The General
Assembly's choice of Mr. Ganev to lead the work of its forty-seventh session
is a worthy tribute to his outstanding qualities and to the role his country,
Bulgaria, has always played in international relations. I convey the
congratulations of the Republic of Madagascar to him, and on behalf of my
delegation assure him of our cooperation.
We are grateful to his predecessor, Mr. Samir Shihabi, for having
accorded the strengthening of the General Assembly's authority the highest
priority among his concerns although this did not keep him from discharging
his other responsibilities with grace, competence and skill, even in the most
sensitive of circumstances.
I turn now to our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a member
of our National Academy. He is certainly aware of the great regard in which
he is held in Madagascar, and we know that his experience, his sense of duty
and his humanism are all guarantees of the success of our Organization. In
this time of profound change, requiring the involvement of all, we again
express our support for and confidence in him.
Finally, we address our best wishes to, and welcome, the 13 new Members:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, San Marino, Slovenia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. We are pleased to be able to count upon their
invaluable cooperation and to offer them our own in return.

When I spoke at last year's session, I mentioned the need for a new
charter in referring to the prospects of what was being offered us as the "new
world order". I will not repeat my conclusion, especially since the
declarations adopted by the recent Summit Conference of the non-aligned
countries have reinforced the sense that my suggestion, as daring as it may
have been, only reflects the aspirations of a fairly significant sector of
humanity. I realize nevertheless, in the light of the events of these past
12 months, that it might not seem timely not because it in any way disturbs
the conservatives, but because we are unfortunately compelled to yield to the
vagaries of the international situation.
And we ask ourselves: At what point can we truly speak of the new world
order? Shall we call it the new order, the new world order, or the new
international order? Are we sure of winning consensus around a concept that
can only be the fruit of joint efforts? Indeed, before we talk of order, let
us try to look within ourselves and around us!
Rare are the developments that cause us satisfaction. To be sure, work
on the chemical weapons convention has finally been concluded; the operation
in Cambodia seems to be supported by the parties; the international peace
conference on the Middle East has shown signs of rather positive developments,
in spite of some understandable hesitancy; in South Africa, the recent
agreement between De Klerk and Mandela should pick up the broken thread of
negotiations in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa; the political
situation in Angola, Mozambique, and El Salvador is brightening; democracy is
regaining stature and acceptability everywhere; and the Earth Summit in Rio
unfolded in the best possible conditions.
However, shadows persist. There are instability, human tragedy, and
political chaos in many countries; the eruption of a nation and the threat of

an entire people's disappearance in Somalia; violence and massacres in the
Balkans; floods of refugees in Africa, especially, in Asia, and even in
Europe; deadlock in Cyprus; foot-dragging in Western Sahara; human rights
trampled by hatred, intolerance, and xenophobia; monetary and financial crisis
in the industrialized countries; and mounting poverty in third world countries.
This record, though incomplete, is not very encouraging. In any event,
it hardly lends itself to prognostications on what the new world order is to
be. We will indeed be able to discourse validly on the subject once we have
mastered disorder and political, economic, and social insecurity on the
national, regional, and international levels. This finding, whose particular
bitterness pains us, should not inhibit our ability to reflect and to judge.
Nor can anyone say that we are entitled to hide behind the sense of malaise
indignation, even in order to refuse to seek joint solutions, however
imperfect, to the problems that we have often created for ourselves.
As a Member of the United Nations, and above and beyond any
considerations of national interest or ideological affinity inasmuch as
ideologies still exist - it is up to us to affirm and constantly reaffirm the
central role of our Organization in establishing peace and security,
prerequisites for progress and social justice. That is the essence of the
1945 Charter. These will remain the goals of the charter that will need to
replace it. That is why the Non-Aligned Movement again took up this theme
from a fresh but not unprecedented perspective, so as to apply it to the
democratization of international relations and the development of solidarity
and equality, not forgetting the promotion of legality.
One criticism of the 1945 Charter is that it does not take sufficiently
into account the desirable balance between the main bodies of the
Organization the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and

Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice,
and the Secretariat. To each body its own responsibilities and attributes!
Each historical era has its own limitations and its own imperatives. Since
people continue to call for a comprehensive approach to problems in order to
achieve integrated solutions, it is important to take a new, pragmatic look
ever respectful of the spirit of the Charter at certain provisions of the
Charter.
Let us take the special responsibilities of the permanent members of the
Security Council: Exercised on behalf of the entire Organization, they arose
in the situation that obtained immediately upon the Second World War. Now,
the alliance has not survived the victory over totalitarianism. The cold war,
which in some sense crystallized and distorted the use of the veto, is now
part of history. The same applies to the concept of "enemy". Meanwhile,
newly independent States and new Member States have called for participation
on a more responsible basis and a more equitable allocation of what they see
as privileges in fact, the implementation of democratic rules within the
Organization. It is therefore not astonishing to hear speak at one point of
expanding the Security Council, at another of eliminating the veto right, or
at another still of extending or modifying the exercise of that right.
One fact remains: the right of veto, as envisioned in the 1945 Charter,
is challenged by everyone throughout the world except those who have it. Let
us apply the rules of the democratic game, and concede at least one point:
the 1945 Charter can and must be revised. It will still be necessary for the
five permanent members to agree as a whole to renounce their implicit veto
right when it comes time for ratifying whatever changes the sovereign Assembly
may adopt. That is the only way for us to overcome the impasse.

It is necessary at the same time to define more rigorously the concept of
international security not to abridge the authority of the Security Council
but to strengthen that of other bodies. Political or strategic circumstances
and considerations have given that concept political, economic, social,
humanitarian, ecological and even legal ramifications. It is thus possible,
invoking jurisprudence, to recommend measures against a State or a regime in
unexpected spheres, arbitrarily chosen on the basis of defence considerations
or the promotion of special national or regional interests.
In that context, we want to state our appreciation for the
Secretary-General's report "An Agenda for Peace". Despite the rigid framework
within which that study was carried out, its vision is stimulating, its
analyses relevant and its recommendations acceptable. We hope it will help
shed new light on the concept of responsibility free from hegemony, so that
this notion will attract more open, unambiguous support.
I felt it necessary to stress the democratization of international
relations because the strengthening of the Organization depends on it. Only
an organization whose central role is set out in the documents, practice and
acceptance of its members can guarantee the establishment and maintenance of
relations among nations based on trust, equity and equal participation.
We lay stress on the same principles when we address the problems of
development, for we are convinced that their solution depends in large part on
the status of international peace and security. So long as the international
political situation is under a burden, the search for a solution to the
development crisis will be in vain. The Organization indeed, the entire
United Nations system is working along those lines, and we are glad that
debate both at the eighth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade

and Development (UNCTAD) and at the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development was marked by strengthened international cooperation for
development. This theme reappeared at the high-level discussions in the
Economic and Social Council. This awareness is reflected also in an
acknowledgement that stress must be placed on the role of the United Nations
as the only forum in which we can deal with these problems in an integrated
manner.
We must draw up universally accepted principles and rules; ensure
coordination among the various development forums; harmonize the modalities
for action by financial, monetary and trading institutions; and above all be
aware of the political dimension of the decisions we shall have to make at all
levels. That is the role of the Economic and Social Council; we must
streamline and consolidate its functions in analysis and orientation to make
it more effective system-wide.
On the institutional level, we note a willingness to create controls
and the beginnings of that process although unequal means do not always
favour consensus among the bodies concerned.
Then there is poverty. It is unbearable for its victims; it is
unacceptable in a world that espouses solidarity. It has always been the lot
of Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, where economically
fragile, poorly integrated, dislocated, marginalized societies barely survive,
side by side with pockets of prosperity.
I want to make special reference to my own continent of Africa, where
poverty and its attendant disease, natural disasters and social conflicts have
devastating, degrading effects. How can we ignore the fact that by the end of
the century, although we expect 400 million fewer impoverished people in the
world as a whole, there will be 100 million more in Africa?

We are sometimes criticized for self-pity and for not making the efforts
necessary to eliminate poverty in our countries. We are not immune to such
criticism, but is it not true also that poverty will be eradicated only if the
pace of economic growth is accelerated and if together we can solve the
problems that are the underlying causes of underdevelopment? Give us the
tools for action, quickly and under tolerable terms.
In that context, I want to stress the urgency of reconsidering the
question of our external debt; initiatives taken thus far have had no
significant impact, despite the best intentions and despite a number of
generous gestures made. We believe that initiatives must be reviewed and
expanded to ensure the resumption of development and growth. To be complete,
these initiatives must include additional resources, whether these come from
official aid, the "peace dividend" or transfers in the form of investment.
In that context, we hope an international conference on development
financing will take place and will respond to our difficulties in implementing
the various programmes and plans of action that have been adopted for the
development of the countries of the South.
Environmental protection and the promotion of sustainable development are
the great challenges of the 1990s and beyond. We must therefore ensure the
swift implementation of Agenda 21. Though an ambitious programme, it is
commensurate with our respective responsibilities.

Madagascar welcomes the convening in 1993 of the World Conference on
Human Rights, in 1994 of the International Conference on Population and
Development, and in 1995 of the World Summit for Social Development.
The holding of those conferences reassures us in our determination to
establish a society based upon social justice and true democracy, as reflected
in the Constitution recently adopted by the people of Madagascar. We wish to
express our gratitude to the Secretary-General and to the institutions and the
friendly countries which have supported us in this process.
New prospects for action are opening before us in the political, economic
and social spheres. We have discussed them, reflected on them, and compared
and contrasted our ideas regarding them. We have not always managed to avoid
recrimination and confrontation, but over four decades which will soon be
five we have constantly sought the best ways and means of promoting and
perfecting cooperation between our peoples and between our States. With this
cooperation we have everything to gain; without it we have everything to lose.
This certainty could have been a valid guide for us in our common quest
for more peace, more justice and more progress in a word, for bringing about
a more humane world. We could have succeeded long ago had the course of
events been more in our favour and had we agreed together to turn our visions
into reality. General instability led us to doubt ourselves and also one
another. However, the fact that we are gathered here bears witness to our
readiness and determination to turn towards the United Nations in order to
draw renewed certainty from it.
This is not a risk-free undertaking, since it reveals our weaknesses and
shortcomings. It is, however, worth making the effort in order to enable us
to adjust our commitment to the challenges that continually assail us. Let us

hope that it will lead to a renewal which is beneficial to the Organization
and which in the final analysis will help us to keep the promises we have made
to our peoples.


May I, at the outset, congratulate you. Sir,
on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at this session.
I should also like to express our appreciation for the stewardship of the
forty-sixth session of the General Assembly by your predecessor.
Ambassador Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia.
This is the first session of the General Assembly since
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali assumed the office of Secretary-General of the
United Nations, and I take this opportunity to pay tribute to his dynamism,
diplomatic skills and zeal for reform.
I should also like to welcome into our midst the new Members of the
United Nations and wish them success in their multifarious efforts and tasks.
There have been dramatic changes world wide since the Assembly last met,
in 1991. Some of these changes augur well, while others present uncertain
prospects. While the cold war and the East-West confrontation are now,
happily, but aberrations of the past, the shadow of conflict and suffering
looms large in Yugoslavia, in Somalia and, indeed, in many other parts of the
world.
We cannot, therefore, be complacent or euphoric. What should have made
the world safer has at the same time unleashed tendencies ethnic, sectarian
and other - that threaten to keep it unsafe. The efforts of developing

countries to improve their socio-economic conditions remain hamstrung by the
inequities of the present international economic order.
Therefore, what we need to work for is a new international order free
from war, poverty, illiteracy and injustice. In this great endeavour the
United Nations has a central role to play. Some eight and a half months ago,
in this very city of New York, at the summit of the Security Council,
Prime Minister Narasimha Rao pointed out that
"Lasting peace and security necessarily require comparable levels of
human happiness across the globe. It is impossible to think of a United
Nations functioning usefully or harmoniously while humankind continues to
be riddled with ever-increasing disparities". (S/PV.3046. p. 96)
That is the concern that animates and reinforces our commitment to a United
Nations dedicated as much to peace and stability as to progress and prosperity.
The international community's efforts in this direction are none the less
haunted by the shadow of continuing violence and conflict around the world.
India has been deeply concerned at the conflict in Yugoslavia. The tragedy of
Bosnia and Herzegovina demands redress. Its people must be given the chance
to lead their lives in peace. India believes that the good work the United
Nations is doing in that region deserves all our support. We also trust that
decisions taken here will not complicate either the search for peace or the
functioning of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in a difficult
and dangerous situation.

Somalia's tragedy is equally heart-rending. The wretchedness of its
people, caught in a seemingly endless cycle of violence and misery, cries out
for redress. The United Nations has instituted a valiant and generous
operation there to provide relief to those affected. India believes that all
the Somalian parties should work together to bring the conflict to an end so
that tranquillity can be restored and the people of Somalia can be given the
chance to work out their own destinies in peace.
After years of suffering, the people of Cambodia aspire to build a
sovereign, independent, non-aligned nation for themselves. The United Nations
cannot falter in Cambodia, and the parties concerned in that country have a
responsibility to ensure the success of the United Nations efforts.
India has consistently supported the sovereignty, territorial integrity
and non-aligned status of Afghanistan. We hope that all the parties there
will work to restore peace and harmony so that the people of Afghanistan can
have the opportunity, free of violence and conflict, to work for their own
well-being.
A glimmer of hope is visible on the West Asian horizon, with Israel and
its Arab neighbours settling down to a dialogue. The numerous resolutions
adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly provide the necessary
goals for those negotiations. The occupation of Arab lands should be vacated
and the restitution of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,
including their right to establish an independent State, as well as the
security of all States in the region, should be assured if a genuine
settlement with lasting peace is to be achieved in that part of the world.
What the United Nations was able to do in restoring to Kuwait its
independence and sovereignty was a singular achievement. India has

traditionally enjoyed the warmest of relations with Kuwait, and we trust that
following the restoration of its sovereignty Kuwait will also be able to
recover the prosperity that it formerly enjoyed.
I should like to add here that India feels sympathy for the civilian
population of Iraq, and we believe that its needs should be looked at with
generosity. Iraq's sovereignty as a State and its territorial integrity
should be respected.
The recent unfortunate violence in South Africa and the setback to the
negotiations there for the elimination of apartheid will, we hope, be
temporary. It is encouraging that the parties concerned have welcomed the
catalytic role of the United Nations, which is fully committed to the
objective of establishing a democratic, non-racial and united South Africa.
As the country that first brought the question of apartheid to the United
Nations in 1946, India is hopeful that the presence of United Nations
observers will help to end the violence there and to get the negotiating
process going once again.
India has noted the recent changes in Fiji. I hope that the Government
of Fiji will eschew racial and ethnic discrimination and revert to democratic
governance at an early date.
The Secretary-General has been able to record some progress on the issue
of Cyprus. The acceptance by the parties concerned of the Secretary-General's
"set of ideas" is significant. We share the Secretary-General's hope that the
next round of direct talks in October will be the conclusive one.
At this session the Assembly will take up the matter of the recently
negotiated chemical-weapons Convention. The Convention opens up possibilities
for similar action in other areas of disarmament. In this context, India in

1988 proposed an action plan for nuclear disarmament within a specified
time-frame. As an immediate step, the United Nations should envisage the
following: a convention on the non-use of nuclear weapons, a verifiable
freeze on the production of fissionable material for weapons purposes, a
suspension of nuclear-weapon tests and negotiations on general and complete
disarmament.
Non-proliferation is a laudable objective, and India's commitment to it
has been affirmed time and again. But there should be no distinction between
nuclear-weapon States and non-nuclear-weapon States when it comes to rights
and obligations. The geographical spread of nuclear arsenals has, as it were,
nuclearized the globe. Therefore, the international community's efforts
should be directed against that global menace. As part of them, regional
non-proliferation should be considered only within the context of a properly
specified region, taking into account the security concerns of the countries
of the region, whose prior agreement should be obtained.
Human rights have gained emphasis in recent times, and deservedly so.
India welcomes the changes around the world that have strengthened human
rights and fundamental freedoms. In line with our democratic traditions,
independent judiciary and press and alert public, India has decided to set up
a national human-rights commission further to safeguard and promote
fundamental human rights in India.
I should like to point out here that one of the most vicious forms of
human-rights violations today is the violence unleashed by terrorists. And
terrorism assumes a particularly pernicious character when it is aided,
abetted and sponsored from abroad. Such sponsorship is against the principles
of the United Nations Charter, and should be vigorously opposed by all.

The United Nations recognizes its responsibilities for providing
humanitarian assistance to Member States facing grave humanitarian crises.
The newly created capacity of the United Nations to deal with such situations
has performed creditably. It is important in this context that we mobilize
the United Nations to address the root causes of many such disruptions:
poverty, illiteracy and lack of development. It is equally important for the
United Nations to be seen to be acting correctly and impartially in this field
and at the request of the country concerned.
The report of the Secretary-General entitled "An Agenda for Peace"
(A/47/277) articulates the wealth of experience that the United Nations has
gained in recent years in peacemaking and peace-keeping, and is an important
and welcome input into our study of how the role of the United Nations in the
maintenance of international peace and security can be strengthened. India,
given its traditional and long-standing contribution to United Nations
peace-keeping forces, takes a special interest in the matter. I trust that we
shall be able to respond positively and constructively, in keeping with the
United Nations Charter, to the Secretary-General's ideas. It should be
ensured that the measures envisaged do not lead to the abridgement of the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of States. They should also respect the
cardinal tenet of non-interference in the internal affairs of States.
Just as international activism should not violate accepted norms of
international relations, the principle of self-determination has to be seen in
the context of respect for national sovereignty. Self-determination can apply
only to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation, and
not to integral parts of sovereign nations.

The implementation of the proposals made by the Secretary-General will
mean a more vigorous Security Council. An enhanced mandate for the Council
requires matching transparency and democracy in its functioning. This cannot
be done without an expansion of the membership of the Council to reflect the
increased membership of the United Nations over the past few years, as well as
the realities of the many changes in the international situation. And here I
would submit that along with economic criteria, other relevant criteria should
be given due weight in this context.
The expansion in membership that I referred to is all the more essential
if the Council is to ensure its moral sanction and political effectiveness.
As the Secretary-General points out in his report on the work of the
Organization
"Democracy within the family of nations means the application of its
principles within the world Organization itself." (A/47/1, para. 169)
Similarly, the General Assembly has to be made more effective so as to
represent not only the changes in its membership, but also the significant
character of its universal composition.
An agenda for development is as important to the United Nations as an
agenda for peace. Any effort to assign to the United Nations only a
complementary role in the economic and social field is, in fact, contrary to
the letter and spirit of the Charter. The United Nations should continue to
have a central role in macroeconomic policy formulation and implementation,
because this is the only forum for reaching an international consensus on
development. Developing nations around the globe, including India, are
engaged in major reforms of their internal economic policies and mechanisms
with a view to integrating their economies with the global economy. These

reforms will have very limited meaning unless the external economic
environment becomes conducive to the growth and development of developing
countries.
The Secretary-General, in his report on the work of the Organization,
makes it clear that
"the Organization's responsibilities and commitments in the political and
security area should not be carried out at the expense of its
responsibilities in the development field ..." (A/47/1, para. 66)
This underpins and reinforces the continuing commitment of the United Nations
in the field of development, particularly of the developing countries.
The world economy is integrating both globally and regionally. But in
the process, the needs of the developing countries are not finding the
attention and response that they deserve. Hence, it becomes imperative that
certain international events succeed such as the Uruguay Round of
Multilateral Trade Negotiations, whose early, successful and balanced outcome
would inject growth impulses into the world economy as a whole. The
North-South dialogue is languishing and deserves reactivation. There are
various other inequities in global economic interaction - such as poor
commodity prices, monetary imbalances and others that call for urgent
redress. The developing countries look to the United Nations for correctives
in these fields. Socio-economic progress in developing countries will, in
turn - I have no doubt about it enrich the prosperity of the developed world
itself.
Here, may I mention a disquieting aspect in this field, namely the
tendency to impose non-economic conditionalities in international development
assistance. They should be avoided so that the effectiveness of development
assistance may not be impaired.

My delegation sees merit in a number of proposals in the area of the
developmental activities of the United Nations put forward by various groups,
particularly the Nordic countries. In our view, one of the principal
objectives of the exercise should be to decentralize the operational
activities of the United Nations system so that countries and regions with
their special characteristics and levels of development may be able to
implement programmes suitable to them. Also, adequate resources should be
found to promote development in the developing countries.
The process of the restructuring of the United Nations should take into
account the additional responsibilities assigned to the United Nations by the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that was held
this year. The concept of sustainable development has to be translated into
workable strategies and policy measures. In the pursuit of sustainable
development, developing countries need resources and, what is more, technical
assistance, as well as environmentally sound technologies on preferential and
concessional terms. I do hope that the establishment of a Commission on
Sustainable Development in the course of the present session will lead to
effective follow-up of UNCED. The creation of a Planet Protection Fund, which
places on all countries, except the least developed, an obligation to acquire
and develop environment-friendly technologies, will facilitate universal
participation in the collective effort to attain sustainable development.
The non-aligned countries, meeting at the level of Heads of State or
Government in Jakarta earlier this month, issued the Jakarta message, which
states:
"A shift in focus of international relations to strengthen multilateral
cooperation based on genuine interdependence, mutuality of interests and
shared responsibility, has become indispensable."

If we, in the international community and here at the United Nations, are to
cooperate to combat global menaces and inequalities, we will need to forge a
global partnership. And here, I am reminded of what the Prime Minister of
India stated at the recent summit of non-aligned countries to which I have
referred:
"We are happy to note that the United Nations, at last, is coming into
its own in the fifth decade of its existence. While even today there is
a tendency to subordinate the global agenda to narrow national concerns,
we are happy to note that the United Nations is more effective than ever
before. The question now is to make it even more effective."
Let us also hope that the Assembly as its present session will promote
the effectiveness of the United Nations even further by shaping it as an
instrument of international consensus and action and of common benefit in all
matters of international concern.


It gives me
great pleasure to extend to you, on behalf of my country. Sir, warm
congratulations on your election to the post of President of the forty-seventh
session of the General Assembly. You represent a friendly nation with which
my country has ties of friendship and cooperation. Your wealth of experience
and competence will help bring our work to a successful conclusion and achieve
the desired results.

It also gives me great pleasure to extend our thanks and appreciation to
your predecessor, Mr. Samir Shihabi, who, with his abundant skill, experience
and patience, was able to conduct the business of our past session with
particular success.
May I also have the pleasure, at the beginning of my statement, to
express my sincere thanks and deep gratitude to Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the
Secretary-General, for his unremitting efforts to enhance the role of the
United Nations and its Secretariat and make it more effective in the service
of international peace and security, as well as in facing up to the challenges
and addressing the issues that have arisen with the end of the cold-war era. I
would also like to commend his well thought-out and comprehensive report on
the work of the Organization which indicates the new and auspicious direction
of the United Nations under his guidance.

The forty-seventh session is convened at a time when several new States
have been admitted to membership of the United Nations, thereby enhancing the
universality of this Organization. I welcome all of them and look forward to
their contribution in the pursuit of the objectives and principles of the
United Nations Charter.
Given its awareness of the interdependent character of the world we live
in and its belief in dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations as the ideal and,
indeed, the only means of resolving international disputes, my country looks
forward to cooperation with all Members of the United Nations with a view to
moving human society to yet higher levels of progress, stability and growth.
Over the past few years, the world has undergone many historic and
unprecedented changes which have tended to encourage democratization and the
promotion of freedoms, the rule of law, respect for human rights and the
pursuit of progress and development. While the end of the ideological
confrontation between East and West has brought about a new state of
international harmony at a certain level, yet it seems that the conflict was a
lid that covered a great deal of smouldering embers under the ashes. The
confrontation had hardly ended when certain primitive tendencies reared their
heads. Some of those tendencies are tribal, some are ethnic and others are
religious. None of them augurs well for a very rosy future for many regions
of the world. This is a situation that calls for collective action under the
auspices of this Organization to rationalize the transition, and thereby, to
contain those tensions, in their various forms, within acceptable humanitarian
contexts.
Our world is now going through a phase of transition from one era to
another, where the changes are taking place at an astonishingly rapid pace
that has left behind many cultural, social and political principles that many

groups in human society continue to hang on to as if they were eternal. This
makes it imperative that we act to create a mechanism to facilitate and manage
the transition, which is, perhaps, the most difficult period in the lives of
communities as well as in the lives of the individuals.
There is enough wisdom in this world and in the Secretariat of this
Organization in particular, to make us in Jordan look forward to a better
future. Jordan does not accept the argument that modern technology, which has
compressed the world into a global village, has led to the opposite of what
was expected of it. We do not subscribe to the view of those who maintain
that it has led to ideological ossification and has bred an attitude of
indifference to the pains, hopes and aspirations of others.
Proceeding from this, Jordan, a State that may be small in size but big
in leadership, wishes to share with you a futuristic vision of a world that
now stands at the threshold of the twenty-first century. We feel that we may
be justified in this by the fact that we are a State that, since its
inception, has committed itself to the straight path of justice and pursued a
policy that eschewed violence and extremism. It has always maintained a
rational, moderate, middle-of-the-road approach in dealing with both its
domestic and its foreign affairs. Hence, Jordan has in effect become an oasis
of stability in a turbulent region where emotionalism, extremism and
ideological as well as physical violence are still rampant. Perhaps the most
significant outcome of this policy has been the establishment in my country of
a solid democratic system based on political pluralism.
Jordan, which believes in collective action and in the United Nations
principles, as well as in a world of peace, security and stability, takes
pride in the confidence placed in it in being called upon to contribute troops
to the peace-keeping forces in a number of areas of tension in the world: in

Croatia and Cambodia, in addition to observers in Angola and Somalia. My
country thus believes in the need to support the United Nations to enable it
to carry out effectively the essential functions set forth in the Charter,
namely, the promotion of peace and security all over the world and the
provision of the means for the welfare and progress of its peoples.
We stress that the General Assembly, the Security Council and the
Secretariat under the leadership of the new Secretary-General, who is well
known for his patience, vision and extensive knowledge, together with the
political will of Member States and the yearning of peoples for a better
world, should combine to form the basis for effective measures in the field of
preventive diplomacy for peacemaking and peace-keeping and the process of
post-war peace building. The "Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277), prepared by the
Secretary-General, is indeed a very valuable contribution because of the
in-depth and comprehensive analysis it offers and the set of scenarios and
assumptions envisioned for United Nations work with a view to enhancing its
efficiency and revitalizing its various agencies and organizations with a view
to forging a new world of peace and prosperity.
Allow me, in dealing with the most important international issues, to
address the dispute in the Middle East region and its core issue, the
Palestine question. My country, Jordan, has indeed lived the tragedy of the
Palestinian people from the beginning and, with its limited resources, has
borne the brunt of its economic, social and political repercussions.
We have noticed recently that this problem has had its share of the
effects of the many political changes and international breakthroughs that
have been brought about by the end of the cold war era, in that the
Arab-Israeli conflict and the Palestine question have taken a positive turn in
line with those changes. This started with the Madrid Peace Conference.

Jordan has joined in this peace process because of its firm commitment to
the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region, and
because of its belief in the justice of the Palestinian cause and in the right
of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to
establish their own independent State on their native soil, as well as in the
right of every State in the region to live in peace and security within
recognized boundaries. Those premises and objectives of the peace process are
based on international resolutions, most importantly Security Council
resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), which affirm the land-for-peace
equation of returning the occupied territories, including Jordanian territory
and the Syrian Golan, in exchange for peace, and which also affirm the
necessity of Israeli withdrawal from Arab Al-Quds.
We in Jordan believe that peace is an objective that our generation ought
to pursue. We also believe that in order for peace to be real and lasting, it
must be based on international legality and must be just, comprehensive and,
thereby, acceptable to future generations. The peace we believe in is peace
that would be an incentive to all peoples of our region to move ahead on the
road of economic, social and cultural development in an atmosphere of
security, stability, freedom and democracy, and in the context of cooperation
and understanding, resulting in well-being and prosperity for the peoples of
the region as a whole. Justice, comprehensiveness and durability are the
bases on which peace in the Middle East should be established. These bases
are organically interrelated and inseparable.
It is regrettable, however, that while we are engaged in direct peace
negotiations with Israel, it persists in its acts of repression and oppression
of every type against the Palestinian people under its occupation. It is a

strange paradox indeed that while the parties to the conflict are negotiating
on the basis of international legality, Israel continues its illegal
practices, especially the building of new settlements and the beefing up of
existing ones.
It is true that the new Israeli Government has taken certain seemingly
positive actions with regard to its policies in the occupied territories.
Those actions are, however, inadequate. We, and the world as a whole, are
still waiting for Israel to translate its words into deeds. The
classification of settlements into security and political settlements is a
ploy that aims at breaking up into pieces the principle of legality, which is
indivisible. The release of some detainees while thousands of others languish
in jail, will not alter the degree of repression to which the Palestinian
people are being subjected.
If the Israeli Government truly wishes to be serious in its desire to
achieve peace and wants to demonstrate good will, it has first to commit
itself to the application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the occupied
territories and to halt completely the building of settlements - all
settlements.
With regard to Lebanon, Israel continues to refuse to comply with
Security Council resolution 425 (1978), which calls for Israel's withdrawal
from southern Lebanon. Accordingly, we call for unconditional Israeli
withdrawal from all Lebanese territory and call for solidarity by the
international community with Lebanon to help the Lebanese Government in
rebuilding its economic and social structures and enabling its people to
achieve the security, welfare and prosperity they yearn for.

The various Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq have placed the
State of Iraq and its people in a situation different from that they were in
in 1990 and 1991. The suffering of the Iraqi people, which is known to all,
and the threat of dismemberment and instability not intended by the Security
Council resolutions make it imperative that we view Iraq in terms of that
new situation. Proceeding from this, Jordan which complies with Security
Council resolutions and looks forward to putting an end to the consequences of
the Gulf crisis by peaceful means wishes to emphasize its desire for action
to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people and to preserve the territorial
integrity of Iraq as an integral Gulf entity. It will not be in anyone's
interest, regionally or internationally, to partition Iraq or to prolong the
suffering of its people. Also, it will not be in anyone's interest that
security and stability should not prevail in the Gulf region.
While we have great hopes that the consequences of the Gulf crisis will
be eliminated, we regret to see the beginnings of a new crisis: the dispute
that has erupted recently between the United Arab Emirates and the Islamic
Republic of Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran is denying to the United Arab
Emirates its sovereign rights over the islands of Abu Mousa, Greater Tunb and
Lesser Tunb. Jordan would like to reiterate in this regard its principled
position of respect for the principle of the inadmissibility of the
acquisition of territory by force. We call on the Islamic Republic of Iran
and the United Arab Emirates to reach a peaceful solution through dialogue,
based on the principles of the United Nations Charter, in order to maintain
good neighbourliness and consolidate peace and security in the Gulf region.
The tragic situation of the Somali people poses a difficult challenge to
the United Nations and to the conscience of humanity. This challenge requires

an immediate and effective response. The images of death, starvation and
homelessness that fill our television screens cry out to the conscience of the
world to help put an end to them. My country's delegation, while appreciating
and commending the incessant efforts of the new Secretary-General on both the
political and the relief levels, emphasizes the need for prompt and effective
action by the United Nations and the international community to adopt an
integrated plan that would put an end to the tragedy of Somalia. Such a plan
should include a cease-fire, the implementation of an integral programme of
action to ensure the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies to the various
regions and moves to convene a conference on reconciliation, national unity
and transition to help rebuild the country's infrastructure. We must also
deal with the regional consequences of the crisis: the influx of Somali
refugees into neighbouring countries and the resulting instability this has
caused in the Horn of Africa.

The tragic situation in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina continues
to deteriorate and is taking a sinister turn. To do nothing about it would
undermine the very concepts of democracy, civilized behaviour and collective
security. Reports continue to pour in, telling of continued violations of
international humanitarian law against the people of this young nation. Its
territory continues to be swallowed up bit by bit, and attempts are continuing
to change its demographic composition through ferocious and atrocious "ethnic
cleansing" campaigns. It is both painful and dangerous that all this should
continue despite the relevant Security Council resolutions. There is indeed
an urgent need to find a prompt and peaceful solution to the situation in
Bosnia and Herzegovina in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations
and the norms of international law. There is nothing that would justify in
any way failure by the United Nations and the international community to take
prompt and effective measures to put an end to aggression, to ensure the unity
and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to preserve its political
independence and full sovereignty over its entire territory, and to annul all
the results and consequences of aggression. We trust that the peace process
led by the European Community and its member States, in cooperation with the
United Nations, to achieve a peaceful settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
will give all these elements priority in its programme of work. I can only
express, in this regard, my country's high appreciation of the tireless
efforts made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the
Secretariat to make the peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina a success and
to expand the relief operations which they are undertaking.
The principles which my country upholds and which govern its positions on
all international conflicts are based on the belief in the right of peoples to
self-determination, in the principle of non-interference in the internal

affairs of States and of rejection of occupation in any shape or form. It was
in this context that my country welcomed the process of reconciliation in
Cambodia on the basis of the Paris accords which were signed by all the
Cambodian parties. My country attaches great importance to the
implementation, by all parties, of those accords and the discharge of all the
commitments contained therein as those commitments constitute the guarantee
and the proper mechanism for a peaceful and comprehensive settlement that will
restore peace to this war-torn country within the framework of national
reconciliation in a united, independent and sovereign Cambodia.
As for the question of Korea, my country's delegation would like to voice
its complete satisfaction in regard to the progress of the dialogue and
high-level talks going on between the two Koreas and the resultant agreements
aimed at building mutual confidence between them and reuniting the Korean
peninsula in a framework of national unity.
With regard to the question of Cyprus, my country values the efforts of
the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who has maintained the good
offices which started in 1975. We follow with close interest and great
appreciation the ongoing talks under his auspices and with his encouragement
between the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities with the aim of
achieving a peaceful settlement of this problem.
Jordan shares with the rest of the world the satisfaction felt at the
results of the referendum organized by the Government of South Africa in
March. Those results were a constructive prelude to end the policy of
apartheid in South Africa and augur well for the achievement by the
conflicting groups of a comprehensive political settlement in a democratic
system, which would put an end to minority rule. The agreement reached a few
days ago between Mr. Mandela and President De Klerk on the resumption of talks

following the deplorable violence of last June, renews hope that all parties
will cooperate in writing a new constitution and reaching an early political
solution, thus putting an end to the policy of apartheid and allowing
democracy to prevail.
My Government deplores the bloody events that took place recently in
Afghanistan and visited yet more suffering on the Afghani people. Therefore
Jordan, while wishing the Afghani Government success in consolidating security
and stability and in reconstructing the infrastructure devastated by the civil
war, supports that Government's request for assistance from the United Nations
and the international community.
The East-West bipolarity of the cold war era has disappeared with the end
of that war. There has surfaced, however, a new North-South bipolarity that
was overshadowed previously by the world's preoccupation with the ideological
conflict between East and West. We hope that efforts to deal with this
phenomenon, which is primarily economic and social, will take the form of a
positive and constructive dialogue for the benefit of all mankind. The
developing South needs the countries of the North; the industrialized North
cannot maintain its prosperity and stability without an independent and
developed South that would be free from hunger, poverty, and disease and
relieved of its heavy burden of debt. The planet on which we live, with all
the threats of ecological disruption facing it, cannot enjoy security and
safety without cooperation between North and South. Such cooperation is in
the interest of all humanity.
If we were to define the new role of the United Nations, it, undoubtedly/
would be humanitarian in nature and would aim at protecting and preserving
life on the planet, and raising the standard of living of all peoples through

the establishment of a new, balanced and equitable world economic order. Our
Organization must act to put an end to the historical contradiction that has
persisted for centuries between North and South so that the North may
discharge the main task of providing new bases and common grounds for a real
development of the regions of the South and thus remove the existing
distortions and inequalities.

It has become quite clear that a common effort for development is
essential to move the world gradually forward, if freedom and democracy are
really to gain acceptance and if we really want to respect human dignity and
eradicate underdevelopment and its concomitant social and health evils, which
have assumed terrifying proportions and frequency.
The environment is the common heritage of mankind. Thus, my country
believes that its preservation is our common responsibility. We also feel
that the developed countries, in accordance with the commitments they took
upon themselves at the Rio de Janeiro Conference, must help the developing
countries in solving their relevant problems, especially and principally, the
problem of poverty. We therefore support the establishment of the committee
on sustainable development and look forward to participating in it and in
shaping its structure and terms of reference.
If international peace and security are among the main goals the
international community strives to achieve, that makes it all the more
imperative for us to promote arms limitation, including the elimination of all
weapons of mass destruction. One must note in this regard the progress
achieved in the limitation of tactical nuclear weapons and the finalization
recently at Geneva of the draft Convention on the prohibition of chemical
weapons. As for conventional weapons, the General Assembly resolution adopted
at the forty-sixth session on the establishment of a non-discriminatory
register in which to record all international weapon transfers was a positive
step on the road to getting rid of armaments, provided it is applied with
complete impartiality and in an equitable manner that takes into consideration
the differences in the needs of countries for armaments. A verification
system should be developed, taking into account not only imported weapons but

also domestically produced weapons, especially in countries that are involved
in regional conflicts.
Jordan supports the use of science and technology for disarmament, the
development of verification systems, the efforts aimed at achieving a
comprehensive nuclear-test ban and the establishment of nuclear-free zones,
including the Middle East region. Jordan also calls upon all States that have
not done so, including Israel, to accede to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and place all their nuclear facilities
under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.
In conclusion, I should like to say that, now that the cold war has
ended, the world undoubtedly stands at the threshold of a new era, as we can
all see. This fact places on the United Nations the responsibility of
reinvigorating itself in order to keep pace with the requirements of this new
era in a fast-changing world, so that our efforts at the United Nations may
become a foundation for a better life. We are quite confident that the Member
States are all aware of their problems and the problems of the world and are,
therefore, prepared for cooperation and the use of good offices within a
democratic United Nations and the efforts of its evolving organs and agencies
that are guided by the vision and dedication of the Secretary-General.


 I should like to offer you hearty
congratulations on your election to the presidency. Sir. I am confident that
this session of the General Assembly is in good hands. I should also like to
pay tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his
leadership of the United Nations in an era of crucial change.
It is a sign of the times that since last year no fewer than 13 new
Member States have taken their seats in the General Assembly. I should like
to extend a warm welcome to them all.
The world is currently undergoing dramatic changes and facing great
challenges. Let us not allow the optimism inspired by the revolution which
brought freedom to Eastern Europe to turn into a new pessimism as a result of
the problems we are facing today.
The end of the cold war has definitely given us a unique opportunity to
build a new world order founded on common values, as originally envisaged in
the United Nations Charter. International consensus is emerging, based on the
principles of democracy and a free economy as prerequisites for the prosperity
of the peoples of the world.
The President returned to the Chair.

The first reason for my optimism is the end of the East-West conflict.
The second reason is that experience has shown that no nation is condemned to
a perpetual cycle of poverty, underdevelopment and political violence.
Several developing countries have made remarkable progress from absolute
poverty to relative prosperity in a very short time.
In addition to traditional contributions from the industrial countries,
we can observe a tendency for economically successful developing countries to
share their know-how and experience with other countries which have not yet
achieved the same level of growth. New forms of cooperation between nations
at different stages of development are emerging.
We are living in an era when the removal of the risk of a nuclear
holocaust makes other threats to peace and security stand out all the more
clearly. This applies to problems of economic development, to the growing
threat to the environment, and to ethnic and religious conflicts which have
become severely aggravated in certain areas. Even though security will
continue to have a military dimension, these challenges can be met only by
applying a broader security concept which takes all aspects into account.
In the long term, problems and conflicts of this kind can be solved only
in an environment where there is a greater focus on cooperation. This can be
achieved through the free exchange of know-how and goods, through regional
cooperation and through institution-building: the establishment and
strengthening of international structures within and outside the United
Nations system. In the future, the greatness of a nation will be measured not
by its military potential but by its ability to create a civil society through
peaceful cooperation.

A world of open, civil societies must also be a world of open markets.
In Western Europe, peace and prosperity have been consolidated and secured
through the free flow of goods and services. In the same way, peace and
prosperity in what is usually termed the third world can be achieved only by
global free trade and more open frontiers.
We in the West must do more than merely open up our markets. It is also
our responsibility to support economic and social progress in the developing
countries by giving generous assistance. Assistance is particularly important
for the poorest countries which are not yet able to benefit fully from freer
world trade.
Sweden considers it essential that the Western industrial countries
achieve the goal of allocating 0.7 per cent of their gross national income to
development assistance. Development assistance must effectively promote
respect for human rights, democracy and market-economy solutions.
Unfortunately, increasing resources are needed also to help people who are
suffering from famine, war and other disasters.
Regional cooperation, which has been given new impetus following the end
of East-West confrontation, will play an increasingly dynamic role in
tomorrow's world. And, in its turn, regional cooperation can promote global
cooperation. If opportunities for regional cooperation are utilized in the
right manner, this cooperation will provide the bricks for building global
integration. But if these opportunities are not handled properly, the result
will be narrow-minded nationalism and economic protectionism.

European integration and the reunification of Eastern and Western Europe
on the basis of common values and aims have created new opportunities for
pan-European cooperation. Future stability depends on the success of the
transition in Eastern Europe and in the States of the Commonwealth of
Independent States, which makes demands on European solidarity.
A united and successful Europe can play an important and positive role at
the international level. It is Sweden's firm intention to become a member of
the European Community. As a member, Sweden will continue to work for a
Europe which is open to the world, economically, culturally and politically.
In our view, an introverted Europe is not a viable alternative.
Environmental threats, natural disasters and terrorism will continue to
present us with formidable challenges. Mass poverty and accelerating
population growth still trouble many countries. Drug use and drug trafficking
remain major concerns for the international community. We have seen that
societies can break down both as a result of domestic problems and under
external pressure.
It is a fact that the massive flows of refugees which we see today are
just as likely to be caused by human activities as by natural disasters. In
Europe, we have been unable so far to stop the tragic developments in the
former Yugoslavia. This is the most brutal conflict experienced in our region
since the Second World War. Sweden is endeavouring to strengthen regional
mechanisms and the international framework in order to deal with conflicts of
the type we have seen in the Balkans, in Moldavia and in the Caucasus.

In its own vicinity, Sweden has focused on the risk of conflict inherent
in the unregulated stationing of former Soviet troops in the sovereign Baltic
States. We welcome the recent agreement on troop withdrawal reached by Russia
and Lithuania and expect that similar agreements will be concluded with
Estonia and Latvia as well.
Although the end of the cold war has encouraged steps towards peaceful
solutions, regional conflicts, often of long standing, continue to claim
victims in many parts of the world. In parts of Africa, regional conflicts
are aggravated by protracted drought, which has contributed to a famine
affecting millions of people. No one can be indifferent to the situation in
Somalia, where the civilian population has been hit harder than anywhere else.
In other parts of the Horn of Africa as well, the inhabitants are
suffering the effects of war. Sweden is participating in the ongoing
international humanitarian relief measures by contributing substantial
resources. However, humanitarian assistance must be combined with political
efforts to establish a lasting peace.
The positive features of developments in South Africa, where important
steps have been taken towards a negotiated settlement, are overshadowed by
political violence which is tending to create a vicious circle. The Swedish
Government supports the efforts of the Secretary-General in contributing to an
end to the violence and to resumed negotiations leading to the speedy
abolishment of apartheid and the establishment of a democratic South Africa.

The historic opportunity to achieve peace which has now opened up in the
Middle East must not be lost. However, if peace is to have real content,
there must be a comprehensive settlement including all the aspects discussed
by the multilateral working parties within the framework of the peace
process. The Middle East could greatly benefit from regional cooperation in a
number of areas.
When the parties to a conflict sit down at the negotiating table, a
dynamic process of confidence-building is often created. We hope that such
dynamic effects will occur, both in the political process in South Africa and
in the peace process in the Middle East.
Recent developments in the disarmament area have been particularly
hopeful. In the past year, the United States and the members of the
Commonwealth of Independent States concerned agreed to cut back their
strategic nuclear stockpiles by two thirds and to eliminate most of their
tactical nuclear weapons.
The draft convention on a comprehensive ban on chemical weapons
represents a historic achievement in international efforts to prevent the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We hope that growing
international consensus will lead to further effective measures to deal with
weapons of mass destruction and their proliferation. Sweden pays particular
attention to the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and to the strengthening
and indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons as a result of the 1995 Review Conference.

An important task for this session of the General Assembly is to follow
up the decisions taken at the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development in Rio de Janeiro in June. Industrial and developing countries
must work together in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity to deal with
threats to our environment and to achieve environmentally sound development.
A Swedish poet once wrote: "What force may create is uneasy and brief".
This is also what history teaches. Lasting solutions to crises and conflicts
caused by political and religious antagonisms must be based on the principles
of democracy and international law. It is therefore in everyone's interest to
safeguard the rule of international law, transcending national, ethnic, and
religious frontiers.
In Europe we have seen a welcome development of the Conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). During the cold war the role of
the CSCE was to build bridges. Its central task now is to support the Eastern
European countries in their transition and to help these new States to find
forms for peaceful coexistence. When Sweden assumes the chairmanship of the
CSCE Council of Ministers in December, I intend to work for the further
enhancement of the capacity of the CSCE to build peace and settle conflicts.
Coordination between the United Nations and the CSCE was strengthened
when the CSCE, in Helsinki, explicitly pronounced itself a regional
organization as defined in the United Nations Charter. This is having a
positive effect, for example on endeavours to solve the conflict in former
Yugoslavia. Different forms of cooperative security between the United
Nations and regional organizations are also being introduced in other conflict
areas.

However, the United Nations has the fundamental responsibility for the
interpretation and application of international law. Enforcement measures
remain the prerogative of the United Nations. But the United Nations must be
strengthened in important respects if it is to be able to meet the demands of
today and the expectations of tomorrow.
Sweden wants to contribute to this process. In the first instance, the
peace-making, peace-keeping and peace-building capacity of the United Nations
must be reinforced. This applies to the Security Council, which bears the
main responsibility for peace and security under the Charter. It also applies
to the Secretary-General, who should be given greater possibilities for taking
initiatives.
Regarding the strengthening of the Security Council, I am primarily
thinking of the Council's possibilities for dealing with threats to
international peace and security at an early stage. However, caution should
be exercised in changing the Council's composition and its decision-making
procedures, since the Council is now at long last functioning as the Charter
intended. At the same time, it is important that the decisions of the
Security Council continue to enjoy wide support from Member States. This
requires close cooperation between members of the Security Council and other
Members of the United Nations.
Sweden welcomes the Secretary-General's report "An Agenda for Peace".
Several of the proposals presented in his report were discussed by the Nordic
countries in. an earlier document entitled: "Shaping the Peace the United
Nations in the 1990s". In this document we appealed for, among other things,
strengthening the Security Council's and the Secretary-General's capacities to
undertake preventive diplomacy. It is gratifying to note that this issue has
now been given the highest priority.

It is of the utmost importance that the United Nations be given concrete
possibilities for anticipating and preventing conflicts. It should be
possible to deploy peace-keeping forces for preventive purposes. The parties
to a conflict should be urged to apply to the International Court of Justice
for the peaceful settlement of their disputes. Violations of fundamental
human rights can constitute a threat to international peace and security and
hence be subject to measures by the Security Council.
As regards the difficult question of the use of coercive measures to keep
or build peace under Article 42 of the Charter, and the establishment of
permanent United Nations forces on a national basis for this purpose, we have
every reason carefully to follow and analyse these matters. Any change in
United Nations practice must take place in the broadest possible agreement.
The Secretary-General's report also contains proposals for financing
traditional peace-keeping missions. The question of financing has become
increasingly important as United Nations peace-keeping endeavours have been
extended. Peace-keeping activities must not be based on the charity of Member
countries, as has often been the case in the past. The Nordic countries have
concluded that the establishment of a contingency fund for peace-keeping
operations would constitute an important step towards solving the question of
financing.
But peace-keeping operations are only one aspect of the financing
difficulties of the United Nations. If the United Nations is to be capable of
fulfilling its role in the future, now that the political prerequisites exist,
a long-term solution must be found for the Organization's financial crisis.
Furthermore, all Member States must pay their assessed contributions in
accordance with their obligations under the Charter.

We are gratified to note that the broader security concept which Sweden
advocates is included in "An Agenda for Peace". This view should be the basis
for the reform of the whole United Nations system. In his report to this
year's session of the Economic and Social Council, the Secretary-General has
further developed his thoughts on this issue. His central message is that a
distinction cannot and should not be made between United Nations tasks in the
political sphere and those in the economic and social fields. Sweden supports
this view. In this context, the proposal to hold a world summit for social
development in 1995 takes on particular significance.
In the Nordic United Nations project, several concrete proposals are
presented for making the work of United Nations development assistance more
effective for example, through a new governance structure and a new
financing system. We welcome the first step taken by the General Assembly in
strengthening the capacity of the United Nations to respond to humanitarian
emergencies. Following the July session of the Economic and Social Council,
we hope that it will be possible to proceed successfully with the reform
measures in the economic and social fields during this session of the General
Assembly.
The protection of human rights is also included in the broader security
concept. In preparation for next year's United Nations Conference on Human
Rights, Sweden intends to work for measures and procedures which can increase
respect for human rights throughout the world, both in developing countries
and in industrial countries. Let me stress that the Swedish Government
considers that there is a clear connection between respect for fundamental
human rights and economic and social development. Consequently, the question
of a country's development cannot be divorced from its implementation of
respect for human rights.

Sweden is presenting its candidature for a seat on the United Nations
Security Council for the 1993-1994 period of office. We are doing so on the
basis of the active role we have traditionally played in the United Nations
system. In the election of non-permanent members of the Council, the Charter
prescribes that due regard be paid to the contribution of Members to the
maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of
the Organization.

Many Swedes have served the United Nations, both in the Secretariat and
in the field. Names such as Folke Bernadotte and Dag Hammarskjold are part of
United Nations history.
Sweden has participated in practically all United Nations peace-keeping
operations. On the basis of our experience in this area, we and the other
Nordic countries can offer advice and training to countries which are now
preparing for peace-keeping missions.
Sweden placed the problems of the environment on the agenda of the United
Nations. It hosted the first United Nations Conference in this area.
For many years, we have been in the vanguard of the United Nations work
in the economic and social sphere, both as regards planning and financing.
Sweden is a major donor to many of the United Nations development
agencies and the fourth-largest contributor to the United Nations system as a
whole.
If Sweden wins support for its candidature for a seat on the United
Nations Security Council, it will entail greater responsibility than was the
case when we participated in the work of the Council sixteen years ago. We
are prepared to shoulder this responsibility.
In an international environment which presents new challenges and
opportunities for cooperation, Sweden's United Nations policy can be
summarized in the following three points.
First, we want to contribute to the reinforcement of United Nations
peacemaking, peace-keeping and peace-building ca¬£ability. This is a question
of maintaining the Security Council's effectiveness, which also assumes that
its decisions enjoy the wide support of Member States.
The Secretary-General should be given greater possibilities to take
initiatives. It is essential that the financing of peace-keeping operations

be guaranteed. Sweden supports the proposal for the establishment of a
special contingency fund.
Secondly, we want to work for an extension of international structures
for cooperation to enable us to meet the threats to peace, security and
economic development in the 1990s. We attach great importance to the
interaction between the United Nations and regional organizations.
Thirdly, we want to promote the application of a broader security concept
which contains not merely a military component but also human rights,
democracy, economic freedom, social justice and environmental responsibility.
We support the view that United Nations tasks in the political sphere and in
the economic and social field must be considered in the same context. A
comprehensive view of this nature, based on the United Nations Charter, should
form the basis for reform of the United Nations system.
The United Nations can establish genuine security in the world. It can
do so only by tackling the roots of insecurity.


It is a pleasure for me to congratulate
Mr. Ganev on his unanimous election to the presidency of the Assembly at its
forty-seventh session. I am confident that our deliberations will benefit
from his wise leadership.
I also commend his predecessor, Mr. Samir Shihabi, for the outstanding
stewardship he provided during the course of the last year, and I take this
opportunity too to extend my personal welcome and good wishes to our new
Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
I am pleased to greet the many new Members that have joined the United
Nations family since the beginning of the last session and to offer them the
full cooperation of the delegation of Barbados as we work together to shape
the international order for the twenty-first century.
The old world order has disintegrated at an astonishing pace.
Assumptions and doctrines based on the cold-war balance of power have lost
their relevance. At the same time, ambitious expectations have been created
for the emergence of a new world order based on peaceful coexistence, economic
equity and social justice.
The transition, however, has proved more traumatic and destabilizing than
the propitious circumstances would have suggested. The energies for
revolutionary change need to be positively directed so that prospects for
international peace are not threatened by the resurgence of ancient ethnic and
tribal conflicts and the violent clash of nationalistic rivalries.
Regrettably, there are alarming manifestations of that new threat in
Yugoslavia and Somalia.
Barbados is appalled at the savagery with which the protagonists of
ethnic strife in what was once Yugoslavia are pursuing their misguided notions
of nationalism and sovereignty. Such barbarism, including the horrendous
practice of "ethnic cleansing", has no place in our modern world. Its
perpetrators must be made to understand the outrage of the international
community at their actions. My country fully supports the regime of sanctions
imposed by the Security Council and the dedicated efforts of the European
Community and the United Nations to create the conditions for a peaceful
settlement and to bring relief to the hundreds of thousands of innocent
civilian victims.
Equally disturbing is the desperate situation in Somalia, which,
regrettably, has only recently attracted the international attention it
deserves, and then only at the sharp prodding of the Secretary-General.
Barbados supports regional and international efforts towards the convening of
o conference on national reconciliation and unity in Somalia and towards
creating secure conditions for humanitarian action.
My country commends the Secretary General's report "An Agenda for Peace"
to the Assembly for its careful study. A number of its recommendations are
consistent with the views contained in my statement to the General Assembly at
its forty-sixth session, namely, the need to strengthen the capability of the
Secretary-General for preventive diplomacy; the need to put into place the
permanent enforcement tools required under Article 43 of the Charter to deter,
and in the last resort, counter aggression; and the need to make full use of
the appropriate regional and subregional security arrangements under
Chapter VIII of the Charter. We also support his call for greater recourse to
the International Court of Justice for the peaceful adjudication of disputes.
My delegation supports the view of the Secretary-General that there is an
urgent necessity to put peace-keeping operations on a sound financial
footing. His recommendations and other positive suggestions should be given
Priority study.
A number of small countries have been unable to play a part in
traditional United Nations peace-keeping simply because they have lacked the
logistical military capability for so doing. The expanded dimensions of
peace-keeping, however, provide the possibility for participation by small
States in other fields in which they have expertise, such as electoral
supervision, human-rights monitoring and the supply of police and civilian
personnel. Such participation should be encouraged and facilitated by the
Organization. In this regard, my delegation has noted with interest the
Norwegian proposal for the establishment of a special United Nations institute
for education and training in peace-keeping and related activities as a means
to respond to these new dimensions.
While we cannot fail to recognize the indispensable nature of United
Nations peace-keeping operations, my country is nevertheless concerned at the
dramatic escalation in their costs and would wish to see more stringent
controls and oversight in place to ensure efficient use of the billions of
dollars now involved.
An agenda for peace requires a supportive economic environment. A new
world order must be developed around the central priority of closing the gap
between North and South, '.'his requires courageous leadership on the part of
the North to create the opportunities for sustainable economic and social
development in the South through genuine trade liberalization, meaningful
debt-relief strategies and positive resource transfers. It also requires
responsible management; sound, people-oriented development planning; and the
creation of the appropriate environment for development on the part of the
South.
The United Nations is a critical forum for the resuscitation of the
international economic dialogue. Barbados welcomes the serious debate now
taking place on reforming and strengthening the economic and social mandate of
the United Nations. Any such reform must be consistent with the provisions of
the Charter and seek to ensure universality and accessibility. Care must be
taken not to exclude the small and powerless from the process. Regrettably,
however, the emphasis currently given to developmental issues within the
administrative structure of the Organization does not reflect the priority
accorded to those issues by the majority of Member States. My delegation
accepts that the maintenance of international peace and security is a major
responsibility of the United Nations. We strongly support the view that peace
and economic and social well-being are indivisible and that issues relating to
development must be given emphasis equal to that given to issues relating to
peace.
It is important that the United Nations be a forum for constructive
consensus-building, where all points of view no matter the size of their
proponents or how much influence they wield are given equal attention and
respect. A new world order cannot evolve except in an atmosphere of free and
open dialogue, consultation and transparency in decision-making.
There is considerable merit in the argument that the Security Council in
the post-cold-war era should be updated to reflect the new international
political and economic realities, as well as the balance and diversity
necessary for its decisions, if it is to command universal acceptance and
respect.
A very topical issue in this forum in recent times has been the dialogue
on what the Secretary-General has termed "the democratization of international
relations and the participation of all States in developing new norms of
international life". There have been calls for the redefinition of the
concept of State sovereignty in international law, and many States have
accepted as a matter of policy the notion of the right to intervene on
humanitarian grounds and for the protection of human rights, and have
advocated the universal application of such a principle.
My country has always been outspoken on the universal need to protect and
strengthen the principles of democracy and respect for fundamental human
rights. We have consistently condemned abuses, wherever and whenever they
have occurred, and long before the resurgence of democratic values in our
region and elsewhere made it popular or safe to do so. Our actions have
always been motivated strictly by principle and objectivity, and not by
ideological considerations that have served in the past to politicize the
debate.
The disappearance of ideological polarization gives the international
community an unprecedented opportunity to influence the dialogue on this vital
issue in a balanced and constructive way. There is need to ensure respect for
fundamental human rights; out there is equal need to take care to promote
impartial standards for measuring adherence to, and for guarding scrupulously
against manipulation of, the debate to suit the narrow foreign policy
interests of particular States. What is needed in the ensuing dialogue is the
sensitive and sensible application of universally agreed standards, not the
imposition of new forms of conditionality devoid of all historical or cultural
context.
The World Conference on Human Rights, scheduled to be held in Vienna in
June 1993, will present a unique opportunity not only to review the progress
made in human rights since 1948, but also to formulate recommendations aimed
at charting the course of human rights well into the twenty-first century.
The tragic situation of the people of Haiti remains a major preoccupation
of the Government and people of Barbados and of the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) as a whole. We have made clear our outright condemnation of the
usurpation of the authority of the legitimate government of
President Aristide, and have collaborated with our regional partners in
CARICOM and the Organization of American States (OAS) in the effort to restore
that government. We have supported the OAS-imposed embargo and the Protocol
of Washington. It is clear, however, that no lasting solution can be found,
except in a context that neutralizes the power of a brutal and lawless
military, which continues with impunity its flagrant abuses of the human
rights of the Haitian people. The international community has a special
obligation towards the people of Haiti, whose electoral process was monitored
and authenticated at every step with direct United Nations involvement. If
such a process can be overturned with impunity, what message are we sending to
the world of would-be dictators, and what assurance are we providing for the
fledgling democracies in our region? It is imperative that the United Nations
take action to internationalize the embargo and to contribute, in whatever
ways are considered appropriate and useful, to OAS efforts towards the
restoration of the Aristide government.
Barbados is greatly encouraged by the decision reached by the De Klerk
Government and by Mr. Mandela on 26 September 1992 to resume negotiations with
a view to establishing an interim government and a constituent assembly in
South Africa. The release of 150 political prisoners and the promise by the
South African Government to release the remaining political prisoners by 15
November 1992 represent a significant development that satisfies an important
condition of the United Nations Declaration on southern Africa.
Barbados deplores the violence that has been a major obstacle to reform
in South Africa, and holds the De Klerk Government fully responsible for
failing to curb it. The role of the United Nations remains critical to reform
efforts in South Africa. We therefore welcome the deployment of 50 United
Nations observers in South Africa to assist with the implementation of the
National Peace Accord, and hope that the size of this contingent will be
increased, if necessary. We urge all the parties to collaborate in
maintaining an environment free of violence and to participate in peaceful
negotiations aimed at achieving a non-racial, democratic South Africa.
We are also encouraged by the current dialogue in the Middle East. We
hope that all parties will make every effort to achieve a just and lasting
peace.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED),
which took place in Rio de Janeiro in June this year, was perhaps the most
ambitious and far-reaching United Nations-sponsored gathering ever held. It
served a vital purpose in focusing world attention on the interrelationship
between human development and the environment, and in fostering global
awareness of the importance of the concept of sustainable development to the
future survival of our planet and all its inhabitants.
Barbados cannot pretend to be fully satisfied with the results of the Rio
Conference. It was, however, an important beginning in the process towards an
international blueprint for sustainable development in the twenty-first
century. The creation of a high-level sustainable development commission is
an important element in providing serious follow-up to the decisions of
Agenda 21. Care must be taken to ensure the widest possible access to, and
participation in, the work of the Commission by the full membership of the
United Nations. Barbados has signed the Conventions on Climate Change and on
Biological Diversity, and is taking the necessary steps at the domestic level
to ensure their early ratification. We reiterate, however, that there is an
urgent need to begin work on a protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate
Change that specifically addresses stabilization and reduction of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
My country is heartened that one of the significant achievements at UNCED
was the recognition given to the special environmental and development needs
of small island developing States, leading to the inclusion in Agenda 21 of a
specific plan of action for the sustainable development of small island
developing States. In this regard, my delegation wishes to place on record
its deep appreciation of the sterling efforts of the Alliance of Small Island
States (AOSIS), whose contribution to the success of the Conference cannot be
overstated. As part of the plan to identify and address the special needs of
this category of States, a global conference will be convened in 1993.
Barbados is honoured to reiterate its offer to host that Conference.
The vulnerability of our environment and the fragility of our marine
ecosystems require constant vigilance to guard against deliberate or
accidental degradation. In this connection, we echo the concerns of the Prime
Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis about the possible passage through our
region of plutonium or other hazardous material.
The opportunities provided for shaping a truly harmonious new world order
are enormous. The danger of failure is, however, equally great, unless the
redefinition of our future takes place with equal participation by all the
members of the global family. Never before has the power of the few over the
destinies of the many been so apparent, and never before has it been so vital
to the survival of the majority of small and powerless States that make up the
United Nations for that power to be used responsibly.