We are fortunate that the great
skills and integrity displayed by His Excellency Mr. Theo-
Ben Gurirab, both as freedom fighter and as Foreign
Minister of Namibia, will now be at the disposal of the
General Assembly. We desperately need those qualities as
we wrestle with the challenges that now face our
Organization.
We are enriched by the presence of our three new
Members, the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru
and the Kingdom of Tonga.
We look forward to the coming millennium with
great expectations born out of the many great
accomplishments of this century, not least of which has
been the creation and preservation of the United Nations.
But we would be deceiving ourselves if we did not
recognize that the world of peace and security envisioned
by the drafters of the Charter is as far from achievement
as it was at the beginning of this tormented century.
This has indeed been a century of extremes. We
have witnessed marvelous scientific and technological
advances that could liberate humankind from the drudgery
and misery that have always been its lot. At the same
time, we have seen more billions spent on means of
destruction than on the construction of a better life for the
billions who still live in poverty.
We have witnessed the spread of democracy around
the globe, even as inequality between and within nations
grows unabated and countless millions of lives are
wasted. All too apparent are the tragic victims of the
invisible hand of the market.
How much has inequality grown during this century?
The 1999 Human Development Report of the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) tells us that the
income gap between the fifth of the world's people living
in the richest countries and the fifth living in the poorest
was 11 to 1 in 1913. This had grown to 30 to 1 by 1960,
60 to 1 in 1990, and 74 to 1 in 1997. The report concludes
in its “Overview”, at page 2, that
“When the market goes too far in dominating
social and political outcomes, the opportunities and
rewards of globalization spread unequally and
inequitably — concentrating power and wealth in a
select group of people, nations and corporations,
marginalizing the others.”
The solution, it posits, is not to stop the expansion of
global markets, but to create and enforce the rules for
stronger governance, both national and global, to ensure
that globalization works for people, not just for profits. This
crying need for good global governance is not being
answered, and it is one of the most important and
fundamental tasks facing the United Nations today.
During this century there have been two concerted
attempts to collectively provide the framework for a new
world order, following periods of catastrophic human
behaviour. After the First World War the Versailles Treaty
and the Paris Conference created the League of Nations, the
International Labour Organization (ILO) and certain
economic arrangements. After the Second World War we
had the United Nations and the Bretton Woods agreements,
which again created new institutional arrangements for
regulating a new world order. One of the results of that
reordering was the ushering in of the era of decolonization,
whereby dozens of countries have emerged and formed part
of the family of nations, bringing our number in the United
Nations up to 188.
Today we have witnessed a real change in the world
order no less far-reaching and momentous than the first
two, with the end of the cold war, the creation of a unipolar
world and the phenomena of globalization and trade
liberalization. And still we have not been able to sit
together and negotiate universally accepted rules and
institutions that are workable and fair for regulating this
new order. How can we speak of the victory of democracy
in this situation?
The institutions that, more than national governments,
govern the real lives of billions today — the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the G-7, the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) — are
dominated by a few rich and powerful countries, and
there is no transparency, no accountability, no effective
mechanism for civil society participation. In short, there
is no good governance.
We, the developing countries, are constantly being
urged by the international organizations, by the European
Union and others, to practise good governance, and are
threatened with sanctions if we do not. For our part, we
in Belize and other developing countries accept the need
for good governance and are doing our utmost to achieve
it. It is time we ensured that these all-powerful
organizations themselves practise good governance, abide
by a global code of ethics that puts people before profits,
respect the diversity of our countries and be fully
accountable and transparent.
While we have made important advances in
enlarging democracy at the national level, we have failed
to do so at the global level. Our only hope lies with a
reformed United Nations that will ensure that the global
institutions that determine the quality of our lives are
made democratic and just.
Small countries like Belize are understandably
concerned about the way in which globalization and trade
liberalization are being mismanaged. Yes, we believe in
the potential benefits of globalization. Yes, we want to be
involved, but as partners, not as victims of larger, more
powerful economic interests.
Belize became independent just 18 years ago. It has
been said that we became independent just when
independence ceased to be meaningful as a result of the
power of international organizations and transnational
companies to determine not just international, but also
national economic and social policies.
Let me say this clearly: do not expect any of us who
won our independence after years of struggle — some
involving armed conflict and the sacrifice of many
lives — to simply give it up and accept a new form of
domination. But what does it mean, especially for small
developing countries, to be independent in today's world?
It means that we must find a way to make
interdependence make independence meaningful.
This can best be done through effective regional
organizations. In our own region, our vision is to work
towards a real integration of the Central American and
Caribbean countries, to make the Association of
Caribbean States the means of inserting our countries into
2

the world economy with a stronger voice to secure fair
terms of trade, greater market access and more beneficial
investments.
The much vaunted new financial architecture that we
seek to construct must be designed to enhance the
independence of sovereign States. We can only do this
through negotiated agreements that are fair, transparent and
consensual and in which developing countries are given a
real voice.
We are heartened by the words of Mike Moore,
Director-General of the WTO, who told us, members of the
Group of 77, at Marrakesh that he is totally committed to
ensuring that the WTO be a family in which every member
has an equal place at the table and that trade liberalization
bring real benefits to all countries, but especially to
developing countries.
We, the smaller and developing countries, must be the
beneficiaries of unselfish actions on the part of our
developed partners. We are aware that free trade can be
kind to the strong and deadly to the weak, and so our call
is this: Give us time to adjust and move our economies
forward. Help us to develop our capacities and technologies
to make our people competitive. We are challenged to
narrow the gap between those who earn billions and those
who work for pennies.
If we are to be successful at this, everyone must be
included. Our political ideologies and differences will have
to be put aside in the interest of the elimination of poverty.
But none of this is possible if we do not face up to meeting
the first objective of our institution: the achievement of
world peace and security.
True, since the inception of our Organization there has
not been another world war, but local and regional conflicts
have taken a more vicious toll than the two world wars
combined. If we are to prevent these human tragedies, we
will have to move, in the words of our Secretary-General,
from a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention:
preventive diplomacy, preventive disarmament, preventive
deployment.
If only we had followed these prescriptions in East
Timor, we could have prevented the large-scale massacres
and destruction that were visited on an entire people in the
presence of our United Nations Mission, which had assured
them that they could exercise their right to
self-determination in peace and security. None of us can
feel comfortable with the fact that although international
agencies in the field had warned of the impending
massacre for months, nothing was done to prevent it. We
still have the task of ensuring that the people of East
Timor can live in peace and enjoy the benefits of their
courageous decision to be independent, and Belize
pledges its unconditional support for any measures taken
by our Organization to this end.
We do not fail to recognize and applaud the
tremendous success of the United Nations in the
eradication of colonialism and occupation. How could we
fail to do so, when the very existence of Belize as an
independent State is due in no small part to the support of
the United Nations? How could we fail to do so, when we
recall the role of the United Nations in the independence
of Namibia, whose Foreign Minister presides over our
Assembly, or when we recall the work of the Fourth
Committee in brokering the independence of so many of
our present members? But the job is not over till it is
over, not until all peoples of the world are guaranteed
their right to self-determination and independence in
peace and security. In this context, we look forward to
welcoming Palestine as a full Member of the United
Nations at the millennium summit and to achieving peace
and security for all the peoples of that region.
As we leave this century of unparalleled suffering
and violence, we look forward to creating a better world
in the next. None of us can dare predict what awaits us.
On the other hand, we must all commit ourselves to try
to shape the future in ways that redound to the benefit of
all human beings regardless of race, colour, sex,
nationality, class, religion or political opinions.
We will not succeed in this if we do not succeed in
eradicating poverty. Poverty, in the words of the President
of the World Bank, is much more than a matter of
income alone: the poor seek the sense of well-being
which comes from peace of mind, from good health,
community and safety, from choice and freedom as well
as a steady source of income.
A necessary condition for the elimination of all
forms of poverty is the creation of fair rules for trade and
investment. As my Deputy Prime Minister said at the
twenty-second special session, just recently concluded, the
Seattle Round of negotiations must be characterized by a
willingness to implement the necessary reforms to
ameliorate the negative impact of the post-Uruguay
arrangements. We — the small, vulnerable, disadvantaged
States — must benefit from trade liberalization along with
our developed partners.
3

Those partners, however, must live up to the
commitments they have made to the world over the past
decades: it is scandalous that not only has the promise of
dedicating 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product to
development assistance not been met, we are getting further
from this goal every day, with barely 0.2 per cent of gross
domestic product now being so dedicated.
Effective solidarity between the haves and the have
nots is an essential part of the solution to the problems of
marginalization and poverty. That is why we commend the
actions of the Republic of China on Taiwan, which has not
been reluctant to help less well-endowed countries. Taiwan
is a good friend of Belize, and I would like to express here
our deep condolences to the people of Taiwan for the tragic
consequences of the earthquake that struck recently. It is
our hope that the United Nations will be able to embrace
the Republic of China on Taiwan in the family of nations,
as part of a peaceful and just solution to the China
question, one that respects the aspirations and rights of all
Chinese people.
I would like to endorse the support of our Secretary-
General for the concept of individual sovereignty in the
sense of the right of every individual to control his or her
own destiny. This, of course, presupposes a democratic
world, one in which people have the right to participate in
decisions that shape their lives. Indeed, such participation
defines the very existence of people; I participate, therefore
I am. But it is tantamount to putting Descartes before the
horse if we do not recognize that people cannot participate
effectively if they do not have access to education, to
knowledge, to information. My Government has made the
provision of such access its number one priority, and I urge
the international community to focus its resources on
assisting developing countries to empower their peoples
through human-resource development programmes.
We have squandered billions of dollars and millions of
lives in the real or imagined defence of State sovereignty;
let us now resolve to dedicate our resources to education,
the sine qua non for the realization of personal sovereignty.
We all want a better, more just, more peaceful and secure
world, and to achieve this we must have a world free of the
culture of violence and instant gratification, from the
scourge of drug-trafficking: we need a world of tolerance
and solidarity. None of this is possible without education.
People everywhere, but especially in the
underdeveloped countries, are asking what there is to
celebrate as we enter the new millennium. The least we can
do, the least we owe our people, is tell them the truth and
face the reality together. Let us not pretend that the future
is bright and untroubled, or that we have the answers to
all the problems that plague humanity. Let us instead
resolve to work together to harness the power of
technology, of science, of the marketplace, so that they
act for instead of against humanity.
Other speakers before me have called for a new
century of human development, for the creation of a new
global human order. This dream can become reality when,
at last, the powerful agree to sit down with the rest of us
as equals and together design the political, economic and
social architecture that will ensure global prosperity along
with global justice. Only then will the world live in peace
and proclaim, in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“And he shall judge among the nations, and
shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (The
Holy Bible, Isaiah 2:4)
Amen.


I extend my sincere and
warm congratulations to you, Sir, on your election as
President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth
4

session. It is indeed gratifying to see a distinguished
statesman and son of Africa lead the Assembly, especially
one whose country was born out of the crusade of the
United Nations for the freedom of colonial peoples. Your
personal devotion and commitment to the liberation struggle
of the people of Namibia makes you eminently qualified to
lead the United Nations in its search for peace. I am
confident that your experience, talent and energies will
ensure a successful outcome for the work of the session,
and I assure you of my country's support in all your
endeavours.
I also pay a well-deserved tribute to your predecessor,
Mr. Didier Opertti, for the excellent manner in which he
discharged his duties as President of the Assembly at its
last session.
To Secretary-General Kofi Annan, I extend my
country's gratitude and support for his tireless efforts in the
daunting task of finding lasting solutions to problems that
face our Organization. We particularly commend him for
his latest brave efforts in East Timor.
Permit me also to express my delegation's profound
joy at seeing three States join the ranks of the Members of
the United Nations. The addition of the Republic of
Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga
to our Organization brings closer to fruition the hope of the
international community to see the United Nations
comprising all the countries of the world. We say welcome
to these new Members and extend to them a hand of
friendship.
I also wish to express my satisfaction with the
Secretary-General's trenchant report on the work of the
Organization. In particular, I concur with his analysis of the
moral dilemma that faces the United Nations when the
Security Council is unable to act, because of a lack of
consensus, in the face of the most heinous human rights
violations. In those circumstances, and while conflicts
continue unabated in different parts of the world, the
capacity of the international conflict-resolution machinery
is put to a severe test. Perhaps no conflict has done this as
intensely as the one in Kosovo.
The Kosovo crisis represented the very disturbing
trend towards the most serious violations of human rights
in the form of ethnic cleansing and impunity. After the
experience of Bosnia, which is still so fresh in our minds,
the world could not be expected to sit back and take no
action. It would indeed be a sad comment on the efficacy
of the United Nations if the next millennium were to begin
under a cloud of tolerance of impunity in the face of
acknowledged genocide and other gross violations of
human rights. While it is recognized that the conflict was
an internal matter of Serbia, the dilemma was whether the
world could sit idly by and watch a people being
exterminated.
The more difficult question that Kosovo raises is the
one of the role of the Security Council in similar crises.
The Charter places responsibility for the maintenance of
international peace and security squarely in the hands of
the Security Council. That body must therefore discharge
this function with seriousness and firmness. It must resist
the temptation to view questions of international peace
and security through the lenses of national fears and
preoccupations. If it is paralyzed by parochial interests,
the temptation to take unilateral action increases. The
belated submission of the Kosovo issue to the jurisdiction
of the Security Council is therefore very welcome, as is
the United Nations involvement through its civilian
administration.
In a similar vein is the tragedy that is East Timor,
whose denouement seems happily to be in sight. After
many years of inconclusive attempts to find a solution to
the problem of East Timor, the new Government in
Jakarta finally paved the way by allowing the people of
that sad country to exercise their right to choose. The
cruel violence that was unleashed against them, however,
when they did express their preference in unequivocal
terms is a source of great dismay. We are grateful,
therefore, that an international peacekeeping force has
now entered the country and hope that it will bring the
nightmare of the people of East Timor to an end. We call
on the Government of Indonesia to bring to book the
perpetrators of violations of human rights. We look
forward to welcoming East Timor in the councils of
independent States in accordance with the wishes of its
people.
The last decade of the twentieth century has been a
time of momentous changes in all parts of the world,
particularly in Africa, where for the first time
unprecedented democratic changes and reforms have
transformed the political landscape across the continent.
We remain concerned, however, that the proliferation of
conflicts in Africa has had a serious negative impact on
our development capacities, as these conflicts have
undermined efforts to improve the living conditions of our
peoples and retarded progress towards Africa's economic,
social and political transformation.
5

The situation in Angola continues to be a source of
concern for the people of Africa in general and the
countries of southern Africa in particular. As UNITA
continues to perfect its war machine and effort, the
prospects for peace have become more elusive. The people
of Angola have endured hardship for more than 40 years,
when the years of the civil war are added to those of a very
brutal colonial war. There are millions of adults in that
country who have never lived in a state of peace. Their
country is richly endowed with resources, and yet these
have not been harnessed for combating the many evils
facing the country, but have, on the contrary, been used for
prosecuting a war that has impoverished the people beyond
measure.
The States of southern Africa will continue to search
for a solution to the Angolan crisis. In this regard, they
expect to receive the support of the international community
in the form of intensified sanctions against UNITA and its
leader, Mr. Savimbi, and increased humanitarian assistance
for the victims of the conflict.
The crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
has equally been a source of concern for the countries of
southern Africa since its inception, in view of its
implications for the security of the region as a whole.
Various efforts made under the auspices of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC), coordinated by
President Chiluba of Zambia, in collaboration with the
Organization of African Unity (OAU), the United Nations
and other interested parties, have started to bear fruit with
the signing of a Ceasefire Agreement in Lusaka on 10 July
1999 by the heads of State of Angola, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda and
Zimbabwe. The signing, finally, of this Agreement by the
representatives of the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy
should help to pave the way for a permanent and peaceful
solution.
On the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, we wish
to commend the Organization of African Unity (OAU)
Secretary-General for his untiring efforts to find a durable
solution to the problem. We believe that the OAU
Framework Agreement remains the only viable option for
the resolution of that unfortunate conflict. We, therefore,
appeal to the two parties to the conflict to implement, as
soon as possible, the technical arrangements worked out by
the OAU, the United Nations, Algeria and the United
States.
We continue to support the United Nations efforts to
hold a referendum to determine the true wishes of the
people of Western Sahara and once more appeal to the
Government of Morocco to assist the process and ensure
its success in accordance with the will of the Saharawi
people.
In Sierra Leone we welcome the ceasefire that has
been arranged under the auspices of the President of
Togo. However, the settlement raises some troubling
questions. It is difficult to accept that those who hold
grievances against a legitimately elected Government can
shoot their way into power-sharing, especially when they
have been accused of the most chilling atrocities, as
occurred in Sierra Leone. Certainly those who are
aggrieved have a right to challenge the governance of
their Government, but this should be done within the
limits of constitutional order and propriety. In spite of
these reservations, we wish the people of Sierra Leone
well and will continue to support their efforts to establish
lasting peace in their country.
We also wish to congratulate the countries of West
Africa under the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) for the
sacrifices they have made to bring about peace in their
neighbourhood.
Regarding Palestine, all peace-loving people dream
of the day when the permanent status negotiations will
commence and soon be followed by a permanent peace
and a permanent State for the Palestinians. We therefore
encourage the parties to the Middle East conflict to
persevere in their quest for the attainment of the goal
which has eluded them for so long.
The need to secure our global neighbourhood has
never been greater. Unfortunately, the threat of weapons
of mass destruction continues to bedevil our hopes for a
peaceful world, and there does not seem to be a global
determination to eliminate these weapons. This is so
despite the fact that over the years this Assembly has
adopted numerous resolutions on the issue of arms control
and disarmament and in particular on the establishment of
nuclear-weapon-free zones in different regions of the
world. Unless the United Nations of the future is able to
make significant progress in nuclear disarmament, it runs
the risk of losing credibility as an institution dedicated to
the pursuit of peace. The United Nations of the twenty-
first century, therefore, should be one which can give
humankind hope for a world of diminished poverty and
no threat of a nuclear war.
6

Tomorrow, 24 September, marks the third anniversary
of the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT). It has long been accepted that the future
credibility of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT) will depend on the effective
implementation of the CTBT. Convinced of the need to
enhance the institutional fabric of the CTBT, Lesotho
deposited its instrument of ratification of the CTBT with
the Secretary-General earlier this month, thus joining the
steadily increasing number of States that have so far ratified
the Convention. Lesotho supports the holding of the special
conference on the CTBT, as envisaged under article 14 of
that Treaty, with a view to accelerating its ratification.
In the midst of all these conflict situations is the
dramatic and unacceptable deterioration in the level of
adherence to the norms of humanitarian law as opposite
sides to a conflict indiscriminately and ruthlessly employ
any and all means that might advance their ends. Civilian
populations have become the main targets and direct
victims of fighting between hostile armies, with women and
children suffering disproportionately from atrocities that
include rape, sexual exploitation, murder and the mutilation
of civilians.
The plight of the victims of these heinous crimes
underscores the imperative for the creation of a new
judicial body that would extend the rule of law in its
broadest conception. Following the overwhelming
endorsement by 120 nations in Rome last summer of the
idea to set up an International Criminal Court, the early
establishment of the Court is now a top priority. It is
gratifying to see that just over a year since the conclusion
of the Rome Treaty 86 States have reaffirmed their
commitment to the Court by signing the Treaty, while four
have already ratified it. My Government remains committed
to the early establishment of the International Criminal
Court and has every intention to abide by the terms of the
International Criminal Court Treaty and will ratify it soon.
In his report “Renewing the United Nations: A
Programme for Reform”, of 14 July 1997, the Secretary-
General proposed the holding of a Millennium Assembly
with a summit segment in the year 2000, at which heads of
State and Government could “come together to articulate
their vision of prospects and challenges for the new
millennium and agree on a process for fundamental review
of the role of the United Nations.” (A/51/950, para. 91)
For us in the developing world, the most crucial
question facing the international community is how to
bridge the huge gap between the haves and the have nots of
this world. Unless we redouble our efforts in this regard,
our endeavours to curb such social ills as crime will be in
vain. By the same token, illegal immigration in search of
better living conditions elsewhere, which is the direct
consequence of economic inequalities, will continue to
increase. It behooves us all, therefore, to treat the problem
of poverty with all the seriousness it deserves, and this
fact must be reflected in the deliberations during the
millennium summit.
The Economic and Social Council deserves our
congratulations for highlighting the problem during both
its high-level and operational activity segments this year.
Of course, the problem of poverty has received United
Nations attention on several occasions, most prominently
during the social summit of 1995 in Copenhagen, when
the target of halving absolute poverty by the year 2015
was agreed. Nevertheless, the problem is still with us and
there are no signs that it is abating; hence the need to re-
dedicate ourselves to that noble goal.
As is well known, Lesotho is one of the least-
developed countries. It is in recognition of that fact that
we are committing a considerable proportion of our
meagre resources to the war against poverty. Among
other measures, we have decided to tackle educational
deficiency in the country, which is one of the main
contributors to poverty. In this regard, Government has
been increasing the annual budget for education by 4 per
cent in real terms, and this increase has had a significant
impact on the delivery of education and the attainment of
an adult literacy rate of 70.5 per cent. Furthermore, the
Government has recently announced its intention to
introduce free primary education beginning in the year
2000.
What we, however, find puzzling is the scepticism
of some of our development partners regarding the
sustainability of the programme. If its viability were a
cause for concern, we would have expected expressions
of support to ensure the success of such a worthy
initiative, which is in keeping with so many goals of
global conferences for poverty eradication.
The rampant HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan
Africa is putting an unbearable strain on already fragile
health systems, eroding the gains made in child survival
and the achievement of better health. The combination of
HIV/AIDS and malaria is closely associated with
increases in maternal mortality and the significant
reduction in life expectancy in many African countries.
We commend the work of the United Nations system in
7

this regard, and in particular the indication that the response
of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, in
partnership with various bodies, including the private sector,
is commensurate with the gravity of the situation. The
assistance of the international community is required to
continue these efforts.
The problem of external debt, which continues to be
a developmental problem for Africa, received considerable
attention at the recent Cologne Summit of the G-8, and
promising decisions were taken to relieve the debt of the
highly indebted poor countries. Lesotho appreciates the
various initiatives to ameliorate the problem and in general
supports them, including the effort to find appropriate
financing mechanisms for the Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries Debt Initiative. While Lesotho has successfully
endeavoured to meet its international financial obligations
and commitments, my Government is now faced with a
heavy and unbearable burden of debt-servicing, which is
constraining our national development efforts. We therefore
call for a review of the Initiative, with a view to
substantially relaxing the eligibility criteria so that debt-
stressed countries like Lesotho may also benefit from it.
The recent sale of gold reserves by some countries has
already resulted in a substantial drop in the price of gold
and the consequential closure of marginal gold mines in
South Africa. The overall impact has been reduced
employment opportunities, not only in South Africa but also
in neighbouring countries, such as Lesotho, which have
traditionally depended on employment in South African
gold mines. Let us take care not to create an African
employment crisis so soon after the Asian financial crisis.
It is incumbent upon the international community to work
with affected countries to develop strategies for mitigating
the negative effects of whatever mechanisms are agreed for
financing the HIPC Initiative.
The General Assembly decided at its fifty-second
session to hold an event in the year 2001 for the purpose of
addressing, in a holistic manner, the question of financing
for development in both its national and international
aspects and in the context of globalization and
interdependence. We must face up to the fact that
development is in crisis and that, unless we take bold
measures to find resources for financing it, the future of
mankind is bleak indeed. My delegation fully shares the
view that through this process, which will also address
development through the perspective of finance, the
international community will be afforded a unique
opportunity to start the new millennium with a momentous
political gesture that demonstrates global solidarity for,
inter alia, poverty eradication and the attainment of
economic growth and sustainable development.
It is in the interest of all countries to pursue
development cooperation on the basis of genuine
partnership and mutually beneficial arrangements. We
remain convinced that the contemporary realities of
globalization and liberalization make it clear that capital
flows from developed countries not only benefit
developing countries, but also combine in a dynamic
process with the resources of developing countries in a
manner that brings benefits to both developing and
developed countries.
We also want to stress that every effort should be
made to narrow the gap between developing countries —
in particular, the least developed countries, such as
Lesotho — and the developed countries. In this regard,
we await with anticipation the outcome of the review next
year of the Plan of Action for the Least Developed
Countries.
It is worth repeating that when we adopted the
Programme of Action at the United Nations International
Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in
September 1994, we were committing ourselves to the
support of strategies aimed at enhancing the quality of life
for families and individuals through recognition of their
rights to quality services. The Conference was indeed a
turning point that marked a departure from the notion of
population control to a human-rights-based approach in
addressing our demographic concerns.
In conclusion, my delegation would like to
rededicate itself to the principles of democracy, good
governance, observance of human rights and the rule of
law as the only way in which all of us can ensure a
prosperous and lasting future for all our peoples.


It is a great honour for me to address the
Assembly at its fifty-fourth session, and its President, Mr.
Theo-Ben Gurirab. You may be assured, Sir, of my
highest respect, and may I extend to you my best wishes
for success in your efforts.
This fifty-fourth Assembly, the last before the year
2000, inevitably gives us food for thought. On the one
hand, it urges us to turn to the achievements and the
major successes of which the United Nations can rightly
be proud. On the other hand, it urges us to rise to all the
challenges which the new millennium will not fail to put
before us. May our debates here help establish peace and
security throughout the world, settle conflicts and develop
innovative solutions to the problems we will have to face.
The noble ideals which have guided the United
Nations over the years have neither become outdated nor
lost their relevance. Peace in the world, combating
poverty, defending human rights — this is a programme
which is still in force and whose goals could not be more
clear-cut. It is rather like the struggle of the mythical hero
against the Hydra: he cuts off one head and nine more
grow in its place. Nevertheless, we cannot possibly give
up the fight and we must not drop our guard, not if the
world we wish to build is a civilized one.
8

(spoke in English)
The fifty-fourth General Assembly of the United
Nations is being held at a time when the United Nations
system has experienced a certain amount of strain and is
faced with important challenges. These have given rise to
questions about the effectiveness and the very relevance of
this body within the contemporary international system.
This scepticism ranges from concerns about the capability
of the Organization to address regional conflicts and the
needs of the developing world, to concerns about budgetary
management problems. No doubt there is some basis for
each of those concerns. Nevertheless, they should not
undermine the fundamental importance of a truly global
Organization which over a period of decades has earned
respect around the world. Our ranks are constantly growing,
and the United Nations continues to approach the goal of
truly worldwide representation.
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the
Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the
Kingdom of Tonga upon their admission to United Nations
membership.
The reform process of the United Nations is under
way, and my country, Latvia, fully supports it. After all,
Member States are the ones that set the agenda of the
Organization, and it will be the quality and commitment of
each State that will ultimately determine the success or
failure of our common efforts.
Some of the negative feelings about the United
Nations stem from excessive expectations. One cannot view
the United Nations as a panacea, particularly where
decisions on long-lasting regional problems are concerned
or when preventive actions on a regional level are long
overdue. Yet even in those situations a modern United
Nations system is expected to seek earlier and more
effective involvement than was the case in South-East
Europe, East Timor or the Middle East. It must be stressed
that the painful refugee crisis of Kosovo could not possibly
be resolved without the direct involvement of the United
Nations and its institutions. But, sadly, the maximum
potential of the United Nations cannot always be utilized
because of prejudice, lack of political will or perceived
political ambitions. Let us not forget that the costs of our
reluctance to take action are extremely high: too often our
reluctance results in the deaths of innocent people and is
the cause of wholesale destruction which may take years
and decades to remedy.
The topical issues of cooperation, conflict
prevention, non-proliferation, arms control and
disarmament, humanitarian questions, environmental
protection, poverty eradication and gender equality need
to be addressed on a global scale. Without a doubt, the
United Nations and its institutions must play an
increasingly important role in resolving these issues.
Since the mandate of the United Nations is to serve
humanity, the United Nations should observe the principle
of universality. The United Nations capacity for conflict
prevention and preventive diplomacy is by no means
exhausted and further attention should be paid to fostering
the observance of these preventive principles throughout
the world.
Even as we speak here today, many people in this
world are suffering at the hands of terrorists or live under
terrorist threat. Any instances of terrorism should be
universally condemned, and steps must be taken to
strengthen the international response to this problem.
For the United Nations to become a truly modern
Organization, it must reflect the new realities of a
changed international context. Reform of the Security
Council remains central to the revitalization programme
of the United Nations and should reflect both the needs of
the international community and present-day realities. The
acquisition or possession of nuclear weapons must no
longer be the basis for super-Power status, and the future
model of the Council will have to reflect this reality. That
model should also make the Council more open to the
views and contributions of smaller States and non-
permanent members.
How does Latvia see its contribution to the new
United Nations? My country is one of those nations that
could not be a part of the United Nations at its inception;
because freedom of choice was forbidden our people
when Latvia lost its independence in 1940, we have
special respect for this principle today. We also reserve a
special place in our hearts for the United Nations because
it was the first international Organization which we joined
after the restoration of independence in 1991. It was a
moment of celebration, pride and even euphoria as justice
prevailed and a long struggle to join the community of
nations finally came to an end.
But our people quickly realized that we were now
setting out along a new road. After a 50-year delay,
Latvia was faced with the task of becoming an equal,
responsible and contributing member of a new Europe
and a new, globalized international community.
9

Membership in the United Nations was just the first
step along that road towards reasserting our national and
our human rights. More importantly, we recognized our
responsibility to help other nations setting out on this path.
Yet, even at the very end of this century, we still
encounter thinking which a priori denies the right of nations
to choose their own destiny. Thankfully, such views are
becoming less and less acceptable as the years go by. For
Latvia, as a free and sovereign nation, the last few years
have been a remarkably successful period of active
integration into the international community, of internal
restructuring, of wide-ranging reforms and societal
regeneration. Fifty years of occupation have left us with a
heavy social, economic and psychological legacy, but we
have made tremendous efforts to overcome this in every
way. The support offered by the United Nations in this
onerous task has been of enormous significance and I
should like to take this opportunity to reiterate the heartfelt
appreciation of Latvia for the invaluable assistance provided
by the United Nations.
During this century Latvia has made a remarkable
turnaround. It has gone from the depths of tragedy to the
heights of success. In a few short years, Latvia has grown
into a politically stable State with strong democratic
institutions and practices. Latvia has restored a thriving
market economy and a deep respect for individual rights
and freedoms. Over the past few years and with the help of
the international community, Latvia has attached particular
importance to the process of forming a fully integrated,
harmonious society. It is a challenging but critically
important task for my country, the more so because of the
burdens imposed by our historical legacy. We perceive it as
an ongoing process that involves many cultural and
educational aspects and includes the important element of
the individual’s right to choose. Our goal is to give each
resident of our country an equal opportunity to contribute
to a civic identity that shares common goals and values
with all Europe. As part of this programme, my country
will continue to attach particular importance to
strengthening the role of the Latvian language and
incorporating minorities into the everyday affairs of the
country.
Latvia believes in complementarity between regional
and global efforts. For Latvia, integration into Europe
remains a high priority but it is not the end of the road.
Integration into the transatlantic security alliance would be
a prudent step but not a sufficient one. For Latvia to
succeed, and for the people of Latvia to have the full
opportunity they deserve to live secure, healthy and
prosperous lives, Latvia must be integrated into the
political, business and intellectual exchange of the global
community.
We are very proud that on 10 February 1999 Latvia
became the first Baltic State to join the World Trade
Organization as a full-fledged member.
Within the range of its capabilities, Latvia has
participated in peace operations in the Balkans and has
contributed to relieving the suffering of Kosovo refugees.
Latvia has been an active contributor to United
Nations revitalization through its membership in the
Economic and Social Council and the Commission on
Human Rights.
Latvia has put forward its candidature for the
Security Council elections in 2005. This spring my
country signed the Statute of the International Criminal
Court and is currently planning the ratification process.
A very visible indication of our appreciation of the
work of the United Nations and a concrete manifestation
of Latvia’s support for the Secretary General’s
programme for United Nations reform is our donation of
a historic, fully renovated building in the centre of our
capital as a shared home for all United Nations agencies
in Latvia. On 16 July this year, and as one of my first
official functions as President, I had the pleasure of
participating in the official inauguration of the United
Nations House in Riga, one of the first United Nations
Houses in Europe and the very first in our region.
I should like to express my country’s full support for
the proposed Millennium Assembly of 2000 and trust that
it will become a landmark in setting our sights for the
twenty-first century.
May the results of the fifty-fourth session of the
General Assembly advance our common cause at the
dawn of the new millennium.


On behalf of
the Chad delegation, and on my own behalf, I would like
to extend warm congratulations to you, Mr. President, on
your election to the presidency of the General Assembly
at its fifty-fourth session. This is both a tribute to your
country, Namibia, for its contribution in defending the
ideals of our Organization and a recognition of your
considerable ability. The delegation of Chad is firmly
convinced that your experience, talents and wisdom will
contribute to the success of our deliberations. We assure
you of our full support and cooperation in the
accomplishment of your noble mission.
I would also like to express our gratitude to your
predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, who tactfully
and adroitly led the work of the fifty-third session.
Allow me also to praise the merits of our Secretary-
General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the foresight, wisdom and,
above all, patience with which he is guiding the
Organization, as well as for his sustained efforts in
seeking international peace and security, despite all kinds
of difficulties and the immensity of his tasks.
In a few months we will enter the third millennium,
a millennium filled with uncertainties, fears and
unknowns, but also one of hope. That millennium will be
characterized by globalization and, above all, the
domination of human intelligence over nature. It will be
an era of communications in which our planet will shrink
to a tiny area. It will also mean the disappearance of
barriers to the circulation of ideas, knowledge, culture and
science. But it will also be an era of competition and
complementarity.
During this century, the aspirations of most peoples
was to be fed, clothed, cared for, educated, trained,
housed and gainfully employed. It is legitimate to hope
that with the arrival of the coming century these essential,
basic human needs will be met, so that we can avoid a
further widening of the gap between wealthy and poor
countries.
On the eve of the third millennium, we must
acknowledge that the lofty objectives of the United
Nations, primarily the maintenance of international peace
and security and the reduction of poverty among Member
States, are far from being attained, although we have been
focusing on them for half a century.
How can we not ask ourselves these kinds of
questions at this great annual gathering, where the scope
and urgency of political and economic problems are made
so clear? It is time to contemplate solutions that include
21

new kinds of relationships, based on solidarity and
partnership, that go beyond the traditional relations of
cooperation, which have proved their limitations.
Turning more specifically to Chad, our major concern
is to create conditions of peace and security through a fully
participatory political process that involves the various
political parties in the management of public affairs and in
the national reconciliation policy for all the people of Chad.
The involvement in this approach of all segments of society
has enabled our country to restore political stability and
civil peace and to establish constitutional and democratic
institutions.
We are firmly convinced that a democracy can be
effective only when it is based on certain republican
concepts, primarily justice, the primacy of human rights and
the participation of local communities in the management
of their own affairs. The recent establishment of the
Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council speak to this
major concern, as does that of the National Commission on
Human Rights, in operation since 1994. These efforts were
acknowledged and led the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights last April to end its consideration of the
human rights situation in Chad and consequently remove
our country from the confidential procedural situation it had
been in since March 1991.
Finally, our Government has undertaken a
decentralization policy aimed at implementing the choice
made by the people of Chad, as reflected in the
Constitution of 11 April 1996, through the establishment of
decentralized territorial communities and the gradual
transfer of authority.
In an effort to consolidate peace and reinforce social
cohesion, the Government of Chad has focused on two
questions: the army and anti-personnel mines. With respect
to the thorny problems relating to the army and security,
our Government has undertaken to ensure professional
training for demobilized former combatants in order to
redeploy them to new jobs, to provide them support in
developing income-generating skills and to see to it that
their basic needs are met.
With respect to security issues, we have set up a
demining programme that should contribute to increasing
the safety of the national territory, where approximately a
million mines and an indeterminate amount of ammunition
of all calibres remain buried, thereby helping to open up
Chad, especially the northern part of the country. The
presence of these dangerous devices seriously impedes the
movement of goods and people and hence the
development of the regions concerned.
In this regard, my country has signed and ratified the
Ottawa Convention and has set up national structures
supervised by the National High Commissioner for
Demining in order effectively to combat these lethal
devices. The objectives of that programme focus, inter
alia, on reducing the number of victims, making the main
roads safer, promoting economic and social development
and facilitating the return of displaced persons.
The implementation of this ambitious demining
programme, whose dimensions extend beyond the borders
of our country, cannot be done without the assistance of
our partners and friends. That is why we wish to appeal
once again from this lofty rostrum to the solidarity of
Member States of our Organization and to ask them to
provide us with assistance and cooperation.
On the eve of the twenty-first century, the welfare of
the country's citizens remains the motivating force for
governmental action in Chad. That action is based on the
ambitious reforms undertaken since 1995 and focuses
primarily on a modern and dynamic economy. In point of
fact, following devaluation in 1994, Chad rejoined the
Bretton Woods institutions and on 23 April 1995 adopted
a structural adjustment programme for the medium term,
with resources provided by the International Monetary
Fund in the framework of its Enhanced Structural
Adjustment Facility and by the World Bank in terms of
structural-adjustment credit, and with financial assistance
from our usual partners — France, the European Union
and the African Development Bank. Bold reforms have
been undertaken that focus primarily on stabilizing public
finance, correcting external imbalances and ensuring
sustainable growth. To this end we instituted an effective
policy to combat poverty.
Our Government has drafted and adopted a new
sustainable development programme focusing on three
major challenges: economic and financial, social, and
political and institutional. The goal is to create a climate
of social stability through sustained structural reform and
through fiscal, monetary and budgetary policies that will
contribute to a macro-economic consolidation and to
controlling inflation.
This fight against poverty focuses on four strategic
priority elements in the areas of health, education,
infrastructure and rural development. In this undertaking
we have received support from the international
22

community at the fourth round table on Chad, held in
Geneva on 21 and 22 October 1998, where some $1.12
billion was pledged.
In this regard, I wish to express our deepest gratitude
to friendly countries and international financial
organizations and institutions for their strong response to
our appeal for international solidarity. The people of Chad
will never forget those commendable efforts. Following that
round table, we organized two sectoral meetings, on health
and on rural development. Meetings on infrastructure and
education will take place in the near future. We reiterate
our appeal to all interested parties to participate actively in
these meetings, which will be held in N'Djamena in
November and December 1999, respectively.
One cannot speak of Chad's economy today without
referring to the question of the exploitation of its oil
resources. This is a key political, diplomatic and socio-
economic issue that has fueled heated discussions both
inside and outside the country. In addition to its undeniable
economic importance, this project will contribute
significantly to subregional integration because it establishes
a partnership between two brotherly countries, namely
Cameroon and Chad.
In this respect, we have taken into account the
development difficulties that Chad is facing, and we are
considering our future in terms of petroleum-related issues
with a great deal of caution. The Government and the
Parliament of Chad have already set up management and
distribution mechanisms for the anticipated oil income. For
the first time ever in the history of the exploitation of oil
deposits, legislation has been enacted to guarantee
transparency in the management of oil revenue and also to
set aside some of that income for territorial communities in
the oil-producing regions and for future generations. The oil
activity is an exceptional opportunity, which should
contribute to the gradual rebalancing of our budget and give
us room for manoeuvre to establish a true policy for
development. This project has rightly raised hopes
throughout the country.
We are all firmly convinced that new efforts and many
sacrifices are required to ensure the gradual implementation
of the purposes and principles enshrined in the United
Nations Charter as they relate to disputes between a
considerable number of Member States as well as to other
equally challenging evils that continue to trouble the human
conscience. How can we remain indifferent when
confronted with the scourges of poverty, illiteracy, foreign
aggression, conflict, various pandemics and transnational
problems associated with the degradation of the
environment and drug trafficking? Unfortunately, these
challenges will further increase with globalization, which
is now inevitable. Africa is the continent that has been
most exposed to those evils, and the growing number of
crises is causing our efforts to be spread too thinly and
reducing the meagre resources available and dividing our
countries.
The interdependence of peace and socio-economic
development needs no further proof, especially in Chad,
which has experienced the torments of war, its disastrous
effects on the population and its repercussions on social
and economic life. Out of a sense of duty and
international obligation, my country has made and will
continue to make enormous sacrifices for other African
countries that have fallen victim to the problems inherent
in coexistence. That is why we have participated in
various peacekeeping operations in the subregion of
Central Africa. In this context, I am pleased to recall
Operation Turquoise, in which Chad participated to save
lives in Rwanda. Chad also contributed to the Inter-
African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of the
Bangui Agreements and the United Nations Mission in
the Central African Republic, which sought a negotiated
solution between the Government of the Central African
Republic and a part of the rebel army, and which resulted
in bringing together different viewpoints opinions and
establishing conditions required for the organization of
multi-party elections.
In that same spirit, my country intervened in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our involvement,
together with that of other countries, enabled the situation
to be stabilized and promoted dialogue between the
warring parties. With the signing of the Syrte accords on
18 April 1999, Chad withdrew its troops from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The signing of the
Lusaka ceasefire agreement by all the parties in conflict
has opened up new prospects for that brotherly people.
Chad hopes that that agreement, which the Security
Council has endorsed, will lead to a definitive peace in
that country and the entire Great Lakes region. Chad will
support that process.
The tragedy in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo has not made us lose sight of the situation in the
Republic of the Congo, which was recently on the verge
of breaking up. Now passion seems to be giving way to
reason. We welcome the will shown by both the
Government of Congo and the opposition parties, who
have taken the wise decision to negotiate to restore peace
23

to their country. Chad welcomes and encourages this
positive development.
To this rather sombre picture we must add the fragile
situation in Angola, where the civil war has resumed
throughout the national territory. This is of great concern
for all of Africa, particularly since the resumption of
hostilities will undoubtedly mean the failure of the
considerable efforts made on all sides to bring peace to that
country, which has been ravaged by a long war, thus
prolonging the suffering of the Angolan people. We appeal
to the Security Council to assist in restoring peace to that
wounded country.
We welcome the tireless efforts of the Economic
Community of West African States to bring peace and
security to West Africa. Those efforts have led to the
signing of the ceasefire agreements in Sierra Leone and
Guinea-Bissau. All the parties involved in those crises
should show restraint and work towards reconciliation in
the higher interests of their peoples.
With regard to the Horn of Africa, we note that there
has been no obvious progress in the willingness of the
parties involved in the conflict in Somalia to find a political
solution leading to national unity. While we welcome the
efforts of Mr. Hosni Mubarak aimed at a negotiated
resolution of the crisis, we also appeal to the Somali leaders
to assist in restoring peace to their country. We regret the
resumption of hostilities between the Ethiopians and
Eritreans, which has led to a considerable loss of life and
material damage. We urge all those who have mediated
between the warring parties to persevere so as to put an end
to those hostilities, which have further exacerbated an
already disturbing situation.
Closer to home, Chad welcomes the decision of the
Security Council to suspend the embargo against the Great
Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. We urge that the
sanctions be lifted once and for all; they have seriously
damaged the interests of the brotherly people of that
neighbouring country.
Of all the continents, Africa seems to have suffered
the most from the economic crisis and from wars and other
conflict situations. But we have not forgotten the major
problems that other peoples are facing.
With regard to the situation in the Middle East, it has
already been established that the question of Palestine is at
the heart of the conflict. Its resolution lies in the
implementation of the Oslo accords and, in particular, in
full respect by all the parties for United Nations
resolutions. The credibility of the Security Council is at
stake. With the arrival of a new Israeli Government, there
is new hope for the future. Chad encourages all the
parties to work together in the same direction.
Elsewhere, the effects of the conflicts between Iraq
and Kuwait and between Iraq and Iran persist, hampering
the final return to peace. We appeal to the sense of
responsibility of the former warring parties to work
tirelessly to restore full peace.
In the Balkans, Chad encourages the efforts of the
international community to restore peace to the region,
and in particular to Kosovo. As for East Timor, we urge
all the parties involved to complete the process begun
under the auspices of the United Nations so as to end the
suffering of the people there.
In Asia, Chad is concerned about the fate of the
Republic of China on Taiwan and its 22 million
inhabitants. The Republic of China on Taiwan, which
plays a major role in world trade, is a peace-loving
country that fulfils the obligations in the United Nations
Charter, as it has shown on many occasions. Chad
supports the admission of the Republic of China on
Taiwan to the United Nations as a means of correcting an
injustice.
It is well known that a number of conflicts stem
from the unbridled arms race. In this regard, the
circulation, proliferation of and illicit trafficking in small
arms in Africa is of concern to us, particularly since this
phenomenon, the result of the end of the cold war and
numerous conflicts in the continent, has taken a disturbing
turn. If appropriate solutions are not found soon, peace,
security and stability in our countries will be constantly
threatened.
To address this situation, a conference on small arms
and drug trafficking will take place in Chad under the
auspices of the United Nations Standing Advisory
Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa; it
will be followed immediately by the twelfth ministerial
meeting of that Committee. Those two important meetings
will be held at Ndjamena from 25 to 30 October 1999.
Chad is honoured to act as host to the Committee and
will do everything in its power to ensure the success of
its work.
The United Nations was founded in a historical
context with which we are all familiar. It has been and
24

remains a place for bringing people and ideas closer
together, and its very existence has helped avert more than
one catastrophe. But the international political and
economic environment has changed, and the great rivalry of
the cold war has disappeared, giving way to an international
system that is still finding itself. We now see an increased
desire by Member States to participate in the management
of international affairs in addition to the management of
their own. United Nations structures must therefore be
adapted to the new scope of today’s problems, which
requires an equal sharing of international responsibilities;
these must no longer be the monopoly of a few States,
however powerful they may be.
To respond to these concerns, the Security Council
must be reformed. Here, Chad wholeheartedly supports the
position of the Organization of African Unity that, inter
alia, there must be equitable and legitimate representation
on the Security Council for the African continent.
With respect to the global economy and world trade,
appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that the all States
will share equally in the benefits of globalization.
Globalization of the economy certainly can have the
advantage of eliminating all discriminatory and unfair
practices in world trade, but it must be recognized that the
lack of competitive power of the economies of the countries
of the South does not enable them to benefit fully from
this. Moreover, the unbridled liberalization of markets and
the lack of measures to consolidate certain gains are
weakening their economies and marginalizing them in the
world arena.
Similarly, the indebtedness of those countries places
a heavy burden on their meagre budgetary resources, and
wipes out all their development efforts. I welcome the
recent decision taken by the Group of Seven at its summit
held at Cologne, Germany, to ease the debt of heavily
indebted poor countries. Such initiatives are praiseworthy,
but they remain insufficient. Chad urges the wealthy
countries to make a greater effort to enable poor countries
finally to address the external-debt burden, which is a true
obstacle to economic and social development.


I congratulate you, Sir, on your
election as President of the General Assembly; it is a sure
guarantee of success for the fifty-fourth session. I also wish
to thank your predecessor, Didier Opertti, the Foreign
Minister of Uruguay, for his exemplary management of the
Assembly's work during the past year.
On the many issues facing the General Assembly in
the year to come, Italy shares and supports the statement
made yesterday by the Foreign Minister of Finland
speaking on behalf of the European Union.
The last few years of this century have disproved the
notion that people and human freedoms take second place
to State sovereignty. In Kosovo and East Timor a
coalition of States resorted to the use of force, but not for
self-seeking national interests, not to defend their borders,
not to impose new hegemonies.
The end of the nuclear nightmare has coincided with
a rampant proliferation of local conflicts, terrorist acts and
traumatic economic and financial crises. Can the end of
communism have given peace to former cold-war enemies
and conflict to the rest of the world? The cold war
brought a precarious, imperfect peace. Was that preferable
to the tragic series of conflicts that have embroiled
humanity over the past 10 years? The division of Europe
helped neutralize tensions throughout the planet. Does this
mean that nuclear weapons brought about a period of
unprecedented stability, and — as some have suggested,
paradoxically — that we should award the Nobel Peace
Prize to the bomb? The breakdown of the former
international order has created a plethora of new States.
Does this mean that dividing the world in two was the
only way to grant common citizenship to peoples and
religious groups that have never learned the art of
peaceful coexistence? The international community now
takes military action to deal with tragedies that only a few
years ago would have left us indifferent, and yet we are
still influenced by military assessments, strategic interests,
regional solidarity, public opinion and the magnitude of
any human rights violations. How can we act according
to more precise rules, based primarily on the duty of
States to protect the rights of individuals?
The crises that have broken out in recent years have
raised agonizing dilemmas and difficult questions that
demand answers. It would be wrong to use the
imperfections of the international system as an excuse for
inaction. But it would also be wrong to ignore the new
demands for certainty and the rule of law: the greatest
challenge is how to relate authority to law and lay down
codes of conduct and political discipline that reconcile
power with legitimacy.
Allow me to articulate a set of principles that could
guide our action in the new century. First, we should
enhance crisis prevention rather than conflict suppression.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has rightly observed that
19

we must eradicate the cultural and economic causes of
conflicts and that a culture of conflict prevention must
prevail over the culture of conflict suppression. We know
what these causes of conflict are: the huge gap between the
living standards and incomes of different classes and
nations; the exponential increase in mass migration from
poor to rich countries; cultural difference and the conflicts
and fanaticism it triggers; criminal acts for the sake of
glorifying or even creating a nation. These are the four
horsemen of the contemporary Apocalypse.
Secondly, we should use force only as a last resort.
Arms should be used to stop criminal behaviour only when
economic and political instruments are inapplicable or have
failed. Ten years ago, these same instruments brought down
totalitarian communism, which was a more formidable
enemy than today's tyrants. In the Balkans and in East
Timor, peacekeeping operations were launched to address
serious, massive and systematic violations of human rights.
The decisions to intervene were made after repeated
demands that the culprits end a state of illegality; after an
exhaustive and fruitless search for a diplomatic solution;
and by a group of States rather than by a single Power.
We are living in an age of unfinished wars. In Iraq as
in Serbia, authoritarian rulers have been seriously
weakened, but they are still in power. How and how much
can sanctions be used to replace or complement the use of
force? Perhaps we need clearer international strategies and
rules that pay heed to the most vulnerable members of
society, to the political opposition and to the risk of
strengthening despots through sanctions. Our focus should
be more on incentives than on sanctions.
Thirdly, we need to define rules. No one knows the
size or shape of the next challenge. But our response must
be dictated by respect for universal principles rather than by
a balance of power. We must beware of conjuring up the
spectre of international law as the law of the strongest. We
must beware of making some countries more equal than
others. To do so would run counter to our best political and
cultural traditions, in which the law is meant to protect the
weak.
The Western world and the Euro-Atlantic institutions
are no threat to anyone's integrity, prosperity and freedom.
But we must perfect the instruments that uphold the
international rule of law. We must spell out the duties of
States. We must create a fully fledged corpus of case law
on universal human rights. We must work out rules and
procedures that will justify the erosion of sovereignty in the
name of global responsibility. This is why every country
must make it a priority to ratify the international
instruments for safeguarding human rights. I am thinking
in particular of the International Criminal Court, which
was instituted in Rome in June of last year. These
instruments should be reflected in our national legislation
and practice. Finally, we should encourage the
involvement of our own institutions. It is in this spirit that
we have invited the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson, to address the
Italian Parliament.
Until human rights are firmly institutionalized,
doubts will remain over the relationship between
legitimacy and effectiveness. The gradual construction of
universal citizenship is a learning process to which we all
should contribute. Otherwise we shall be racing towards
fragmentation, seeking forms of independence that are not
economically viable and that are vulnerable to others'
desire for hegemony.
Fourthly, we must learn to appreciate the judgement
of others. I would like to quote, in this respect, one of the
founding fathers of American democracy, James Madison.
He said:
“An attention to the judgement of other nations
is important to every government for two reasons.
The first one is that, independently of the merits of
any particular plan or measure, it is desirable, on
various accounts, that it should appear to other
nations as the offspring of a wise and honourable
policy. The second is that, in doubtful cases,
particularly where the national councils may be
warped by some strong passion or momentary
interests, the presumed or known opinion of the
impartial world may be the best guides that can be
followed.”
Today's world has acquired a new sensitivity. It will
no longer tolerate the oppression of the weak. This
implies a rethinking of the principles of national
sovereignty and non-interference that have governed the
community of nations for over three centuries, beginning
in Europe. But we must avoid double standards, applying
one yardstick to friendly countries and another to those
that are not. This is what makes the ultimate sanction of
the United Nations so indispensable, since an international
legal standard cannot — except in exceptional temporary
situations — be the prerogative of any single group of
States.
20

When we defend the rights of others, we cannot
pretend that the lives of our own people are not also at risk.
By the same token, it would be inconsistent not to place the
same value on other human lives as we do on our own.
Every culture and tradition must be involved in the
defence of liberties and freedom. We cannot ignore the
regional dimension of human rights, whose inviolable
universal character can be enriched by the varieties of
historic experiences. But stalemates and the paralysis of
intersecting vetoes must be avoided by anchoring even the
strongest States to a system of rules and principles,
balancing their power against the effectiveness and strength
of the international institutions.
Fifthly, we should strengthen the institutions. The
aftermath of the cold war has proved that large political and
economic groupings can more easily guarantee ethnic
coexistence, religious tolerance and economic advancement.
This should be kept in mind whenever pressure builds to
release the genie of self-determination from the bottle of
State sovereignty.
Only the great institutions, whether regional — such
as the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance — or
universal — such as the United Nations — can close the
gap between democratic codification of laws and their
effective enforcement. Unless we have a strong institutional
network, every peacekeeping operation could end up
looking as if we were taking the law into our own hands.
Everyone would feel as if he should look out only for his
own security, leading to a proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction. Therefore, let us resume the disarmament talks,
as President Clinton proposed in his statement yesterday,
and place our common security on more solid foundations.
There is one lesson to be learned from these years of
turmoil: actions to prevent and repress the most serious
violations of human rights may take precedence over
respect for national sovereignty. No Government can hide
behind the shield of its own borders. Legitimacy demands
the redefinition of relations between States and the
international community. It demands the reformulation of
the principle of non-interference, which has sometimes
allowed States to neglect their duties towards their citizens.
Although the United Nations is an organization of States,
the rights and the ideals it protects are those of individuals.
I have listed some rules that will help redefine
coexistence among peoples through the work of the United
Nations. We live in a world in which threats against one
group immediately affect every other group and impel them
to take responsibility, a world in which the concept of
non-interference can no longer be invoked to obstruct
action in the face of serious violations of fundamental
rights. We must ask ourselves how to address all these
changes, for the sake of closer and more equitable
international cooperation.
Of course, States will continue to have different
perceptions of national interests, and there will be a
continued need to reconcile them peacefully. But for the
United Nations to meet the challenges of the new century,
our codes of conduct must be placed within a more solid
institutional framework. The United Nations Security
Council should be made more representative and
democratic in composition, in line with proposals of a
number of Member States. All the citizens of the world
should be able to identify themselves with the United
Nations and feel a part of its decision-making and law-
making processes; this for the sake of universal
sovereignty, which is not the prerogative of a few, but the
right of all.
The cold war represented an international order
dominated by two super-Powers and held in check by
nuclear weapons. Today’s world is economically more
united, but politically more divided. The watchword of
the economy is deregulation. But politics requires rules if
we do not want anarchy to prevail. Unlike the market, in
politics no invisible hand can generate peace and
prosperity. What we need is a visible hand that enacts
rules and regulations, and obliges States to respect them,
both beyond their borders and in the treatment of their
citizens. Let us make the United Nations the visible hand
of peace and prosperity. This may be the greatest
challenge awaiting us. We must face it together, here in
this forum, and place it at the centre of the upcoming
debate on the role of the United Nations in the twenty-
first century.


Allow me, to begin, Sir,
by congratulating you on behalf of the Government of the
Republic of Angola, and on my own behalf, on your
election as president of the General Assembly at this fifty-
fourth session. Your election to such an important post is
recognition of your experience, ability and diplomatic
capacity, as well as of Namibia’s role internationally.
Angola and Namibia not only share a long common border,
but also have close political, economic, cultural and
historical links. We sincerely hope that your mandate will
be crowned with success.
Our congratulations also go to the outgoing President,
Mr. Didier Opertti, for the excellent work carried out
during his mandate.
To the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr.
Kofi Annan, we would like also to express our thanks for
the wise and transparent manner in which he has led our
Organization.
It is also a pleasure for us to welcome the new
members of the United Nations, the Republic of Kiribati,
the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga. Their
accession reflects the universal nature of the principles
and rules of the United Nations Charter. Angola is
convinced that these States will be able to successfully
take up their responsibilities, thereby contributing to the
strengthening of our Organization and the stability and
development of the South Pacific region and the world as
a whole.
For half a century, the Organization has carried out
activities to promote the ideals contained in its Charter.
With the end of the cold war we thought that large-scale
fratricidal wars would be things of the past; that the world
would no longer experience tension and insecurity; that
by now we would be in a position to welcome a
narrowing of the gap between the rich and poor countries;
that a significant part of humanity would be free from the
danger of dying of poverty and misery. However, these
things have not happened. The world is hostage to itself.
There is a plethora of new armed conflicts as a result of
hatred and racial, ethnic and religious intolerance; of the
denial of people’s right to self-determination; and even of
the unfathomable ambition of certain politicians to take
power by force or to attempt to thwart peoples’ sovereign
will to choose their own destinies.
The proliferation of armed conflicts is, to some
extent, a reflection of the absence of an international
security system under the aegis of the United Nations that
would be able to respond immediately and correctly to
potential conflicts. Despite instability in various areas of
the world, there has been a weak commitment to
establishing such a security system because of a lack of
political will on the part of certain members of the
international community. This indicates that the world is
still very far from achieving the long-desired peace and
development. Worse yet is the fact that certain entities of
international law approach the need for peace in the world
from a perspective of material and global strategic
interests — and at the expense of the universal human
values.
It weighs on our conscience to see that we still have
a long way to go to find solutions to situations of this
nature, and that the international community’s reactions
to similar situations of human suffering are not consistent.
These facts might lead us to believe that we are
dealing with a double standard and with measured
policies that are at variance with the spirit and letter of
32

the Charter of the United Nations. The United Nations and
the international community as a whole have the political,
legal and moral duty to work a little harder, so that peoples
facing the scourge of the war will be able to achieve lasting
peace. The main objective of the United Nations can be
achieved worldwide, provided that there is coherence and
determination in the application of principles and decisions.
The global tolerance of impunity has been encouraging
the leaders of the rebel groups proliferating throughout the
world to carry out their terrorist and destructive campaigns,
the main victim of which is civil society. The differential
treatment accorded to identical situations of systematic and
massive violations of human rights and the war crimes that
are occurring in some areas of the world makes it
impossible for the international justice system to act with
the required effectiveness in dealing with some of the most
barbaric and bloodthirsty criminals that Africa has seen this
century. We are convinced that if the political and moral
power of the United Nations were exerted against all the
perpetrators of serious crimes, it would dishearten all those
who might be willing to resort to subversion and terrorism.
Thus the international community would be preventing the
emergence of new conflicts.
We are fully aware that States have the primary
responsibility for paving the way for the prevention of
conflicts. The implementation of democracy, which may
promote respect for human rights and the establishment of
neighbourly relations, may be able to contribute to
preventing the occurrence of conflicts. Indeed, many of the
current crises would not have lasted long if the States
involved in them had, in good faith, fully complied with
their international obligations as set forth in the Charter of
the United Nations and as established by regional
organizations. I refer in particular to the principle of
non-interference in the internal affairs of other States. For
this reason, the mechanisms for the fulfilment of such
international obligations by States should be further
reinforced.
The Government of the Republic of Angola commends
the work undertaken by the Secretary-General regarding the
reinforcement of the preventive diplomacy mechanisms.
However, the increase in the number of wars, particularly
since 1998, leads us to conclude that the efforts in this
regard still fall short of reaching the objectives. It is thus
necessary for us to strive to create the institutional capacity
for conflict prevention, including regional early-warning
mechanisms.
Regarding conflict resolution, Angola’s experiences
force us to stress that there is an urgent need to re-define
methods and strategies, mainly in the field of
peacekeeping operations. Other factors underlying the
limited success of some peacekeeping missions carried
out under the aegis of the United Nations are: the obvious
frailty of the verification systems of peace agreements;
the tendency to treat similarly the violator and the fulfiller
of these agreements; the overlooking of early signs that
suggest a lack of political will and ill-faith by one of the
sides; and the subsequent delayed application of coercive
measures.
As a member State of the international community
we need to rely on and have recourse to the United
Nations in its important role regarding the issues of
peacekeeping and security in the world. Angola will
continue to believe that, in order to establish peace in the
world, the United Nations role is of paramount
importance. We simply want to suggest that, given the
current international situation, this role should be played
in a more realistic and effective way, with a view to
living up to the expectations of people eager for peace
and to ensuring the credibility of our Organization.
I would like now to refer to the situation in Angola,
where five years have passed since the Lusaka Protocol
was signed between the Government and UNITA.
However, the main tasks involved in attaining a lasting
peace have not yet been achieved. In particular, UNITA
has not been completely disarmed and State authority has
not been restored in the illegally occupied areas. Rather,
the persistent refusal of the rebels to fully honour their
obligations and their preference for taking power by force
have plunged the country into a new era of violence.
Following this rejection of the people’s will, as
expressed at the polls during the 1992 general elections,
and the non-fulfilment of the provisions of the three peace
accords entered into with the Government — in 1989 in
Gbadolite, in the former Zaire; in 1991 in Portugal and in
1994 in Lusaka — Mr. Savimbi is still interested in
continuing his destabilization campaign. This includes
preventing the smooth running of the democratic
institutions; destroying cities, towns, villages,
infrastructure and public and private assets; and
mercilessly killing civilians. In this way he has been
condemning to misery, disease and famine all of the
people in Angola.
As a result of these actions, in addition to the
thousands of civilians who have already been killed,
33

almost 3 million others have left their homes in search of
refuge in the Government-controlled areas. Those
communities require humanitarian assistance from the
international community. In the framework of the
implementation of the Lusaka Protocol, the Government
has, in good faith, undertaken all the tasks provided for it
in the peace accords, in spite of the fact that Savimbi and
his military wing have resumed the war. The Government
continues to ensure the functioning of the democratic
institutions resulting from the general elections, and UNITA
members are represented in the Government and the
parliament.
In the national armed forces, military troops, officials
and soldiers appointed by UNITA remain faithful to the
ideals of democracy and national accord. Only Mr. Savimbi
and a fairly reduced number of qualified personnel who
remain faithful to him are still interested in making war
with a view to taking power. All of Savimbi’s propaganda
of recent years has merely been playing for time and
anticipating that developments on the international scene
might come out in his favour. His false messages on
negotiations, allowing him time to prepare the ground for
new military adventures, are elements of that strategy.
Indeed, what remains to be done in the Angolan peace
process is to enforce what was negotiated in-depth at
Lusaka over an entire year, particularly the disarming of all
of Mr. Jonas Savimbi’s military forces and the restoration
of state administration throughout the national territory. The
Angolan Government has long waited for Savimbi to decide
to opt for peace. Angola is currently facing other political
and economic challenges that cannot be indefinitely
postponed as a result of the actions of a single power-
hungry individual who considers war to be the only way to
fulfil his personal plans. Furthermore, in rejecting
Savimbi’s posture, many UNITA militants and leaders have
distanced him from the party. These women and men are
working in good faith to consolidate the Angolan
democratic process.
Given Savimbi’s obstructionist behaviour, the Security
Council decided to impose global mandatory sanctions
against UNITA, including the prohibition of international
travel for top UNITA officials directly involved in the
Angola war project. In the same vein, and as a result of the
crimes that Savimbi has been committing against the
civilian population, the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) and the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) declared him a war criminal and thus an unreliable
stakeholder in the implementation of peace in Angola. The
Non-Aligned Movement, in its ministerial meeting of 23
September 1999 held here in New York, expressed its
strong support for the resolution adopted at the recent
OAU Summit, which deems Mr. Savimbi a war criminal
and requires that he be treated as such by the entire
international community. We trust that there is no further
doubt about the criminal nature of Mr. Savimbi or the
need for him to be held responsible internationally for his
crimes and actions.
The Angolan Government reiterates its ongoing
commitment to paving the way for a lasting peace and, to
that end, to making use of all the means at its disposal,
and undertakes to proceed with the process of national
reconciliation and social democratization. A clear
demonstration of its commitment is the fact that, despite
the war climate pervading the country, at no time
whatsoever has the Government denied the rights and
individual liberties of citizens or of national legal political
forces.
In the framework of the political reforms initiated in
1991, a new constitution is being prepared in a process in
which all political parties are participating. The new
constitutional text will reinforce the rule of law and
consolidate the type of society that we intend to establish
in Angola: an economically prosperous one under
democratic rule of law and a State of social justice. In the
economic context, the reforms will follow their course
with a view to reinforcing the creation of other conditions
for an effective market economy and of a more
favourable environment for foreign investment.
In order to meet these challenges, we call for the
support and solidarity of the international community,
particularly regarding the implementation of sanctions
imposed by the Security Council against UNITA, so that
Angola can more rapidly achieve peace and consolidate
and accelerate the economic reform process.
It is our sincere hope that the new initiatives of the
Security Council, proposed by Ambassador Robert
Fowler, Chairman of the Committee on Sanctions, as well
as the support already expressed by some Governments
and international institutions, may contribute significantly
to reinforcing sanctions, dismantling the illegal diamond-
trafficking network, which is subsidizing the war carried
out by Savimbi, and bringing its perpetrators before the
court.
In tandem with its efforts to implement peace, the
Angolan Government is also committed to implementing
social-impact economic programmes and to relaunching
34

the basis for the resettlement of communities with a view
to economically rehabilitating the country. In this regard,
we wish to call upon all United Nations Member States to
support the draft resolution that Angola will submit to the
General Assembly on economic rehabilitation. In addition
to lending their support to the draft resolution, we call on
our partners particularly to participate in the economic
rehabilitation of Angola.
The disarming of anti-personal landmines is another
task that requires the ongoing involvement and support of
the international community. The Angolan Government will
remain engaged at the national, regional and international
levels in order to overcome that scourge. A clear
demonstration of this determination is the fact that we were
one of the first State parties to the Ottawa Convention on
the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and
Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.
The security, stability and territorial integrity of
Angola and its neighbours depend on the stability of the
region. We are currently facing a dangerous increase of
destabilization which, if not controlled, may seriously affect
the development of that part of the continent. Angola will
continue to lend its support, under SADC, to the
implementation of peace in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. The Ceasefire Agreement signed in Lusaka and its
complete fulfilment will pave the way for the return of
refugees and the initiation of dialogue between the
Congolese political forces, to which falls the responsibility
of deciding the destiny of their country. The United Nations
and the OAU are also called upon to play a crucial role in
the establishment of a lasting peace. It would be reasonable
for the invading countries to make a gesture by
withdrawing from Congolese territory and ceasing to
expand their occupation.
In the African Horn, Angola welcomes the acceptance
by the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea of the
Framework Agreement prepared by the OAU with a view
to settling the dispute between the two countries. We wish
to call upon both countries to demonstrate flexibility in
order to ensure that a peace agreement, taking into account
the interests of their peoples, can be celebrated.
With respect to Somalia, we call upon the international
community to support the efforts of the OAU to reconcile
the political and military factions and to establish an elected
Government so that the country can resume its place in the
community of nations.
In Western Sahara, the fulfilment of the Ceasefire
Agreement enabled the further development of the joint
efforts of the United Nations and the OAU leading to the
holding of a referendum. Angola expects the process to
be transparent and fair and that both parties shall accept
the verdict of the Sahraoui people.
Concerning East Timor, whose people is connected
to Angola by a shared language and a historical past of
struggle against Portuguese colonization, we were
disturbed by the acts of violence that followed the
announcement of the results of the popular consultation.
The decision of East Timor’s people in favour of self-
determination and independence should be respected. It is
now the United Nations responsibility to prepare an
enabling environment. In this regard, we strongly support
the dispatch of a United Nations international peace force.
As to the Middle East, Angola welcomes the
celebration of the Sharm el-Sheikh agreements between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority that have enabled the
peace process to be relaunched. It is our view that the
new agreements conform to the aspirations of the
respective peoples to living in peace and security.
The Government of the Republic of Angola and its
people are concerned about the difficult political,
economic and social situation of the Cuban people, which
has worsened under the ongoing economic embargo
imposed on their country. We hope that the matter will be
resolved through a constructive bilateral dialogue.
The latest international developments and the
challenges of the next millennium require that the United
Nations and its main bodies, particularly those dealing
with peace and security, economic development and the
administration of international justice, be adjusted to the
new situation.
Reform and an increase in the membership of the
Security Council will be crucial to making the
decision-making process more transparent. In this respect,
it is essential that all the regions of the world be
represented equally. Angola reaffirms the position of the
non-aligned countries on the reform of the Security
Council, as well as the common African position adopted
by the OAU.
Despite the progress achieved in some economies
and the disappearance of the signs of a new world
depression, the international economic situation continues
to be characterized by serious imbalances. The root
35

causes of the difficult situation faced by some developing
countries include the unfair system governing international
economic, monetary and financial relations; the adoption of
protectionist measures; the unilateral nature of world trade;
and the worsening of the external debt, which has become
a heavy burden for the developing countries.
It is necessary to take concrete measures which may
lead to structural changes in international economic
relations and may contribute to the balance of the world
economy. To this end, there should be a serious and
transparent will in the North-South dialogue.