First of all, Sir,
on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Angola and
on my own behalf, I congratulate Ambassador Insanally
48 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
warmly on his unanimous election as President of the
General Assembly at its forty-eighth session. I am
convinced that his proven experience and dedication to the
noble ideals of our Organization constitute a secure
guarantee of the success of this session.
To Mr. Stoyan Ganev, his predecessor, I should like to
express my sincere gratitude for his exemplary and unselfish
manner of directing the forty-seventh session of the General
Assembly. The results we obtained during that session are
undeniable testimony to his valiant contribution in the search
for just and lasting solutions to the grave problems with
which we are confronted.
We are very pleased to welcome the new Members of
our Organization. Their admission confirms the universal
vocation of the United Nations at a time when its actions are
felt all over the world.
To the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
I also want to express my Government’s satisfaction at the
devotion and energy he has shown during the first year of
his difficult mandate, whose principal objective was the
constant search for adequate solutions to the problems that
afflict all mankind. We would not be wrong to say that
under his leadership concrete and decisive steps have already
been taken towards the resolution of certain issues that
seemed too difficult to resolve.
In this context we salute his efforts, within the
framework of the restructuring and revitalization of the
United Nations system, to give the system a new vitality in
the fulfilment of its mission. We also support the
mechanisms established for the prevention of conflict, as
explained in the report entitled "An Agenda for Peace",
whose sub-title includes the words "Preventive diplomacy".
My Government continues to support such initiatives and
commends the United Nations for the General Assembly’s
unanimous adoption of resolution 47/120 B at its forty-
seventh session on 20 September 1993.
Therefore, the restructuring and revitalization of our
Organization should include reform of the Security Council
so that it can respond to the realities of today’s world. We
understand that restructuring the Security Council -
specifically its enlargement - so that it can permit equitable
representation of all the regions of the globe is aimed at
guaranteeing greater representativeness, credibility and
efficiency. We think that the time has come for the defence
of peace and international security to be the responsibility of
all States.
Significant and far-reaching achievements have occurred
and are still occurring in international relations, after the end
of the East-West confrontation and the cold war. These
events are taking place in spite of the proliferation of armed
conflicts that put at risk the hope for peace and stability,
conditions that are indispensable for the promotion of
mutually advantageous international cooperation.
With the signing of the peace accords in Washington
between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the
Government of Israel, a new era has opened up for the peace
process in the Middle East. My Government commends the
signing of these accords and hopes that the international
community will continue to work for the rights of all the
people of that region, in particular so that the opportunity for
the Palestinian people to live in peace and freedom will be
an irreversible reality.
Regarding South Africa, it was with great satisfaction
that we heard, in the speech by Mr. Nelson Mandela in this
Hall on 24 September 1993, the announcement of the
organization of free and democratic elections in April 1994
and the call for the lifting of the sanctions. We also
commend the creation of the Transitional Executive Council,
which will put an end to three centuries of white minority
domination. From this rostrum, my Government would like
to add its voice in support of all the initiatives that aim for
a peaceful and negotiated solution in South Africa for the
peaceful transition of power to the black majority.
In this context, my Government hopes that the
international community will remain vigilant in order to
deter any attempt by extremist groups to derail the present
democratic process, which will culminate in the
establishment of the right to one man, one vote, in South
Africa.
While there has been encouraging progress with regard
to the conflicts in the Middle East and apartheid, it is
unfortunate that the same is not true in relation to other
conflicts, such as those in East Timor, the former
Yugoslavia, some States of the former Soviet Union,
Somalia, Liberia and my own country. As a matter of fact,
these conflicts and civil wars continue daily to kill thousands
of human beings and to impede the social and economic
development of the countries involved. We should like the
international community, and the United Nations in
particular, to give more attention to the resolution of these
conflicts, on the basis of international justice and legality.
I should like to express our solidarity with, and
encouragement to, the Government of Mozambique and our
Forty-eighth session - 28 September l993 49
Mozambican brothers and sisters, so that they may, with
determination and patience, continue on the paths that will
lead that country to a lasting and peaceful solution within the
framework of the accords signed in Rome, whose
implementation should be scrupulously observed by all
interested parties, under the supervision of the United
Nations.
We welcome the positive signs which resulted from the
recent meeting regarding East Timor between the Ministers
of Foreign Trade of Portugal and Indonesia, under the
auspices of the Secretary-General.
We hope that this profitable dialogue will lead to a just
solution that takes into account the aspirations of the
Maubere people in accordance with the relevant resolutions
of the General Assembly and of the Security Council.
With regard to Western Sahara, my Government
supports the holding of the referendum on self-determination
for this Territory under the terms of the resolutions of the
Organization of African Unity and of the United Nations.
My Government also hopes that the existing obstacles will
be overcome as soon as possible.
There have lately been startling changes in the world
economic situation. This applies especially to third world
countries, particularly in Africa. In this regard, while we
witness almost linear economic growth in the developed
countries, a substantial decrease has been recorded in the
less developed countries.
The indebtedness and the debt servicing of the less
developed countries, together with the great decrease in the
prices of raw materials and the recession in the industrialized
countries, constitute the principal obstacle to their
development and to their full participation in the world
economy.
In summary, it may be said that the socio-economic
situation of the developing countries - in particular, the
countries of Africa - is alarming and requires the assistance
of international financial institutions.
Nevertheless, we are opposed to the doctrine that has
been termed the états en échec - the failed States - according
to which these countries are not able to resolve their
problems by themselves and, therefore, need new "tutors".
It seems to us important that certain political situations
that are a legacy of the past be revised with a view to
reaching agreement and reducing the great barriers that exist
and the mechanisms that jeopardize real cooperation for the
economic, technical and scientific advancement of the
developing countries. In this context, we propose a
restructuring of the mechanism of international management
for economic development and cooperation.
My Government shares the opinion that a successful
outcome to the forthcoming world conferences on economic
and social development and on population is of great
importance to the international community so that there may
be, at the highest level, an open and frank dialogue with a
view to finding the most equitable solutions to the most
diverse and burning issues concerning mankind: poverty,
hunger and malnutrition - in a word, "underdevelopment" -
that grip a great part of our planet.
I should like to refer also to the importance that my
Government attaches to environmental issues and the
attention that it pays to implementation of the
recommendations and decisions of the Rio Conference of
1992. In this context, the Government of Angola has
established the post of Secretary of State for the
Environment, whose purpose is to apply the
recommendations and decisions of the Rio Conference. In
addition, an inter-ministerial commission, with an essentially
consultative role, has been set up to study and follow closely
projects related to the activities of the United Nations
Economic and Social Council’s Commission on Sustainable
Development.
The promotion of and universal respect for human
rights remain the prerequisites for the strengthening of
international peace and security.
The Republic of Angola actively participated in the
World Conference on Human Rights, which was held in
Vienna, and supported the consensus view. Nevertheless,
Angola continues to believe that, in the broad sense, human
rights are universal. We believe that there must be no
selectivity in the observance of human rights. Nowhere
should human rights serve as a pretext for interference in the
internal affairs of sovereign States Members of the United
Nations.
The world and the United Nations have witnessed the
evolution of the political situation in my country in recent
years - in particular, since 1988. To make possible a better
understanding of the phenomena that have contributed to the
dramatic situation in Angola, allow me to provide a brief
historical overview.
50 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
The Angolan Government is ever-conscious of the
intrinsic link between peace and socio-economic
development, not just for Angola but for all of southern
Africa. My Government took the initiative of presenting a
peace programme to the then Secretary-General of the
United Nations. This programme contained the principles
that culminated in the signing of the Accords in New York
in December 1988. We recall that these accords provided
for the withdrawal of Cuban soldiers from Angola and their
return to Cuba, as well as for the withdrawal of the apartheid
forces from Angolan territory and the implementation of
Security Council resolution 435 (1978) concerning the
independence of Namibia. At that time the international
community greeted with satisfaction the New York Accords,
which opened a new era in the relations between States in
that region.
With regard to the internal conflict in Angola, the
Government was aware of the fact that only domestic peace,
achieved through dialogue and political mediation, would
make possible the creation of a favourable framework for a
solution of the conflict. Apart from its own efforts, the
Government showed that it was sensitive to African
initiatives that sought to contribute to the restoration of
peace in Angola.
Thus it was that, in the framework of the Government’s
internal peace plan, we arrived in Gbadolite in June 1989.
Unfortunately, the Accords lasted only a short time because
UNITA’s friends and allies wanted a different solution. The
failure of the Accords was due essentially to bad faith on the
part of the head of UNITA.
In spite of this failure, the Angolan Government
continued to commit itself to economic and political reforms,
as well as to a negotiated solution of the conflict. It
continued to promote genuine national reconciliation, whose
fundamental purpose was to put an end to the conflict with
UNITA.
After New York and Gbadolite, peace negotiations
continued - the Portuguese Government mediating - and the
Bicesse Accords were signed on 31 May 1991. After a
period of 18 months, during which the Angolan people lived
in relative peace, the country’s first multi-party elections
were held on 29 and 30 September 1992.
As the Assembly is aware, the United Nations
considered these elections to be to be free and fair.
UNITA was not satisfied with the defeat that the
Angolan people had inflicted on it through the ballot-box,
and once again showed its Fascist character. It did not
hesitate to take up arms again to take power by force. It
resumed its previous role as a militarist organization
incapable of conforming to democratic rules.
Jonas Savimbi’s military option plunged our country
into a civil war that has caused incalculable loss of human
lives, the destruction of social and economic infrastructure
and the displacement of millions of citizens, with such
consequences as hunger, poverty, sickness and lack of proper
clothing.
As we stated in the Security Council on 15 September
1993, the situation in Angola is exceptionally tragic and
requires special attention from the international community.
Daily, thousands of people die as a direct or indirect
consequence of the war. Children, elderly people and
women are direct victims of these acts of war. We can
declare, without fear of contradiction, that the critical
economic and political situation in Angola today bears no
similarity whatever to the situation in Somalia, Bosnia,
Cambodia or any of the republics of the former Soviet
Union. It is our profound hope that peace will be restored
to those regions.
The international community seems insensitive to our
tragedy. It is as if the Angolan people were paying the price
for playing the democratic game. Indeed, how are we to
understand the curtain of silence that envelops my country?
A poor loser will not hesitate to defy the international
community with impunity unless it punishes him once and
for all. How can one explain that UNITA still maintains
offices in certain democratic countries and that some of its
officials are still received with great pomp by officials who
do not hide their aversion to totalitarianism and are the most
ardent defenders of human rights?
On behalf of the Government of the Republic of
Angola and of its martyred people, who are dying daily by
the thousands, I appeal to the United Nations and the
international community from this rostrum to help my people
and compel the UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi, once and for
all to abandon his military adventurism and respect the will
of the Angolan people, as freely expressed at the ballot
boxes in September 1992.
Speaking to the Security Council last week during its
consideration of the evolving situation in Angola, we asked
ourselves how long that great organ, responsible for
international peace and security, would permit the leader of
UNITA to perpetrate with impunity heinous massacres that
Forty-eighth session - 28 September l993 51
shock the human conscience. These acts discredit and
dishonour the United Nations itself and the Security Council,
whose resolutions have been purely and simply ignored. We
would like to remind this Assembly that since the beginning
of the war in Angola in October 1992 the Security Council
has adopted 10 resolutions condemning UNITA and
demanding that it abandon the military option and resume
dialogue aimed at restoring peace.
Yet UNITA has met neither demand. Worse yet, in
reaction to Security Council resolution 864 (1993) of 15
September 1993, which provides for the imposition of
sanctions, UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi attempted once
again to dupe international public opinion and the Security
Council by declaring a false cease-fire and stipulating
conditions at variance with the spirit and letter of the
Bicesse Accords, the Abidjan Protocol and the electoral
results.
The truth, however, is quite different. Not only was the
unilateral cease-fire declared by UNITA not respected, but
we witnessed an increase in military operations throughout
our national territory. As a result, fighting in Kuito and
other regions has recently intensified in a desperate UNITA
attempt to reoccupy new areas and consolidate its position.
Moreover, by making new proposals outside the negotiating
framework, Savimbi revealed his obvious intention to ignore
the resolutions of the Security Council and seize power for
himself at any cost, including the death of hundreds of
thousands more Angolans. Savimbi does not want peace
without power. Savimbi only wishes to gain time.
Obviously, the Government of Angola cannot accept the
policy of fait accompli that UNITA wishes to implement by
proposing a cease-fire in situ. We believe that there is no
good will on UNITA’s part and that it does not wish to
establish dialogue to put a definitive end to the war. This
armed party is plotting a dangerous manoeuvre with the aim
of shirking its obligation to fulfil the Bicesse Accords and
the resolutions of the Security Council.
The United Nations has a great responsibility in the
Angolan process and must not be complacent as regards
UNITA. It is important that the prestige of this Organization
in the peaceful settlement of the conflict not be jeopardized
or challenged by the irreverence of the leader of a rebel
political organization. The Government of Angola, the
United Nations and the troika of observers of the Angolan
peace process have all fallen victim in succession to
UNITA’s bad faith over the past 12 months, a bad faith that
has characterized the behaviour of Mr. Savimbi in every
meeting held since the Namibe, Addis Ababa and Abidjan
meetings.
In Abidjan the Angolan Government bent over
backwards to be flexible. In spite of the involvement of the
United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative
and of the leaders of the delegations of the observer States,
UNITA did not sign the Protocol of Understanding which
was negotiated and agreed upon to lead to the establishment
of a complete cease-fire in Angola. We would like to point
out that President Houphouët-Boigny and his Minister of
Foreign Affairs have done their best in the search for a just
solution to the Angolan conflict. These efforts have not
been successful, due solely to the obstinacy of Mr. Savimbi,
who says "Yes" one day and "No" the next.
We therefore consider that it is crucial that the
international community identify the transgressor and move
vigorously against him in Angola in an act of justice towards
our people and Government, so that our hopes for the
establishment of democracy will not be frustrated in the
midst of the transitional process currently taking place
throughout the world. We want a lasting peace based on
viable conditions for reconciling all Angolans.
In that context, my Government proposed, on 22
September 1993, the following conditions to resolve the
post-electoral crisis caused by UNITA.
First, UNITA must withdraw its military forces from
the areas they occupied illegally following the multi-party
elections held on 29 and 30 September 1992, and must then
observe the cease-fire under the terms of Security Council
851 (1993) of 15 July 1993.
Secondly, after the declaration of a cease-fire,
humanitarian assistance should be implemented and the
urgent evacuation of the wounded, sick, interested persons
and foreigners accomplished.
Thirdly, UNITA must accept fully and unequivocally
the validity of the Bicesse Accords and the results of the
election held in September 1992.
Fourthly, UNITA must respect the legislation produced
by the instruments of sovereignty established by the
elections.
The Angolan Government reiterates its willingness to
resume negotiations as soon as the conditions for those
negotiations have been established.
52 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
In my statement to the Security Council on 15
September 1993 I alerted its members to the crimes
committed by UNITA against defenceless civilian
populations. These crimes range from the cold-blooded
murder of medical personnel and hospital patients, and the
hunting down and physical elimination of journalists, family
members of Government officials and UNITA dissidents to
the bombardment of cities by long-range guns and missiles.
I also had the opportunity to discuss the situation prevailing
in some regions of Angola, where, as in Kuito, the
population has had to eat the flesh of human corpses in
order to survive. UNITA has encircled Kuito for more than
eight months and does not allow humanitarian assistance to
be distributed to the population or allow foreigners to leave
the areas in which they found themselves when the war
resumed.
In Somalia, one warlord, General Mohammed Aidid,
has been labelled an undesirable person by the United
Nations. An international arrest warrant was issued for that
Somali leader. Several days ago the General Assembly
elected a group of international jurists whose mandate is to
judge those accused of war crimes allegedly committed in
the former Yugoslavia. And what is to be said of Jonas
Savimbi?
Are the crimes that are being committed in Angola
under Mr. Savimbi’s order not worse than those which the
United Nations has attributed to General Aidid or the crimes
that it intends to judge in the former Yugoslavia? The
murder of medical personnel and patients in hospitals; the
hunting down and execution of journalists; family members
of Government leaders and dissidents from UNITA, Jonas
Savimbi’s organization; the incineration of political
adversaries in huge bonfires; the indiscriminate
bombardment of cities with long-range guns and missiles;
and UNITA’s ties with the forces of apartheid - what does
all this mean? Are these not crimes against humanity?
The sanctions that the Security Council decreed and
which entered into force on 25 September constitute proof
of the commitment of the international community to the
Angolan conflict. We hope that these signs will be
honoured by Mr. Savimbi and his allies so that dialogue can
be resumed as soon as possible, on the basis of the Bicesse
Accords, the Abidjan Protocol and on fulfilment of
paragraphs 6 and 12 of Security Council resolution 851
(1993).
In conclusion, I should like once again, on behalf of the
Government of the Republic of Angola, to express our
profound gratitude for the wide range of support the
international community has provided to alleviate the
suffering of our people. We hope this assistance will
continue in an even more substantial way. We wish to pay
here a special debt of gratitude to the humanitarian
organizations and in particular the World Food Programme,
which, in spite of UNITA’s irresponsible and criminal
actions, has continued its operations, risking the lives of its
own personnel.
We express also our gratitude to the countries that in
diverse ways have given humanitarian assistance to the
people, who still are in need of it now.
Once again, I wish the President every success in the
work of the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly
and hope that its results will contribute to the strengthening
of international peace and cooperation.


I would like to express our
warmest congratulations to Guyana and to you personally,
Sir, on your election to the presidency of the General
Assembly at its forty-eighth session.
I am also pleased that in the past year the United
Nations family has grown to include the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Andorra, Monaco and Eritrea. We wish to extend a special
welcome to the last two in view of our long-standing historic
and human ties.
Italy, deeply committed to European political and
economic unity, shares the views expressed by the Belgian
Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is the current Chairman of
the European Council.
We are not simply voicing conventional wisdom if we
stress the depth of the transformations that define the times
in which we live. Every day brings forth new proof that the
end of the cold war has brought us to a watershed. We must
carefully decipher the lessons and courageously shoulder the
new tasks with which this moment has presented us.
As the Secretary-General said in Milan, international
law is the main instrument at our disposal; it is not merely
a regulatory instrument but the very language of the relations
between States. But the social pressures we are now facing
are profoundly new, generating changes that international
law must begin to reflect as it translates new needs into new
institutions.
If today we believe we can govern this transformation,
and if we refuse to yield to the disorderly growth of a new
international order, we have first and foremost the renewed
vitality and prominence of the United Nations to thank.
The United Nations has evolved on the foundation of
practices that are solidly inscribed in the Charter, while
discovering new ways to pursue its aims. Take
peace-keeping, a practice from the United Nations earliest
days that has recently acquired a special role. Today peace
is more likely to be threatened by the explosion of internal
conflicts (though at times with transnational components)
than by acts of open aggression across international borders.
Peace-keeping, peace-enforcement, and humanitarian relief
missions all take place in the midst of conflicts with
complex political causes, and tangled ethnic and national
roots. In such an environment, the traditional juxtaposition
of diplomacy and military action no longer corresponds to
the reality of the present, and a broad initial mandate is not
sufficient concretely to define operations in the field.
The unity of military command is an unquestionable
principle, without which no operation can succeed.
However, the political management of an operation cannot
be confined strictly to military options, especially when the
real issue is not the legitimacy of the use of force (which
may be clearly authorized by the Security Council’s
mandate), but its advisability and timing in view of the
political objectives. I would add that in situations involving
crowds of civilians, we must consider making it our policy
always to give pride of place to the use of non-lethal
anti-riot equipment. This is not only an Italian concern.
Spokesmen for other countries have also stressed that
countries contributing troops to United Nations
peace-keeping missions need mechanisms that would exempt
their troops from passively abiding by orders that may be
illegal, inconsistent, or in contradiction with the aims of the
operation.
The United Nations peace-keeping practices reveal an
awareness of the need for adequate prior consultation of
troop-contributing countries. To this end, while Article 29
of the Charter provides a general guideline for the
establishment of bodies subsidiary to the Security Council,
Article 44 could provide a more fitting solution to the
problem. It provides for the Security Council to establish
16 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
consultative procedures with non-members of the Security
Council that have been requested to contribute troops to
peace-keeping and security operations. Today, even in the
absence of formal agreements such as those provided for by
Article 43, I believe we should extend Article 44, by
analogy, to operations conducted under Chapter VII of the
Charter.
In his "An Agenda for Peace", the Secretary-General
defined peace-building as laying the necessary political and
socio-economic foundations for a lasting peace after the
phase of open conflict has ended. The reconstruction - or
the establishment - of legal and economic institutions in
critical areas and countries represents the main prerequisite
of an enduring peace.
These premises form the basis of what Italy means to
propose in order to move beyond the current situation in
Somalia - a situation characterized somewhat by giving pride
of place to the military aspect of the United Nations
Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) and by the standstill in
the political process. We believe that it is essential that the
United Nations step up its political efforts at peacemaking by
appointing a personality of great international prestige to
renew the political and diplomatic initiative with all the
Somali factions. At the same time, the mechanisms of the
Addis Ababa Conference should be reactivated in such a
way as to increase the involvement of the African nations
and their institutions in the normalization of Somalia. But
the predominantly political nature of our operation to restore
hope in Somalia must also be translated into the progressive
reconstruction of Somalia’s basic economic and social
structures and the reorganization of a government and its
administrative structures. This requires broad development
programmes, to which Italy’s commitment has remained
unswerving even in the most difficult moments.

Italy welcomes the renewed central role of the United
Nations, and at the same time supports a reform of its
institutional mechanisms.
Let us first consider the possibility of a change in the
membership of the Security Council. As Italy emphasized
to the Secretary-General last June, since the Security Council
is moving towards a future of greater burdens and
responsibilities, its representativeness and effectiveness must
develop in parallel. What we suggest is that, in addition to
the permanent members with veto power and the
non-permanent members, a third category be established. It
would be made up of countries able to make a special
contribution to achieving the objectives of the United
Nations. What matters is not drawing up controversial lists,
but identifying objective criteria for selection, based on
economic factors, human resources, culture, and mass
communications. These countries would rotate two at a
time, thereby becoming semi-permanent members of the
Council.
We must all recognize the renewed central role of the
United Nations in international relations, but avoid
interpreting this role in exclusive terms.
The regional dimension of multilateralism, which is
described in Chapter VIII of the Charter, has today a great
role. Take the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE), which has been explicitly defined as a
regional institution on the basis of the United Nations
Charter. Italy is about to assume the chairmanship of the
CSCE. We believe that it is being called on to play an
increasing role, mainly in preventive diplomacy but also in
peace-keeping and in fostering negotiated settlements. In
this regional framework, we would welcome more stringent
regulations on arms transfers that build on the present United
Nations provisions.
If it is true that without peace there can be neither
development nor satisfaction of social needs, it is also true
that conflict is fed everywhere not only by the urge to
subjugate the adversary violently but also by the existence of
social injustice, imbalance and poverty.
The first and basic injustice is the violation of human
rights. When the international community defends human
rights, it is pursuing absolute and autonomous values that
must be protected. At the same time, it is eradicating many
of the causes of violence between groups and nations.
We hope that an agreement between the groups will
finally make it possible to end the fighting in Bosnia.
However, as the international community prepares to support
the implementation of an agreement, we must not forget the
war crimes and the crimes against humanity committed
during this tragic conflict. Thus, we applaud the
establishment of the International Tribunal and hope that -
impartial and free from political influences - it will begin its
work at the earliest possible date. Where appropriate, the
Tribunal should hand down tough sentences, although I take
exception to the death sentence, which Italy firmly opposes
on the basis of its time- honoured juridical traditions.
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 17
I wonder if the international community could not
summon the same determination to establish an international
criminal court to prosecute the most serious human rights
violations.
Italy is convinced that human rights prosper in systems
based on democracy and an open-market economy. That is
why we firmly support Governments that are committed to
such goals and work courageously through hardships and
temporary crises.
An issue of great contemporary relevance is the
protection of minorities - which cannot be separated from
the protection of individuals, for the two issues are based on
the same hopes, the same principles of freedom and the
same respect for cultural, religious and philosophical
differences. Too often, the territorial integrity of the State
has been contrasted with the rights of minorities. Instead,
we must demonstrate that in a democracy, a democracy that
leaves room for direct participation and for true pluralism of
identity and choice, it is possible to balance these two
equally worthy values. We must demonstrate that there is
no contradiction between the protection of minorities and the
stability of borders. On the contrary, as the experience of
my country shows, they can reinforce each other.
The principles, institutions and rights that make peace
more solid are a primary consideration. But we must never
underestimate the often-decisive role played by weapons.
The accumulation and development of weapons endangers
stability since the perception of a threat triggers actions that
are harmful for peace and economically ruinous.
That is why disarmament and non-proliferation, even in
the post-cold-war era, must remain one of our main
objectives and why we highly value the message delivered
from this podium by the President of the United States.
We need to complete past disarmament initiatives that
we have agreed to and begun, and both confirm and expand
existing tools. We strongly support the early ratification of
the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II (START II). The
Non-Proliferation Treaty must be strictly observed, which is
why North Korea’s unclear attitude towards that Treaty is a
matter of such great concern. That Treaty must also be
strengthened and made universal. In 1995, we should all
join together to renew the Treaty unconditionally and for an
indefinite period.
Today we are witnessing the emergence of a collective
consciousness, the expansion of a shared system of values,
an international citizenship based on common, objective
interests and the spread of more uniform lifestyles. An
Italian philosopher, Giambattista Vico, wrote:
"Ultimately, once the cities got to know each other,
having shared dealings in war, alliances and trade, they
came, to an unprecedented extent, to the recognition of
natural civic rights as a natural right of all peoples, that
is of all united nations - as if the world were one large
city - which is the law of humankind."
That was written in the early eighteenth century.
Faced with a world beset by multiple conflicts, in
which individual nations or groups often pursue their
interests through the use of force, it would be intellectually
dishonest and morally reprehensible to adopt attitudes of
resignation or fatalism. Violence is no more natural than
peaceful coexistence and collaboration between peoples and
groups. Acting against violence and for coexistence is
therefore not only morally desirable, but actually practicable.
One such possibility has been eloquently demonstrated
in recent days by the hopeful development of a peaceful
future in the Middle East thanks to the courage of the
Israelis, the Palestinians and the Arab countries. As a
Mediterranean country with a long tradition of active
involvement in the cause of stability and peace in the area,
Italy is ready to contribute further to help the entire region
take the first steps on a long and complex journey toward
peace and cooperation, with borders permanently defined in
accordance with Security Council resolutions. The same
possibility is confirmed by the promising steps being taken
towards democracy and coexistence in South Africa.
The awareness of the possibility and the moral duty to
act must also inspire our attitude towards the economic and
social problems that dehumanize the lives of millions of
people all over the world. I am referring to development
policies, which should be conducted in a spirit of solidarity
and on the basis of multilateral coordination. Such
coordination must also be extended to bilateral initiatives,
while we also need closer cooperation between agencies.
That approach has already produced successful results in
Mozambique and Eritrea, and even in war-torn Somalia. It
must now be applied to endorse the peace process in the
Middle East. The donors’ conference about to open in
Washington will provide an important occasion to translate
our political support into action.
We know the limits of our actions, and we cannot allow
ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of noble but
abstract Utopias. It is our responsibility to draw up
18 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
principles and instruments that are valid for the times in
which we live and that can help us to manage and to
transform in a more rational and humane way the reality that
surrounds us.
Each country must promote this action on its own or
through alliances or other groups. But it is ultimately here,
in the framework of this Organization and in view of its
universal aims and membership, that each country will have
to contribute to the solution of these problems. To do this,
we must not limit ourselves to declaring principles but,
rather, on the basis of those principles we must be willing to
hand the United Nations the tools it needs. The international
community - in other words, we as Member States - is
giving the United Nations greater and greater responsibilities.
But the responsibilities of the United Nations are our
responsibilities. The problems of the United Nations are our
problems.


Allow me to congratulate you sincerely, Sir,
on behalf of our Latin American and Caribbean region, on
your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
its forty-eighth session.
Some nations, like Nicaragua, are in transition from war
to peace. We are in the process of shaking off an
inheritance of 50 years of right-wing dictatorship and
10 years of left-wing dictatorship. At the same time, we are
moving from a centralized economy to a social market
economy. Each one of these three transitions is an
enormous challenge requiring fluid and timely international
political and economic cooperation.
Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 11
Nicaragua is a special case. My country has had to
endure this triple transition. We are overcoming a post-war
era, building democracy and restoring our economy’s
strength and dynamism, all in the midst of a polarized
society. I sincerely believe that few societies in
contemporary history have had to confront so many
challenges at the same time and in such difficult
circumstances.
The Governments and organizations that have been
following closely the critical situation in which I found my
country when I took office - with a gross national product
similar to that of an economy of the 1940s and an
unprecedented rate of hyperinflation - can easily understand
the magnitude of our efforts.
We need to build a democracy, reconstruct a wounded
society and compete economically with the world, all while
following an economic adjustment plan that leaves us no
resources for social investment. There is hunger in my
country. There is hatred. There are many weapons. But
there is also an absolute desire to build a society at peace.
Nicaragua has been a symbol of war and of hope in this
decade. Nicaragua should continue to be a symbol of hope.
We will achieve this only with international assistance.
With great effort, we have limited inflation to
3.5 per cent annually, but with such difficulty that we were
able to achieve economic growth of only 0.2 per cent in
1992, after eight years of a falling gross national product.
I recognize that the international community has tried
to understand the immense complexity of our process. In
1990, the General Assembly granted Nicaragua special
treatment, and called upon the international community to
provide us with effective and timely support. Since then,
my country has fulfilled all agreements and commitments
undertaken with multilateral institutions and the international
community. We are engaged in creating the necessary
conditions so that private, national and international
investment can contribute to the economic growth of the
country and hence initiate the reconstruction process and the
sustained development needed by Nicaragua.
After paying for oil imports and external debt, my
Government has received international assistance amounting
to an average of less than $12 million a year, which does not
cover the costs of such a difficult and complex transition.
Our economy has stabilized; however, this has been a slow
process and it does not satisfy the aspirations of an
impoverished people demanding the attainment, in a short
period of time, of levels of well-being that they deserve.
The economic problem is our greatest source of
instability, because it creates tensions in the political and
social environment, jeopardizing national and regional
stability. If foreign aid arrives late, if strong conditions are
placed on it or it becomes a political tool, as happened in
1992 and is happening now, democracy in Nicaragua could
collapse.
My country depends on the financial support of the
international community. Our exports are equivalent to only
$250 million a year, and we need $850 million to finance
our imports and service our inherited external debt.
I have come to the General Assembly, to this forum of
fraternal nations, to ask the international community to
continue helping Nicaragua. We need the United Nations to
help us to maintain and to guarantee economic bilateral
cooperation at current levels for my country. We need
additional resources to reactivate economic production and
growth, to strengthen the creation of social networks and to
renew the process of conciliation.
We must not forget that on 25 February 1990, to the
surprise of the entire international community, we held the
first free and participatory elections in all the history of my
country. On that day, Nicaraguans laid down their weapons
and we all celebrated the triumph of peace, aware that we
were choosing the path of democracy, freedom, peace and
respect for human rights.
When the time came to vote, every citizen voted against
decades of violence and bloodshed, and as we voted, we
thought about erasing from our minds the sad images of
10 years of war, the orphans, the widows and the maimed.
We voted in the determination to put an end to the tragic
parade of soldiers, many of them children, combatants in a
war between brothers.
This was my first mandate: to generate a policy of
national reconciliation; not an easy task in a society
accustomed to political polarization and to confrontation.
Today, three years later, I continue to be committed to
pursuing national dialogue as the only viable way to solve
our problems. The call to achieve this national
understanding has been met with solidarity and support from
countries and international organizations.
In the national dialogue, we rely on the presence, which
greatly enhances the validity of the process, of
12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
representatives of the Presidents of Central America, a
region that can envision its future only in the larger prospect
of integration and unity with Nicaragua.
The sincere gratitude of my people and Government
goes to my Central American colleagues, to the
representatives of the Secretary-General of the Organization
of American States, to the Catholic Church and to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, who have
contributed so much to peace and reconciliation in
Nicaragua.
I especially wish to thank the Secretary-General of the
United Nations for his support in the formation of an active
group of donor countries, friends of Nicaragua, which,
within the context of the United Nations, will help us
identify our requirements for external cooperation and the
means for channelling this necessary assistance.
I believe that countries in transition from war to peace,
which have signed international agreements to attain total
pacification, democracy and reconstruction, should have
access to a special fund to enable them to stand again on
their own feet and go forward.
Nicaragua and other countries in Latin America, such
as Haiti and El Salvador, need exceptional treatment because
we cannot compete with nations that have not suffered the
pain of the political, economic and social destruction caused
by war.
When we appeal to the international community, we do
so in the conviction that the principal efforts for the
reconstruction of our country are our own responsibility as
Nicaraguans, as the actors in our own development. The
Government of which I am President assumes this level of
responsibility in order to prevent our democracy from
regressing. I reaffirm once more before the Assembly the
commitment I made to the Nicaraguan nation not to rest
until democracy has been consolidated.
I shall continue to work to ensure that freedom of
expression, assembly and association are never again
restricted. My commitment to human rights is firm and
unalterable.
My decision to achieve the institutionalization of the
armed forces in Nicaragua is irreversible. For that reason,
in addition to drastically reducing my country’s army, I am
introducing reforms and laws that will guarantee the total
subordination of the military to civilian authority and clearly
establish fixed terms of office in the upper echelons.
We are in the process of building a democratic
institutional structure, including a small, professional,
non-partisan army at the service of the nation as a whole.
Similarly, we are making great efforts to disarm civilian
groups and to prevent the thousands of weapons already
confiscated from being used once again to undermine
Nicaragua’s democratic achievements and so undermine the
regional stability of Central America. Weapons confiscated
by our authorities are burned in public for all to see.
In consultation with other countries of the international
community, my Government has decided to host in our
capital city of Managua, in May 1994, the second
international conference on new and restored democracies.
We want to share experiences, closely examine the structures
of the new democracies and adopt proposals that will
contribute to their self-betterment.
The United Nations must respond positively to the
changes in the world today. Nicaragua supports recognition
by the United Nations of the rights of the Republic of China -
Taiwan. We believe it is only right to recognize the
fundamental rights of the 21 million people who live on that
territory. Nicaragua firmly supports this noble initiative.
Finally, I share the joy of all our countries at the
historic signing of the declaration of principles between the
Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation
Organization. This agreement clearly demonstrates that
peace is possible when the will for dialogue and negotiation
exists. It should serve as one of the great lessons of our
times and a source of new hope for global peace.
We Nicaraguans trust in God, in the solidarity of
friendly nations and in cooperation by international
organizations; the generous, fraternal, sincere hand they
stretch out to us will enable the Nicaraguan people to
achieve the new society of which it dreamt when it voted in
our general elections on 25 February 1990.
We in Nicaragua know that the century that is coming
to an end leaves us some hard lessons. Yet it allows us to
face with courage the great challenges that will enable us to
consolidate a world society inspired by peace, freedom and
progress. For that reason, on the threshold of the new
century, I would like to reaffirm, in the name of the
Nicaraguan people, our deep commitment to contribute to
the development of a more prosperous and more just world
order. That is the commitment I make to democracy and to
all the peoples of the world.


I wish to convey my
congratulations to Ambassador Insanally on his election as
President of the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session.
I wish him luck and success in his high office.
Let me also thank the President of the previous General
Assembly session, Mr. Stoyan Ganev, for his effective
guidance of its deliberations.
I would also like to express my profound appreciation
to His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-
General of the United Nations, for all his dynamic work in
leading this organization.
A year has passed since I last had the honour to address
the Assembly. As the last Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
common State of Czechs and Slovaks, I asked
representatives at the forty-seventh session for their
understanding and support for the process of transformation
taking place at that time in the Czech and Slovak Federal
Republic, and I reiterated the desire of the new successor
States to be admitted to the international community of
sovereign States on an equal basis.
In addition to its membership in the United Nations, the
Slovak Republic today is a member of 53 international
organizations, including United Nations specialized agencies,
the Council of Europe and the Conference on Security and
10 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). We declared our interest in
the fastest possible integration, together with other countries
of the Visegrad Four, in such effective Euro-Atlantic
political, security and economic organizations as the
European Community, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) and the Western European Union.
Slovakia is building its statehood on civic principles
based on respect for individual rights. The objective of the
Slovak Republic as a multi-ethnic State is to create a
functioning system of ethnic coexistence and guarantees of
equal rights and opportunities for all.
The President returned to the Chair.
The tragedies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of
Georgia alert us to inconsiderate and irresponsible attempts
to gain political capital from nationalistic sentiments. We
are against steps, regardless of their motivation, that would
ultimately lead to the creation of ethnically pure territories
and States and that would question or endanger the peaceful
coexistence of populations of different ethnic origins. We
apply the existing international norms regulating such
peaceful coexistence and we favour their further elaboration.
We support the idea of adopting a generally binding
document on the rights of persons belonging to national,
ethnic and other minorities in the United Nations, the CSCE
and the Council of Europe. We are convinced that such a
document must equally respect the territorial integrity of
States and the principle of inviolability of existing borders.
Our economic policy aims to build a balanced and
prosperous economy based on market principles. Thus far
the reform measures have not brought the expected
economic revival. The economic difficulties are aggravated
by various internal and external factors, among others the
conversion of the armaments industry. The 1990 decision on
a far-reaching conversion led to the reduction of Slovakia’s
military production to an unprecedented 9 per cent of the
1989 level. This political decision to close a whole major
branch of Slovak industry without the necessary preparation
for a real conversion, though highly moral, did not take into
account its economic and social consequences.
If we are to attain the necessary economic growth, we
need access to the markets of developed nations, something
which is increasingly complicated - all the more so because
of the economic recession. We are convinced that
protectionism is not a solution. We hope that negotiations
on the further liberalization of world trade will be successful,
in particular the negotiations of the current Uruguay Round
of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
We also feel encouraged by clear expressions of a
political will to reform and remove export controls inherited
from the cold war period that now unfairly burden legitimate
commerce and unduly restrain growth and opportunities, as
recently stated by President Clinton before this body.
Incidentally, on this very day, Slovak representatives
are signing an association agreement between the Slovak
Republic and the European Community in Luxembourg.
The association agreement, which we consider the first step
in our efforts to gain full membership in the Community,
also reflects the general direction of our foreign policy. It
encourages further positive development in our country, and
we believe that it will help us resolve some of the
aforementioned economic problems.
The international community is daily confronted with
such tragedies as that in Bosnia and Herzegovina or
Tajikistan, with countries at the crossroads, such as Russia
today, but happily also with encouraging developments, such
as those in the Middle East and in South Africa.
It is only natural that the United Nations adapt itself to
the increased tasks in its mission as the guardian of
international peace and security. To manage the ever-
increasing load of responsibilities more effectively, it is
necessary to pay attention to early warning and preventive
action at an early stage. Equally demanding our attention
today is the phase of post-conflict peace-building and
restoration as a basis for preventing the renewal of conflicts.
Regarding the peace-keeping operations of the United
Nations, common experience urges us to require
improvements in their planning and execution. Every
operation should have clearly defined political objectives, an
unambiguous mandate, and an understanding of its possible
and feasible scope and duration and of available means and
support. When the Security Council sets up a new
operation, it should define and ensure security and safety
conditions and guarantees under which the operation is to be
deployed. We support the idea of a universally binding legal
instrument on the safety of peace-keeping operations
personnel. Troop-contributing countries should also have the
possibility, through some regular mechanism, of being
constantly informed and consulted prior to and during the
whole operation.
Another means of enhancing the effectiveness of
peace-keeping is increased cooperation between the United
Nations and regional arrangements, such as the Conference
on Security and Cooperation in Europe. In the Euro-Atlantic
area, we should also seek involvement in peace-keeping of
Forty-eighth session - 4 October l993 11
such organizations as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) or the Western European Union. All these
organizations should be mandated in every specific case by
the Security Council.
Slovakia is among the countries that have been most
severely afflicted by the sanctions against the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia. We shall provide data on these
losses shortly. We believe that the effort to secure effective
economic assistance should not be limited to moral appeals
to States and institutions. The economic situation of the
countries depending on the Danube as their main waterway
has been ever more aggravated by arbitrary acts of blockade
and other violations of the respective United Nations
resolutions and international conventions. We are convinced
that such acts require a clear and resolute response.
The decision of the Geneva Conference on
Disarmament on a mandate for a comprehensive nuclear-test-
ban treaty is a major move in itself. It also sends a signal
to the whole non-proliferation regime. We support the
universal and indefinite extension of the non-proliferation
Treaty. We also hope that the question of the nuclear
arsenal of the former Soviet Union will be satisfactorily and
speedily resolved in the spirit of non-proliferation.
Slovakia welcomes the establishment of the United
Nations Register of Conventional Arms, which we consider
to be a first decisive step leading to increased global
transparency and constraints in conventional weapons. We
are ready to support moves towards enhanced transparency,
as well as more detailed information on military holdings
and procurement through national production, made under
the banner of the United Nations, the Conference on
Disarmament or the Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe.
Wishing to ensure full continuity with the activities of
Czechoslovakia - an original member of the Conference on
Disarmament - and enjoying the support of the Eastern
European regional group, the Slovak Republic applied for
membership in the Conference on Disarmament. A window
of opportunity for Slovakia to become a member was opened
by the proposal to gradually enlarge the membership of the
Conference. Those on the proposed list of 23 new members
should in our opinion be admitted as soon as possible.
The World Conference on Human Rights reaffirmed the
universality of and respect for human rights and the need for
their universal application. It also, appropriately, drew our
attention to the vital interdependency of human rights and
sustainable development, and their bearing on international
peace and stability. We are prepared to support steps
towards implementation of its recommendations. Slovakia
therefore encourages the establishment of a post of United
Nations high commissioner for human rights.
Recent developments in many areas of the world where
civilian populations are increasingly the targets in
predominantly non-international conflicts impel us to demand
that States and parties to conflicts strictly observe and
enforce the rules and principles of international humanitarian
law. We support efforts to bring those who are alleged to
have committed war crimes to justice, inter alia through the
establishment of an international criminal court.
International humanitarian agencies and organizations,
whose activities we highly esteem and support, can attest to
another deplorable feature of today’s world: the misuse and
even the rejection of humanitarian assistance for political
reasons. Those conducting humanitarian operations are
working under increasingly unsafe conditions. The
international community should demand respect for human
rights and humanitarian norms by the States and parties to
conflicts. Neither should we completely ignore the fact that
sanctions which are rightfully applied against those who
have breached international peace and security have a direct
bearing on the fate and even the lives of innocent civilians.
In a true humanitarian spirit, we should at least try to
address this aspect of sanctions as well.
Furthermore, questions related to large-scale migration,
refugees and displaced persons require our urgent attention.
The international community should set forth appropriate
rules and standards regulating large-scale population
movements and seeking solutions for their root causes and
consequences.
We also feel responsible for the most vulnerable
segments of the world population - the women, the children,
the disabled and the aged. We are ready to take part in the
international community’s efforts to seek means for
addressing their needs and concerns.
The Slovak Republic is greatly interested in reinforcing
the role of the United Nations and enhancing its
effectiveness and capacity for action. We wish to join the
ranks of those States that support the implementation of the
reform process of the United Nations in order to transform
it into a more effective and economical organization. Its
organizational structure should respond more adequately to
current global realities.
12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Slovakia is prepared to deliberate on proposals made by
other members of the world community, including the
proposal to restructure the Security Council, which should
maintain its representativity and at the same time its
transparent character. We are of the opinion that countries
such as Germany and Japan should be invited to assume the
responsibilities of permanent members of the Security
Council. At the same time, the Slovak Republic observes
that the number of States able to contribute - owing to their
growing economic influence and role in world affairs - to
the objectives of the United Nations is increasing. Any
decision on the composition of the Security Council should
be the result of a democratic discussion. An expansion of
the Security Council must not jeopardize its effectiveness
and operational capability.
The General Assembly itself, in our opinion, should
also play a more important role within the United Nations
system. The reform of the Economic and Social Council
should continue, with a view to avoiding duplication between
the Council and General Assembly agendas. Cost reductions
can also be made in the activities of the United Nations
Secretariat. When this issue is considered, it should be
borne in mind that the Secretariat executes its tasks in
response to the requirements of the Member States.
The reform of the United Nations should be carried out
in the context of the financial situation of the Organization.
We consider the change in the financing principles
underlying the United Nations regular budget and the budget
of peace-keeping operations to be one of the most significant
aspects of this restructuring. The Member States should
meet their financial obligations to the United Nations fully
and in due time. We believe, however, that the rules for
determining the contributions of Member States to the
United Nations budget should be made more flexible in
order to accommodate changes in the economies of
individual Member States. The present economic reality,
rather than history, should become the main and decisive
criterion.
Let me conclude by wishing the General Assembly
every success in the demanding work that is ahead of it at
this session.


On behalf of the
people and Government of Papua New Guinea, I should like
to congratulate Ambassador Insanally of Guyana on his
election to preside over the General Assembly at its forty-
eighth session. In so doing, I should like to recall - and to
express my delegation’s sincere appreciation for - the even-
handed and efficient manner in which his predecessor, Mr.
Stoyan Ganev, the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, presided
over the Assembly at its forty-seventh session.
His outstanding example has maintained and thereby
helped to strengthen a high standard which we are confident
Mr. Insanally will match. His election brings us particular
pleasure because of the many important interests which
Guyana shares with Papua New Guinea and the increasingly
strong relations which have been developing between our
two countries, mainly through cooperation in the context of
multilateral organizations such as the Commonwealth, the
African, Caribbean and Pacific group of Governments parties
to the Lomé Convention, and the United Nations itself.
The Government of Papua New Guinea is also pleased
to welcome the further progress towards the universal
membership of the United Nations marked by the admission
of the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Eritrea, The
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Monaco and
Andorra. We look forward to cooperating with their
Governments and delegations in advancing the objectives of
the United Nations.
In welcoming the new Members, I feel bound to
observe that my Government is concerned that other small
States, including a number in the South Pacific, which find
it difficult to afford to join and send missions to the United
Nations, should be provided with the means of keeping
abreast of developments and of having proper account taken
of their interests, perhaps through such arrangements as a
regional observer, as a number of Governments have
proposed to the South Pacific Forum.
I turn now to the proposed United Nations initiative on
opportunity and participation. When I addressed the General
Assembly 12 months ago, I said that I had chosen
"opportunity and participation" as the main theme and goal
of my policy as Minister for Foreign Affairs. I also forecast
that my Government would be formally proposing an
initiative for the United Nations bearing the same name.
The proposal is now listed as item 151 on the agenda
of the current session of the General Assembly. The
initiative is, of course, important for Papua New Guinea -
opportunity and participation are, in fact, among the national
goals and directive principles embodied in our national
Constitution. It is also important to other developing
countries where increasing opportunity for, and participation
by, citizens is a public issue and an official aim. It is,
moreover, directly relevant to countries where previous
economic arrangements are in transition to markets. In an
increasingly interdependent world, where issues and ideas
often have global implications, it should be of interest and
certainly deserves support worldwide.

Papua New Guinea became independent on the very
same day, 16 September 1975, as the General Assembly
adopted a consensus resolution - 3362 (S-VII), on
"Development and international economic co-operation" -
directed, in the words of its first preambular paragraph, "to
accelerate the development of developing countries". The
timing was, almost certainly, coincidental. But it is none the
less worthy of notice because of what it suggests about the
circumstances, including a continuing need to achieve the
same aim on the part of countries such as Papua New
Guinea both then and now.
In the early l990s, Papua New Guinea has been
enjoying an unprecedented rate of economic growth,
measured, in the standard terms employed by bodies such as
the World Bank, at something more than 9 per cent per year.
But few would suggest that the living standards of most of
our people have improved at anything like the same rate.
The measure is quite seriously misleading, as many of us
have known for a very long time. But so are government
policies and processes of economic development that fail to
pay adequate attention to questions of distribution, including
who benefits and who takes part. I refer here, I should add,
to distribution not only of Government services but of
openings - and even more to effective access - for people to
benefit by taking part in economic development.
In certain sectors of society in many countries,
including my own, people - particularly those living in rural
areas - are still trying to enter the cash economy for the first
time. In other sectors and even more countries, people who
have long been engaged in monetary transactions are trying
to increase openings, access and mutually beneficial
interactions. Increasing opportunity and participation is, in
many respects, a universal goal. The urgency of the need to
address the means of achieving it comprehensively,
systematically, thoroughly and critically now arises out of
concern at several features of the current international
situation.
The first is the difficult and often worsening
circumstances of and in many developing countries. A
second is the problems being encountered in the transition to
markets in countries where economic arrangements were
previously State-centred. Another feature results from a
tendency among economic policy-makers in widely scattered
parts of the world, including developed countries and the
major international financial institutions, during the 1980s to
favour reducing the economic role of the State and to leave
questions of access and distribution of benefits to markets.
Complicating the effects of so-called "aid fatigue" in
developed countries are the increasing need and demand for
aid, investment and commercial loans arising from the
changes occurring in Eastern and Central Europe, the former
Soviet Union, southern Africa and the Middle East. New
opportunities for scarce capital and other resources are also
opening up in the same and other areas. Furthermore,
expensive and urgent needs will have to be met when the
terrible conflicts currently raging in the former Yugoslavia,
the Caucasus, parts of Africa and elsewhere are resolved and
rehabilitation can get under way.
In other words, resumption or continuation of
development in many parts of the world will require that
more must be done with less. Opportunity, access and
beneficial participation in economic development must be
quite dramatically increased if living conditions are to be
maintained, let alone improved.
The proposal which the Papua New Guinea Government
is therefore making is for the United Nations to establish a
small panel of distinguished, expert and experienced persons
broadly representative of the international community to
review what has already been done and to identify options
to increase opportunity and participation, with particular,
though not exclusive, reference to the economies of
developing countries. We propose not an academic study,
but one that draws on actual experience and makes
recommendations for practical action. We do not have any
fixed ideas about what it should say. Rather, we want it to
make a close, critical examination of what has been
attempted, what has been proposed and what has been - for
whatever reason, or for none - overlooked.
We emphatically do not want the project to begin with
doctrinaire assumptions; rather, we want it to ask questions -
for example, about when and how it is best for the State to
limit its involvement in the economy or to withdraw
completely, and when and how the State should act to
maximize opportunity and participation. Above all, we want
it to investigate and to provide advice on the best way of
linking opportunity, via effective access, to participation.
Thus, the panel, the project and the report ought to be
multidisciplinary in approach and scope, examining critically
both experiences and ideas about ways in which legal,
administrative, economic, social and other arrangements help
or hinder increasing economic opportunity and participation.
While the focus should be on the particular difficulties
of developing countries, the project should, we believe, look
further afield. It will, in fact, have to do so if its research
and findings are to stimulate the world-wide information
exchange, and, above all make the practical difference which
we hope will result.
Forty-eighth session - 11 October l993 3
In my statement to the General Assembly a year ago I
described the proposed United Nations initiative on
opportunity and participation as being in some respects "the
economic counterpart" to the Secretary-General’s most
succinct and constructive report, "An Agenda for Peace." It
should also be seen, I believe, as a complement to, and a
necessary filling-out of, other important United Nations
resolutions and documents that have been concerned with
development issues more generally, such as the reports of
the Pearson and Brandt Commissions, and "The Challenge
to the South".
The panel and the report envisaged in our proposed
draft resolution should, in addition, be viewed as
complementing and helping to fill out the Brundtland Report,
particularly in so far as they manage to identify options not
only for maintaining increased opportunity and participation,
but for continuing to increase them so as to allow living
standards to go on being raised for and by future
generations.
While we await publication of the Secretary-General’s
eagerly anticipated report outlining an agenda for
development, the proposed initiative on opportunity and
participation should not be seen as a rival or a duplication.
The proposal ought to be seen instead for what it is intended
to be, namely, a constructive start and a practical
contribution to setting objectives and specifying means for
development into the twenty-first century.
Like other supporters of the proposal, the Government
of Papua New Guinea has been gratified by the strong and
positive response with which the proposed United Nations
initiative on opportunity and participation has been greeted
by Governments, non-governmental organizations and
international bodies in diverse parts of the world.
We have particularly appreciated the expressions of
support we have received from the Government of the
Assembly’s President, the Chairman of the General
Assembly’s Second Committee, and organizations
particularly concerned with advancing the common interests
of developing countries, the Group of 77 and the Movement
of Non-Aligned Countries.
In our own immediate neighbourhood, we have been
assured of strong, individual and collective support by
members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), the Melanesian Spearhead Group, and the South
Pacific Forum, which includes the Governments of
developed countries in the region.
With assistance from the United Nations Development
Programme, my Government has convened both a national
and a regional Workshop, in which highly respected,
variously experienced and diversely skilled persons gave
their time on an honorary basis to help develop and refine
the proposal. The proceedings of both Workshops are being
circulated to all United Nations members.
When the proposal is debated in the Assembly on 15
November, we look to all members of the United Nations for
contributions to its further development and refinement, and,
of course, for their votes. As it did with the resolution
(47/441) on development and international economic
cooperation, adopted on Papua New Guinea’s independence
day, my Government hopes that the General Assembly will
endorse the proposed United Nations initiative on
opportunity and participation by consensus.
Believing as we do in the importance of the proposed
initiative, but conscious of the severe strains currently
imposed on the United Nations human and financial
resources, and bearing in mind the recommendation made to
all members by the Second Ministerial Meeting of the
Standing Committee on Economic Cooperation of the
Non-Aligned Movement, my Government has decided to
make a special pledge to contribute K100,000 - the
equivalent of a little more than $102,000 - to assist in
realizing the proposal. While we believe that
implementation of the proposal must not depend on special
donations, we call upon others to do the same in accordance
with their means.
With regard to conferences on development and related
issues, consistent with Papua New Guinea’s obvious interest
in development issues generally, and in those that pertain to
small island countries in particular, my Government looks
forward to the first Global Conference on Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States, which is to
be held in Barbados in April 1994.
We shall remain actively involved in preparations for,
and the proceedings of, what we regard as a most important
occasion for sharing experiences and ideas, including both
problems and hopes, with island States in our own and other
regions.
For closely related reasons, we also look forward to the
International Conference on Population and Development, to
be held in Cairo in 1994.
Having taken a close interest in the deliberations and
outcome of the World Conference on Human Rights in
Vienna in June, we shall contribute as best we can to the
4 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
preparations for the World Summit for Social Development,
to be held in Copenhagen, and the Fourth World Conference
on Women, scheduled for Beijing, both in 1995.
I turn to the subject of apartheid and sanctions against
South Africa. Successive Governments of Papua New
Guinea have always been strongly opposed to apartheid, both
in principle and in practice. We have consistently applied
sanctions, backed by the force of Papua New Guinea law,
against those who have upheld it. Even as apartheid has
been dismantled, and progress towards a democratic,
multi-racial South Africa has been observed, my Government
has been conscious of the special perspectives and interests
of African States. We have accordingly taken the view that
we would remove our sanctions against South Africa only in
consultation, conducted through bodies such as the
Commonwealth and the United Nations, with such States.
Despite the economic interests which might have been
served by allowing links between Papua New Guinea and
South Africa, we have willingly paid the price our policy has
required.
I have been personally moved in recent days by the
addresses made by the President of the African National
Congress, Mr. Nelson Mandela, before the United Nations
Special Committee against Apartheid as well as the Joint
Assembly of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)
Group of countries and the European Community.
Following the recommendations made by Mr. Mandela, the
Organization of African Unity and the Commonwealth
Secretariat, as well as the resolution adopted by consensus
in the General Assembly on Friday 8 October, my
Government will now take steps to remove legally enforced
sanctions. But in doing so we remain conscious of the
continuing - and unfortunate - relevance of Mr. Mandela’s
pointed reminder to the Joint Assembly of the ACP Group
and the European Community that:
"the white minority Government and its institutions ...
should not be ... treated as though they were the
representative of all the people of South Africa."
The struggle for real equality for the African citizens of
South Africa is certainly not over. In some respects, it has
scarcely begun. My Government believes very strongly that
the achievement of a genuinely stable, democratic and
multi-racial South Africa requires increasing opportunities
for access to and participation in all areas of society,
including the economy, by the country’s African population.
My next subject is the progress towards peace in the
Middle East. Successive Governments of Papua New
Guinea have consistently followed a policy of supporting
the right of Israel to exist within secure borders, while
recognizing the Palestinian people’s right to a homeland.
We are accordingly both impressed and encouraged by the
dramatic, bold and hopeful agreements reached by the Israeli
Government and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
We commend the steps that have since been taken,
including the diplomatic and material support provided by
other Governments to facilitate implementation of those
agreements. As our Prime Minister, the Right Honourable
Paias Wingti, has already announced, the Government of
Papua New Guinea will do what little it can to further the
process, by acknowledging the constructive role being played
by the Palestine Liberation Organization and examining ways
in which we might seek to strengthen relations with the
legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.
I come now to the reform and revitalization of the
United Nations and the recharging of its resources.
The welcome developments in southern Africa and the
Middle East, particularly those related to Israel, the occupied
territories and the Palestine Liberation Organization, reveal
both strengths and weaknesses in the United Nations, and
suggest that while there are situations in which the United
Nations can play an important, even vital, role, there are also
situations in which it cannot.
We must recognize that when the United Nations itself
cannot, for whatever reason, be effective, then individual
Governments, such as Norway’s, regional organizations, such
as the Organization of African Unity, or some other body
may be able to initiate or facilitate a positive outcome.
The Government of Papua New Guinea welcomes the
reforms which are gradually being made to the United
Nations system: in the Secretariat and other organs, and in
the manner in which our deliberations are organized. We
also welcome the generally revitalized role that our
Organization aspires to play in international relations. But
we must remember that internal reform and reorganization
are only as important as their eventual outcome.
A revitalized United Nations must not be allowed to
become an instrument of sectional interests or ill-planned
adventurism. In the context of the contrast between the
evidently satisfactory outcome of United Nations efforts in
Cambodia and the uncertainties of the situation in Somalia,
my Government feels a need to sound a cautionary warning.
The terrible events unfolding in the former Yugoslavia,
particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the mounting
toll of human death, injury and suffering resulting from
conflicts in parts of the former Soviet Union reinforce my
Forty-eighth session - 11 October l993 5
Government’s reservations about aspects of the current
debate over the part that the United Nations can and should
play in the post-cold-war international order.
The Government of Papua New Guinea is also
conscious of the selectivity and costs of United Nations
peace-keeping, peace-observing and peacemaking operations,
and of the need to ensure that the Organization is reformed,
revitalized and re-endowed with sufficient resources to make
a difference to the very basis of peace in developing
countries: development itself.
My next topic is decolonization, indigenous people and
natural resources. In this, the United Nations International
Year of the World’s Indigenous People, my Government had
the rare privilege of hosting a Regional Seminar of the
Special Committee of 24 on decolonization, chaired by
Papua New Guinea’s Permanent Representative at the United
Nations. The occasion gave us an opportunity to reaffirm
our commitment to the decolonization of New Caledonia,
with special safeguards for its indigenous people, the
Kanaks. The Government of Papua New Guinea is strongly
opposed to any suggestion that the Matignon Accords might
not be fully honoured. The same position has been adopted
by our partners in the Melanesian Spearhead Group and the
South Pacific Forum.
In addition to the question of New Caledonia, the
Regional Seminar also focused attention on other relics of
European colonialism, including French Polynesia, where
Polynesian demands for independence seem to be gaining
strength.
Elsewhere in the South Pacific, the negotiated
settlement between the Governments of Nauru and Australia
has been widely welcomed for the redress it provides for a
long period of colonial exploitation of Nauru’s principal
land-based natural resource and the destruction of much of
its natural environment.
The settlement is also arousing considerable interest as
to its possible implications in other former Trust Territories
and colonial dependencies. The Government of Papua New
Guinea is only one of a number of interested parties which
have the matter under close examination. My Government
is also only one among many in welcoming, and wishing to
encourage, efforts to recognize the rights and to improve the
situation of other indigenous people in the South Pacific and
elsewhere.
Together with our partners in the Melanesian Spearhead
Group - the Governments of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu
- we have signed a Declaration on Cooperation in
Development of Natural Resources. One of the explicit
objectives of the Declaration is to facilitate implementation
of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
Another objective, which has yet to be realized, is to
supplement existing efforts in relation to regional fisheries
by broadening and deepening cooperation between the
Governments of countries in the South Pacific where other
natural resources are being developed, often by outsiders.
The crisis in Papua New Guinea’s North Solomons
Province is an unfortunate and costly internal affair of Papua
New Guinea. It continues, still unresolved, even as
Government and other services are being restored. I am
therefore pleased to report that my Government has recently
been engaged in productive exchanges with the Government
of the Solomon Islands, particularly concerning the spill-over
effects of the crisis on and near the common border.
Following these exchanges, I have issued an invitation
on the Government’s behalf to the Joint Assembly of the
African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States party to the
Lomé Convention and the European Community to send a
visiting mission to Papua New Guinea, including the North
Solomons Province, to assess the situation and to
recommend how it might assist in rehabilitation.
The Government has also announced its intention to
work towards an All-Bougainville Leaders’ Conference to
try to resolve the crisis by political means. The Government
of Solomon Islands has offered its cooperation in what has
been, at times, a rather difficult situation. We hope to
continue our dialogue over long-term measures to strengthen
bilateral relations.
With respect to regional and global economic
cooperation, the Government of Papua New Guinea, like
most other Members of the United Nations, is concerned at
the possibility that reform of the international trading system
might fail as a result of the apparent intransigence of vested
interests in certain developed countries during the final
stages of the Uruguay Round of negotiations of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). We also do not
believe that regional trading blocs can be an adequate
substitute for an equitable and orderly international trading
system.
The Government of Papua New Guinea does not see
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (APEC) as
a replacement or a rival for an updated version of GATT.
But we do regard APEC as being important to our interests.
More than 80 per cent in value of exports from Papua New
Guinea go to the existing APEC member countries. Nearly
90 per cent of our imports come from exactly the same
6 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
countries. Other aspects of Papua New Guinea’s
international economic relations are just as deeply enmeshed
with APEC members. With encouragement from existing
members, my Government has therefore applied to join
APEC. We believe that it would not be right for such a
body to continue without a single member from the centre
of a region whose name it bears: the Pacific. We look
forward to an early - and positive - response to our
application.
In conclusion, I should like to say the following:
No human being can have failed to be deeply moved
by, or to feel the utmost sympathy for, people affected by
the disastrous earthquake which occurred in India in late
September.
No one who has been following the developments
consequent on the changes in the former Soviet Union can
have failed to be both excited and concerned by the dramatic
political and military confrontations which have been
occurring in the Russian Federation. All of us must surely
be concerned at reports that nuclear testing has been
resumed, at the possibility that more tests might follow, and
that weapons of mass destruction might grow in number,
power and circulation.
In short, notwithstanding the progress made towards
finding lasting solutions to some long-standing issues since
the cold war ended, we continue to live in a rapidly
changing, often fragile and uncertain world. Able by virtue
of our membership of the United Nations at least to let our
views be known on what are some of the most important
and pressing issues of our time, the Government of Papua
New Guinea has, therefore, chosen to give close attention to
an issue of particular concern to developing countries, to
explore avenues of cooperation with other States, and to
propose a United Nations initiative on "Opportunity and
Participation". Let me end by repeating my previous call for
members’ support for a proposal intended to assist in
identifying what the people and Government of Papua New
Guinea believe to be common interests, global problems and
practical solutions.