As we welcome our
newest members, Switzerland and East Timor, we
reaffirm our faith in the United Nations and in the
principles of the Charter.
Today, the United Nations faces more challenges
and must respond to far more demands than were ever
contemplated by its founders. Yet the Organization
remains the single most important universal and viable
forum for States to interact, for nations to work
together and for countries to cooperate in preserving
peace, in avoiding conflict and in promoting stability.
We believe that Iraq took a step in the right
direction when it agreed yesterday to the unconditional
return of United Nations weapons inspectors. But the
immediate challenge facing the Organization and our
world is the looming confrontation that could be
brought about by the need for Iraq to comply, totally
and unconditionally, with the relevant Security Council
resolutions. We credit the diplomatic skills and the
sheer determination of Secretary-General Kofi Annan
and of the members of the Arab League with this
welcome development. We will, therefore, await clear
proof of sincerity in action.
But this is just a beginning. We believe that we
are far from a true resolution of this issue. We must
remain vigilant and must continue to have faith in the
Security Council. The Philippines has full confidence
in the Council process. We believe that the Council
will act in accordance with the imperatives of world
peace and security and that it will find the most
expeditious and effective way to serve those
imperatives.
Consistent with its national interest, and in
accordance with its Constitution, the Philippines is
prepared to extend political, security and humanitarian
assistance to the United States and to the international
community in the pursuit of their most vital interest,
which coincides with our own vital interests: to defeat
terrorism. The case for compliance is compelling. The
charges are highly credible and have serious
implications for global security. The Security Council
should give those charges the most urgent and
profound consideration. The international community
has put the onus on Iraq to comply with the relevant
Council resolutions, especially with regard to the
elimination of weapons of mass destruction.
Yet we certainly live in a world of consequences
that can be avoided. Poverty, intolerance and inequality
provide the breeding ground for terrorism. But we need
not make terrorism an unavoidable consequence of
those factors. We have learned that in the one year
since the shocking and tragic events of 11 September.
In that short span of time, we have learned that
terrorism cannot defeat us and that it cannot overcome
our resolve to fight it, and we have learned the full
13

measure of the bravery of the men and women who
stand on the front lines in the war against terror. In that
short span of time, we have established new strategic
partnerships and have retooled and rearmed existing
strategic partnerships. Those partnerships are based on
the belief that the world will never be secure unless
terrorist lairs are exposed and destroyed and unless
terrorist supporters are brought to justice.
In the realm of what is just and what is fair, we
know that globalization can contribute to the
comprehensive and sustainable development of the
developing world. Indeed, in some cases it has done so.
But the gap between the rich and poor countries
continues to widen.
Let us again remind ourselves of the stark reality
that 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day; 1.1
billion people lack access to safe and affordable
drinking water; and 130 million school-age children,
the majority of whom are girls, lack the means to stay
in school.
The uneven spread of opportunities for the
creation of wealth, and the increasing income
inequality within and between countries, have pushed
larger numbers of people to the margins of existence.
We in the Philippines are building an open
economy. We are taking concrete measures to create an
open trade and investment environment in our own
country and in our region. We have adapted to the
realities of globalization, fully aware of the
concomitant risks, particularly those that impinge on
the well-being of our vulnerable and disadvantaged
groups.
We firmly believe that, in general, developing
countries accept the need for good governance in their
public and corporate sectors. We are continuing our
institutional reform, guided by our national priorities,
requirements and capabilities. We are taking great
pains to restructure our economy, often at high political
cost.
Capital is what developing countries lack most in
their pursuit of sustainable development. The Food and
Agriculture Organization has estimated that an
additional annual public investment of $24 billion must
be made in poor countries in order to halve the number
of hungry people by the United Nations millennium
target date of 2015.
Developing countries need more foreign direct
investment, particularly in areas that will promote the
sustainable use of the environment and sustained
growth. We also need improved access to foreign
markets.
Many developing countries must also effectively
compete in areas where their comparative advantage is
great, such as agriculture. However, developing
countries do not have the resources to match the
subsidies that agricultural producers receive in rich
countries, such as the 40 billion euros that European
Union farmers receive each year or the additional $170
billion that United States farmers will receive over the
next 10 years. We can only wonder what the liberating
impact would be on development if the subsidies of 23
cents per dollar for farm goods in the United States or
the 36 cents per dollar on farm goods in the European
Union were instead invested in developing countries.
We need to reverse the decline in official
development assistance, which remains below the
target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product. But we
should also not lose sight of the fact that, aside from
increased funding sources for developing countries, the
flip side of the development coin should be greater
restraint, care and flexibility in the use of
conditionalities. Enhanced and effective debt relief,
including for middle-income countries, is also needed.
Efforts to reform the international financial
architecture and to strengthen the development
dimension of the global trade and investment regime
should be sustained.
Globalization has provided more opportunities
and greater choices for people who want to travel the
world in search of a livelihood. Some 10 per cent of the
people of the Philippines are outside its border. Their
safety and welfare is of paramount importance to us,
particularly in times of actual or potential conflict. The
welfare of migrant workers should be placed higher on
the United Nations agenda now, before the migrant
issue turns into a serious humanitarian problem. We
can start by becoming States parties to the United
Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
It is also important for developed nations to support the
important work of humanitarian assistance agencies
like the International Organization for Migration.
Despite the unprecedented wealth created in the
last decade of the twentieth century, one out of every
14

five people lives on less than $1 a day. The 32 poorest
African countries do not earn much more than the
richest man on earth, the title unofficially bestowed
upon Bill Gates, the Chairman of Microsoft, in the
United States. Despite the grinding poverty in which
billions of people live, the world spends incredible
sums for military purposes  for armies and weapons
of mass annihilation.
Those bent on fomenting hate and violence will
find willing adherents, particularly among the helpless,
and hopeless poor, the dispossessed and the
disenfranchised. The hungry, the young people who do
not go to school and those living in the margins of
society can become easy prey to the siren songs of
terrorists and the perpetrators of violence. Poverty
alleviation and development are therefore key
strategies in preventing conflict and fighting terrorism.
Terrorism has become a major cause of violence
and instability in our world. But this is not the only
menace to our collective security. Organized crime,
environmental degradation and contagious diseases
continue to threaten international peace and security.
The proliferation of conventional and non-conventional
weapons, including small arms, is continuing. Civil
wars and inter-State conflicts remain major causes of
instability and underdevelopment. The United Nations
must therefore continue to play its important
peacekeeping and peacemaking role.
Durable peace and progress with freedom can be
achieved only through international partnerships and a
renewed faith in the United Nations, which should
guarantee meaningful participation by developing
countries in global decision-making. The challenges of
the world today  potential and actual conflict,
terrorism, violence, environmental degradation,
organized crime and contagious diseases  recognize
no boundaries and affect all.
In the eloquent language of the Philadelphia
Declaration of the International Labour Organization,
poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity
everywhere'. That is the case because humanity  and
human destiny  has become a seamless whole. No
man is an island, and the bell tolls for us, too. This is
the timeless vision of the United Nations, validated by
all who have spoken here at the fifty-seventh session of
the General Assembly. It is a vision and a bond that
should unite all nations as we face new dangers and the
unmarked frontiers of our collective life on this small,
endangered planet. Indeed, the United Nations
continues to be the last best hope of mankind.


I convey my
congratulations to Mr. Jan Kavan on his election to the
presidency of this body. I should also like to express
once again to Secretary-General Kofi Annan my
highest appreciation and to assure him of my support.
It is with satisfaction that Poland welcomes in our
midst the newest Member of the United Nations,
Switzerland, and looks forward to welcoming soon the
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.
Wisława Szymborska, the Polish poet and Nobel
Prize winner, wrote the following words dedicated to
the victims of 11 September:
“They plunged down from heights ablaze ...
For them, I can do but two things — depict their
flight and leave the last sentence unfinished ...”
I believe that every one of us travelling to this
brave city shared similar thoughts. All of us must have
asked ourselves what is being expected of us, where we
are today and what obligations we are to fulfil to
ensure that such horror never happens again. No doubt,
11 September was a wake-up call for all of us. It may
have not changed the world, but it certainly has
fundamentally changed the way we perceive it. History
has yet again given us the responsibility to face the
challenge and to leave a better and safer world for
future generations. But then, after all, is that not what
we are really here for?
Many of my colleague representatives touched
upon that issue in recent days. The messages delivered
here just four days ago by Secretary-General Kofi
Annan and President George W. Bush are especially
significant. In that regard, we also share the opinions
expressed by a number of other speakers, in particular
by the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr. Anders Fogh
Rasmussen, speaking in his capacity as the President of
the European Union.
Today the United Nations stands at a crossroads,
facing a choice that needs to be made. Either we will
find internal strength to stand up to the challenge and
prove that the United Nations is more than a mere
discussion forum or we will lose credibility forever.
Once again, as was the case at the inception of the
Organization over half a century ago, we must take the
issue of security seriously, especially as terrorism has
given it a new dimension.
As a founding Member of the United Nations,
Poland will continue to support all efforts aimed at
preserving the Organization's unique position. We fully
agree with what the Secretary-General said, that we can
only succeed if we make full use of multilateral
21

institutions. We share the position of President Bush
that the United Nations must be effective and
successful and that its resolutions must be enforced.
We are convinced that the Security Council must find
enough strength in the nearest future to set the course
for a decision-making process in the United Nations
aimed at concrete action. This time, we are left with a
very small margin. This is a test that international
community has to pass. Failure would undermine both
the integrity of the United Nations and the security of
the whole world.
I think the most appropriate motto for my further
reflections on the future of the United Nations is
contained in the Secretary-General's millennium
report. He wrote that
“If the international community were to
create a new United Nations tomorrow, its make-
up would surely be different from the one we
have.” (A/54/2000, para. 352)
It would be highly unfortunate if the millennium
report, and especially its conclusions relating to the
role of the United Nations and the reform of the
Organization, were to fade into oblivion. Only the
United Nations, given its exceptional legitimacy
stemming from the universal character of both its
membership and its mandate can — and, indeed, ought
to — rise to the challenges posed to the international
community. But for that to happen its prerogatives,
rules and instruments would have to be geared to the
needs of today and the threats of tomorrow.
We should consider the elaboration of a document
that would be neither a draft revision of the Charter nor
a supplement to it. What I would like to suggest is that
we make an attempt to acknowledge the new reality
and try a new road. I am by no means being original or
precedent-setting in calling for this. The Atlantic
Charter and the New Atlantic Charter, the 1975
Helsinki Final Act and the 1990 Charter of Paris for a
New Europe have all been there before. In other words,
adapting an organization's mandate to make it relevant
to new needs without actually revising its founding act
has already been tested.
There is a widespread sense that some provisions
of the United Nations Charter having actually become a
dead letter. That applies to both the substance of those
provisions and to the procedural solutions they offer.
Some of the Charter's provisions and organs have
completed the tasks assigned to them and are now
redundant. But the Organization does need new
mechanisms to run peacekeeping operations. It is
impossible to comprehend why we still keep in place
clauses on “enemy States” while the United Nations
has no regulations to properly address the problems
related to its humanitarian interventions. There is a
general acceptance of the need for clear lines to be
drawn to mark new areas of responsibility for a number
of important United Nations organs.
The values, purposes and principles of the United
Nations, enshrined in the Preamble and in Articles 1
and 2 of the Charter, have not lost their relevance.
They have stood the test of time. A document that
could be considered as a new act for the United
Nations at the dawn of the twenty-first century could
give fresh impetus to the principles, organs and
mechanisms of the United Nations and make them
more responsive to the needs and challenges that today
dominate the life of the international community. Let
me point out four groups of problems that should be
tackled, starting with new threats to security.
The Charter makes reference to threats
traditionally raised by States. The Charter's provisions
concerning the Security Council and its composition
and instruments, as well as the other Chapters dealing
with security, are now insufficient. That fact is borne
out by the numerous developments of recent years,
including the attack of 11 September and its
consequences.
Then there is acute poverty, which is evident in
many parts of the world; chronic underdevelopment;
pandemic disease; lack of education and medical care;
and deepening differences in living conditions and
developmental standards. All of these are unacceptable
politically and morally.
Human rights, the rule of law, democracy, good
governance and civil society make up the third group
of problems that I have been thinking about.
The fourth group is made up of themes related to
sustainable development. The focus on the protection
of the human habitat, which is indispensable to the
survival of the human race, and on the common
heritage of mankind.
Moreover, existing United Nations principles
must be expanded, or new ones developed, in order for
the Organization to pursue its actions along the
following three dimensions, namely, in manifestations
22

of multilateralism in the work of the United Nations
while reconciling broad representation and collectivism
with effectiveness; in the subsidiarity of the
Organization's work to better utilize the means and
resources available to Member States, specifically with
regard to United Nations regional arrangements; and,
finally, in getting non-governmental entities, including
private capital, involved in United Nations work in a
way that will not detract from the democratic nature of
the Organization nor erode its governmental character
and efficiency while increasing its resources and
effectiveness.
I dare say that no country, group of countries or
regional agencies meeting the Organization's criteria
would be capable of taking up the totality of problems
such an undertaking would have to address. Subject to
appropriate consultations involving the membership of
the Organization and the Secretary-General, we might
wish to establish a “group of sages” made up of
outstanding personalities. The group would draft an
appropriate document that would then be reviewed and
approved by Member States. That document should be
politically binding in nature, which would make it
complementary to the legal grounding contained in the
Charter and provide a platform for the United Nations
actions over the coming decades.
We should think about the future and work on its
foundations, but without losing sight of present-day
achievements. The enactment of the Statute of the
International Criminal Court is one such achievement.
It turns a new page in both international relations and
international law. It is Poland's desire for the treaty
establishing the Court to become one of the most
universal documents of its kind. We trust that the
existing divergences between respective stands and
views can be resolved through dialogue and
compromise, according to international law. We have to
act so as not to disappoint the hopes and expectations
that the international community has placed in the
Court.
A year ago, the whole world joined together in an
unprecedented demonstration of solidarity. Today we
are more aware of the source and the character of the
threat. We are also more capable of dealing with it.
Poland has joined the ongoing anti-terrorist operation.
Our soldiers are now deployed in Afghanistan,
alongside their colleagues from other countries, and are
doing their utmost to strengthen security there and to
help raise the country from the rubble and ruin inflicted
upon it by two decades of war and internal strife.
For us that is natural, but we cannot avoid asking
ourselves the question of whether we are any closer
today to fulfilling the ideals towards which we set sail
half a century ago. We now have another chance to
revitalize solidarity and work together for values that
are priceless both to us and to generations to come. Let
us all create an axis of good that will bring back the
proper meaning to the term we are so proud of, the
United Nations.


Let me begin
by conveying, on behalf of the Sri Lanka delegation,
our sincere felicitations to Mr. Jan Kavan on his
election as President of this fifty-seventh session of the
General Assembly and our assurances of our fullest
cooperation.
I would also like to express appreciation for the
exemplary manner in which Mr. Han Seung-soo,
former Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Korea, guided the work of the fifty-sixth session. We
also warmly welcome Switzerland as a new Member of
the Organization, and look forward also to welcoming
East Timor.
Our discussions and debates in this Assembly
often reach great heights and seek grand objectives, but
ultimately they are about the future lives, well-being
and security of the people we are privileged to
represent. It is with such thoughts in my mind that I
recall the horrendous events of 11 September 2001,
which claimed the lives of so many Americans and
people of other nationalities from all over the world.
As we are only too painfully aware, they are not the
only victims of terror.
The attack confirmed what we in Sri Lanka have
long known: terrorism has long been globalized. As
President Bush acknowledged on 11 March 2002,
“September 11 was not the beginning of global terror,
but it was the beginning of the world's concerted
response.”
We in Sri Lanka perhaps know better than most
the tragedies that conflict and terrorism create. My own
country has been ravaged by a 20-year conflict, which
has caused more than 65,000 deaths. Eight hundred
thousand people are internally displaced. Tragic stories
abound: children who will never see their fathers return
home; mothers who have lost their sons; and children
who, even today, innocently step on anti-personnel
2

mines. I have talked to the disabled soldiers and the
dispossessed, the people who have no homes, and those
who return to the north-east of our country to find war-
torn ruins and once productive fields sown with land
mines.
The election victory last December of the
Government I represent was a clear national mandate to
end the conflict in the north-east. The Government has
since moved swiftly towards the fulfilment of that
mandate. A ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was signed on 22 February this
year. The ceasefire has held.
Confidence-building measures have encouraged
the free movement of people throughout the country
and have revived economic activity. Peace talks with
the LTTE, facilitated by Norway, began two days ago
in Sattahip, Thailand. The Sri Lanka Government has
unilaterally suspended the proscription of the LTTE in
order to facilitate the talks, to give peace a chance, and
to give the LTTE a chance for peace.
A flexible approach is necessary in the
negotiations, combining a warm heart with a cool head.
An understanding of the other side, their aspirations
and their concerns, is essential. Negotiations are
complex and will take time. In the early stages of our
talks with the LTTE, we are trying to resolve some of
the immediate practical needs of the people in order to
bring relief and normalcy to our society. Economic
reconstruction and development of the affected areas
will be a deciding factor in sustaining the momentum
of political negotiations. Development is part of the
healing process in a wounded, divided society. The
pressing day-to-day problems of the people need to be
settled as soon as possible.
Indeed, at the discussions in Thailand, there was
strong endorsement of the urgent need for resources to
ensure the early dividends of the peace process. The
role played by Norway in facilitating that process and,
most recently, at the peace talks is deeply appreciated. I
extend my sincere thanks to Norway for all its efforts.
Already, following the ceasefire, there are signs
of people enjoying their rediscovered freedom. The
people want more. Exchange visits between school
children and other groups from the south and from the
north have revealed to many that the other side is not
so different after all. Last week our capital, Colombo,
came to a standstill as people from all over the country,
from every religion and every ethnic group in society,
flocked to a peace rally.
Those are all encouraging signs. But with them
comes a risk. The imperative of peace is growing. The
people demand peace, and the politicians and
negotiators on both sides had better deliver. Peace is
people-driven. The conflict had dragged our economy
to near bankruptcy, and last year, for the first time in
independent Sri Lanka, we recorded negative growth.
Resources must flow into developing the areas ravaged
by war. Opportunities must be created. The momentum
of growth must be re-established. The people want to
see normalcy restored, not tomorrow but today. The
farmers want their damaged irrigation canals repaired
today; their harvest cannot be delayed until a final
agreement is reached. This imperative is driven even
more by young people among the Sri Lankan armed
forces and the cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam, whose weapons lie silent. Without international
support and help with resources to build a peace
dividend, the gloss on peace can be dulled. With the
recreation of opportunities for people and for growth,
politicians and negotiators will be driven even harder
to stabilize, advance and sustain the peace.
From there, we can approach the complex
constitutional issues. Those questions will take time.
We believe that the way forward is through a clearly
representative interim administration within a united
Sri Lanka in which the rights of all communities,
Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese, are safeguarded. That
will allow us to carry forward an initiative to empower
local people by decentralizing governmental authority
and by establishing five regional economic
development zones. Through such initiatives, we intend
to encourage local people to be responsible for driving
economic growth in their own regions. Those
measures, along with the liberalization and
deregulation of our economy, will generate wealth.
Meanwhile, there is a pressing, immediate
security issue. Hundreds of thousands of mines need to
be removed from tracts of land to make them safe and
arable in order for the internally displaced persons to
return to their homes and their farms. Sri Lanka is
reviewing its position on the Ottawa Convention on
anti-personnel mines with a view to becoming a party
to it as confidence in peace grows. We are grateful for
the help we are receiving from the United Nations,
members of the international community and non-
3

governmental organizations in our demining
programme.
My Government is resolved to ensure that the
people of the north and east of our Republic should
also enjoy the same security and the same quality of
life, democratic governance and human rights which
people in other parts of the country enjoy. Sri Lanka
has a high rating on the Human Development Index of
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Our per capita income figures and our life expectancy
and our literacy rates are among the highest in the
region. Peace will further enhance all that, but its
dividend must be credited to all the shareholders in Sri
Lanka's future.
Sri Lanka welcomes the support that our peace
process has received from members of the international
community and from the United Nations. On a request
made by me to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a United
Nations inter-agency needs assessment team visited Sri
Lanka in April and May of this year. The team
completed a strategic overview of the current situation,
which can guide immediate and mid- to long-term
action by United Nations agencies in Sri Lanka. We
thank the Secretary-General for his efforts.
Quickening the pace of peace and having its
dividends credited directly and urgently to the people
are imperative. We are grateful to all those who are
assisting us in Quick Impact Projects. The
implementation of those projects without delay will
help peace take root, involve people in the affected
areas in their economic and social recovery and ease
the way for higher stages of development.
Throughout its long history, there have been
flattering descriptions of Sri Lanka — centuries before
our Tourist Board promoted the serenity of the island.
The ancient Arabs and mediaeval Europeans called our
island paradise. If in the course of our recent conflict
some of the quality of paradise has been lost, then
surely paradise must be regained. Regaining Sri Lanka
is much more than a slogan, it is a practical, doable
strategy, in which we invite the international
community to participate.
While seeking a negotiated solution to our own
conflict, Sri Lanka strongly supports negotiating a
settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict. We have
long supported a responsible peace process which
would lead to the acceptance of two States, Israel and
Palestine, prospering in conditions of peace and
security, as neighbours, within secure and recognized
borders. We urge the resumption of a serious dialogue
between Israel and Palestine as a prelude to sustained
negotiations.
In Sri Lanka, dialogue and negotiations are
turning around a long, drawn-out conflict. With respect
to those who were responsible for 11 September, the
approach needs to be different. No cause justifies the
killing of innocent people. Global terrorism must be
eradicated, whatever its manifestation and wherever it
occurs. We support a comprehensive approach to
international terrorism through the General Assembly's
Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism. Terrorism has
affected virtually all the countries of South Asia. A
meeting in Sri Lanka will soon draft an additional
protocol to the Regional Convention on Suppression of
Terrorism of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation. The protocol would update the
Convention, inter alia to meet the obligations
devolving on member States in respect of Security
Council resolution 1373 (2001) and the International
Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism.
The United Nations has been a source of good
since its inception. It is the forum in which there is an
opportunity for interaction and possible reconciliation
among complex, competing and even confrontational
concerns. Under the Secretary-General's initiative of
the Global Compact, it provides for the launching and
navigation of positive partnerships between the
corporate and State sectors.
We also look forward to the implementation of
decisions taken at the International Conference on
Financing for Development, held in Monterrey. We
welcome the Millennium Challenge Account as an
outcome of that Conference to assist countries
committed to democratic norms and good governance,
to the engagement of the private sector and to the
involvement of the people in the process of
development.
In Sri Lanka, we intend to re-establish an
investment-friendly country with an efficient
bureaucracy and a thriving private sector. On this visit
to the United States, I have brought a team from my
industrial sector to talk to United States businessmen.
We are grateful to the United Nations for helping my
Government to organize an investment promotion
forum in the United States tomorrow with the
4

participation of members of our private sector, who
will interact with their counterparts here. Those “close
encounters of the business kind” will provide insight
into the opportunities for collaborative economic and
development ventures in Sri Lanka as we move
forward on the peace front. Investment in peace makes
sound political and economic sense for both Sri Lanka
and its partners abroad. Growth in Sri Lanka will be
good for everyone.
Across Sri Lanka, the people continue to build
the only true peace we can hope for. Without fanfare,
without politicians or media, they are quietly going
about their business, finding old friends and building
new relationships. Mistrust and suspicion are slowly
melting away as people talk and share past experiences.
The hatred in some hearts will take a little longer to
dispel. But even that will be overcome in time by the
deep desire for weapons to be destroyed, mines to be
cleared and the sound of laughter to be heard once
again.
Trusting the people, whether it be for the
consolidation of peace or the pursuit of development, is
the best policy. We are beholden to the people we work
for, whether they be clients or customers or
shareholders or voters.


I would like to
congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of
the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session. It is
our expectation that your able stewardship will enable
28

the work of this session to result in tangible progress. I
also appreciate the efforts of Secretary-General Kofi
Annan towards international peace and sustainable
development.
I am going to contribute to the work of the
General Assembly by presenting a perspective on the
situation of the Korean peninsula, which remains a
major concern in terms of world peace and security.
More than 50 years have passed since the division
of Korea by outside forces. As the Korean people
undergo immeasurable pain and misfortune due to the
division of the country and the nation, the world
realizes that, as long as the homogeneous Korean
nation remains artificially divided, Korea will never be
peaceful, nor will peace and security be possible there.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea
made reunification the supreme national task from the
first day of the division, and has since adhered to its
stand with respect to achieving reunification
independently, through dialogue and negotiation
between the North and South of Korea.
The fatherly leader of our people, President Kim
Il Sung, long ago set forth the principles and
programmes for reunifying the country independently
through peaceful national unity. He proposed achieving
reunification by means of a federation system where
different ideas and systems would continue to exist in
the North and the South. He devoted all his efforts to
national reunification up until the moment he died.
The respected General Kim Jong Il has defined
three main charters for national reunification as: the
three principles of national reunification; the 10-Point
Programme for the Great Unity of the Whole Nation;
and the proposal on founding the Democratic Federal
Republic of Koryo put forward by the fatherly leader.
These provide a basis for the country's reunification.
It is thanks to the ideas of national independence
and national unity of the respected General Kim Jong Il
that the historic inter-Korean summit meeting took
place in Pyongyang in June 2000 and that the North-
South Joint Declaration was adopted; this served as a
turning point in the efforts of the Korean people for the
country's reunification. The 15 June 2000 North-South
Joint Declaration is a declaration of national
independence and peaceful reunification calling for
opposing foreign interference and achieving
reunification by the concerted efforts of the Korean
nation. After the publication of the North-South Joint
Declaration, the North and the South held talks and
engaged in contacts in various fields, seeking ways and
means to achieve reconciliation and unity. They
discussed measures for cooperation, exchanges and
relaxation of tension in Korea; thus the spirit of
reunification on the Korean peninsula gained
momentum.
However, the positive development of inter-
Korean relations was frustrated by the interference of
external forces, and the North-South Joint Declaration
thus faced major obstacles.
It is fortunate indeed that inter-Korean relations
have now been put back on track through the dialogue
and contacts on implementing the Joint Declaration,
held in recent months at the initiative of the
Government of the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea. The ministerial-level talks were resumed.
Dialogue and contacts in other fields are under way,
and a national reunification meeting of compatriots
from the North, the South and overseas was held
successfully on the occasion of the 15 August Korean
restoration day.
The North and the South have jointly introduced
an agenda item entitled Peace, security and
reunification on the Korean Peninsula' at the current
session of the General Assembly and have agreed to
draw up and submit a draft resolution under that item.
Governments and peoples of many countries are
supporting and welcoming the emerging dÈtente on the
Korean peninsula as well as the trend towards
reconciliation and cooperation between the North and
the South.
The history of division for more than 50 years is a
serious lesson for all Korean people. If the
reunification of the country is to be achieved, the North
and the South should, above all, reject foreign
interference, which is a main obstacle to reunification,
and should join efforts on the basis of ideas of national
independence and great national unity.
The modern history of Korea serves as a clear
illustration of the high price paid and the great
sacrifices made in succumbing to foreign intervention
and relying on outside forces. The division of Korea
was imposed by outside forces after the Second World
War. It was neither the will nor a requirement of the
Korean people. It is none other than those same foreign
29

forces that continue to shadow inter-Korean relations at
every stage of their favourable development and that
undermine the interests of the Korean nation. Recourse
to foreign forces and complicit action with them
against fellow countrymen are inevitably destined to
lead to mistrust and confrontation in inter-Korean
relations.
We are firmly convinced that we can resolve all
problems in the interests of the Korean nation by
transcending the differences in ideologies and systems
existing between the North and the South, if the North
and the South sit together in the spirit of national
independence and the love of country and people.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will,
in the future, make every effort to achieve independent
reunification through a federation system that unites
the strength of the entire Korean nation in the spirit of
the North-South Joint Declaration.
In order to ensure peace and security on the
Korean peninsula and realize reunification, the hostile
policy of the United States against the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea should be terminated.
The United States defines the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea as its prime enemy' that
poses a threat' to it. It also designates us as the axis
of evil' and target of a pre-emptive nuclear strike' on
the pretext of anti-terrorism,' thus further aggravating
the situation.
It is quite unreasonable that the United States
antagonizes and threatens us with the use of force for
the sole reason that the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea firmly adheres to an independent policy and
holds different values and ideas. This also contravenes
the United Nations Charter and the norms of
international relations. It is entirely as a result of the
consistent peace-loving policy and efforts of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea that peace is
maintained on the Korean peninsula.
Our position on relations between the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea and the United States is
ever principled and consistent. If the United States
respects our system and sovereignty and takes an
attitude of goodwill towards us, we can develop
relations with the United States based on the principles
of equality and mutual benefit. The Democratic
People's Republic of Korea considers that it is most
reasonable to solve pending issues between itself and
the United States through dialogue and negotiations.
We had therefore already agreed to the United
States suggestion that it send a special envoy with a
view to presenting its position on the resumption of
dialogue. Furthermore, during the conversation
between our Foreign Minister and United States
Secretary of State at the 9th meeting of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum
in July, we again welcomed the United States
willingness to send its special envoy to Pyongyang.
The point is that trustful dialogue can be resumed
only when the United States refrains from its hostile
policy against the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea and maintains a position of equality with us.
If the United States intends to have a substantial
dialogue with us on the principle of sovereign equality,
we will respond accordingly. This will facilitate
confidence-building between the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea and the United States and open up
the prospect for hammering out a fair solution to the
pending issues.
The United Nations should also do its due part for
the peace and security of Korea. In this regard, I wish
to remind you that immeasurable suffering and
misfortune were imposed on the Korean peninsula
under the name and flag of the United Nations. It is
highly expected that the United Nations will soon seek
to redress the abnormal circumstances under which its
name has been misused for over 50 years.
We take pride in contributing positively to peace
and security on the Korean peninsula, the Northeast
Asian region and the world in general, even under the
constant threats and confrontations that have persisted
for more than 50 years.
Our great leader, General Kim Jong Il, leads our
people wisely with his army-based policies aimed at
defending the country, building a powerful nation and
providing for a favourable environment for peace and
reunification in Korea, thanks to his energetic and
untiring external activities.
The respected General Kim Jong Il had a meeting
with President Putin in the Far East region of the
Russian Federation in August this year, and is holding
talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan
in Pyongyang today, 17 September. These contacts
serve as turning points in the development of relations
30

between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
and Russia, the normalization of relations between the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Japan, and
also serve as a great contribution to world peace,
security and the creation of a new and just world
structure.
Our people will, in the future, firmly defend our
socialist system and achieve peace and the
reunification of the Korean peninsula under the
outstanding army-based leadership of the respected
General Kim Jong Il, thus fulfilling our mission for
peace and security in the world.
Radical changes have taken place in the
international arena since the 11 September incident.'
Attempts to expand the war against terrorism' without
justifiable reasons continue and the policy of power
supremacy has emerged, openly advocating a theory of
pre-emptive nuclear attack beyond the doctrine of
nuclear deterrence, thus further challenging world
peace and security.
Hunger, poverty and external debts have become
worse, while the inequality in international economic
and trade relations and the gap between the rich and the
poor have widened further. All these actions and events
in international relations entirely contravene the spirit
of the United Nations Charter.
My delegation considers that the most pressing
task before United Nations Members today is to respect
and uphold the spirit enshrined in the United Nations
Charter. Above all, the sovereignty and equality of all
countries should be respected. The use of force, the
application of coercive measures and, in particular,
unilateral acts should not be allowed in international
relations.
To this end, the power of the United Nations
General Assembly should be decisively enhanced. The
General Assembly should be empowered to review the
issues concerning international peace and security and
to approve major decisions of the Security Council in
this regard. At present, the General Assembly is not
even properly carrying out its intrinsic power as
stipulated in the United Nations Charter.
International issues, such as conflict resolution,
disarmament, terrorism and sustainable development,
should be discussed and decided with the full
participation of all United Nations Members, in
conformity with the purposes and principles of the
United Nations.
It is also important that democracy and
impartiality be ensured in all United Nations activities
and the work of reforming the Security Council, in
particular, is undertaken to make it true to its main
purpose. The Security Council should be reformed in
such a way as to properly reflect present reality, where
almost all countries have become United Nations
Members, and fully ensure impartiality and democracy.
In order to achieve the purposes of the United
Nations, fair international economic and trade relations
should be established and the right to development
respected. Unless the present unfair international
economic system is redressed, poverty cannot be
eliminated, nor can the gap between the rich and the
poor be removed, nor sustainable development for all
be ensured.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will,
as ever, make all efforts to uphold and achieve the
purposes and principles of the United Nations on the
basis of the ideas of independence, peace and
friendship.


At the outset, let me congratulate you, Mr. President,
on your election to this responsible position. Your vast
political experience and diplomatic skills guarantee the
successful discharge of your duties, on behalf of the
United Nations cause and for the prestige of the
friendly Czech Republic.
The events of the past year do not allow us to
treat this session merely as a routine one; they give a
more specific nature. It should go beyond the routine
political declarations and should aim at achieving
specific results. This session should address the
unfinished tasks of the Millennium Declaration and the
new challenges to international peace and security,
primarily the fight against terrorism. The session
should contribute to resolving the persistent problems
17

of underdevelopment, poverty and widespread disease
throughout the world.
Unfortunately, regional crises and conflicts in
different parts of the world continue to dominate the
General Assembly agenda. Bulgaria has been closely
following the situation in the Middle East, and it
supports efforts to find fair and lasting solutions. We
share the view that progress can be achieved only on
the basis of dialogue and cooperation between the
parties concerned and with the active engagement of
the “quartet” in this process.
The situation in Afghanistan is still volatile. The
Government needs comprehensive support to enhance
internal stability and security and to rebuild the
country. Therefore, Bulgaria has suggested that the
external debt of Afghanistan be relieved in order to
stimulate economic development of that country.
Iraq has been of a focus of attention of the United
Nations for the past 12 years. The full implementation
of Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq is of
urgent importance. We expect Iraq to comply
immediately and unconditionally with those
resolutions. For its part, the Council must take actions
that will uphold its authority and credibility as the
single international body responsible for the
maintenance of world peace and security. I concur with
the views expressed thus far by Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, President Bush and other previous speakers
about the need to act decisively and without delay to
adopt an effective, workable Security Council position
on this issue.
Bulgaria has come to the fifty-seventh session of
the General Assembly with the added responsibility of
a member of the Security Council. We are strongly
committed to the principles of consensus, constructive
dialogue and transparency in the work of the Council.
The fight against terrorism is a top international
priority today. Yesterday's special meeting of the
Security Council reaffirmed the validity of resolution
1373 (2001) and commended the work of the Counter-
Terrorism Committee. The presidential statement,
supported unanimously by the Council, reflects the
political will for common action against terrorism in all
its forms and manifestations. I would add that the fight
against terrorism should not lead to persecution on
religious or ethnic grounds nor infringe upon human
rights.
Bulgaria is already a party to all international
conventions against terrorism. Moreover, my country
has made a substantial contribution to all international
efforts by sending its contingent to Afghanistan.
Anti-terrorist efforts require a serious rethinking
of current approaches to cooperation. We are aware
that terrorism is often linked to other security threats,
such as organized crime, drug trafficking, corruption,
money-laundering and the illegal arms trade. Bulgaria
has initiated and actively participated in a number of
bilateral and regional cooperation arrangements on
these issues. My country is increasingly effective in
blocking one of the routes of drug trafficking towards
Europe. We have adopted one of the most stringent
laws on export controls over the arms trade and have
been implementing a whole range of its provisions
decisively.
Developments in South-Eastern Europe remain
dynamic and volatile. Yet, for the first time in recent
years it has been positive. I, for one, am optimistic that
the legacy of conflict and confrontation could be
surmounted at long last, and stability, peace and
security can finally be established in the region. This
process should be continued and made irreversible. All
countries in South-Eastern Europe today share the
same European perspective, and this is what gives me
grounds for optimism. For Bulgaria, early membership
in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) is a strategic priority enjoying
wide public support.
During the years of crisis and post-crisis
management in South-Eastern Europe, Bulgaria has
shown the capacity and proved its ability to generate
stability and security in the region. It continues to
promote the effective and strict implementation of the
Chemical Weapons and Biological Weapons
Conventions. The uncontrolled proliferation of small
arms is another source of terrorism. Furthermore, we
strongly support the United Nations Programme of
Action in this sphere.
International human rights protection should take
place in the spirit of justice and equality, in line with
the United Nations Charter and the principles of
international law. The United Nations should be in a
position to respond promptly and more effectively to
any serious human rights violations. This is why we
support the ongoing reforms in the monitoring
mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights.
18

Bulgaria believes that the internal security of any
State lies in the exercise of all human rights by persons
belonging to minorities within the State and is closely
linked to the internal stability of that State. All
individuals should enjoy their rights on the basis of
non-discrimination and equality before the law. In this
regard, we insist that the international community's
efforts should be focused primarily on the
implementation of existing standards.
Decisions should be taken to make the United
Nations more effective in fulfilling its numerous
responsibilities. Bulgaria supports the reform measures
initiated by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. United
Nations reform must continue and take into account in
future the new political and economic realities. In
particular, it must address the specific issues of
sustainable development. I emphasize this point,
because I am still under the influence of the
Johannesburg World Summit, where my country once
again confirmed its strong support to efforts targeted at
the eradication of poverty and achieving sustainable
patterns of production and consumption, as well as
providing decent health care and education to the
Earth's population.
Mr. President, I would like to assure you that
Bulgaria regard the work of the United Nations with a
great sense of responsibility. We stand ready to
participate in the discussions and decision-making on
all agenda items. The world today needs resoluteness
and firmness in order to meet the new challenges to
international peace, security and sustainable
development. The United Nations offers the best
framework for tackling these challenges. Bulgaria is
willing and able to make its contribution to such
international efforts.


First of all, I would like to thank the
outgoing President of the General Assembly, Mr. Han
Seung-soo, for the superb manner in which he led the
work of the fifty-sixth session of the Assembly.
Permit me, Sir, to congratulate you on your
election to the presidency of the fifty-seventh session
of the General Assembly, and to express my best
wishes for success in your work at the head of this
important body. It is with enormous satisfaction that,
on behalf of the President of the Republic of Guinea-
Bissau, Mr. Kumba Yalá, we welcome Switzerland as a
Member of the United Nations. We also look forward
to welcoming the Republic of Timor-Leste, a member
of our community of Portuguese-speaking countries.
The loss of human lives can never be justified by
a cause, no matter what its noble goals. Just a year ago,
the people of Guinea-Bissau joined their voices to
those of the international community in condemning all
acts of terrorism and all actions which would threaten
international security.
We are convinced of the lofty ideals of
democracy, in which human security becomes the pillar
of society's development. Therefore, on my own
account and on behalf of the people of Guinea-Bissau,
I condemn the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001,
and we reiterate our conviction that the only way in
which to combat such infamy is to unite all our efforts
under the auspices of the United Nations.
Our readiness to cooperate in the quest for
solutions that will guarantee peace and stability in our
subregion is great, although the internal conflicts in
neighbouring countries inevitably entail costs in the
defence and security areas. They also compel us to
sacrifice the meagre budgets of priority sectors of the
Government's programme, such as health and
education.
The progressive establishment of democracy,
human rights, international cooperation and
development will restore the dignity of our people.
Convinced of this, we are developing partnerships with
the United Nations system to combat poverty in
Guinea-Bissau. We continue to make sacrifices to pave
the way for development. These sacrifices include
interruptions in the normal course of development in a
State where the 1998 conflict bore witness to the evils
of a people's poverty, and to the destruction of the
16

precarious structures of a new State in a region where
there are pockets of conflict that tend to cross borders,
and thus to increase the climate of instability.
The Senegalese conflict, in the Casamance
region, provides an example of our resolve to help find
consensus solutions to put an end to many years of
armed conflict in the neighbouring Republic of
Senegal. Respect for the Charter of the Organization of
African Unity as it relates to the retention of the
borders inherited from colonialism calls for Guinea-
Bissau's participation in efforts to establish peace and
stability in a united and indivisible Senegal.
Based on this conviction, our country supports
the efforts of the People's Republic of China towards
peaceful reunification, under the theme of “one nation,
two systems.”
The economic and financial difficulties faced by
the Government of Guinea-Bissau have been the object
of attention by the members of the Security Council. It
is clear that peacekeeping efforts cannot be divorced
from the need to preserve economic and social stability
in Guinea-Bissau. Thus, progress on peacekeeping, on
economic recovery and on development in Guinea-
Bissau are interdependent.
Guinea-Bissau, a member of the African Union,
is involved in the struggle for peace, stability,
democracy, the defence of human rights, cooperation,
development, prosperity and human dignity. We are
bound, furthermore, by our national poverty reduction
strategy to contribute to the socio-economic
programme to revitalize our continent, following the
broader approach of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD).
It is clear to Guinea-Bissau that the United
Nations, as a forum for dealing with questions related
to world peace, respect for human rights, the
eradication of poverty and the promotion of sustainable
development worldwide, is encouraging and
contributing in practical ways to the success of NEPAD
and to ensuring that the commitments entered into in
Doha, Monterrey and Johannesburg will be effectively
implemented.
Guinea-Bissau remains committed to finding
solutions to its difficult socio-economic situation, and
appeals to the international community to contribute to
the implementation of our national poverty reduction
strategy.
I would like to recognize the intelligent, patriotic
manner in which Angola put an end to long years of
conflict, as well as the progress made towards the
resolution of the conflicts in Senegal, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Burundi and the Comoros.
Dialogue is the best instrument for restoring
peace and working towards stability and development
for humanity. That is why we encourage the actors in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to join in the effort to
find acceptable solutions to bring about concrete
security and prosperity for both peoples. Strict
compliance with Security Council resolutions 242
(1967), 338 (1973) and 1397 (2002) will be the only
response acceptable to the Assembly and the only proof
that the parties recognize the incalculable value of our
Organization.
To realize the promises contained in the
Millennium Declaration and in the United Nations
Charter, which would guarantee a more prosperous and
just world, we join in the appeal made to the leaders of
Iraq to abide by Security Council resolutions with
respect to Chapter VII of the Charter, in order to avoid
a possible Council decision.
Guinea-Bissau shares the need for broader and
more effective participation in the work of the Security
Council, which is a vital organ of the Organization.
Permit me to recall that reducing poverty in the
poorest countries, such as ours, will guarantee the
prosperity, stability, peace and security of the entire
world and is the best way to neutralize terrorism.
We speak out in the struggle against the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and for
the creation of conditions which will allow access to
basic resources such as water, to education and to the
protein necessary for healthy growth.
Solidarity among peoples is and will continue to
be the guarantee that we will be able to bequeath to
future generations the legacy of a prosperous world.


First of all, Sir, please allow me to offer my warmest
congratulations on your assumption of the presidency
of the current session of the General Assembly. I wish
also to express my gratitude to Mr. Han Seung-soo,
President of the previous session of the Assembly.
I wish to congratulate the Swiss Confederation on
having joined the United Nations and also to welcome
the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, which will
soon become a Member of the Organization.
The opening of this session coincides with the
first anniversary of the events of 11 September. Over
the past year, the international campaign against
terrorism has made headway, and now we should not
only ponder ways to eradicate the global scourge of
terrorism, but also take a broader view of the security
issues facing humankind and seek to achieve lasting
peace and universal security.
At present, the international security situation is
undergoing profound changes. Security has begun to
take on wider connotations. While traditional military
antagonism and conflicts have yet to be eliminated, a
variety of non-traditional security concerns have
become increasingly prominent. Security is no longer a
purely military concern. It has permeated politics,
economics, finance, science, technology, culture and
many other areas.
Security is no longer a zero-sum game. Its
mutuality is obviously on the increase, as countries
have come to realize that they have common security
interests and feel a greater sense of interdependence.
We must overhaul the tools at our disposal to
achieve security. Military means alone have proved
inadequate in meeting the massive and complex
security challenges facing us. The indiscriminate use of
force can only lead to greater trouble in our world.
This new situation calls for new ideas in the area
of safeguarding security. We in China believe in a new
security concept that features mutual trust, mutual
benefit, equality and cooperation.
By mutual trust, we mean that countries should
rise above their differing ideologies and social systems,
abandon the cold-war mentality and the power politics
mindset, and refrain from harbouring suspicion and
hostility towards each other. They should hold frequent
dialogues and mutual briefings on their security and
defence policies or on the major actions they are about
to take.
By mutual benefit, we mean that a country should
respect the security interests of others while pursuing
its own, and also help to create conditions for
enhancing the security of others while making itself
more secure  thus achieving universal security.
By equality, we mean that all countries  large
or small, strong or weak  should respect each other,
treat each other as equals and refrain from interfering
in each other's internal affairs, so that international
relations can become more democratized.
By cooperation, we mean that countries should
resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations,
engage in extensive and close cooperation on their
shared security concerns and work to prevent wars and
conflicts.
All in all, our new security concept is aimed at
increasing mutual trust through dialogue and at
promoting common security through cooperation.
It is in the spirit of this new security concept that
we in China have been working hard to promote
mechanisms for a regional security dialogue and
cooperation, actively participating in the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization and in the Association of
South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum,
and endeavouring to establish an Asia-Pacific security
framework that is for dialogue and against
confrontation.
China is actively committed to international arms
control, disarmament and the non-proliferation process.
Not long ago, the Chinese Government promulgated
the Regulations on Export Controls of Missiles and
Related Items and Technologies and its Control List.
The Chinese Government will make further
improvements on its export-management mechanisms
for biological and chemical dual-use items. We call on
the international community actively to undertake
dialogue and cooperation in the spirit of this new
security concept, in a joint effort to tackle the major
security concerns of the day.
We should press ahead with international
cooperation against terrorism and curb the threat of
international terrorism once and for all.
Counter-terrorism should be pursued on the basis
of international law and of the norms governing
16

international relations, allowing the United Nations and
its Security Council to play a leading role. It should
take a comprehensive approach, with a focus on
eliminating the root causes of terrorism. Efforts should
be made to prevent the arbitrary enlargement of the
scope of the counter-terrorism campaign, but proven
terrorists, including the East Turkestan terrorist
forces  trained, armed and bankrolled by the Taliban
and Al Qaeda  must be resolutely stamped out.
We should step up dialogue and reconciliation
processes and facilitate the settlement of regional hot-
spot issues.
China supports the Palestinian people and their
just cause to regain their legitimate national rights and
to establish their own State. We support the relevant
Security Council resolutions and the principle of land
for peace. We are opposed to violence targeting
innocent civilians, and we reject responding to violence
with violence.
We stand for a political settlement of the question
of Iraq. The United Nations should play an important
role in this regard. Iraq should implement the relevant
Security Council resolutions in a faithful and strict
manner.
We hope that India and Pakistan will soon resume
dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect
and resolve all their differences, including that over
Kashmir, through peaceful means.
We will continue to work constructively for a
lasting peace in Afghanistan and its post-war
rehabilitation. We support the important role of the
United Nations in this regard.
We should strengthen exchanges and dialogues
among different civilizations and thereby avert conflict
or confrontation. Differences among diverse
civilizations are a basic characteristic of humanity.
We have every reason to treat the achievements of
various civilizations kindly and to promote exchanges
among them on the basis of respect for diversity.
Everyone is encouraged to draw upon the strength of
others with a view to realizing common development.
Peace and development go hand in hand. Many of
the problems we face today may be development-
related. In coping with these challenges, it is all the
more important to look to development for answers. In
the past year, the United Nations has held a series of
important meetings on development such as the World
Summit on Sustainable Development. What is needed,
right now, is to translate the programmes and
commitments into reality.
In the past year, regional economic cooperation
has continued to move forward. We feel especially
happy about the launching of the African Union,
convinced that Africa will now take fresh strides on the
road to development. At present, our development
tasks have become more pressing. The widening wealth
gap in the world must be reversed. Frequent economic
and social shocks must be dealt with. The sharpening
clashes between economic development, on the one
hand, and resources and the environment, on the other,
must be allayed. The international order and the rules
of the game, which do not fairly reflect the needs of
developing countries, must be changed.
We would like to make the following
propositions. First, to establish a global partnership
geared to development. Governments, international
organizations, transnational corporations and non-
governmental groups are all parties to the cause of
development. The North and the South, the aid-
recipient countries and international aid institutions,
should be equal and cooperative partners in dealing
with the global economic slowdown. The developed
countries ought to lend developing countries a helping
hand. The new round of multilateral trade talks should
be seized as an important opportunity for forging such
a new partnership.
Secondly, to promote a balanced and steady
development in the context of economic globalization.
The international community needs to reform current
roles in the world economy, strengthen guidance and
management of the globalization process and promote
a win-win situation and coexistence among countries.
Thirdly, to strengthen the developing countries'
capacity for self-development. Developing countries
should opt for a development path suited to them and
strive to catch up with the tide of global economic
development. The international community should
respect the right of developing countries to
independently choose a development path, and help
them with capacity-building.
Fourthly, in order to continue on the path of
sustainable development, we should promote a
balanced development of the economy, population,
resources and the environment. Efforts to address the
17

environmental problems of individual countries should
be combined with those aimed at global concerns.
Fifthly, to enhance comprehensive development of the
people. Human resources are the primary resources for
advancing science and technology and for realizing
economic and social development. In formulating
development strategies, countries should make the
people their top priority and main beneficiary.
The Communist Party of China will soon hold its
sixteenth national Congress, the very first in the new
century. Standing in the forefront of the historical tide
and displaying a spirit of progressing with the times,
this party Congress will draw up a new blueprint for
accelerating socialist modernization in China. Our
guiding thought is to consistently represent the
development requirements of China's advanced
productive forces, represent the orientation of China's
advanced culture and represent the fundamental
interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese
people. Our historic mission is to accelerate the drive
for modernization, complete the reunification of the
motherland, maintain world peace and promote
common development.
The first 10 to 20 years of this century present
China with an important strategic window of
opportunity for its development. While taking
development as our number one priority, we must grasp
the opportunities, deepen reform, open the country still
wider to the outside world, promote development and
maintain stability.
We will continue to pursue an independent
foreign policy of peace, actively develop friendly
relations in cooperation with all countries in the world
on the basis of the five principles of peaceful
coexistence, and facilitate international dialogue and
cooperation, thus contributing constructively to a fairer
and more equitable international order.
There is but one China in the world. Both the
mainland and Taiwan belong to that one China, and
China's sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no
division. The Chinese Government adheres to the basic
policy of peaceful reunification and one country, two
systems; and President Jiang Zemin's eight point
proposal on how to develop cross-strait' relations and
promote a peaceful reunification of the motherland for
the current stage. We are firm in our opposition to all
forms of Taiwanese independence activities and will
tolerate no attempt to separate Taiwan from the rest of
China in any fashion. All acts of Taiwan independence
are doomed to failure and our grand cause of national
reunification will triumph.


Many of the heads of State that have preceded me at
this rostrum have been eloquent in expressing their
open condemnation of terrorism, their prescriptions for
the eradication of extreme poverty, their vision for a
new international order that will ensure peace and
security in the world and their reservations about a
globalization process that, if poorly understood, will in
the end make the gap between rich and poor
unbridgeable.
We want to stress above all the urgent need to
take action and to begin to commit new and greater
financial resources to development. We must
strengthen our common bond and work together to try
to find solutions to the problems that affect us all.
We, the poor countries, are asked to practise
austerity and fiscal discipline, respect the rules of the
2

free market and free trade and cooperate in the fight
against the scourges that afflict humankind. When we
try to obtain access to the major markets for our goods,
however, the door is slammed shut. We are asked to be
competitive, but when we take the fruits of our labour
to the market, subsidies amounting to millions of
dollars are placed in our way, making it impossible for
us to even hope to compete.
We are asked to participate in the fight against
drug trafficking, but we have not been given the
resources promised us to enable us to carry out our
action plans.
When we try to negotiate in a serious and creative
way with international lending agencies, attempts are
made to impose terms on us — terms that, if accepted,
would dangerously weaken our young and sometimes
fragile democracies.
People don't understand: our peoples, in their
poverty, are quite perceptive, but they still cannot
understand how they can benefit from a globalization
process that may never knock at their doors.
We, the leaders of the developing countries, are
severely criticized when, upon our return from summits
and forums, we have only meagre results to show, and
when the resolve to provide support and cooperation is
weakened because of the actions of a few with respect
to a consensus declaration.
I want to be very clear and simple in expressing
my thoughts in this universal forum: hypocrisy,
inequity, injustice, increased poverty and failure to take
action, among other ills, are the main reasons for
breaches of the peace. They create a framework in
which violence, sectarian extremism and
misunderstanding find fertile ground.
The developed world has found new and
discriminatory methods — in financial, social and
ethical terms — of categorizing our countries. Some
are willing to perpetuate this perverse way of
categorizing us on the basis of criteria laid down by
those that have more than we do. We are criticized for
a lack of transparency and for some alleged lack of
respect for the law, while enormous losses are piling up
owing to corruption. Could it be that the very
foundations of the capital system have been seriously
damaged by the scandals that have taken place in the
wealthier and more powerful nations?
Our emigrants are discriminated against, and
some forget how the most prosperous nations managed
to create their identities through the mixing of races or
by opening their arms to those yearning for progress
and freedom. Developed countries demand the
strengthening of our institutions and they get quite
lyrical in their support for democratic processes, which
often take forms that lead only to instability. We must
break paradigms, and we must do it now. We must not
persist in simplifying, relying on a purely economic
vocabulary, all the benefits of a globalization process
that is still not understood by all, nor assimilated in
each of its components.
We speak of free flows of capitals, but these
flows only take the form of transfers of investments in
the Northern Hemisphere. We countries in the Southern
Hemisphere have typically received these same capitals
in the form of expensive loans, whose heavy burden it
has been impossible to alleviate over time.
When the North looks to the South, it sees it with
paternalistic and patronizing eyes. The widely
publicized equity in the terms of exchange is only
visible in statements, manuals and textbooks of
developed countries. What we need is a new global
ethic, one that repudiates terrorism but helps, with the
same strength and resolve, give substance to our
creative efforts to eradicate poverty, a poverty that
threatens the most basic principles of human dignity.
When food is lacking, when there is no health or
education, and when the survival instinct itself is
limited, very little or nothing can be done to pursue
values and ideals cherished by any developed society.
My country condemns terrorism. My government
supports every effort to eradicate it, but Ecuador also
demands the creation of a new coalition and a new
order to fight against poverty.
This is a new century, a century of solidarity and
hope. But we must also make this century a century of
respect on the part of all nations for the principles that
govern international law. Yes, it is a new century, a
century in which all activities that violate the sanctity
of human life are condemned and prosecuted. There is
no justification whatsoever for taking the lives of
innocent persons. We must work with all forces
available, together under the law, to fight this scourge.
This is also a century of changes of attitudes and
of proposals, a time in which we must resolve
definitively the problem of the debt of the poorest
3

countries towards the developed countries. It must be a
time of opportunity to build a fairer world, a world of
solidarity.
As a global citizen, I am concerned that the
commitment to ensure the very existence of the planet
is not shared equitably by all. Everything is demanded
of those of us who have great diversity and renewable
resources, but, in return, we are denied the financial
tools to seek alternative resources for a development
not entailing the destruction of our natural resources, as
if this commitment to the environment should fall on
our shoulders alone. We must fight to improve the
quality of life on earth. But the beneficiaries of this
struggle must be every man and woman on earth, and
not only those with the good fortune to have been born
in the North.
Ecuador, which I am honoured to represent in this
Assembly, is a country committed to the most noble
causes of the international community. No effort will
be spared to enable our people to reach a human
society in which men, women and children, without
distinction, without exclusion, can develop fully and
flourish.
Ecuador wants to be an ethical model that looks
to the future. We wish to see the voice of reason heard
in every global forum. We want to create a world of
freedom, a more just and united society. We would like,
from the centre of the two hemispheres, to be a bridge
uniting North and South, two regions that should walk
together towards development and not be separated by
geographic conventions.
Thank you so much, distinguished delegates, for
this extraordinary opportunity to address the world
community. Thank you for your continuing efforts to
make the United Nations the highest forum of
international debate. My country and my Government
view this body as the highest forum for debate and for
the settlement of those problems that constantly affect
humankind.


Allow me to congratulate Mr. Jan Kavan, and through
him the Czech Republic, on his well-deserved election
to preside over the work of this session of the General
Assembly. Allow me also to congratulate Switzerland
on its recent admission to membership of the United
Nations and to congratulate the Republic of Timor-
Leste on its imminent admission.
Fifty-eight years ago, the founders of the
Organization undertook to promote social progress and
better standards of life in larger freedom.
Unquestionably, the main purpose of the United
Nations is the promotion of justice and well-being for
all. We must reaffirm that commitment today. We must
dedicate ourselves to building a more just, free,
harmonious and happy society. We must indeed draw
the maximum advantage from the benefits of joint
action and cooperation in order to create a world of
mutual advantage. As stated in the Millennium
Declaration, we have a collective responsibility to
uphold the principles of human dignity and equality at
the global level.
However, we are still very far from reaching that
goal. In the last 10 years, more than 3.5 million people
have died in civil wars. One billion three hundred and
eighty million people live in extreme poverty, and 854
million do not know how to read or write. Democracy,
justice and the enjoyment of civil and political rights
are far from being universal. We believe that we need
to address the miserable and alarming situation of the
world's children. More than 30,000 children die every
day of diseases that are easily preventable. There are
more than 300,000 child soldiers in the world. More
than 150 million children suffer from malnutrition due
to a lack of food, and many millions go without
schooling. This situation is as serious as — or more
serious than — the effects of terrorism, which are
themselves abominable. However, these problems do
not draw the public's attention and are relegated to a
secondary place on the world's agenda.
We have stopped half way in our struggle to
create a better world. Many examples attest to this
bitter fact. It is right for us to celebrate the holding of
the first elections after an armed conflict or the end of
a dictatorship. However, those are just the first steps
down the path of a democratic way of life. Unless the
United Nations commits itself to ensuring the
sustainability of democracy, elections, regardless of
their inherent value, will not necessarily mean a victory
in the fight for human rights. Democracy must be an
instrument for attaining equitable development and
creating favourable conditions for peoples who invest
their hopes in it.
The sustainability of democracy can be
safeguarded though the promotion of the fundamental
social values of dialogue, harmony and reconciliation.
That is also done by combating extreme poverty and
the growing economic gap between various social
groups, which are ills that weaken the social fabric and
erode confidence in political institutions. Financial
20

crises foster conditions favourable to the existence of
extremist and opportunist groups seeking to overthrow
democratic Governments. Greater international
cooperation for development is necessary to
consolidate democracy. It is for that reason that we
urgently call upon developed nations to implement the
Monterrey Consensus, and in particular to fulfil their
commitment to increase official development
assistance. Costa Rica fully supports United Nations
efforts to promote and strengthen democracy. But we
also emphasize that the United Nations should not give
any less attention to the creation of the economic and
social conditions that will help to strengthen and
preserve democratic institutions throughout the world.
We also believe that globalization, with its rapid
development of information and communication
technologies and growing economic and commercial
interdependence, offers us tremendous opportunities
for economic and social development. We must
certainly take advantage of those opportunities to
create a better world for all. However, globalization
also poses serious dangers. Structural barriers,
financial imbalances and the lack of capital for
productive and social investment can cause the
economic collapse of entire regions. Subsidies,
restricted access to international markets and capital
flight distort free competition. Globalization may
widen the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest
sectors of society. The digital divide may exclude the
most vulnerable from the benefits of the modern
economy and cast a long shadow over the futures of
those left behind. It is essential that we make greater
efforts to protect the most vulnerable groups and
nations.
The United Nations must call on the developed
countries to open their markets and to abolish
subsidies, thus enabling developing countries to have
access to the benefits of globalization. Thus, in
combating inequality and extreme poverty, we will
build more equitable and just societies.
Human dignity has been championed ever since
the founding of the United Nations. Government
corruption, in all its forms and at all levels, is a
genuine breach of human rights. It is outrageous that
unjust leaders should enrich themselves by corrupt
means and thus impoverish their peoples. It is
scandalous to see how certain rulers divert public funds
to their private accounts while reducing their peoples to
the most appalling poverty. At the same time, the
Governments of some States Members of the United
Nations fuel corruption by granting tax deductions for
bribes offered abroad. There are even some Member
States that protect corrupt leaders under the guise of
banking secrecy. The United Nations should forbid all
such acts and prevent the granting of amnesty, asylum
and travel visas to those who seek to evade justice.
The protection of human rights may be weakened
without multilateral protection, monitoring and
sanctions mechanisms. Costa Rica advocates the
creation of a new generation of human rights
mechanisms to provide greater protection to all
individuals. This effort has already born its first fruit in
the form of a draft optional protocol to the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. That legal instrument,
recently adopted by the Economic and Social Council,
will be submitted to the General Assembly for
consideration in the next few days. I urge all States
actively to support the draft as a sign of their
unequivocal commitment to human rights and to the
primacy of the dignity and integrity of all human
beings.
We welcome the recent entry into force of the
Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal
Court. Human kind at last has an effective, independent
and impartial judicial organ with jurisdiction to try the
most serious crimes against human dignity. We must
not weaken it.
While the United Nations upholds the principle of
the peaceful settlement of disputes, requiring just
means and institutions to resolve differences, the
International Court of Justice — the United Nations
main judicial organ and guarantor of international law,
responsible for ensuring the rule of law in international
relations and for preventing arbitrary and casuistic
interpretations of legal norms — has become a purely
rhetorical device. Very few States Members of the
United Nations have accepted its mandatory
jurisdiction without reservation, while others have
made the situation even worse by unjustifiably
withdrawing or modifying their acceptance of its
jurisdiction. Only 12 nations accept the mandatory
jurisdiction of the Court without reservation or
condition. To ignore the authority of the highest
judicial organ of the society of nations is tantamount to
closing the door to justice and endangers the integrity
of the international legal order.
21

What alternative is there for nations if they
cannot rely on judicial bodies to settle their
differences? The only alternative is force. It is essential
for all States Members of the United Nations to accept
without condition the obligatory jurisdiction of the
International Court of Justice. Only thus will we be
able to create a more just, peaceful and secure world.
A more just world will necessarily be more
peaceful. Justice demands respect for others and for
their freedom — in other words, tolerance. Peace in
many regions of the world is seriously threatened by
intolerance. In the Middle East, the rights of the
peoples of Israel and Palestine are being violated. The
intolerance of one leader is today making a country
like Iraq the possible setting for endlessly bitter war.
How different the situation would be if it had a fair
Government respectful of human rights. The world has
also witnessed with concern the growing dispute
between India and Pakistan and the threat of nuclear
war in that region.
My country would like to see greater tolerance
prevail in the Taiwan Straits. We hope to see a just
settlement that would fulfil the desires of the entire
Chinese people. Costa Rica has historically enjoyed
and continues to enjoy close friendly relations with the
Republic of China on Taiwan. Creative agreements
have been reached in many international organizations
to permit the participation of the Republic of China in
their work. The world would be a far more peaceful
place if we were able to find an innovative accord to
allow that country and its people to be represented with
dignity in this and other international organizations.
While it is a principle of the United Nations to
prevent violence and to achieve lasting and stable
peace, there are Governments that transfer weapons to
rebel and terrorist groups and States Members of the
United Nations that scorn efforts being made for
disarmament and the reduction of military expenditure.
We call for the adoption of a legally binding
framework convention to regulate the arms trade. Our
experience as a disarmed nation has taught us that not
spending on weapons is the best decision for those
countries that are truly committed to the well-being of
their peoples.
We urge the nuclear States truly to commit
themselves to disarmament negotiations. We deem it
necessary to adopt a comprehensive convention to
prohibit the use of nuclear weapons. In the meantime,
all States must renounce the development of new
nuclear weapons and ratify the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
We cannot commit ourselves only half-way to
human dignity, equality and justice. We must not allow
our children, the future generation, to be able to
condemn us for doublespeak. If we can do that, we will
be making a true contribution to their inheritance of a
better world.


As is the case every year, Burkina Faso is
very pleased to take part in the regular session of the
General Assembly, this great meeting of peoples united
by the same destiny and motivated by the same ideal:
to build a world of justice, love and peace. I am
convinced, Mr. President, that the choice of a person of
your great ability to preside over this fifty-seventh
session will help us greatly. As we congratulate you
and the members of the Bureau on that special honour,
my delegation and I want to assure you of our full
availability and cooperation for the success of your
mission. We also want to express again our profound
recognition of your predecessor, Mr. Han Seung-soo,
for the competence with which he presided over the
fifty-sixth session.
The quest for peace and security and the
promotion of cooperation and development are the
essential values that presided over the creation of the
United Nations. Today, more than ever before, with the
tragic events of 11 September 2001 — whose first
anniversary we have just commemorated — those
objectives have assumed a more immediate and urgent
character, because world peace finds itself seriously
threatened, in particular by international terrorism. We
must all convince ourselves that the best response to
international terrorism must proceed from collective
action — in other words, from action by the entire
international community.
As a member of that community, Burkina Faso —
which has made the quest for peace a creed —
reaffirms most solemnly, vigorously and
unambiguously its condemnation of terrorism in all its
forms, whatever the motivations. Our determination to
fight alongside the United Nations against that danger
is unwavering, and our implementation of Security
Council resolution 1373 (2001) was the subject of a
report submitted to the Committee established pursuant
to that resolution.
If the fight against terrorism henceforth occupies
the spotlight, that must not obscure the imperative
necessity of finding just and lasting solutions to
international crises, particularly regional conflicts that
so often feed and maintain that scourge. In this
15

connection, Burkina Faso welcomes the laudable
initiatives of the United Nations to restore peace to
many regions of the world, particularly Africa, where
United Nations interventions — coupled with the
initiatives of the Organization of African Unity, which
has become the African Union, and those of the
African subregional organizations — have made it
possible to pacify many areas of tension and conflict
that were ravaging parts of our continent.
We also welcome the gradual return to peace in
Sierra Leone, in Angola, in the Great Lakes region,
between Ethiopia and Eritrea and in Sudan, even if in
the latter case we must regret the suspension of the
agreement between the Government of that country and
the armed rebellion.
In Western Africa, the hopes that arose at the end
of the war in Sierra Leone unfortunately seem
unfulfilled with the resumption of combat in
neighbouring Liberia.
We cannot remain passive in the face of civil war
in that sister country. Supported by others of goodwill
and working within the framework of the process of the
Economic Community of West African States, Burkina
Faso convened a meeting in Ouagadougou from 8 to 11
July between a number of Liberian political parties,
civil society organizations, associations and
movements with a view to renewing the inter-Liberian
dialogue. By agreeing to host that important meeting,
my country, Burkina Faso, hoped to provide a further
chance for dialogue, which the Liberians themselves
desired. The initiative was supportive of efforts that
had already been agreed upon in the context of the
Rabat process and the Mano River Union.
This year has been particularly bloody in the
Middle East. We cannot forget the excesses committed
in Jenin and the harassment of President Arafat at
Ramallah. The atrocities perpetrated every day against
the unarmed Palestinian civilian population are a great
cause for concern. Dialogue and negotiation must
prevail over confrontation and violence. Burkina Faso
reaffirms its support for the creation of an independent
Palestinian State, existing side by side with Israel, and
we strongly urge the Security Council to ensure that its
relevant resolutions are implemented.
With regard to Iraq, Burkina Faso welcomes the
fact that reason has prevailed. We remain convinced
that unilateral preventive action that is not authorized
by the Security Council would have dire consequences
for world peace. In that connection, we would like to
pay tribute to the courageous decision of the Iraqi
Government, which has just agreed to the return to
Baghdad of United Nations weapons inspectors. We
earnestly hope that that approach will ultimately lead to
a definitive resolution of the crisis, especially since the
sanctions imposed on that country are unjust and have
made martyrs of the Iraqi people.
Burkina Faso has always made it clear that, apart
from their unjust character, sanctions cannot properly
resolve substantive problems but are
counterproductive. We therefore request the lifting of
all sanctions against Iraq, Cuba and Iran, as well as
those imposed on Libya in connection with the
Lockerbie question.
With regard to that latter question, Burkina Faso
believes that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has fully
discharged its obligations to the Security Council and
that the sanctions imposed on it should now be lifted.
As a result of the demands of globalization,
protecting the right to development has become the
most important obligation for our countries. We
therefore place great hope in the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD), to which the
Assembly has just devoted a special debate. We should
recall that that new initiative shows how determined
African leaders are to work tirelessly to rid the
continent of poverty and marginalization.
During a recent forum that took place in
Ouagadougou on the role of the private sector in the
implementation of NEPAD, President Blaise Compaore
stressed two major responsibilities that are incumbent
upon the international community. The first relates to
the enhancement and structural reform of official
development assistance so as to adapt it to the needs of
its beneficiaries and to improve its effect on their
standard of living. The second relates to the problem of
the access of African goods to the markets of the
industrialized countries and the need to put an end to
anti-competitive subsidies that run counter to the rules
of the World Trade Organization.
More generally, the various meetings on
development that have taken place this year, in
particular the International Conference on Financing
for Development, held at Monterrey, and the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, held at
Johannesburg, as well as the commitments set out in
16

the Millennium Declaration, open up new and
encouraging prospects for developing countries.
It remains true, however, that the best form of
development is that which takes into account the
requirements of democracy and human rights. In this
connection, I would like to assure the Assembly that
my country will be resolute in ensuring that democracy
becomes rooted in our political and institutional life,
and we are taking significant and concrete actions to
that end. The people of Burkina Faso have thus just
renewed, for a third consecutive time and for a further
five years, the mandate of the National Assembly. That
election, in which all the political parties took part,
took place in a calm, transparent and fair manner and
has seated members of 13 political parties to legislate
on questions of interest to the people of Burkina Faso.
The Government has also created a Ministry for
the Promotion of Human Rights to ensure respect for
and the implementation of human rights in all their
aspects. That is why my Government welcomes the
election of Burkina Faso to the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, which will enable us to
make a positive and active contribution to the work and
the deliberations of that international body, which
monitors the implementation of human rights
throughout the world. Furthermore, our Government is
determined to greatly enhance the status of women and
children in line with the recommendations of the
special session of the General Assembly on children.
It is thus clear that the credibility and
effectiveness of the United Nations is increasing on a
daily basis, whether with regard to the promotion of
peace and security, to economic cooperation or to
activities in the social and humanitarian sphere.
The recent admission of Switzerland to the
United Nations and the forthcoming admission of
Timor-Leste further confirm the irreplaceable role of
the United Nations as an means of ensuring
international stability. It is precisely because of that
universality that Burkina Faso is able to call upon the
international community to consider the return of the
Republic of China to this world Organization. Taiwan
has clearly shown that it is a free, independent,
democratic nation that enjoys all the attributes of a
State under international law and that would thus be
able to make a truly useful contribution to the building
of a better future for humankind. The credibility of the
United Nations is at stake in this respect.
In conclusion, I should like, on behalf of my
country, to pay tribute to Mr. Kofi Annan for his
assured leadership of this Organization, as well as to
the staff of the United Nations for their tireless
contribution to the quest for peace.