heed our concerns and to accede to the Protocols of the
South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. That Treaty is the
paramount symbol of the region’s strong feeling about and
commitment to a nuclear-free environment. We are
encouraged by recent indications from some of these States
that they will reconsider their current positions on the Treaty
and on other nuclear-related issues that are of concern to the
region.
Samoa is particularly pleased about the extension of the
nuclear-testing moratorium. However, we are deeply
distressed to have learned last week of a breach of that
moratorium. I have cause to believe that substantial
numbers in the Assembly share our concern and our earnest
prayer that no further tests will be carried out and that other
nuclear Powers will not resume their nuclear-testing
programmes. It is our dearest hope that such testing will
one day cease - permanently. We also urge all Member States -
the nuclear Powers in particular - to work towards the early
conclusion of a comprehensive test ban treaty.
We welcome the unique opportunity offered by the end
of the cold war to focus and develop comprehensive-nuclear-
disarmament initiatives. We stand ready to do what we can
in support of these. We should say, however, that the
prospect of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and - worse -
of their acquisition by unfriendly parties is of major concern
to us, as, of course, to the world community as a whole. It
underscores the urgent need for the control, reduction and
eventual elimination of these deadly weapons. The
Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is a vital part of the
disarmament process must be extended indefinitely when it
comes up for review in 1995.
We look to the nuclear-weapon States to take the lead
in the nuclear-disarmament process and, at the same time, to
illustrate with concrete action their full commitment to our
collective goals and objectives. The South Pacific region
cannot continue to be a testing ground for nuclear devices;
or to be a dumping ground for chemical wastes; or to be
exposed to contamination by toxic wastes and other
environmentally threatening substances.
Environmental security is crucial to Samoa and other
countries of the South Pacific. The United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio
in 1992, provided us with an opportunity to put our global
house in order - an occasion of promise, of rising hopes.
The setting of Agenda 21 and the establishment of the
Commission on Sustainable Development are only first steps.
Implementation is the difficult task - the true test.
Like other places, our small island States and low-lying
atolls face a host of constraints. Isolated and ecologically
fragile, small island States like my own are amongst the
most vulnerable to external economic, trade and climatic
factors. Without international cooperation, and without an
integrated approach, the outlook is not promising.
The Global Conference on the Sustainable Development
of Small Island Developing States - to be held in Barbados
in April 1994 - will provide a first opportunity to implement
Agenda 21 and to reaffirm commitments made in Rio. We
firmly believe that international attention, focused at next
year’s global conference, will provide valuable guidance
14 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
towards a sustainable-development effort worldwide. It
seems to us that if there is failure to secure sustainable
development for small island States, there will be no real
chance of success elsewhere.
The work of the Preparatory Committee remains
incomplete. But the stakes are too high for
inconclusiveness, so a resumed preparatory session before
the Barbados Conference is essential.
I should say that our call for international cooperation
is fully matched by our resolve to do what is necessary and
possible at the domestic level. As a country, we
acknowledge and accept primary responsibility for our
environment and development. To this end, we have
completed a national environment-management plan, have
put in place the necessary legislative framework and have
taken steps to adhere to the appropriate international
Conventions.
In all of this, we have had the fullest cooperation of the
South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme - an
organization established by the Pacific region and partner
countries to coordinate not only national and regional
activities but also the region’s participation in world-wide
initiatives on the environment. This underlines our basic
belief that the total efforts of all nations, acting responsibly
and in concert, will be crucial if we are adequately to protect
our environment and our planet.
I should note the general satisfaction of my delegation
with the world-wide debate, which is now under way, about
the future of development - and, thus, about our common
future. The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development was a special landmark. A few months ago,
contrary to predictions, the Vienna World Conference on
Human Rights registered important accomplishments. Next
year, we shall see the particularly crucial Conference on
Population and Development; thereafter, the Conference on
women, and then the social-development Summit.
Yesterday, we heard Papua New Guinea’s initiative on
opportunity and participation. We consider this a pertinent
proposal, and that it is an important element in the overall
effort to involve citizens and to enhance, in particular, the
economies of developing countries.
These global conferences and initiatives will map out
new priorities and courses of action requiring from States
and ordinary citizens the highest degree of commitment and
cooperation. Meantime, we will need to concentrate on
strengthening and revitalizing our Organization if we are to
respond efficiently and effectively to present and future
priorities. To this purpose, Samoa supports all remedial
reforms to the United Nations system to ensure optimum use
of scarce resources.
Next year has been declared, by the Assembly, the
International Year of the Family. In two years’ time, the
United Nations will mark its fiftieth anniversary. This gives
us all reason to move ahead with our work, resolved to
improve the condition of our world and the well-being of
our global family.